AIBU to blame people who constantly pay high prices for food and drink at events for keeping those prices high?

[Weeeeeeeeeee]

Went to watch The Hundred the other day. Got the cheap seats (restricted view - £12.50 per adult and £5 per child). We took food and drink. Bought some drinks from the bar but waaay too expensive to have as many as we'd have liked.

Husband took little one off for a promised ice cream (it was hot and young children love an ice cream treat). It was £8 per ice cream (one was a Cornetto, the other two scoops in a pot). Wtaf?! I don't know how anyone can justify charging that. I also wonder how on earth people with more than one child are meant to afford it. Had hubby realised the cost, before promising the little one an ice cream, he wouldn't have said ice cream was on the cards! Won't be doing that again, for sure.

AIBU to blame people who repeatedly pay such exorbitant prices for these prices being maintained? If everyone took a stance and refused, surely they'd have to come down.

I wonder if it's some sort of sick joke to see how much can be charged and people will still pay...

Oh no 😂 😳

You can take your own food and drinks into the venue. Pop to the co op before hand, most people do.

I saw the prices for food at the european games. They are not reasonable at all. They wonder why a lot of the seats are empty. It contributes to people not going. And makes us look as a nation as if we aren’t interested in sport. Not good.

I doubt the vendors are making huge profits their costs are high , it's their business they have to make a profit. If people are buying their goods their costs are not too high.
Of course you are being unreasonable.

Why should people refuse to pay it if they’re happy to pay it though? They may think £8 is good value for an ice cream in that particular environment. The ice cream is more valuable to them than the £8 in the moment.

The food/drink providers are paying to be there, based on the profit they will make. That reduces the cost of the tickets.

The event organisers are doing it for profit, not public service.

The customers choose what they are willing to pay for.

That's capitalism.

Also my guess- those pitches don't come cheap.

It's theoretically possible, I guess, that prices of some things would come down if everyone boycotted. Another possibility is that the business wouldn't be attractive enough if they had to charge less, so the service just wouldn't be there. Probably a mixture of the two depending on context.

Plus as others have pointed out, in some venues it'd just lead to the place trying to recoup the money elsewhere so the entry price, parking or whatever would go up if people suddenly got price sensitive about ice cream.

Not wanting to spend £8 on a tiny portion of ice cream does not make anyone a fun sponge.

And in fact because I would never spend silly money on days out we get to go on days out more often. Which is more fun!

I feel like this about things like £4.60 coffee on a café, on a flight or a train. I would rather have the experience of sitting having a coffee while I read my book than the money. I don't really care that I've got instant at home.

No way. I remember buying ice creams in Cornwall when my children were younger. I had a tenner on me and assumed that would be enough but they were £6 each. I had to get out of the queue and find my DH for more cash - I was bloody mortified. That was at least five years ago.

We went to a local event this weekend albeit a bit upmarket and we bought 4 ice-creams @ £7.50 each. Thirty quid on ice-creams!

Ice creams from a van haven’t been £2 in twenty years.

There was a recent news story about this. They were debating it on TV. The headline was that the average 99 is now £7.

YANBU OP. £8 for a Cornetto is rediculous. Companies have been profiting on the back of the ‘cost of living crisis’ ever since Covid. Yes, costs did rise as a result of the pandemic and war in Ukraine and Iran, but I firmly believe that companies are riding on the back of this wave of higher prices and using them as an excuse to push up their prices as high as they can get away with.

I saw boxes milkshake powder on the shelf in the supermarket a few months ago going for £6.

If people keep paying these rediculous prices, it becomes the new norm and we all end up having less in our pockets to pay for essentials while the bosses of the companies reap it in.

That makes no sense. Unless you think there is a conspiracy among milkshake companies to artificially raise prices.

Otherwise all it takes is one company to charge less and they will get all the sales and make a huge profit.

@Fizbosshoes I was at the exact same match as the poster and can assure you that you can take as much food and drink in as you to like to Trent Bridge except alcohol and nothing in anything glass. The security man was joking that all he had confiscated was a small jar of mustard as jar was glass. They also have free cold water stations. You can also leave the stadium at anytime as long as you show your e ticket to go to the loads of takeaways across the road. I saw a couple of people wandering about with Mc Donald’s bags.

Festivals do have captive audiences, Trent Bridge are very good with what they allow. Our tickets were £34 each for cricket. We were there from 2.30 till just after 9. They had a band between both the matches. I actually think cricket is one of the few things that’s still quite good value. I’m off to Southwell ladies day on Sunday and that is £41 a ticket.

I am in Nottingham and I haven’t seen an ice cream anywhere for £2 for years.

You’ve pretty much negated your argument by saying your father and husband bought drinks and ice cream whilst at the venue , ergo your group is also the problem.

You do know the costs of running large venues do you?

They often ARE four times the price of buying an item from the supermarket. Or even an ice cream van.

Your tickets were dirt cheap for a whole day, OP. So, even including drinks and ice cream, it was a bargain day out. Stop complaining.

Grow up. I’m not saying that at all.

I’m saying there was a spike in prices because of Covid etc, but the prices (conveniently) never go back down again do they. They’re all riding on the back of it. Not just milkshake companies. And it’s not ‘a conspiracy theory’. It’s Greedflation.

So why doesn't one company just reduce their price a little? Their profits would go up because of their higher sales (a slightly smaller profit per unit, but lots more units sold). Your theory doesn't make sense, no matter how much you attack me.

I'm not really sure why you needed to explain stuff like "young children love an ice cream treat", and even more so "when it's hot" which isn't exactly rocket science or something that needs justification, but it does sort of explain why you don't make the connection between your group spending excess amount of money on unnecessary stuff but being critical of others for doing the exact same!

if people didn't pay extortionate prices maybe prices might come down. Or perhaps venders would just not sell anything as it wouldn't be worth it.

Since when has having an ice cream been a long anticipated treat?

Op you seem to think everyone is struggling. Have you been to London? Have you been to restaurants in London? Queues out the door. They charge those prices because people like you pay it. Who cares if it’s your dh, you’re from the same family.
I’ve also never been to a theatre that allows own food and tickets that cheap. So you scored in other ways. Stop whingeing because overall you saved. Or your could have taken your own ice cream.

Exactly what’s a stingy person the op is. Drank tap water and food from home, dirt cheap tickets, drinks bought for them, and the day cost her £16!

It's not about being 'stingy' - it's about choosing how to spend your money. And letting other people make different choices.

They often do - especially in the own-brand sectors - but branding is extremely powerful.

Even going back to the actual milkshake example, Lidl sell their own boxes which are a little over half the price of Nesquik and you get approaching twice as much (and imho it's a lot nicer). Often, though, with the branding manipulation, being so much cheaper will often work against it, with people assuming - fed by the countless big-brand adverts - that the 'cheapo' stuff must be rubbish and nasty.

The main brands don't care about wooing the people who either won't or can't pay their prices, as it would be a losing battle. They know that there are enough people who will pay their prices, regardless of cheaper alternatives, or bringing food and drink from home, or drinking tap water or whatever.

Exactly and people chose to spend on £8 ice creams and op had a choice not to.