Hi guys,

Im new to the forum. I’m from Puerto Rico, I’m a college student and my budies and I are searching for carts to start in the hot dog business. There is a company down here that sells a franchise. It’s a really nice cart but it’s quite expensive. The cart goes for $7,000 plus $5,000 a year for 5 years in royalty ($95 bucks a week). The thing is the cart is never yours. After 5 years you have to renovate the contract. What’s nice is that its a very good looking cart and it’s a turn key business. Cart includes insurance and uniforms and stuff.

Here is a link to the franchise (franquicias pr . com / city dogs . htm ) <- without space.

So I found basically the same cart in China. It goes for $1,800 plus $200 shippping. We are afraid that Chinese website is a fake and we send money only too loose it. We are college students, we are kinda in a shoe string budget.

This is the chinese website is food kart kingdom

They say they want a wire transfer. Does anybody know if this company is legit?

Thank you, and I’m sorry for the long post.

Hello,
We make concession carts (Hot Dog, Ice Cream, Pretzels , etc) at a really good price, we are located in New York. The carts are all made out of Stainless Steel, they come with coolers already inside of the cart, with propane burners and a large heating tray. The carts are pushable,  very easy to push around. All carts are custom made, so you can add more things to it or take off some things that you may not need, Prices go as low as $1,700 for a hot dog cart with everything you need brand new.
 
 

 
For contact information shoot me a private message.
 
<a href=”http://www.5starcartsny.yolasite.com/”>5 Stars Carts NY</a> 
 
Cheers, 5 Stars Carts 

My thoughts. Everybody wants a cart. Now What is the most popular way of serving franks/dogs in your area.
Dirty Water(simmered), grilled or charbroiled. That is what I base what I have done. Do what is popular in your area. Condiments your area. Research what flys. People buy a cart and in 6 mos. selling, for they did not do any research.
Buns steamed, warmed, grilled, side cut or slit top.
Your area research.
All beef, pork and beef, turkey, and heaven forbid Veggie Dogs.
After all this pick your cart
 

I actually like the setup of the stainless steel cart better than the franchise one.  The franchise is ‘cute’ but the other looks more functional.  I like the walk-in – it’s like an enclosed trailer with lots of windows[:)]

The All American Cart co is located in Florida, they make good quality cart sand could crate and ship to from Florida. This is the way I would go if I couldn’t buy local………………Bill
 
 
http://allamericanhotdog.com :: Welcome to All American Hot Dog Co. ::
                

I luv the setup great cooler

Here is one that sells for $3,300 or better offer. It looks in good shape from the picture. It passes inspection. The guy lives 15 min away from me. Worth taking a look at?

http://img585.imageshack.us/i/634242055983899784ajyha.jpg

Yes, always buy local if you can. Cooking and serving hot dogs is a easy process. is that a roaster in the front of the cart ????????????????    Welcome to the site, the best……………Bill

Run from those carts, and never “wire” money. You are in Puerto Rico, so I would imagine your health code laws are about the same as what we have here in the states. Go to this link, # http://www.hotdogprofits.com/ and click on the “Build a Hot Dog Cart” video link. I bought the videos and they are fantastic, they walk you through an entire build. If you are on a budget, I would seriously look into building your own cart. Most all of the parts come from here, # http://www.harborfreight.com/faq and it looks like they will ship to PR. Something to think of as you can build this cart for under $1000 and it should pass with your health department. And if anything ever breaks, you built it, so getting parts should be a breeze.
 
Hope this helps!
 
Mike

Hell ya I would send my monies to China. Sent my monies to Nigeria for the Nigerian Lottery and going to be a little bit heavier in the wallet. Just waiting. It has been 18 mos. now and I know that my monies are on one of those ships that has been hijacked off Africa somewhere. Plus GOING to make me stand in Prince when all is said and done.

There are plenty of good used carts for sale in the USA at those prices. That franchise deal is a TOTAL RIPOFF! You and your buddies need to spend considerable time on this web site researching all the 100’s of threads and entries on here about the cart business and you will get a better education than you will ever get in a University. Learn to use the SEARCH function on here and you can spend days if not weeks learning everything you need to know about the hot dog cart business. Besides, Chinese carts probably will not pass Health Department reguirements in most US & Puerto Rican Cities. If those carts are any good, someone in the USA would already be importng them and selling them here. Doesn’t sound like you’ve done enough homework to spend your money just yet.

Thank you Curbside and all you other folks for giving your 411.
So in reference to the franchise….to expensive right? We should go with a normal cart, although the other one is much more attractive?
Thank you everyone again. Forum is great.

Yeh, the cart looks nice. The problem with the franchise cart is that the numbers don’t work. Do you realize how many hot dogs you would need to sell just to make their fixed nut? According to your numbers, the Cart Rental fee plus the Royality fee the first year is $12,000.00! Thats a $1000.00 a month. You said the suggested retails were:
“Combos go for $4.25 for the 6 inch and $6.25 for the 12 inch. They only include a 20oz soda.”
Do you need to buy your product from them? Assume your food cost is 40%. You net $2.50 a combo BEFORE any other expenses on a 6″. That means you would need to sell 400 hot dogs a month just to pay cart rent & fees. When you figure in your other expenses, your probably looking at selling up to 1000 dogs a month just to break even![:0][:0] A BAD DEAL![V] You’re operating that cart for THEM NOT YOURSELF. They’re making the money, not you.