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The Cost of Free Doughnuts: 70 Years of Regret

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Re: The Cost of Free Doughnuts: 70 Years of Regret

#41

Post by afterburner »

blakesterz wrote: post #8

I witnessed something like this when I worked at a Six Flags amusement park (wasn't 6F at the time) that had a decent size water park. They did exit surveys every night, asking as many people as they could if things were ok, and one year they also asked people "Would you pay extra for the water park", it was free as part of admission. So they wanted to know if people would pay extra. People said yes. Something like 9…

Was there something wrong with the way the exit survey was asked/written? Because that is remarkable.

Was maybe part of the issue that people leaving when the exit survey was being run (at "night") not representative of the visitors as a whole?

Re: The Cost of Free Doughnuts: 70 Years of Regret

#42

Post by justin66 »

bigtones wrote: post #30
mjhouse wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When I was in the Army, everyone hated the Red Cross, although the reasons shifted depending on who you ask. I've never heard about the doughnuts before. Most commonly, other soldiers claimed that they sold donated blood, although how true that is, I don't know.

Yes, The Red Cross and almost all blood donor clinics sell their blood for hundreds of percent in markup. NPR also had a good series on that too: https://www.npr.org/2011/06/10/136931615/blood-bones-and-org...

There is much, much more recent reporting on this matter. Blood and blood plasma make up something between 1.5% and 2.5% of the United States' exports. Which is weird.

https://www.npr.org/transcripts/582509923?storyId=582509923?...

https://www.newsweek.com/two-percent-us-export-income-blood-...

Re: The Cost of Free Doughnuts: 70 Years of Regret

#43

Post by beamatronic »

save_ferris wrote: post #23
RandallBrown wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A park in Indiana, Holiday World, did something sorta the opposite. They figured out how much the average guest paid for drinks, then raised the ticket prices that much but made all drinks free in the park. It was a huge success. People expect ticket prices to go up occasionally and they expect to be gouged for drinks. By getting "free" drinks, it felt like a huge value. (At least for me when I visited.) I bet it mad…

Ive been saying for years that airlines should do this. Add the price of an alcoholic beverage to everyone's ticket and then give those who want one a "free" drink. I never understood why they opted to go with ruthless cuts and declining customer experience.

Hawaiian Airlines offered free Mai Tais when getting close to HNL, for a long time. They used to have metal forks too. And they had great food too, included! I didn’t mind paying a premium to fly Hawaiian. Then they implemented cost cutting measures. Now I just fly whoever is cheapest.

Re: The Cost of Free Doughnuts: 70 Years of Regret

#44

Post by thayne »

bigtones wrote: post #30
mjhouse wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When I was in the Army, everyone hated the Red Cross, although the reasons shifted depending on who you ask. I've never heard about the doughnuts before. Most commonly, other soldiers claimed that they sold donated blood, although how true that is, I don't know.

Yes, The Red Cross and almost all blood donor clinics sell their blood for hundreds of percent in markup. NPR also had a good series on that too: https://www.npr.org/2011/06/10/136931615/blood-bones-and-org...

It's not just blood. If you donate your organs, those are also sold. And the cost of the donated blood or organ is passed on to the recipient (or their insurance at least), probably with additional markup.

Re: The Cost of Free Doughnuts: 70 Years of Regret

#45

Post by qppo »

hammock wrote: post #12

Once you lower the price of a product, you can never raise it again. I heard that on/around HN at some point and I haven't seen it proven wrong yet. There's a reason why chip bags get smaller, why new versions that seem identical to the old come out, why Tommy Hilfiger will never be a prestige brand again. And it's because customers don't tolerate raising prices.

Sure you can. Prices fluctuate all the time.

Your customers don't like being swindled. And oftentimes, when a price jumps, they feel swindled. I think the consumer's swindle perception factor is more dependent on the second derivative of the price history than the first.

Re: The Cost of Free Doughnuts: 70 Years of Regret

#46

Post by asdff »

afterburner wrote: post #41
blakesterz wrote: post #8

I witnessed something like this when I worked at a Six Flags amusement park (wasn't 6F at the time) that had a decent size water park. They did exit surveys every night, asking as many people as they could if things were ok, and one year they also asked people "Would you pay extra for the water park", it was free as part of admission. So they wanted to know if people would pay extra. People said yes. Something like 9…

Was there something wrong with the way the exit survey was asked/written? Because that is remarkable. Was maybe part of the issue that people leaving when the exit survey was being run (at "night") not representative of the visitors as a whole?

Past elections have told us exit polling is a load of horseshit. These are useless metrics.

Re: The Cost of Free Doughnuts: 70 Years of Regret

#48

Post by afterburner »

Loughla wrote: post #39
vmception wrote: post #5

Is there anybody alive that holds this grudge? Even with the article from 2012, I don't know Was this grudge instilled in children?

Grandpa is 97 this year. He still refuses to support the red cross, because they charged for coffee and donuts in WW2 Guam. He still talks about it like it was a personal attack. I grew up thinking the Red Cross was a for-profit war-profiteering leach of an organization.

> He still talks about it like it was a personal attack

Not surprising, otherwise he wouldn't hold the grudge for so long.

Many climate change deniers feel like even implying they're a (tiny) part of the (systemic) problem is a personal attack, hence their shitty attitude about science.

Re: The Cost of Free Doughnuts: 70 Years of Regret

#49

Post by MaxBarraclough »

dperfect wrote: post #26

It's true - charging for something that was once free can be risky, but it isn't always bad as some might believe. I have great respect for businesses that charge for a service that provides real value - even if it was once free. Often times (especially in the startup world), companies start out offering a free product (operating at a loss) to gain market share. It's not often the best strategy, but in some markets i…

A similar thing happens in the podcasting space.

It's a pity it's still quite inconvenient to make micropayments. If I could make a single click to pay a penny for access to a single article, I imagine I'd do so frequently.

Re: The Cost of Free Doughnuts: 70 Years of Regret

#50

Post by _bxg1 »

dperfect wrote: post #26

It's true - charging for something that was once free can be risky, but it isn't always bad as some might believe. I have great respect for businesses that charge for a service that provides real value - even if it was once free. Often times (especially in the startup world), companies start out offering a free product (operating at a loss) to gain market share. It's not often the best strategy, but in some markets i…

I also don't think many tech companies would be mistaken for "something like Mom". There's a fundamental thing about creature-comforts like food and coffee that would make this situation more emotional.
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