Tip the hot dog girl!!!

As Anthony reports, the hot dog cart near the sportsbook is now charging $1.50, up from $1.25. The reason why it was $1.25 was, according to Michael Gaughan, so that the server could get a 75 cent tip.

The hot dogs were never about profit. They were a nice amenity so that patrons could grab something to munch on while watching the game(s). And I'm sure the net effect on the bottom line was positive, as people stayed and grabbed a dog or two rather than going elsewhere to get something to eat.

So apparently, some bean-counter, wailing about supply chain issues or the phases of the moon or the interplanetary war between Neptune and Pluto, decided that the hot dogs and buns had become too expensive, and they "had to" charge more (I'm sure that's the exact phrase they used). So, 25 cents more per dog. Maybe 100 bucks a day. Whoopie fuckin' doo.

And where is that money gonna come from? Out of the pockets of the girls who serve the dogs. How many people buy/have bought a dog, handed the server $2, and said "Keep the change?" Twenty a day? Thirty? Fifty? Let's say that it's fifty (customers who buy one dog and tip). That's 50 x 0.25, or $12.50 less in tips that the server earns. That $12.50 goes into South Point's pockets instead. And if it's 100 dogs (which is probably closer to the truth), that's $25 a day that the server isn't making. $550 a month, for those of you scoring at home.

And for what? For what? To inflate South Point's bottom line a tiny tiny tiny bit, maybe 0.000003%, during a period when they're charging record prices for everything and making more money than ever before in Vegas history? I can't believe that this is what Gaughan wants.

The bean-counters have ruined 99% of the good things that Vegas used to be all about. Now, they're chipping away at the remaining 1%. I still would recommend getting yourself a dog or three (they're really good), but tip the girl a little more than you otherwise might have. She's making substantially less now. Two cheers for this incredibly important boost to South Point's bottom line.

      The one serving the hot dogs was hired at a wage, which they agreed to accept. It is not mine or anyone else's responsibility to subsidize their agreed to pay. As far as tipping goes, I tip only for the service rendered, and not because someone tells me to. A business has the right to charge what they want, just as people have the right to buy or not buy what a business offers. If one, for whatever reason, feels compelled to tip, tipping and the amount they tip is their business. 

I'd be curious to see what hourly tips are for those hot dog carts.    Sometimes its dead and maybe they dont get much business.   But I've been to ball games at casinos where those hot dog carts have  a line 5 people deep for the entirety of the game.   They're easily pulling in $40 /hr during those peak times.

I suspect that job is like most waitress gigs.....they pay is good but there are no benefits.     

https://lasvegassun.com/news/2021/jan/16/dog-days-south-point-hot-dog-cart-remains-a-popula/

The attached article shows that almost 250,000 hot dogs are sold annually.  At a 75 cent tip that means there is a potential pool of $187,000 in in tips available

No. The dogs are $1.50 now, so potential tips have been cut by a third. And potential isn't the same as actual.

The issue isn't the amount. It's that South Point is increasing its revenue at the direct expense of its employees.

  Since South Point owns the business, they can run the business how they see fit. If visitors and employees do not like it, visitors can stay elsewhere and employees can seek employment elsewhere. 

There's this thing going on called inflation, everything else is going up so shall hotdogs.

Gotten a couple of silly platitudes in response, but the fact remains that whatever additional money South Point makes from this is completely trivial and will result in lower earnings for a few unfortunate employees. It's petty and not worthy of the owner, which is why I suspect he had nothing to do with it.

The only thing I haven't heard so far is "That's how capitalism works." But the dogs were never intended to be a profit center. If so, that might "justify" the price increase--though I doubt very much that the wholesale price of a ten-pack of hot dogs has gone up by $2.50.

 Actually, that is how inflation works.

That price increase wasn't due to inflation. If it was, the dogs would be $1.35.

The price of a package of ten hot dogs is about a dollar more than it was this time last year. So if this was a price increase in actual response to a rise in costs, the dogs would be $1.35. But as I patiently explained, the dogs were a loss leader in the first place.

But you may have the last word if you wish.