Welcome to BigScreenBiz.com

I don't know how many of you track this to this kind of detail but what would you say you have as cost and markup for your concession items. Normal things like:

Pop corn lg med small
Pop lg med small
boxed candies
cotton candy
dogs
nachos
monster pickles
pretzels
pizza slices

Not looking for someone to email me their quicken, access or excel files here just a "guestimate". I'm trying to judge my potential numbers against some reallife numbers.

Thanx

It really depends upon what your pricing is going to be. You should check with your competitors and decide if you are going to stay near their prices or make them cheaper. I don't know how some people on this site can sell a popcorn for a dollar,but they do, most are much higher. It is mainly where will YOU be at.

The lowest pop corn price I saw listed was $1.25. My small which is a 24 oz. goes for $1.50, and I make one hell of a good profit on that. The cup costs me 6 cents, and the pop corn that goes in it cost 7 cents. The butter that goes on top might cost 2 cents, giving a total cost of 15 cents. A profit of $1.35 or a markup of 1000%. Not bad.

In reference to what is charged at most chain theatres, many will argue that since they can't even break even from ticket sales that they have to charge those prices to cover expenses and then hopefully still have a profit. Indeed, that's true, but I know that I don't have to rip off my patrons to the extent that I see at most first runs to still make a decent profit. Being a low priced 2nd run, I can't charge more for refreshments then I do for tickets. You will notice that most of the multiplex subruns charge first run (or close to that) concession prices, and that is why most of them aren't successful.

I always prefer to charge less and do a larger volumne... which always seems to work for me.

I went to the multiplex today and paid $4 to get in (first show of the day price) and $8 for a large bag of popcorn and large soda. That is too much. That was in far northern California. The bigger cities charge even more. They should feel guilty about a 4,000% or more mark-up. (Bags are much cheaper to buy than tubs).

Burney if you felt the popcorn and soda prices were too much (especially since you are a theatre owner) WHY ON EARTH DID PAY IT?

I guess I am different. I was taught to vote with my feet and my pocketbook.

This sort of thing is the single biggest gripe I have about patrons who come to my second run theatre. They complain all the time about the prices at the first run theatres but it doesn't stop them from going nor does it stop them from buying the overpriced concessions.

The same thing holds true for screen presentation, cleanliness and every other gripe about my competitors that I am subjected to. When I ask the people why then did you go to that particular theatre (paritcularly if they tell of repeated problems on multiple visits), the only answer I get is the sound of silence.


Sorry .....Rant Mode Now Off

Well, the crux of the matter is that people LOVE to bitch!... No matter what you do, or what you charge, they are going to complain... From my childhood I remember 10 cent kid's movie tickets, 5 & 10 cent popcorn & drinks, and nickel candy bars... When I worked for a couple of chains (36 years ago) I was ashamed of the way they ripped off the public with their concessions prices, and promised myself I would never do that when I had my own theater... My prices are right in line with ROXY's and IF you can't triple or quadruple your costs in that price range, you'd better look into WHY your costs are so high... I'd MUCH rather sell 100 popcorns for $1, than 20 @ $5: you'll ALSO sell more drinks, and other concession items with the 100 popcorn sales, and satisfy MORE of the customers in the process... Fleecing your captive audience leads to more outside stuff being sneaked in, and eventually ends up biting you in the ass... The Golden Era of the Movie Business was based, in part, on the premise of giving the customer a lot of value for the money, and volume sales: a simple concept that is being overlooked by most operators today... The end result is a constant decline in total numbers of ticket sales... Eventually we will price ourselves out of the market... I have a lifelong love of movies, but would NEVER pay $8-10 to see ANY picture, and I for sure can do without that $5 popcorn... IF it came to that, I can always find a spare pocket to bring along something to gnaw on!... 'Nuff said...

I paid it because I wanted it, I had the cash, and there wasn't a line. I like to eat popcorn while I watch movies and certainly would not bring my own in--although it would have tasted better. Do I spend the same thing every time I go there? No. Sometimes I just don't have enough cash or refuse to wait in line for concessions. Then they get $0 from me.

As a general rule of thumb, we use the "X3" pricing on almost everything we sell. Meaning, if it cost me $1.00, I sell it for $3.00. That startegy works well for our hot cooked items, but not so well with stuff like Drinks, Popcorn & candies.

We see it as 33% food cost, 33% labor and 33% profit.

We sell our boxed candies for $2.00 a box. I think we pay somewhere around $0.80 a piece for them. Since there is no labor or prep to boxed candies, we double the price and then round it up to the next $0.25,

Our drinks:
24oz. - $1.50
32oz. - $2.00
44oz. - $2.50 ($0.75 refills available on this size only)

Popcorn:
3 1/2 E box - $1.00
70oz. tub - $2.00
130oz. tub - $3.00
170oz. tub - $4.00

Monster Pickles - $1.00

---

Barry Floyd
Floyd Entertainment Group
Lebanon, Tennessee

Stardust Drive-In Theatre
Watertown, Tennessee

Most chains actually use the "3X" pricing percentages when they set their prices. I know the company I currently work for does this.

When I wrote my business plan a few years back - I used the same formula (pretty much). I also tried to put myself in a position where I significantly could drop my Cost of Goods Sold - which my target area was 15%.

My favorite thing is when you are selling the customer the large and large, they are complaining about the prices as they pay for the items. Weird......

Using any one formula for all pricing will get you in trouble. It's good to have a rule but it's more important that you are priced where you should be to max the sales but not drive off customers. Some things can be priced higher that 3x (soda and pop) and other you'd die if you tried to double. Price based on your competition, your location, your costs.

---

Michael Hurley
Impresario

Thanx guys. I tell you that even the disparate answer that you all sometime give is very helpful. as has been pointed out in other threads what works for one doesn't always work quite the same for others. so it is very helpful to see those that have pretty rigid formulae and others that either wing it or track it very closely to guage the potential your market will bear. It really is the strength of this site and this little web community that we do not always get the same answers to our questions here in the BSB forums.