Why do popcorn and drinks cost so much at the movies?

[Excelsior]

Originally posted by: HappyPuppy
Theaters don't really make much from ticket sales. Their big profit comes from the concession stands.

 

[Red Dawn]

By lowering the price some wouldn't they sell more thus make more money? I know that the prices for Soda's and Popcorn are just to much for me to justify buying any when I am at the Movie Theater.

 

[SackOfAllTrades]

Originally posted by: Red Dawn
By lowering the price some wouldn't they sell more thus make more money? I know that the prices for Soda's and Popcorn are just to much for me to justify buying any when I am at the Movie Theater.

theoretically yes, but the way the prices are right now, it is priced just below the "breaking point" in which no one would buy concessions. People still buy concessions, but not enough not buy for them to lower the price (does that make sense)?

 

[atom]

Originally posted by: Red Dawn
By lowering the price some wouldn't they sell more thus make more money? I know that the prices for Soda's and Popcorn are just to much for me to justify buying any when I am at the Movie Theater.

But you are a minority. Most people are willing to get bum raped for a snack......

 

[Aves]

Not a bad read.

 

[MisterMe]

Originally posted by: atom

Originally posted by: Red Dawn
By lowering the price some wouldn't they sell more thus make more money? I know that the prices for Soda's and Popcorn are just to much for me to justify buying any when I am at the Movie Theater.

But you are a minority. Most people are willing to get bum raped for a snack......

Yep - We stood in a 10 deep line last night to see Shrek...We picked that line because the other 4 lines were even longer. $7.55 for a medium popcorn and a 32 oz sprite...some things are just the way they are...

 

[JeffreyLebowski]

offset your movie going costs, by going with your gf wife daughter, and make them bring a big purse.
In the purse, put bottled drinks, candies and snacks. Also put a video camera in it if you are daring.

I can't count the times i have seen people drinking beer in a movie theater.

 

[pulse8]

Originally posted by: SackOfAllTrades

Originally posted by: z0mb13
in other businesses, a good example being supermarkets, the power is held by the seller..

the distributors of products actually have to pay the store owners to even stock their goods.

if the movie theaters consolidate and work together, they will have more bargaining power, thus can bargain a better deal..

supermarkets are actually a bad example

they have power because brands A, B, C, D and E are from different companies thus they all fight each other for exposure.

theatres, ultimately just have the MPAA do deal with, so much of the fight for exposure does not exist.

The MPAA can choose whatever theatres they want to have show their movies.

ummmm...I don't think they deal with the MPAA, but each studio seperately.

 

[MrCodeDude]

It's not the movie that the theatre makes money off of, you can blame the MPAA for the high ticket prices.

Our theatre isn't that bad, $5.50 for large popcorn with 1 refill? That's not that bad, except they tear the bag after that one refill, so we always request the big cartoon plastic ones that are meant for kids to have (same size, just this is a plastic container, which means, no ripping). So yeah, 1 refill can easily turn into 3 or 4 if you have enough people with you.

 

[0roo0roo]

because americans can't stop stuffin their yaps for even 2hrs

 

[Koing]

Originally posted by: MrCodeDude
It's not the movie that the theatre makes money off of, you can blame the MPAA for the high ticket prices.

Our theatre isn't that bad, $5.50 for large popcorn with 1 refill? That's not that bad, except they tear the bag after that one refill, so we always request the big cartoon plastic ones that are meant for kids to have (same size, just this is a plastic container, which means, no ripping). So yeah, 1 refill can easily turn into 3 or 4 if you have enough people with you.

Thats cool.

I haven't bought popcorn in cinemas in ages. I just bring a bottle of water and drink on that. I keep a bottle of water on me at all times actually.

Koing

 

[Anubis]

because peopel are stupid enough to pay that much for them

 

[Geekbabe]

Originally posted by: atom

Originally posted by: Red Dawn
By lowering the price some wouldn't they sell more thus make more money? I know that the prices for Soda's and Popcorn are just to much for me to justify buying any when I am at the Movie Theater.

But you are a minority. Most people are willing to get bum raped for a snack......

I'd rather catch an early show with their cheaper ticket prices and then go out for a nice lunch/early dinner somewhere,the price difference in tickets plus the cost of snacks in the theater easily can buy you a decent meal.

 

[classy]

Originally posted by: HappyPuppy
Theaters don't really make much from ticket sales. Their big profit comes from the concession stands.

 

[NikPreviousAcct]

Supply and demand. People are simply willing to pay it.

 

[Jzero]

Theater owners often joke:
I run a candy store that happens to show movies.

 

[TitanDiddly]

Because they have you there, you can't very well leave and come back, and people are too stupid to smuggle their own food in past the sleeping 16 year old.

People are willing to pay.

 

[digitalsm]

Originally posted by: Geekbabe

Originally posted by: atom

Originally posted by: Red Dawn
By lowering the price some wouldn't they sell more thus make more money? I know that the prices for Soda's and Popcorn are just to much for me to justify buying any when I am at the Movie Theater.

But you are a minority. Most people are willing to get bum raped for a snack......

I'd rather catch an early show with their cheaper ticket prices and then go out for a nice lunch/early dinner somewhere,the price difference in tickets plus the cost of snacks in the theater easily can buy you a decent meal.

"Early bird" specials for $4.25. And since I'm a cheapass who lives in a college town, I have stacks and stacks of coupons for movie theater concessions.

 

[ColdFusion718]

Originally posted by: Taggart
I don't think the theater makes any money off tix. Doesn't all their money come from concessions?

All of the ticket sales goes to the distributor?

So you're telling us that these theatres pay for all their expenditures from selling all that crappy food? It costs thousands of dollars to run a theatre each day.

In my town, I go to this theatre a lot (like 3 times a month) and each time I go, I barely see any people buy food--college town with cheap students (we all sneak food by hiding them in our crotches).

 

[GhettoFob]

Originally posted by: ColdFusion718
we all sneak food by hiding them in our crotches.

lol :beer:

 

[dionx]

just today spent $20 on tickets and $17 on concession stand food for 3 ppl. sucks but oh well.

 

[wkabel23]

People are willing to pay for it.

 

[hdeck]

largest profits come from consessions, not ticket sales.

 

[Wingznut]

Originally posted by: JohnCU
I mean, how much do you really think it costs to make popcorn?

The actual cost of the product has little to do with how much it sells for. Take a basic economics class... It's all about what the market will bear.

 

[FeathersMcGraw]

Originally posted by: Ketteringo
I used to work at a movie theater as a cashier. According to a manager tehre, depending on the studio, they broke down how much the studio got by how long the movie was out. i.e.:

1st week= ~70%
2nd week = ~50%
all other weeks = ~30%

Those arent exact numbers, but you get the general idea. It also shows you why move movie studios push for huge first week crowds.

It gets worse when you consider that the rise of the multiplex allows just about everyone who really wants to see a movie on the opening weekend to do so. Since popular movies can just have three or four screens in the same theatre, even huge hits like Shrek 2, Harry Potter, and the like really don't benefit the exhibitors all that much.