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High-End Vending Machines Take "Cut Out the Middleman" to Another Level

Posted Apr 24, 2009 03:48pm EDT by Aaron Task in Internet
In the 1990s, "cutting out the middleman" was one of the great selling points of online commerce, at least for consumers and producers, and a big reason why Amazon.com, eBay, Craigslist and other sites became such powerhouses.

More recently, the trend of disintermediation is going a step further to the point where there's almost nothing between the producer and consumer. Vending machines, selling everything from healthcare products to flowers to tech devices like iPods, have been around for a few years and are now popping up in airports and similar venues.

Diane Garnick, investment strategist at Invesco, believes this trend will only accelerate and consumers will increasingly buy high-end items at vending machines without thinking twice about it, just like we all now buy soda and snacks.

124 Comments

Rintoul
Rintoul - Friday April 24, 2009 04:20PM EDT

Rarely have I ever read comments such as these. Truly I share the Intertubes with (mostly) a bunch of COMPLETE nitwits.

Beerzie
Beerzie - Friday April 24, 2009 04:21PM EDT

Um, sure. People are going to have lots of money to waste on non-essential items in the future, and the growing crowd of surly have-nots aren't going to bust into these things at every opportunity. This is a pantload of wishful thinking, honey.

Beerzie
Beerzie - Friday April 24, 2009 04:21PM EDT

But she IS cute.

AMDshortsRfools
AMDshortsRfools - Friday April 24, 2009 04:23PM EDT

I could sit there and talk to this woman all week, she's so smart....I'll buy anything she's selling and give her a tip.

Yahoo! Finance User
Yahoo! Finance User - Friday April 24, 2009 04:24PM EDT

I would like to buy a car or even home from vending machine.

Yahoo! Finance User
Yahoo! Finance User - Friday April 24, 2009 04:25PM EDT

Do they have one for Vend-order Brides?

Yahoo! Finance User
Yahoo! Finance User - Friday April 24, 2009 04:26PM EDT

Ike lives on this site!

Yahoo! Finance User
Yahoo! Finance User - Friday April 24, 2009 04:26PM EDT

whoa... check out her facebook fan site picture. smokin!

Sam
Sam - Friday April 24, 2009 04:32PM EDT

Va Va Va VOOOOM..!!!

78 pts and a cloud of dust
78 pts and a cloud of dust - Friday April 24, 2009 04:33PM EDT

Oofta I love Minnesota

Yahoo! Finance User
Yahoo! Finance User - Friday April 24, 2009 04:33PM EDT

This is not the first time we see irrational behavior of the market. Often, whenever a company lays off workers, the price of its stock goes up. Any rationality there?

Yahoo! Finance User
Yahoo! Finance User - Friday April 24, 2009 04:33PM EDT

This is not the first time we see irrational behavior of the market. Often, whenever a company lays off workers, the price of its stock goes up. Any rationality there?

Yahoo! Finance User
Yahoo! Finance User - Friday April 24, 2009 04:33PM EDT

This is not the first time we see irrational behavior of the market. Often, whenever a company lays off workers, the price of its stock goes up. Any rationality there?

Yahoo! Finance User
Yahoo! Finance User - Friday April 24, 2009 04:33PM EDT

This is not the first time we see irrational behavior of the market. Often, whenever a company lays off workers, the price of its stock goes up. Any rationality there?

LGB
LGB - Friday April 24, 2009 04:34PM EDT

Cutting out the middle man would mean for everone of us to be self sufficient. Come on there are only 24 hours in the day for us to do everything!!??, We definately need middle men.

N F
N F - Friday April 24, 2009 04:38PM EDT

The real middleman we desperately need to cut is the health insurance If we can deal directly with doctors like we use to and they still do it in other countries our medical costs we be down 75%. The doctors and the hospitals get away with charging exuberant prices because they dont deal with the consumers they have a convienient middleman in insurance and the insurance companies just keep on charging up premiums with thier own markups so who pays all that The idiots who pay premiums to the insurance companies, who play on your fear of getting sick getting into an accident and everything else they can think of. The bottom line is insurance is like cancer it is gradually eating us away lets us get rid of it. In this economy if there is anything that I would chop and have it is Insurance.

TRUGGS
TRUGGS - Friday April 24, 2009 04:39PM EDT

if I buy an ipod and it don't work who do I bring it back to??????????? ANOTHER DUMB F###555 idear that somebody will get rich from.

Thomas
Thomas - Friday April 24, 2009 04:40PM EDT

What's a vending maching? Why are we here? I there any reason for this? Can I borrow a quarter?

LGB
LGB - Friday April 24, 2009 04:41PM EDT

Hi Henry and Aaron. You guys keep talking about a sucker´s rally. Why are the markets so high? Wish You guys would re-cover that area in Your interviews. I don´t think We should be this high. What is going on?

UnboundV
UnboundV - Friday April 24, 2009 04:42PM EDT

Damn machine won't let go of my iPhone I just bought! *shakes vending machine till it falls on top of him* RIP unboundv

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