For owners
The Real Boba Shop Equipment List (and What It Costs)
Equipment is where new boba shop budgets go to die — usually in both directions at once. Owners overspend on a gleaming machine they'll use twice a month, then discover mid-soft-opening that nobody budgeted for a second induction cooker and the pearls can't keep up. Here's the honest list: what you need on day one, what it really costs, where used gear is smart, and what can absolutely wait.
The non-negotiables
| Equipment | Typical cost (new) | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Cup sealing machine | $500–$2,100 | Auto-sealers earn their price the first rush. Buy a known brand — film jams at 6pm Saturday are a tax on cheap sealers. |
| Tea brewer / kettles | $300–$1,000 | Commercial brewer or induction + stock pots to start. Capacity for 3–4 tea bases brewing on rotation. |
| Pearl cooker (or induction + pot) | $200–$2,500 | Automatic cookers save labor and burnt batches; many shops start manual and upgrade in year one. |
| Shaker machine | $400–$1,200 | Consistency and wrists both thank you. Hand shakers ($20) are the fallback, not the plan. |
| Refrigeration (reach-in + under-counter) | $1,500–$5,000 | The item most worth buying used from restaurant auctions — commercial fridges outlive shops. |
| Ice machine | $1,500–$4,000 | Size it for August, not February. Running out of ice is running out of drinks. |
| Fructose dispenser | $400–$900 | The unsung consistency machine — same sweetness every cup, every employee. |
| POS system | $0–$1,500 + fees | Tablet-based is fine. Spend your attention on the fee structure, not the hardware. |
Realistic all-in for the core list: $6,000–$15,000 depending on new vs. used and how automated you go — a fraction of your build-out, but the fraction that makes drinks happen.
Worth it, but can wait
Automatic pearl cooker if you started manual — buy it when pearl quality starts varying by who's on shift. Blenders beyond the first two — add when smoothie volume proves itself. A second sealer — the moment one jam can stall your whole line, usually around the time you're doing 200+ cups a day. Snow ice or slush machines — menu expansions, not launch equipment, unless your concept is built on them.
Used vs. new — the simple rule
Buy used where the machine is simple metal and motors: fridges, ice machines, work tables, sinks — restaurant closures put barely-used units on the market at 40–60% off constantly. Buy new where precision and parts matter: sealers, fructose dispensers, automatic cookers — the savings are smaller and a dead sealer with no parts support is a shop that can't sell drinks. Whatever you buy used, budget a service visit before opening; a $150 checkup beats a launch-week failure.
The equipment nobody puts on the list
Timers (multiple, loud — pearls forgive nothing), scales for recipe consistency, honey/syrup pumps, labeled dating stickers for holds, a proper hand-truck for delivery day, and backup smallwares: extra shaker cups, extra sealing film, extra everything that stops the line when it goes missing. This drawer of unglamorous items costs a few hundred dollars and prevents most of your first year's small disasters.
One machine won't fix a supply problem
A last honest note: the most common "equipment problem" in new shops is actually an ordering problem — the $2,000 cooker sitting idle because the pearls didn't arrive, the sealer paused because film ran out mid-week. Your equipment is only as good as the supply line feeding it. Set up your supplier relationships and reorder rhythm with the same care you gave this list, and the machines get to do their job.
Keep the machines fed
BobaSync tracks your inventory and turns your weekly supplier order into one tap — so film, pearls, and syrups show up before you run out, not after. Free for stores, always.
See how it works →Written by the team at BobaSync — the platform boba shops use to order from their suppliers, so the equipment never waits on the ingredients.