Pricing, what a can of worms

[shroomgirl]

Scenerio~ Open air market in high end area of town filling a niche and selling gorgeous local organic sustainable products....
Omelet booth is charging 5 for 3 filling selections, $6 for everything.....that is it just an omelet....they are wonderful and I buy one every week and they are doing well...
(they rent from us)
Now we are adding a sandwich booth with grilled brats, lamb burgers and fat free hamburgers....pricing....$5 for a sandwich and salad which will vary week to week.
WHAT do you think of the concept that if it is priced high people won't tell you it's high they just will quit coming? Restaurants go around and around on this....
Thoughts?

Pricing . . . always an issue.

We know that food cost drives the beginning of price establishment. We know that labor drives food cost.

If you take those as given then we retreat to "what will the market handle" and what do "we" need to accomplish.

I still remember the first time I charged $5 for a hamburger. God, I was scared to death.

Let's look at all parts of your post . . .

You let us in that this was a "high end" area. We must assume that the product has something more than "just wonder bread and a slice of beef" so what are the determining factors.

1) You know their rent rate for the booth . . .

2) We know that we are in the middle of a quickly increasing beef price (all other products to follow).

3) Only you know if their product is: good, special, a$$kicking.

4) I have always felt that a good specialty menu has two sides: a) good strong food cost items that turn a profit and, b) a "way" for everyone to buy and be happy (i.e. a loss leader).

It is difficult to answer your question. If I were this purveyor I would watch VERY closely what the clientel buys and how they leave my booth. Profit is GOOD, however, without customers it is VERY hard to sell product.

Shroomie, I would always expect a certain amount of people to think I was "over priced" I just hoped that some of the 'others' saw a value.

[ June 06, 2001: Message edited by: T Alan ]