Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: AMC's non-standard pricing scheme

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Posted by Manny Montes (Member # 5639) on 10-21-2014, 02:21 PM:

Has anyone else seen AMC's new pricing scheme for some theaters. It bucks the traditional standard of $0.25 intervals for tickets. I haven't been to an AMC in a while so I'm not sure if it also applies in concession.

For example:
AMC Empire adult evening tickets are $14.99
I've seen some with $8.63 children tickets.

Any ideas on the thoughts behind this one?

Posted by Scott Norwood (Member # 30) on 10-21-2014, 04:45 PM:

It sounds as if they will be wasting plenty of time counting out pennies and making change with prices like that.

Posted by Buck Wilson (Member # 5885) on 10-21-2014, 04:48 PM:

All the Concession items have done the same thing.

I asked "Did the local tax go up or something and you're just tacking on the extra?"

He didn't really know, just babbled some nonsense about how the structure changed everywhere within the company, blah blah, he was a mumbler.

Seems to me just another tactic to be able to raise prices more frequently and quieter since most people won't recognize their ticket going from $8.37 to $8.73. [bs]

Ugh, the big two are so annoying. I can't even.

EDIT: As Scott said, WOW, giving out change would be THE WORSTTTTT. I can just imagine a standard Saturday night.....

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 10-21-2014, 07:34 PM:

Could it be they're showing the prices "not including tax," and when sales tax is added it makes the price land on a 25 cent increment? (Disney used to do that in their parks but they don't anymore.)

Sounds like a recipe for having a lot of tills not be in balance.

Posted by Steve Matz (Member # 1890) on 10-21-2014, 08:24 PM:

Carmike Theaters here have a pretty good deal if you can wait til a Saturday/Sunday 4:00-5:30pm Matinee. Then it's only $5.50 vs the 9 Bucks any other time($12for3-D) I was a Happy Camper until I made the Mistake of wanting a Med Coke and Popcorn. I actually thought the Woman rang up the Wrong Price($13.55),I was so pissed off I was ready to say stick it where the Sun don't shine but went ahead and paid anyway. The Woman behind me who saw how pissed I was and was carrying this Large Empty Bucket that said Carmike on it;Said that's why I use this Popcorn Deal. She can get it filled for $3.00 each time.

Now I see why this outfit has so many Multiplexes across the Country.I would be embarrassed as a Theater Manager to rip a Movie Patron off on something that Cost 89 cents at any Eating Establishment and Popcorn you can Buy all day for under a Buck for the size I got. Well make me grab my Ankles Once;They'll never do it again. I'll take a 2 litre Bottle in there the Next Time.. [fu]

Posted by Manny Montes (Member # 5639) on 10-21-2014, 09:00 PM:

quote: Mike Blakesley
Could it be they're showing the prices "not including tax," and when sales tax is added it makes the price land on a 25 cent increment? (Disney used to do that in their parks but they don't anymore.)

I thought this too, then I double checked and the price they're actually charging people is the odd amount. For example one theater price used to be $11.50 for an adult, now its $11.55, so it's not just showing pre-tax.

Posted by Buck Wilson (Member # 5885) on 10-21-2014, 09:17 PM:

quote: Mike Blakesley
Could it be they're showing the prices "not including tax," and when sales tax is added it makes the price land on a 25 cent increment? (Disney used to do that in their parks but they don't anymore.)

Sounds like a recipe for having a lot of tills not be in balance.

No, sir. That's how it was before this switch. The ticket vs tax price was even broken down on each ticket in small type, the sum of which would be an even number as you said. But now it's just all these odd numbers.

Posted by Steve Kraus (Member # 476) on 10-21-2014, 10:05 PM:

The ticket showed the price the customer paid in total with the tax portion broken down. The non tax portion was not shown. That aspect has not changed. You see what you paid and also how much of that went to tax. It's just the total asking price is now some odd amounts.

Just now from their web site. Second is an ETX. Third is a Liemax.

Posted by Scott Norwood (Member # 30) on 10-21-2014, 10:16 PM:

So, what are they trying to achive by not having prices that (with tax, etc.) end in $.25 increments? Every individual transaction will take longer, cash drawers will need to be stocked with pennies (lots of them), and patrons will be annoyed by getting pennies in change.

It all just seems like an amazing amount of effort and expense for no obvious benefit. I can see an argument for having prices that end in $.99, but $.08?!? [Confused]

Is it supposed to encourage patrons to buy concessions with their change?

This will be "fun" when they run out of pennies on a busy night.

Posted by Terry Lynn-Stevens (Member # 7349) on 10-21-2014, 11:18 PM:

Around here we have weird prices like that. We also do have pennies in circulation so everything gets rounded out to be even.

In the past I have seen prices such as $6.42, $7.58, $10.66 etc. Never really noticed any difference in the length of the lines. Most people here use interact or credit card touch and pay so that speeds up the line which just offsets the penny pinches. These days we have no pennies and we longer need to punch in codes for interact and sometimes credit cards are tap and go....heck we don't even need to sign anything anymore when we use a credit card.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 10-22-2014, 12:18 AM:

quote: Terry Lynn-Stevens
We also do have pennies in circulation

quote: Terry Lynn-Stevens
These days we have no pennies

quote: Terry Lynn-Stevens
we longer need to punch in codes

Go home Terry you're drunk.

Posted by Frank Cox (Member # 6258) on 10-22-2014, 01:03 AM:

Makes perfect cents! [Big Grin]

Posted by Terry Lynn-Stevens (Member # 7349) on 10-22-2014, 01:11 AM:

quote: Scott Norwood
So, what are they trying to achive by not having prices that (with tax, etc.) end in $.25 increments?

From the way AMC explains it, the customer now views the price with the sales tax. In the past, the ticket price wuz (just for Flakesey) was rounded off. I am assuming at the box office the customer will see the price listed as $10+tax 1.13 = 11.13. Cineplex did (does, would have to look) it this way in the past and I think they still do. AMC probably did not break down the price at all.

Posted by Marcel Birgelen (Member # 6801) on 10-22-2014, 04:33 AM:

quote: Terry Lynn-Stevens
Flakesey

Really? Are we back in first grade?

quote: Scott Norwood
So, what are they trying to achive by not having prices that (with tax, etc.) end in $.25 increments? Every individual transaction will take longer, cash drawers will need to be stocked with pennies (lots of them), and patrons will be annoyed by getting pennies in change.

Maybe they're trying to push everyone to cashless transactions? People tend to spend their money easier when there's no real cash changing hands.

And although they may pay a shitload in processing fees, handling large amounts of cash also isn't free and it's more prone to theft too.

Like Buck already mentioned, increasing your prices without everybody noticing might also be easier with those odd prices. But they might also push for a totally "dynamic pricing scheme", so essentially you will be paying more for the most popular features and less for the alternative movies or box office bombs. Kinepolis, a local theater chain, tried something similar a few years back in Belgium, but apparently it wasn't worth the extra overhead.

Posted by Steve Kraus (Member # 476) on 10-22-2014, 07:16 AM:

Old, old, new.

Posted by Rusty Gordon (Member # 2210) on 10-23-2014, 12:09 PM:

AMC had odd cents concession pricing when I worked for them in the mid-1980s. It's nothing new for AMC. I believe it makes it hard for a patron to discern when a price increases since unrounded amounts tend to be unmemorable. My 2₵.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 10-23-2014, 12:53 PM:

quote: Rusty Gordon
I believe it makes it hard for a patron to discern when a price increases since unrounded amounts tend to be unmemorable

If that's really the reason, then I have even less respect for AMC than I did before. "Let's figure out ways to fool people."

Posted by Rusty Gordon (Member # 2210) on 10-23-2014, 01:09 PM:

Since the majority of patrons (at least in the larger cities with the higher ticket prices) pay using a credit card or buy their tickets online, making change at all is far less of an issue. They probably aren't making change for that many customers anymore anyway.

Posted by Manny Montes (Member # 5639) on 10-23-2014, 03:23 PM:

but still, even if only 30% of your patrons use cash, that's still a lot of transactions that are going to be handled via cash. Also what is the benefit to it? Florida requires that Sales Tax be posted, so movie theaters around here usually have it on the signage but it still rounds out. For example (numbers aren't accurate) Adult - $11.00 ($10.35 + $0.65 TAX) and its actually listed like that on their pricing boards (at least to the few i've been to).

I'm honestly wondering if AMC saw it as a way to think that patrons will believe prices are cheaper if they aren't in even amounts. I cannot imagine the change in procedures company wide (including modifying change orders and retraining your staff to handle change properly) would offset any additional revenue gained from this...

Posted by Rusty Gordon (Member # 2210) on 10-23-2014, 03:55 PM:

They've had odd cents concession prices for at least 30 years, they were doing it in the mid-1980s when I worked for them, so its something the managers are used to. We had tons of change on hand. I never remember running out and I was at the second busiest Atlanta, GA theatre at that time.

Posted by Manny Montes (Member # 5639) on 10-23-2014, 08:55 PM:

That's weird because the last 2 AMCs I've been to in South Florida all had $0.25 increments in both concession and box office before this change.

Posted by Buck Wilson (Member # 5885) on 10-23-2014, 11:37 PM:

They were all even prices in the KC area as well up until this change. Of course, I can't speak for AMC decades ago or anything.

Posted by Ronda Fitzsimmons (Member # 1418) on 12-08-2014, 05:45 PM:

Most state regulations require tax NOT be included in prices, or they penalize the store for adding the tax in by charging them additional tax on the added in tax. Stores that do add in the tax change their ways quickly after the first time they are audited.

Movie theatres have traditionally gotten a "bye" but perhaps with the tightening government budgets someone decided to enforce the rules for theatres too, so some states would require st separately, some wouldn't. NYS doesn't tax tickets, just film rental, so the tickets could be even amounts.

Just a possibility...