Lounge Pricing

[white_rabbit]

The lounge I go to charges per hookah... limit 3 ppl per hookah... a "flat-rate" per person charge could get tricky.. as in hey I paid my 10 bucks I want strawberry...10 minutes later... ok I want peach... etc etc... think about it... charge per hookah... I like it that way personally.

[chinodos]

I dislike the cover charge personally, I have quite a few friends who come and dont smoke, but will buy a drink or two. The cover charge would highly discourage that and probably decrease their business. I like the idea of charge per bowl, and then add more for additional hoses. If you're going to limit people to a hookah, I would say make that limit higher than 2, more like 4 or 5. When the bowls gone, people will buy another if they liked the first one. The best way to make good money is have repeat customers. It's not so much pricing structure but making sure the customers have a quality experience which will entice them to come back.

But If you make a the ambiance a bit more appealing to people who don't smoke with maybe a small dance floor, pool tables, etc. I don't think they'd mind the cover charge of 10 bucks. But if your not selling alchohol yet that might not be enough. Plus I don't know how big the place is either.

[newjacksm]

I dislike the cover charge personally, I have quite a few friends who come and dont smoke, but will buy a drink or two. The cover charge would highly discourage that and probably decrease their business. I like the idea of charge per bowl, and then add more for additional hoses. If you're going to limit people to a hookah, I would say make that limit higher than 2, more like 4 or 5. When the bowls gone, people will buy another if they liked the first one. The best way to make good money is have repeat customers. It's not so much pricing structure but making sure the customers have a quality experience which will entice them to come back.

But If you make a the ambiance a bit more appealing to people who don't smoke with maybe a small dance floor, pool tables, etc. I don't think they'd mind the cover charge of 10 bucks. But if your not selling alchohol yet that might not be enough. Plus I don't know how big the place is either.

To modern just for a lounge. I like the cover charge, but there are some valid points on the bowl sessions. I would maybe offer both of them. But spike the price up on the all you can smoke. Maybe make it like 10 dollars a bowl/ Hookah. and 20 dollars for all you can smoke. Add 5-10 bucks if you want second/third hookah added just for one session (Maybe?? Just throwing that last one out there, I dont think its that great of an idea. but it might appeal to some people who want to do all you can smoke who are in large groups) Edited September 11, 2009 by newjacksm

[Arcane]

well, it's kind of obvious that the cover charge would get the highest votes....look at the community you're asking. 1 price, and we can smoke as much as we want? no problem!

but, when you're talking about your average customer base....its always better to pay one stable price.

[ih303]

Why exactly are you going with a standard/premium pricing plan? Why not have top of the line hookahs and phunnels for all, and charge more for the more expensive brands of shisha, or for house mixtures (specialty shishas with different liquids in bowl, etc)?

We really wanted to offer phunnel bowls but wanted a way to offset the cost of the extra shisha used in phunnel packing and the fact that phunnels often last much longer than other types of bowls. In addition, if we were to have different price points for our shisha, the most expensive would naturally be SB. And to be quite honest, I don't want to give the impression that SB is a premium shisha based solely on its price.

well, it's kind of obvious that the cover charge would get the highest votes....look at the community you're asking. 1 price, and we can smoke as much as we want? no problem!

Good point, Arcane. I think that's probably the way I'd vote too if I weren't the one running the place.

This past weekend was our best so far. We sold bowls for $12 each with no limit on number of smokers. I did notice quite a few tables with 4-5 people only get one hookah, which was kind of annoying. The biggest thing I notice is that some people don't really smoke for that long - maybe 30 minutes or so. I have yet to see a table order a second bowl or a refill, and that's not because of quality issues. I just think most people don't understand it's ok to sit and smoke for a couple of hours. It seems a lot of them just stop in for a quick smoke on their way to the bars. Perhaps this will change when we start selling beers.

[Arcane]

could be...you pretty much have to pull yourself out of the hookah aficionado mindset. we, as "real" hookah smokers, differ greatly from your average customer. at least, that's what i notice between my friends and i....i'm not opposed to sitting down for 2-3 hours and just enjoying my hookah. yet, my friends just want a buzz and then move on to another bar. they don't understand the concept of "slow down and smoke".

you're right in your option to sell beers...basically, you want to provide all or nearly all services to keep your customers in your bar. the only issue is, you may kinda lose the whole relaxed atmosphere in the process. then again, you gotta consider what clientele you're after....if you're main customers are college students, you may want to focus more on the booze and turn the hookahs to a supporting role. if you'd rather reel in people that truly appreciate hookah...then you'll have to make the hookah the star attraction, and just have the beer or alcohol there to keep a relaxed environment....

i've wanted to own/run my own hookah lounge for a while, but stuff like this makes me hesistant....i'd rather just enjoy hookah on my own, or possibly just work at a bar and bs with customers about hookah. don't really want to taint my hookah hobby with the business side of things...

[redjako]

The whole monitoring how many ppl smoke is going to drive yourself and your servers absolutely shit nuts.

Charge per bowl. If they have 5-8 people, they will order a new hookah anyway.

[ih303]

i've wanted to own/run my own hookah lounge for a while, but stuff like this makes me hesistant....i'd rather just enjoy hookah on my own, or possibly just work at a bar and bs with customers about hookah. don't really want to taint my hookah hobby with the business side of things...

I hear that. It's interesting when I think about some of the conflicts of interest I have found in running this place. For instance, we recently started carrying Tangiers Lucid, which is by far my favorite tobacco. To those of us there with a greater understanding of hookah culture, smoking a product the caliber of Tangiers Lucid is much appreciated. I see so many people come in who wouldn't notice the difference between Tangiers and a bowl of horse manure order Tangiers and I think to myself, "what a waste!" But, what are you gonna do? You try to "enlighten" those around you and hope it sticks.

Redjako, I completely agree with you on the whole customer counting thing. That's why, at this point, we're opting to not limit the number of smokers per hookah. But, like I said, it's hard to not feel frustrated when you have a table of six order one single-hose hookah just because they're a bunch of cheapskates.

[Genie]

Redjako, I completely agree with you on the whole customer counting thing. That's why, at this point, we're opting to not limit the number of smokers per hookah. But, like I said, it's hard to not feel frustrated when you have a table of six order one single-hose hookah just because they're a bunch of cheapskates.

At the hookah lounge I get to visit occasionally there's a large group of us and only two of us ever order a hookah except for one small sub group that will frequently get themselves a four hose hookah and run off to one corner of the patio by themselves so I never really talk to them--no idea if they're splitting the cost or if they pay more for it or what. I always try to get a two hose hookah, although they're not always available, and the other guy also gets a two hose hookah if he can. Me and him share our hookahs with as many of our group who want to try it and buy our refills as needed. I don't think the others are cheapskates, they're just poor. Not doing so well myself financially but as I don't go out more than once a month and I don't drink or party, springing for a $14 hookah and one or two $4 refills one night out of 28 isn't such a big deal. I notice nearly all of the people smoking on my hookah with me are ordering teas, coffees, sodas, and sandwiches even if they aren't buying hookahs.

There was a sign on the wall last time that I hadn't noticed before, it's offers $6 Hookah Happy Hour to college students between certain hours. The lounge is near a college so this makes sense. Maybe a happy hour or something along those lines might free up a few wallets and get people to buy a hookah who otherwise wouldn't?

What about offering groups of, say, five or more people a 2-fer deal--$12 for one hookah or $18 for two?

[ih303]

Yeah, I think the idea of some sort of happy hour is a good one. I suggested to my partners that we should offer "half price hookahs" from 6-7 or 6-8. Those are the times when it's not uncommon for us to not have anyone come in at all. They are hesitant to go that cheap, but I think it'd be worth it to us in the long run.

[Genie]

Yeah, I think the idea of some sort of happy hour is a good one. I suggested to my partners that we should offer "half price hookahs" from 6-7 or 6-8. Those are the times when it's not uncommon for us to not have anyone come in at all. They are hesitant to go that cheap, but I think it'd be worth it to us in the long run.

I'd definitely go out of my way to make it in time for a hookah happy hour. It's nice kicking back and letting someone else worry about the coals and getting their fingers sticky for a change.