this post was submitted on 09 Jan 2024
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[–] mastefetri@infosec.pub 65 points 10 months ago (7 children)

They'll keep it up as long as business is good. If people will pay 12$ for a latte and lines are out the door, and there are no regulations to stop price gouging and predatory behavior, why wouldn't they?

[–] CosmicTurtle@lemmy.world 30 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Oh there are definitely laws to stop price gauging but that's for small businesses and individuals who aren't rich.

[–] Ilovethebomb@lemm.ee 0 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Isn't a café the very definition of a small business?

[–] Obi@sopuli.xyz 27 points 10 months ago (1 children)
[–] Kiosade@lemmy.ca 12 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I wouldn’t really call them a café, just a chain where you can buy drinks made from burnt-to-shit coffee beans.

[–] mightyfoolish@lemmy.world 6 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

That's okay. The coffee beans to chocolate, whip cream , soy milk, and extra caffeine ratio is like 1:99.

[–] GraniteM@lemmy.world 13 points 10 months ago

why wouldn't they?

It's not even a matter of "why wouldn't they," do much as a matter of they must.

Absent of regulations, any company that doesn't abandon every conceivable human moral in pursuit of more profit will find itself hopelessly out-competed by the ones that do. If your every competitor is charging $12 for a latte and paying their employees starvation wages, and you charge a reasonable amount and pay your employees a decent wage, then every hour you're in business your competitors will be making more money than you, and you will always fall behind, unless something comes along to close that gap.

Libertarians might try to say that eventually the free market will close the gap, but adults know otherwise. The free market doesn't give a shit about human decency, the environment, the value of mom and pop businesses, or any of that. The free market can only ever want to make more money, every year, at a faster rate of increase, every year. Forever.

Government is the only thing that can reasonably account for how things should be. Regulations are the only reason we don't have 80 hour work weeks and children in the mines.

[–] UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 10 points 10 months ago

Is $12 for a latte even price gouging?

Like, $12 for milk and eggs? $12 for a pound of veggies or a gallon of gas or a jug of water during a hurricane? Sure.

But I can buy a bag of beans for $12 and make ten cups easy. I just don't know if I'd call it price gouging because you're willing to pay out the nose for foamed milk.

[–] helenslunch@feddit.nl 5 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I think coffee shops should 100% be allowed to price gouge. Its a product anyone can easily make at home for pennies.

It's like those multi million dollar art installations that's literally just a yellow square with a red dot in the middle.

[–] general_kitten@sopuli.xyz 3 points 10 months ago (3 children)

to be fair a setup that can make espresso drinks in the same quality league as coffee shops will cost in the range of 1000-3000€ but if you drink one cup per day then you can save that amount in a year by making coffee at home

[–] helenslunch@feddit.nl 6 points 10 months ago

Well, in that case, I don't think anyone can make the case that espresso is a necessity, so again, gouge away.

[–] SocialMediaRefugee@lemmy.world 2 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (1 children)

If you can afford a 1-3K espresso setup you probably don't think about saving money on coffee

[–] general_kitten@sopuli.xyz 1 points 10 months ago

well if you got savings but low income you can afford one time costs such as that. i got a 1k espresso setup mainly so i dont have to spend 20-40% of my disposable income on coffee from cafes

[–] NotSoCoolWhip@lemmy.world 1 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Bambino is 600, if you do the math it pays itself off in like two or three months of owning one vs going to a coffee shop.

[–] Sweetpeaches69@lemmy.world 1 points 10 months ago

Bambino won't pull the same shots that a great independent coffee shop's equipment will.

[–] thecrotch@sh.itjust.works 5 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Lattes aren't essential. Charging $12 for one is neither predatory nor price gouging. It's arguably exploitatative but I don't feel it's our job to tell people they're not allowed to waste their own money.

[–] Smoogs@lemmy.world 0 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Acting on “what the market will bear” instead of what at cost as well as labour is predatory in that it is opportunistic in the basic definition of what makes predatory behaviour predatory. It is also gouging as it is setting a price range that can be considered exclusionary. And then to also attack a customer who feels this and speaks it can be considered victim blaming as you’re enabling these behaviours by dismissing the feedback of the victim, which again is being exclusionary by enforcing their money to be taken but not allowing they can be part of the feedback or setting boundaries of what is happening to them.

[–] thecrotch@sh.itjust.works 0 points 10 months ago (1 children)

When you call someone choosing to buy a $12 latte a victim it makes everything else you say impossible to take seriously.

[–] Smoogs@lemmy.world 0 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (1 children)

you use ‘choice’ like $3 latte is an option. You’re bent on manipulating people so it’s hard to take you seriously.

[–] thecrotch@sh.itjust.works 1 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

You can get a latte at Dunkin donuts for $2.69 or McDonald's for $1. Or, and this is going to blow your mind, you can live without lattes. We're not talking about insulin ffs. How fucking entitled are you talking about a luxury item like it's a necessity lmao

[–] SocialMediaRefugee@lemmy.world 2 points 10 months ago (1 children)

It is like people who continue to feed ticketmaster and the resale markets with their predatory fees and prices. Why shouldn't they keep doing it if people will keep paying their insane prices for nonessentials?

[–] techwithjake@lemm.ee 1 points 10 months ago (2 children)

Legit not arguing but other than going to the physical box office, what alternatives are there to Ticketmaster? I would love to know so I can stop giving them money.

[–] SocialMediaRefugee@lemmy.world 2 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Absolutely. There is no real alternative for most people but at least it isn't a necessity. They have a nice monopoly going.

[–] afraid_of_zombies@lemmy.world 1 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Just go to venues where you buy direct.

[–] SocialMediaRefugee@lemmy.world 1 points 10 months ago

I try when possible but time and distance, and some lack box offices, don't always make this an option. I can't afford the overpriced shows anyway.

[–] afraid_of_zombies@lemmy.world 1 points 10 months ago

Go to venues that you deal with them direct. Is it really important that you see the most popular musician at the best venue or is it more important that you heard some fun music with your friends? Make a decision and live with the decision

[–] afraid_of_zombies@lemmy.world 2 points 10 months ago

I have a hard time arguing for price controls for lattes. We aren't talking water or housing or basic staples of food here.