Price gouging by the pub, restaurant & hotel industry

The spas not exactly cheap either- €280 for 120min session per person. (Top price).

So that would be €400 + €560= €960 before a bite to eat, which by the way costs €41 for a 10oz sirloin or rib eye in the bar.

It’s fairly expensive alright!

Enjoy though it’s a treat so feck it!

Well no back in my hayday if you were 25+ you looked very old for the crowd you were in, it was normally teenieboopers and early 20s who would be the ones out and about in most cases.

Prices in a cafe-car in Berlin, 2023, a fairly nice place.

50cl draught beer from 3.50, so 3.90 per pint.

50cl bottles of beer from an unbelievable 1.80!!!

VAT in DE is 19%, versus 23% here.

The excise duty on beer is:

DE excise is 0.787 / hL per degree Plato, meaning I think 2 or 3 cent per 50cl

IE: 22.55 cent per liter per %, meaning 47.36 cent for 50cl at 4.2%

With the increase in usage of contactless and tap and go, i have seen loads more places give you the machine which automatically has the tip option on it before you tap. Get in the bin with that crap. I went into my local cafe yesterday for a coffee, the guy in front of me tipped a euro for a takeaway flat white, wtf. The american tipping nonsense that is seeping in here needs to be cut out.

This guy seemed to think that an extra euro on a 3.50 takeaway cup was required.

If you sat in, had something to eat, sat around working on a laptop or something, maybe leave a few coins. But 30% over and above the price, and straight out the door. People must have more money than sense, so no wonder the gouging goes on.

I find it hard to be cross with them for putting up prices. Particularly pubs. It doesn't seem like the pub trade is booming and I think pubs are actually closing. I'm sure they would just lower their prices sooner than going out of business if that was an option.

That's just the cost of pints nowadays. I listen to older people and it seems they always had a few bob for pints, no matter how bad the economy was. But now it's a big expense. I certainly can't afford it anymore and the economy is pretty good at the moment That's just the way she goes.

True, but the prices are being paid.

Otherwise the pubs would be empty.

So, the 4th & most influential variable is "How much are people willing to pay."

Add that into the equation and then you find your price point.

People are going to pubs but I wonder who exactly are they? I wouldn't be surprised if there's a demographic shift in pub goers over the last decade or 2. I don't go to pubs that much anymore, but in my experience it's a pretty old crowd.

Going for a night out is a big extravagance nowadays. Old people complain that young people should cancel netflix and not eat avocados. But a night out per month would cost far more than a netflix, phone bill or avocados toast.

I'd imagine most young people won't be able to afford the pub and as those young people get oler, most of them still won't be able to afford the pub. It's probably a shrinking market in the long term.

Fair enough. Maybe it's just my experience. I'd still like to see a breakdown of who is spending money in pubs. Sat night is one barometer, but I wonder who is going to pubs the other nights and how the proportions have changed in recent years.

LOL. The cheapest burger is €18.50 ffs. Looks at the salads.

Pizzas seems ok value but would depends on the quality.

An absolute rip off lets be honest. Keep it.

No rip off there. That's about the going rate. I'd expect to pay that and am happy to do so. And leave a tip.

Absolutely. It was a marketing thing I got. At those prices they won't be attracting anyone in. Serious money being made there.

Even looking at the rest of the prices, surely €6.95 for a bowl of soup is crazy in any man's language