Heady Topper in Boston

Long-term customer satisfaction. The whole "get as much as you can" philosophy may be the best thing for a business in the short-run, but it has large long-term costs.

There are a lot of bars/restaurants out there that serve craft beer, and there are only going to continue to be more and more. Given the choice between two bars, which are you going to choose to frequent? The bar that sells new releases for reasonable prices or the bar that sells them for a premium because they can?

These places only got $11 on Heady Topper because it's new to the area. At some point in the near future we'll be swimming in the stuff, hopefully even in stores, and then nobody is going to pay $11 for a can.

As for discussing it on the Internet - it's a forum, about beer. Beer prices are one of the few major topics that are actually interesting and worth discussing to many of us.

 

I have a case and I am looking to trade a couple of 4 packs. I live about 35 min from Boston. Message me with an offer if you are interested.

 

What bums me out is that it's not being "discussed." When someone doesn't like the price of something, the "discussion" seems to go directly to insulting the bar/distributor/brewery or making baseless accusations about their business practices. Based on how I see most people arrive at what they think should be charged, the vast majority of us have no idea what it takes to run any of these businesses. I know I certainly don't. So if I see something priced out of whack, I shrug my shoulders and move on to another brew and/or establishment. There just seems to be a lot of unnecessary vitriol that creates a lot of unnecessary tension. I see a lot of posts from exasperated bar owners and brewers and that can't be good for the overall craft beer scene.

 

And that is the most ridiculous thing said on this thread so far. People like to complain about the price of things. That's just a fact of life. If business owners find that "exasperating" then they should consider a career change. I work for a CPG company and we actually pay money to get consumer feedback on our products.

 

I'd take the opposite viewpoint and say that as consumers it is practically our responsibility to hold retailers feet to the fire over prices. It's certainly in our best interests, no? And if we don't speak up, how to bars know if their customers are happy or not with their prices?

Do I know all the ins and outs of running a bar? No, probably not. But I do have a decent handle on the high level economics involved.

It's simple really. When I walk into a bar for a beer I may choose a draft pint that the bar charges $5.50 and makes $4 on, or I may choose a can of Heady Topper that costs the bar $3. If they sell the can for $7, they make the same $4 profit on me. The overhead costs between the two options are going to be about identical. So when I see a bar charging $10-$11 for that can that costs them $3, I know for a fact that they're making a very handsome profit on the can, above and beyond what they'd make if I chose the draft pint. There's nothing to do with the cost of running the business in the difference between that $7 and $10 can, it's just a much higher profit.

Now, I certainly don't begrudge bars making a profit, but as a consumer I equally as much don't like paying extra money for no extra value.

Also, remember, while it may seem like all we do is bitch about prices sometimes, the bitching is actually quite rare relative to the number of beers/bars/stores out there. It's just that nobody is every going to bother starting a thread with something like "Congrats to Publick House for their average priced pint of Larry!" - that would make for a dull and fruitless discussion.

 

I too am at times disappointed at the level of discussion when it turns to price, but I think at least equal blame lies on the industry side. As consumers, most of what we know is deduced from comparing substitutes (e.g., bar 1 charges more than bar 2, or brewery 1 is bomber-only while brewery 2 sells 6pks). Based on those comparisons, we try to come to an understanding of prices. So we say "hey, bar 1 is gratuitously overcharging for beer X b/c I can get the same beer for much less at bar 2."

Then someone comes in to defend bar 1, sometimes a rep, sometimes a third party, and basically says "that's a baseless conclusion--how can you know what economics of running bar 1?" But then they stop short of actually helping us consumers learn why and how each bar, or bar 1 in particular, sets prices. I roundly applaud brewers like Chris Lohring who are willing to talk openly about pricing and costs, and will explain pragmatic yet potentially unpopular practices, such as selling low volumes a high margins.

If those in the industry continue to obfuscate their practices, potentially rational arguments will tend to turn to insults because there's simply little info to discuss. Maybe this is a calculated risk that they're willing to take. But if they're tired of accusations of price gouging (nevermind the appropriateness of the term) and the associated insults, they'll at least try to address the pricing concerns instead of simply dismissing them. Most of us who post complaining about pricing give real-world examples that set our expectations (e.g., the price of the same beer at a nearby bar, or the price of a similar beer by a similar brewer)--when this is summarily dismissed as unsubstantiated grousing instead of addressed thoughtfully, insults about the industry's treatment of consumers tends to follow.

 

Where did he talk about those issues exactly? I'd like to see it in whole and couldn't find it.

Different stores have different real-estate costs and they are all for-profit entities, so it makes sense to me that they would jack up their prices if they can't keep a product in stock. I'd rather go to a place and see "the" beer left @20% higher than other places than see an empty shelf.

I don't mind when bar X charges more than bar Y, it's obvious that they are both high-margin entities where you are paying for the experience of being out at that bar in addition to the actual beer.

 

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In addition to posts on the old forum (hey, how 'bout some read-only access already, something we had even when the old site was being held together by duct tape?), I'm referring posts like this.

 

If you say "Notch" 3 times in a thread around pricing, he'll appear.

emannths pointed out a more recent post, but he had plenty in the old forums. There are very few brewers out there who will directly talk about price, so it's great to see. Price is one of the most interesting and important topics for every party involved in the craft community...

 

I'm a newbie here but have to disagree. When I'm trolling around the boards looking for something to read I find price to be by far the least interesting subject. I just could care less that one bar is charging $8 a can and another $11. Just tell me who has HeadyT in stock so I can drink some.

 

I find the subject of price to be quite interesting. As craft beer grows so do prices. I'm just waiting for a real consumer backlash (boycotting bars or breweries).

In addition, these discussions help us avoid overpaying.

 

Hope this helps - on FB today: http://www.alchemistbeer.com/a-distribution-strategy/

 

What? I missed this? I'm slipping. Working on an infographic that breaks down the price of a pint. Won't make friends with this one.