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Eat What You Want - Pay What You Think It Is Worth

B

Bilderberger

Gone But Not Forgotten
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I have heard tales of restaurants, usually in London, which offer the customer to eat whatever they want from the menu. There is no pricing and the customer pays whatever they think the meal was worth.

Is this true? I have never been to such a restaurant and, on mentioning this possible story to friends, was regaled with stories of "when my friend went to one of those restaurants etc.etc." In every case, the restaurant has now closed due to making no money.

Now, I am very very doubtful about this - what a ridiculous business idea. There are far more people who would rather have a nice meal for cheap rather than pay the actual worth.

Urban myth - or has anyone really opened such a restaurant.

Oh, and if one is open - I am off there tonight. I'm starving.
 
I've seen a reference (possibly in The Book of Tiki!) to a similar practice in California in the first third of the 20th century. Apparently most of these places were glorified diners, where they could keep strict control of food costs, keeping them low.

Seemingly, many customers felt honor bound to pay what they thought was fair, not just pay $0. And most of of them overestimated the cost of the meal. That, and the fact that you don't want to look like a cheap bastard when out on a date.
 
I used to work in retail for a registered charity and sometimes people would bring items of bric-a-bric to the counter that had no price on.

When they asked how much it was, I always found that if you asked them what they wanted to pay for it they almost always said more than you would have put on the item, probably erring on the side of caution out of fear of inadvertantly short changing a charity shop.

Marie
 
"Eat as much as you like" places are quite common here in the UK
but there is usually a standard charge. I can believe that the
"Pay what you think it's worth" experiment might work, partly for
the social reasons suggested above.

After all, the actual cost of the food is not the major expense for
the restaurant. Like any production-line operation, extra material
can be supplied for a low run-on cost. Also, as consumers, our
perception of value is affected by retail prices for small amounts.

Bums on seats is the name of the game, as with restaurants which
offer very cheap lunch menus. I should think they wouldn't want
too many hungry bums though.

The brute economics might work but in the end the pile-it-high, sell
it cheap philosophy does tend to conflict with the luxurious delusions
we expect to enjoy along with our steak. :confused:
 
BlackRiverFalls said:
they almost always said more than you would have put on the item, probably erring on the side of caution out of fear of inadvertantly short changing a charity shop.
Click to expand...

I don't think that's the case in County Durham, as I seem to remember seeing a sign saying 'No Haggling' in a charity shop in Stanley.
 
We had a no haggling rule too though it was a small minority of customers who would actually try it, actually the biggest source of loss was what in retail is affectionately termed 'shrinkage' - English translation 'stuff some b*stards nicked'.

You couldn't really blame the customer if something hadn't been priced and I guess the people who usually fond these items statistically weren't the type that were out to shaft us.

Marie
 
I have a feeling Stephen King did something like this with writing. Didn't he post book chapters on the net for free, with a link where you could pay if you thought it was worth it afterwards? Unsurprisingly, unsuccessful. And possibly a figment of my imagination, or an idea that never got implimented.

But! There is a definate in one of his books - and I can't remember which one- -oh, yes I can, I think it's the Dead Zone- where evil politician guy impliments an idea of having voluntary donation boxes instead of parking meters. In fiction, they work. It's just a throw-away paragraph about the rise of this character (Greg something? The one Our Hero ends up having to assassinate) who swindles money out of people by tugging at their consciences.

Not strictly relevant, I know, but kinda.
 
In response to a long standing discussion in FT about "if you can eat this, you get it free" possible urban legend, two of my Texan chums were telling me today about such places. I find it entirely believable (standard portions are heroic where I live) and they were telling me the item in question amounts to approximately six pounds of steak.

BTW I live in the fattest city in the US, believe it or not.
 
Slytherin said:
I have a feeling Stephen King did something like this with writing. Didn't he post book chapters on the net for free, with a link where you could pay if you thought it was worth it afterwards? Unsurprisingly, unsuccessful. And possibly a figment of my imagination, or an idea that never got implimented.
Click to expand...

That isn't a figment of your imagination - he did do exactly that.

The idea was that the book would be released on the internet in four installments. Each quarter would be free to download but there was a voluntary payment (about a dollar). It ran on an honesty system - if 75% or more paid the dollar - he would put up the next quarter. Should less than 75% pay for the section they downloaded - he would stop the experiment and no one would find out what happens in the book.

After the first quarter was released I think he got about 50% payments. He carried on but, as the take-up was no higher on the second quarter he ditched the experiment.

Talking of people's honesty - at my work we recently started an "honesty box" system whereby crisps/chocolate and coke would be made available and people would take what they want and put the money in a tin. The idea was that profit would go to the social commitee for future events and free beer.

I thought this was a great idea - and expected there to be a lot of profit as people would not always have the correct change and therefore pay extra.

After one week there was a stock take and takings were down £5.10. I was amazed - that is about 10 cans of coke taken for free - or 15 bags of crisps. My office is about 90 people and we are all well paid - no one needs to nick food. I just can't believe some people are so tight.

Anyway, once the current food is sold, it will not be replaced.
 
"SALT LAKE CITY - Salt Lake City's One World Cafe breaks two of the most fundamental rules of the restaurant business: It has no menus and no prices.

Diners eat whatever sparks the culinary imagination of owner and chef Denise Cerreta. Most days she offers soup, one or two salads, quiche, a main entree and a dessert, all of which are inspired by the fresh, organic produce and meats she buys that day.

Customers can fill their plates with as much, or as little, as they want and pay what they feel their meal is worth. In place of a cash register, Cerreta has a brown basket where patrons place their money. "

full story...
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/09/22/national/main574549.shtml
 
If there's one thing better than an urban myth which is proved wrong - it is when one which is proved right.

Thanks.
 
It's all true

I went, 4-5 years ago to a restaurant in London with exactly that ethos. If memory serves it was called "the place around the corner" / "just around the corner" and served Euro-Centric victuals and had a decent wine selection (drinks again had no price tag).

About 8 of us went and paid about £80.00 for starters/mains/pudding or coffee. Also included were about 3-4 bottles of wine that i estimated being £10-20 if bought in another restaurant (certainly weren't Chassange Montrachet Grand Cru but emminently quaffable).

On proffering the money, the waiter looked momentarily distainful and then went off about his business

I remember vaguely hoping at the time, that they would have experienced the Pareto principle, or something similar with a significant majority of people paying a fair price.

If it's closed down, and again i have no idea, then maybe my high hopes were misfounded and people did what we did. Namely, take the piss...

EDIT - had a chance to google for this restaurant and found it:

Free food

The review is '98 which would tie in with about the time i was there. The Restaurant "Just Around the Corner" is about halfway down. EDIT END
 
There's a guy on the corner giving out hamburgers

Bumped this thread because i've got the address and phone number for you:

JUST AROUND THE CORNER
446 FINCHLEY ROAD
LONDON
NW2 2HY
020 7431 3300

16 years on and still no prices on the menu. My faith in human nature is part restored.
 
Must say..Lived in London a while and never been to a place like that! Sounds an easy way to go bankrupt...or get a cheap meal, depends how you look at it :blah:

Well, if a place like that does exist...Let me know and I'll be there...In the name of Fortean Research of course ;)
 
Reminds me of Clerks, don't bother to serve customers in a shop just leave a pile of change with a polite note asking them to pay for what they take and take the correct change. As soon as people see this they just assume they're being watched or tested and do as they're told!
 
A while back i went up to my local corner shop one evening and found that the owner was there by himself and had fallen asleep in his front room, i could see him snoozing away through the doorway behind the till!

There were some piles of money on the counter that i guess were where a couple of people had just left the money and taken what they came for. I'd have done the same myself but i wanted some fags and didn't want to go behind the counter myself to get them, so i started shouting through to him until he woke up.

A couple of young guys that came in after me did make the suggestion that i help myself, i think poss. 'cos they were thinking of doing that and would feel braver if i went first! Which was another reason to wake the owner, 'cos i figured if i left money on the counter, they might take that too... :(
 
Back during the very early days of FATE magazine (circa 1949) that publication ran an item on a supermarket in the south-western United States which posted the price which each and every item had cost THEM (apparently computed for wholesale price, salaries, rent, utilities, breakage, spoilage, theft and so on) and would then sell each item for any additional amount the customer was willing to pay - as little as one additional cent per product. According to theory, even those single pennies were all clear profit.

The experiment didn't last for very long. By the time the FATE article appeared in print the store had already reverted to "regular" pricing, creating some friction between FATE and its readership.
 
Interesting. By the business logic I work on, one needs to be clearing a minimum of 28% profit before you (if you follow me) start to make a profit. Anything less is a limited success. Note: break-even is not failure, but it often feels like it :lol:
 
I've noticed that the vast quantity of newspaper CDs and DVDs which find their way to charity shops are now routinely housed in boxes marked, "Yours for a small donation". It must be worth at least a quid to not have to support some vile rag! Elsewhere I've seen them for as little as 10p.

On the other hand you will be pleased to know that any old crap such as ancient Gramophone cover-discs which are housed in plastic keep-cases will still routinely be priced at £2.99, £3.99 or even £4.99! I have to admit they do seem to have stopped asking that for AoL Trial Discs.

Ah, they are still precious things to some! But not customers, strangely.
:tongue:
 
There's a vegetarian restaurant in Melbourne called Lentil as Anything which has a pay what you think the food is worth policy.
I have heard the food is not very good, with very small portions and most people end up paying more than it is worth out of guilt.
 
I believe that in English law, you are not obliged to pay the price on the final bill. You actually only have to pay what you believe the meal was actually worth. Therefore if you receive a final bill for £100 but you felt it was nothing particularly special, you can just pay, say, £20 and you are not breaking any law.
 
Jane Siberry has taken a similar approach to selling her music online: Link
 
EvilPumpkin said:
I believe that in English law, you are not obliged to pay the price on the final bill. You actually only have to pay what you believe the meal was actually worth. Therefore if you receive a final bill for £100 but you felt it was nothing particularly special, you can just pay, say, £20 and you are not breaking any law.
Click to expand...

Under the Sale of Goods act, if I recall correctly any price tag is an invitation to treat, i.e. this is the price they want you to offer, however that price is not final until you agree to it and hand over the cash. Up to that point it is still possible to make a counter offer (though that doesn't have to be accepted) if the item is in your opinion worth less than the price tag.

However under the Supply of Services act, A menu would be (again I believe, it's been a couple of decades since I last studied law) a form of a fixed quote for services and food and by agreeing to the services and food you are agreeing to the price for said services and food. You are therefore stuck with paying the bill.
 
Am I correct that fixed prices, as we know them today, were the creation of Quaker merchants?

According to the tale as I know it, previous to the Quakers all prices were determined by haggling, But the Quakers looked upon haggling as LYING, since the merchant was obviously willing to accept less than his original stated price.

Thus fixed prices and no "lying."
 
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