The 25 Most Bizarre Things You Can Buy From Vending Machines Around The World Slideshow
There are plenty of vending machines around the world that sell just about anything these days. Sure, many of them dispense food items like burritos, pizzas, and the typical snacks, but the scope of items sold have expanded past food and continues to broaden. You can buy anything from beauty products to bars of gold to underwear from these various machines around the world.
It may not surprise you that a wide variety of bizarre products are sold from the vending machines in Japan, but you can find a strange machine almost anywhere else you travel to as well. You'll find a Lego dispenser in Germany, hair extensions in the US, and luxury cars in Singapore — you read that right, you can even buy a car from a vending machine. We can only imagine what they'll think of next to sell, and maybe traditional stores won't be needed in the future if everything can be purchased from one of these crazy machines.
Batteries
Batteries are an item that is mostly forgotten about when you're running errands, but they're always needed. If your remote batteries start failing you in the middle of the night, no problem. Step out and pick up a pack of batteries from a vending machine that dispenses them around the clock.
Beauty Products
Most notable at airports, beauty product lines have been setting up vending machines so customers can quickly pick up any necessities. One vending machine, appropriately called 3FLOZ, sells travel-size versions of these products so you don't have to worry about it being taken when you go through security.
Birth Control
University campuses are now adding vending machines that sell the morning-after pill. These wellness machines are placed outside of school health centers and offer other contraceptive products as well. The idea is to make these items more accessible to students without forcing students to feel uncomfortable purchasing them.
Books
Libraries are now providing books to their members 24/7 by installing vending machines that dispense a select number of books. There are many other book vending machines as well, which you might find at airports or even in subway stations in China.
Caviar
If that bag of chips just isn't up to your culinary standards, you can find caviar in vending machines in Moscow as well as Los Angeles. You might, however, need a little more than pocket change to fulfill this craving.
Live Bait
You get up at the crack of dawn to go fishing, only to realize you don't have live bait. What do you do? Leave it to Americans to solve that problem with around-the-clock vending machines serving up live bait. The bait is frozen alive for freshness.
Luxury Cars
This has to be the largest vending machine out there, considering it is a 15-story building that sells luxury cars. Ferraris, Lamborghinis, and Bentleys are dispensed (slowly) down the center of the building once you make your selection.
Champagne
Located in the popular Selfridge's department store in London, the Möet & Chandon vending machine dispenses 200-milliliter bottles for $29 a pop. It should come as no surprise that Sin City was the first place to implement these vending machines in America, with one located at Sky Bar. The next place to have a champagne vending machine? New Orleans' Arnaud's French 75 Bar.
Cigars
Most bars used to have cigarette vending machines, but there are now vending machines that dispense cigars. One such machine sells a selection of 25 different brands.
Electronics
Vending machines that sell electronics have become so common it probably doesn't seem strange anymore. You can buy headphones, chargers, phones, and even laptops from these vending machines. You'll find many lining the walls of airport terminals.
Flip Flops
Havaianas set up a vending machine in Australia that dispenses flip-flops. It's funny seeing an entire machine filled with packaged sandals, but it's actually quite practical. You never know when your flip-flop straps will snap and you'll need to grab a new pair.
Gold
Leave it to Dubai to sell you bars of gold from a vending machine. Push a button on the Gold to Go machine and it will dispense a small gold bar along with other gold items. Many other countries now have this gold ATM, including Portugal, Switzerland, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, and America. Who doesn't love gold?
Human Hair
Next time you're at a mall or salon you might see a vending machine that sells hair — not synthetic hair but real human hair. The machine conveniently dispenses premium hair extensions as well as other hair care products.
Kindle
Amazon has stepped into the retail world outside of the web with their Kindle Kiosk vending machines. You can purchase a kindle from any of these machines, but if you already have one and realize you forgot your charger, you can buy that here too.
Lego
If you have children and need something to keep them entertained on the go, you'll probably agree that the Lego vending machine is a genius creation. The bad news for parents is that you'd have to be in Germany for it to be any use, since that's the only country that carries the Lego vending machine.
Lettuce
Taking the idea of urban agriculture to a new level, vending machines in Japan use light bulbs and "nutri-culture" beds to actually grow lettuce inside the machines. A crazy idea, or a local food revolution? Either way, it's our pick for the oddest vending machine in the world.
Live Crabs
A lucky few in China can get their crab on the go. Shanghai hairy crab, a Chinese delicacy, is dispensed live from vending machines in Nanjing, China. Those poor crabs!
Surgical Masks
In Japan you'll find that plenty of people wear surgical masks for various reasons. They're worn so regularly that a vending machine was created to dispense these face masks at any time of day.
Nail Polish
You no longer have to walk around with unpainted nails, because polish is now being sold out of vending machines across the United States. At airports and malls you can pick up your favorite Essie shade on the spot and get painting right away.
Pipes
The most bizarre vending machine is located in Vancouver. The Downtown Eastside area of the city is troubled with drug users. In an effort to clean up the area — and keep diseases from spreading due to broken glass cuts — there's a vending machine that sells new glass pipes. Needless to say, many are not pleased with this concept.
Snapchat Spectacles
The only way to purchase the new Snapchat Spectacle glasses is through one of their vending machines (or online, but that's not as fun). These machines are always moving, so you'll have to check their website to find out where the nearest "snapbot" is. There are several of them around the world.
T-Shirts
Do you frequently drop food and sauces on your clothes? Are you on the go and in need of a fresh shirt? This vending machine in Japan is the perfect fix. Customers can buy T-shirts for 1,800 yen (a little less than $15). If only shopping for clothing could be this easy everywhere.
Umbrellas
Umbrella vending machines are available all over Japan. At some, customers will only pay 300 yen (a little over $2) to stay dry.
Underwear
There's nothing you can't buy from a machine in Japan, and that includes underwear. If you forget to pack enough underwear for your trip, you don't have to worry; just pick up a few pairs from one of these vending machines at any point during your trip.
Used Things
The Swap-o-Matic vending machine allows people to switch out items they're done with and pick up something else from inside the machine. For instance, you might finish reading a magazine, and instead of throwing it out you'd place it in the machine, trading it for another item inside that's new to you.