Unwitting price increase

[Goldy]

I bought another mat a few months ago, just for the equipment value. I closed it down and moved 7 of the new GE top loaders into my other store. I had been charging .75 cents for top load washers, yet the new GE top loaders were already set to 1.50..long story short..I meant to change the coin slides but didnt get to it for a couple days. To my surprise a few days later...the damn things had a bunch of quarters in them !

Why in the world would anyone pick this row to do their wash? This one row is 1.50, and the other 4 rows of top loaders are only .75. Needless to say, a month later, I have left it alone. I get $500 bucks a month from the new row..even though right next to it are rows of Speed Queens for .75..am I the crazy one?

Moral to the story....I guess you never know what people will pay until you try !

[CharlieS]

Some customers feel better if they spend more. Its a corollary of the "You get what you pay for" theory. I am always surprised by the people who put 5 pounds of laundry in a 35 or 50 pound machine. We have a severe water shortage, so are currently requiring them to move to a smaller machine. Some are very upset (not the impression I like leaving with a customer).

[Anonymous]

People are strange. I get some that bitch about the price of the 18# machines and try to stuff 30 pounds in them, and others who put 5 pounds in my 75# machines and are happy.

[Gary C]

I would say it's time to raise your prices. Clearly people are willing to pay it.

Gary

[Andy]

people will pay more if the machines are newer/better looking .

[pete f]

I guess that proves pricing tops at 75 cents is crazy.
I had 1 store once that had newer tops priced at 1.50
In the rear I had a couple old tops that would only run on cold, They were priced at 1.00. They got used a few times a month.

Newer machines do help out, people seem to feel they are getting better value.

[charlie]

I think we all spend too much time worrying about price. There will always be some customers who are price sensitive but I believe that there are different "HOT" buttons for every customer. I think that convenience is very important and that cleanliness is of utmost importance in our industry.

I spent years in the convenience store business and we felt that there were only a handful of price sensitive items in our stores...those being cigarettes and roll your own tobacco, take home milk, bread and fuel. One way we could increase our profits would be to increase items like chocolate bars (things we sold a lot of) by 5 cents...made a big difference at year end. MY POINT IS, I knew what the price of chocolate bars were BUT most of my customers had no idea. We all know the price of a top load wash but it MAY not be THE priority to most of our customers. Sometimes it is important to try and look at our business through the eyes of a customer and not through our own, jaded goggles. I think we are all guilty of assumption in all parts of our business. When I talk to my customers price is mentioned by 1 in 20 or about 5%. Even if I lose half of them or 2 1/2% and raise my prices 5% I am way ahead. Look at your overall offering, not just whether or not you are 25 cents cheaper than the next guy.

Charlie

[Kitty]

AMEN!!! CHARLIE!!!

I am a consumer and not an owner, however, I can wear any shoes!! Price should be positioned where a good profit is made, but priced for the best profit to be made!!!

As I do the books, I am very sensitive to increase the profits and reduce expenses. I have been ready to raise while "the boss" is hesitant. I do not understand the hesitance. Do you guys notice all the cost increases that incur in daily lives? The movies just went uo a quarter, so did my house salad, Outback, my favorite soup and my bud light in the corner bar. Insurance went up, stamps went up, my eddie bauer jeans , and my covergirl lipstick! What have you guys paid more for in the last six months??? What is the big deal for a laundry mat to go up, even if it must be in increments of 25cents????

[anonymous]

This brings up the price question of soap pricing. I raised my vend price to .75 from .50 2 months ago. Although I've heard very little grumbling, sales of the products have dropped, but I'm making more money. I know I could have worst problems, but my question is, will this small box of soap be enough of a deterent to cause customers to go elsewhere? What do you guys think? Where are you guys priced at?

[anonymous]

My vending soap is $.57 (I have a card store). If your customers feel comfortable in your store, they will STAY in your store. Why would they go through the pain of learning a new layout, and different control panels?

People pay money for what they WANT. In my store, I run a morning special, but we are rarely packed at that time. Convenience plays a big factor. Most of my customers find later in the day to be more convenient for them, just like some customers don't like to haul their own soap to the mat. Over time, the amount of boxes you sell per month will increase. Same thing with my $.75 regular candy bars.

When my brother had an old mat, he had a TV (sitting on top of a candy machine) that vended one hour per $.25. The coin mech was attached to the side of the candy vendor. The TV fizzled out one day and he removed it, but he never got around to taking the coin mech and box off the side of the candy machine. While moving equipment to a new mat nextdoor, he heard a jingling from the supposedly empty candy machine. He had about $40 in the old TV coin box that hadn't been attached to anything for almost a year. The customers just wanted to see if putting money in it might do something. People pay money for what they WANT. Even if they are sometimes uncertain of a return.

[pete f]

Dolly I may be a minorirty here, I do avocate fair pricing..
Soap may be better off at 50 cents vs 75. I have a soap vender I raised to 60 cents, has been way off. I am dropping to 50 cent next week. I sold 2 times as much at 50. Sometimes you got to go with the numbers..
Sure, 75 cent was a easy target. But I only wanted a 10 cent increase, and that has backfired. Maybe 75 would havebeen better?? yes, the soap vender gave change...

[anonymous]

Pete, I agree with fair pricing, I also agree with capitalism. How many years has that box of soap been priced at .50? The .60 cents price seemed to be enough to turn people off, yet not enough to make a profit. I've wrestled with this ever since I increased the soap vend price, and I'm still not sure if it was the right move. I'm bringing in more soap collections than ever, yet it just bugs me that product sales are down. I think Bubbles is right though, over time the consumer will accept it and sales will again increase.

[pete f]

I have my own unwitting price increase. I bought a new soap vender and installed it today. It came with .75 already set, so I left it. This replaced a 60 cent machine I was having to much trouble with. Maybe 75 cent soap will sell better than 60 cent soap if it is easier to use. I will report back in a couple months..

I was going to set the thing to 50 cents, but I could see that was alot of work..

[Gary C]

Pete, It was probably that dime they needed and did not have. They come in ready to spend quarters so you may very well find that 75 cents works out well.

Gary

[pete f]

My other soap vender gave change, so putting in 3 quarters was no problem

I don't think the 75 cent price is going well.... within 5 hours someone had put a big sign on the new soap machine "RIP OFF"

I do not know if that is worse than the main water line getting broken buy construction crews today and shutting me down for 4 hours. One lady I gave a refund to becuase of it was kinda pissed off...

Another day..
such an easy business.

[JeffLange]

Maybe the customers are stupid and did not realize the machine gives change. I have been .75 for 5 years, if they complain I tell them to bring their own soap.

[Fred50]

Pete,

It just shows that you can please everyone!

What do your competitors charge?

Remember that the important part is your net profit from selling soap, so if it stays the same, you haven't lost anything. Actually, selling less soap at the same net is better because you spend less time filling the machine and you use less space for storage.

[buddy]

I am very reluctant to increase my prices for the fear of losing customers. I have some competition but thankfully people like my place better than others. I have the busiest mat around.

I do not want customers to go to this other places.

Besides I think if there is a justification for Price Increase then customers are more likely to accept it. For instance putting in new machines or spending money to renovate your place etc.

[pete f]

I was on TV today! The main water line was broke all day, when I went over to the site a few blocks away a TV crew interviewed me. And my Laundromat was shown on TV!

No soap sales today, no customers today. Now I feel for those in dry zones and towns limiting thier hours. water is important.

Buddy: I am going to take the RIP OFF note lightly... I never like it when that crap happens, but I have to go on my years of experiance. I remember about 7 years ago I bt my #2 mat, the tops were 1.00 I raised them to 1.25 about 2 months after I bought it, had to buy new coin slides cuase the dang old ones only took 1.00! Cost me about $500. Anyway, I got a note a day later, something like " I am never coming back to this laundromat, you new owners are screwing everyone"
Well, 8 years later I am still in business, the mat rocks, life goes on.
Soap has been 50 cents for about 10 years. Everyone else is 75 cents for some time. I tried to be nice and go to 60 first, but the soap vender was just always screwing up, so I sank $1100 into a new one. The one I replaced was only 1 year old. that one was $1200, now down the drain. It would be OK for an attended mat.

So as much as I do not like RIP OFF signs on my new stuff, i do not feel like I am screwing anyone. In fact I was going to raise prices last year but held off becauase our local economy took a big hit with the 9/11 deal. So I waited. I got the road construction out front, at time water not running, trucks, bulldozers, cranes all over my lot at times, I got some pea-brain dude trying to put another mat I have out of business. I really think I the 75 cent soap will be a non issue with me very quickly!

[anonymous]

Way to go, Pete!

Good free publicity, even if you were in a no-water situation. Did you tell the news person that it was a pity you had no water, because your mat was one of the most popular and busiest in the area? That this would have an impact on HUNDREDS of people?

I'm beginning to think my soap machine is way too low at $.57 (Card store). When the minimum wage went up, I raised my candy bars to $.75, and I guess I should have done it to the soap machines, too.

However, when asked why I raised the candy bars, I told folks that I wanted to decrease sales, as it seemed I was forever ordering or personally picking up stock, and I was getting tired of working so hard. Sales hardly fell at all -- my customers like to think they keep me busy.

[anonymous]

Good news coverage Pete! The construction will pass, the water will be flowing again, birds will be singing...What make and model soap vendor did you get rid of, and what make and model did you get?