a call to arms: "Brace yourself: Beer prices are going up"

[HoyaSaxa03]

I'd venture to guess that at the typical show, after paying the band, staff, mortgage/rent, insurance and other general overhead involved, that a sizable chunk of the profits at 9:30 come from alcohol sales.  So if prices go up, in order to maintain his profit he'll have to step in line or start cutting corners somewhere else.  And off the top of my head I don't see too many places in a business like that to cut corners.

Insight Seth?

maybe he could take a bigger chunk of merch profits from the bands!  that policy and the beer prices have been the only things that have irked me about the club... i'd rather pay a couple extra bucks in ticket prices than have the club tax the merch table

[HoyaSaxa03]

WHy not $20 beers then?

cans of guinness at the pogues show were pretty close

[Julian, Alleged Computer F**kface]

OH gee Sweetcell thinks I've never heard of price elasticity! Wow! Thanks Sweetcell for the tip!

I guess it comes down to how inelastic one thinks beer sales at the 930 are... At some point where you hike prices on beer you may have less gross sales revenue. Or maybe people will keep consuming the same regardless of price?.. WHy not $20 beers then?

You truly are the stupidest piece of shit ever to stink up this place.

Increasing a beer's price from $6 to $7 is a marginal increase in most people's mind, despite increasing the cost by over 16%. Do you think such an increase is going to drop liquor sales by 16%? Probably not. OTOH, increasing the price by $14 on an originally $6 beer passes a certain tipping point, upon which only the most alcoholic of patrons would partake.

[Venerable Bede]

I'd venture to guess that at the typical show, after paying the band, staff, mortgage/rent, insurance and other general overhead involved, that a sizable chunk of the profits at 9:30 come from alcohol sales.  So if prices go up, in order to maintain his profit he'll have to step in line or start cutting corners somewhere else.  And off the top of my head I don't see too many places in a business like that to cut corners.

Insight Seth?

OH gee Sweetcell thinks I've never heard of price elasticity! Wow! Thanks Sweetcell for the tip!

I guess it comes down to how inelastic one thinks beer sales at the 930 are... At some point where you hike prices on beer you may have less gross sales revenue. Or maybe people will keep consuming the same regardless of price?.. WHy not $20 beers then?

well, i'd guess the more optimal response would be for the beer prices to reflect the demand for it- if it's a sold out show with an expected high amount of alcohol sales (say the pogues), then beer prices should go up to reflect the demand for the product; if it's a show that is sparsely attended, with an equal reduction in demand for alcohol, beer prices should go down......as it is, alcohol pricing reflects what seth thinks the market will bear all else being equal in order to achieve a certain level of profit.

[sweetcell]

OH gee Sweetcell thinks I've never heard of price elasticity!

you are arguing as if you hadn't.  just going with the flow.

[chaz]

You truly are the stupidest piece of shit ever to stink up this place.

Considering some of the stupid turds that have been through this cyber toilet, that, my friends, is a serious statement.

[hutch]

OH gee Sweetcell thinks I've never heard of price elasticity! Wow! Thanks Sweetcell for the tip!

I guess it comes down to how inelastic one thinks beer sales at the 930 are... At some point where you hike prices on beer you may have less gross sales revenue. Or maybe people will keep consuming the same regardless of price?.. WHy not $20 beers then?

You truly are the stupidest piece of shit ever to stink up this place.

Increasing a beer's price from $6 to $7 is a marginal increase in most people's mind, despite increasing the cost by over 16%. Do you think such an increase is going to drop liquor sales by 16%? Probably not. OTOH, increasing the price by $14 on an originally $6 beer passes a certain tipping point, upon which only the most alcoholic of patrons would partake.

The fact, ASSHOLE,  is that beer consumption is price elastic. I'm not sure- and I'll leave determining the exact elasticity to the experts- but alcohol sales might decrease 16%. People might balk at paying $6 for a bottle of Budweiser. WHo knows?

[wml7]

can we get a cat pic drinking a beer 

[Julian, Alleged Computer F**kface]

People might balk at paying $6 for a bottle of Budweiser. WHo knows?

Beer is already at 5 a bottle. Increasing it another dollar is not going to stretch things so badly that 1 out of 5 people don't buy another beer. Simple conventional wisdom can tell you that; people love their alcohol, yo.

[hutch]

People might balk at paying $6 for a bottle of Budweiser. WHo knows?

Beer is already at 5 a bottle. Increasing it another dollar is not going to stretch things so badly that 1 out of 5 people don't buy another beer. Simple conventional wisdom can tell you that; people love their alcohol, yo.

First of all Julian a big mandatory FUCK YOU ASSHOLE.

Thats opinion not conventional wisdom. People may love their alcohol but many love their money more. 1 out of 5 people may not buy that beer and people might think twice before getting that extra beer. People may decrease their average number of beers per show. Instead of having 4 beers people might have 3. Why not? Remember its not really $5 for a beer right now.. when you add the tip in its $6....

if it were so that increasing the price of bottle of bud by one dollar would result in increased gross sales why wouldn't it already cost $6?

Really the only person with the answer about the exact elasticity of beer consumption at the 930 is Seth/whoever runs concessions... and even they may not know exactly how the market would respond to increasing the price.

I will note that Live Nation is trying to increase beer sales by selling bigger beers at better (per ounce) prices.

[Julian, Alleged Computer F**kface]

Seth's statement on this issue every time anyone's brought it up has been something to the effect of: he's a businessman and will charge as much as we're willing to pay, because he'd be stupid to do otherwise.

[BookerT]

a bottle of bud already costs $6, doesn't it? i'll never get more than one and it makes me more likely to skip the opening bands.

[Julian, Alleged Computer F**kface]

Really the only person with the answer about the exact elasticity of beer consumption at the 930 is Seth/whoever runs concessions... and even they may not know exactly how the market would respond to increasing the price.

BTW, you make my point for me. When the powers-that-be are following through with the increased price model (as the article predicating this thread indicates), gee, there must be something to that. Unless now the person who knows the most about price elasticity isn't beer companies and promoters but they guy who thinks Baltimore venues are propped up by DC residents.

[thirsty moore]

Hutch and Julian should meet up for a beer summit soon.

[sweetcell]

can we get a cat pic drinking a beer 

there are some great beer-related LOLs out there... i couldn't choose just one: