To provide a method for maintaining the number of stored articles in a plurality of automatic vending machines capable of appropriately replenishing new articles by grasping the number of stored articles from a remote place without periodically confirming the number of the stored articles on the spot.

This method for maintaining the number of stored articles in the automatic vending machines is disclosed. The method includes a process in which a first operating means respectively calculates the sum of count values of articles in each article kind in the automatic vending machines, the difference between the total maximum number of stored articles in the automatic vending machines and the sum of the count values and the total value of the sums of the count values, and a process for outputting respectively the differences obtained from the first operating means in each article kind when the total value is equal to or lower than a value preset by the first operating means.