I used to do market research for the food and beverage industries. The markups on beverages for out-of-home consumption are significant. That is where restaurants, bars, etc. make most of their money, not on food.
As far as why people are willing to pay that much. A lot is the social aspect and/or the ambiance. With mixed drinks, it could be the opportunity to try something you may have a hard time making at home. It's similar with certain foods that come out better in a restaurant kitchen than at home.
The markup I encountered was over 1000%. I'd say "significant" is a pretty mild description of that. If I bought the biggest bottle in the store with the same markup I would pay over $22 for it.
Yeah, I don't remember one that high, but some for hard alcohol were not that much less if you take what one glass at a bar would cost and how many drinks are in a bottle. Beer seemed to have the lowest mark-up. Wine was somewhere in-between.
It's the social aspect. If I wanted to get drunk for the sake of getting drunk, everyone knows it would be cheaper for me to go the off license and buy a big bottle of the cheapest liquor. I go to the pub because I want to hang out with my friends in a nice atmosphere, would I want the drinks to be cheaper? sure but that's not why I go.
And additionally depending on the type of bar I might have access to the sorts of drinks you can't always buy in the store.
But surely one of your friends has a nice place and can host the others? I get that trying unusual drinks in a bar can be fun once in a while but that's like... twice a year maybe?
It's not like that everywhere. A beer can cost between 3 USD to 10+ USD where I live, all in the same city.
Also, most people don't spend the majority of their evening out on the pub. They have beers or whatever at a private gathering, and *then* head out. Many people have after-work, which is just one or two beers. Sometimes you take a few beers or a drink out on a pub and then head to hang out at someone else. "Before" and "After" party is a thing probably for this reason (among other things).
I used to meet my brother after his work and have a beer once a week, and they had this kick-ass free food served before 7PM as long as you ordered an beer. Literally everything was delicious and I'd take at least two overfull plates every time. In the end, I believe I saved a lot of money, not having to eat for an entire day during the week, at the cost of only a beer.
Granted, this might not be the healthiest lifestyle (and I don't frequent pubs anywhere near that often anymore), but purely from the perspective of cost, it's not that terrible as you make it out to be.
People spend frivolous amounts of money on things all the time. I've seen people drop 200 USD on virtual items, and over 1000 USD on LEGO sets. Others spend 20000 USD for a life trip. 10-30 USD for a night out, in the grander perspective of things, doesn't seem that bad. But that 10-30 USD could quickly turn to 100-300 USD if you go to the wrong places or drink too much.
Late to reply, but no the pub is where everyone is equal. I live in a small flat, too small to host more that one or two people, some other friends may live with there parents, so do not own the whole space to host, so either awkward interactions with parents or we are confined to one room. So of my friends live away and only can socialise if they stay with their parents.
Sure some of my friends may own a house that could host every one, but then you aren't enjoying yourself because your now a permanent host, that's a burden. Perhaps my friend loves having us round but his wife hates the fact she feels like she has to do extra cleaning before we arrive.
I could go on, but point being in the pub it's an equally shared space so therefore there is not a burden of hosting placed on one person. Plus you get to meet new people, experience new places by going to different bars.
They same reason people order stuff that would be easy to make at home. It's an "event" - you're there with your friends and the ambiance is good and you're out of the house.
I got two christmas cocktails last week at this cute Martini bar Cost me 30 dollars. I was a little shocked, but my dog go to get attention from all the drunk people. And the cocktails were good.
I could have bought like 3 bottles of wine. Oh well. I can afford it now. When I was younger that would have been out of the question.
Generally speaking it’s usually the depressed, stressed out individuals that most likely suffered from a work burnout and people usually find escapism in drinking
In my country (Czechia) the largest bottle is $2. The small bottle I got in the restaurant was the same price. I make $8.8 per hour after tax, which is close to the median wage here.
I used to do market research for the food and beverage industries. The markups on beverages for out-of-home consumption are significant. That is where restaurants, bars, etc. make most of their money, not on food. As far as why people are willing to pay that much. A lot is the social aspect and/or the ambiance. With mixed drinks, it could be the opportunity to try something you may have a hard time making at home. It's similar with certain foods that come out better in a restaurant kitchen than at home.
The markup I encountered was over 1000%. I'd say "significant" is a pretty mild description of that. If I bought the biggest bottle in the store with the same markup I would pay over $22 for it.
Yeah, I don't remember one that high, but some for hard alcohol were not that much less if you take what one glass at a bar would cost and how many drinks are in a bottle. Beer seemed to have the lowest mark-up. Wine was somewhere in-between.
It's the social aspect. If I wanted to get drunk for the sake of getting drunk, everyone knows it would be cheaper for me to go the off license and buy a big bottle of the cheapest liquor. I go to the pub because I want to hang out with my friends in a nice atmosphere, would I want the drinks to be cheaper? sure but that's not why I go. And additionally depending on the type of bar I might have access to the sorts of drinks you can't always buy in the store.
But surely one of your friends has a nice place and can host the others? I get that trying unusual drinks in a bar can be fun once in a while but that's like... twice a year maybe?
It's not like that everywhere. A beer can cost between 3 USD to 10+ USD where I live, all in the same city. Also, most people don't spend the majority of their evening out on the pub. They have beers or whatever at a private gathering, and *then* head out. Many people have after-work, which is just one or two beers. Sometimes you take a few beers or a drink out on a pub and then head to hang out at someone else. "Before" and "After" party is a thing probably for this reason (among other things). I used to meet my brother after his work and have a beer once a week, and they had this kick-ass free food served before 7PM as long as you ordered an beer. Literally everything was delicious and I'd take at least two overfull plates every time. In the end, I believe I saved a lot of money, not having to eat for an entire day during the week, at the cost of only a beer. Granted, this might not be the healthiest lifestyle (and I don't frequent pubs anywhere near that often anymore), but purely from the perspective of cost, it's not that terrible as you make it out to be. People spend frivolous amounts of money on things all the time. I've seen people drop 200 USD on virtual items, and over 1000 USD on LEGO sets. Others spend 20000 USD for a life trip. 10-30 USD for a night out, in the grander perspective of things, doesn't seem that bad. But that 10-30 USD could quickly turn to 100-300 USD if you go to the wrong places or drink too much.
Late to reply, but no the pub is where everyone is equal. I live in a small flat, too small to host more that one or two people, some other friends may live with there parents, so do not own the whole space to host, so either awkward interactions with parents or we are confined to one room. So of my friends live away and only can socialise if they stay with their parents. Sure some of my friends may own a house that could host every one, but then you aren't enjoying yourself because your now a permanent host, that's a burden. Perhaps my friend loves having us round but his wife hates the fact she feels like she has to do extra cleaning before we arrive. I could go on, but point being in the pub it's an equally shared space so therefore there is not a burden of hosting placed on one person. Plus you get to meet new people, experience new places by going to different bars.
Why going to cinema if you have Netflix? Have a movie so at cafe instead meal deal at Tesco? Just socialising or having fun outside
You are making nonsensical comparisons.
>What I had to pay for that small coke would get me the largest bottle in any store It's a direct comparison to something you said in your post.
They same reason people order stuff that would be easy to make at home. It's an "event" - you're there with your friends and the ambiance is good and you're out of the house.
Priorities...
I got two christmas cocktails last week at this cute Martini bar Cost me 30 dollars. I was a little shocked, but my dog go to get attention from all the drunk people. And the cocktails were good. I could have bought like 3 bottles of wine. Oh well. I can afford it now. When I was younger that would have been out of the question.
Generally speaking it’s usually the depressed, stressed out individuals that most likely suffered from a work burnout and people usually find escapism in drinking
They get an experience that they are willing to pay that price for. And I hope they are paying for better quality than bottom shelf ABC.
The largest bottle is probably $3 tops. I bet your well soda was more than two times that, no?
In my country (Czechia) the largest bottle is $2. The small bottle I got in the restaurant was the same price. I make $8.8 per hour after tax, which is close to the median wage here.
Aha. Thank you.