how does nightclub/bar make money?
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Markup on drinks is insane. There are about 16 shots in a standard 750 mL bottle of alcohol. At the grocery store, the cheaper brands of most alcohols probably run $15, up to $30-$50 for nicer brands, but let’s use the cheaper end (what a bar would call a “well” drink) for comparison. That maths out to less than $1 per shot of alcohol, if you buy it to drink at home. Bars and restaurants, keep in mind, are buying their alcohol wholesale and in bulk, so they’re paying significantly less than that, even.
How much are you paying for an average well shot at a bar? Here in LA, at most bars, probably at least $4-$5, at the lower end of bar prices. That’s at least a 300% markup off of the price you’d be paying for the drink at home, and that’s *before* you factor in the cheaper cost that the bar is paying for their booze in the first place.
Plenty of room in that for overhead, wages, and profit. We like to spend more to drink in a fun place with our friends without having to host at home, so bars can turn an easy profit off of drink sales.
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