OT: But, My Only One This Year. Maybe not?

wondercoin

When I took the family on vacation last week, I was in the hotel room and was checking out their Room Service menu (a typical thing to do I suspect to those on the road a great deal - I am not personally one of those guys on the road a great deal, but more than I would otherwise want to be if it were not for the coins). I noticed they had a nice selection of Champagnes, including Cristal, one of the finer known Champagnes on the market today as far as I know. I often see it selling at Costco for around $150/bottle, but, no doubt it is closer to $200 or so per bottle at other wine merchants' stores.

To my great surprise the bottle was listed on the Room Service menu at $750, plus 18% gratuity, plus $2.50 Room service delivery fee!! My quick math told me anyone who wanted a nice bottle of Champagne, like that one, brought to the room would cost them $887.50. But, wait a minute, anyone could take a short cab ride over to Costco (or a similar store) and for a $25 round trip cab fare, they could buy the same bottle for as little as $237.50 total cost. Who in their right mind would spend $887.50 when they could spend $237.50 (with tax) and save $600 on a single bottle. Could you imagine if the hotel guest was entertaining a couple friends and ordered (2) bottles for roughly $1800 vs. $500 to take 20 minutes out of their day and go and pick up (2) bottles in advance of their get-together!

Do people actually pay close to $900 per bottle for something they could easily obtain for $250/bottle? Does the hotel ever even sell (1) bottle per month? Did you ever feel like you wanted to warn every hotel guest to avoid the overpriced room service menu? Could anyone out there ever feel a special enjoyment I might personally never be able to feel by ordering that Cristal bottle in their hotel room for $900 while their lovely wife took a bubble bath in the marble tub in the room next door? Or, is the special enjoyment telling the wife that while she was bathing, I ran down the street and picked up a bottle for $200 and that in just a couple hours it will be chilled and we will be $700 richer? Does any of this, or could any of this, tie into the way some (very wealthy) people approach their coin collections? Do people need to be educated, whether they want to be or not, to avoid at all costs the overpriced wines and champagnes on that room service menu? For their own good of course

Wondercoin

MoneyLA

Wondercoin: you don't go out for dinner much? You talk about a 400% mark-up from the bargain price for room service delivery. How about this: at a restaurant inside a casino on the strip in Vegas (I'm not going to mention it here because I get comped and it really didnt cost me a dime -- Roosy or Merc) a $20 bottle of Mumms (supermarket price) is priced at $125 plus tax and expected tip. cheers, alan mendelson

cosmicdebris

Where's LM? He would know the answer to this.

Steve

Mitch,
Is this any different than someone paying $39 thousand dollars for a 1963 Lincoln Proof Cent? If you have the money what difference does it make? And if it DOES make a difference to you, then you probably wouldn't spend the $887 for the Champagne or the $39K for the coin. JMHO. Steve

fantasiize

Mitch,

How about this other end of the spectrum scenario ... french (or freedom, depending on your perspective) fries cost $1. 10lbs of potatos (or potatoes, depending if you are president or not) cost about $3. One nice size potato can make enough french fries that $1 can buy you PLUS you probably have another 15+ potatoes to save another $15 (15x markup there).

Do you see people forcing other people out of the drive thru or in the food line saying, please, go across the street and buy you bag of Idaho potatoes (and maybe keep Traci's family members gainfully employed as well) to save the 1500% markup you are about to experience ?

Chris

P.S. It is Friday after all ...

Waldo

I know it's standard practice for restaurants to double the price of a bottle of wine. Thus a $150 bottle of Cristal becomes a $300 bottle of Cristal. And it's a know fact that it's standard practice for room service prices to cause one to believe they've just received an alien anal probe. So $887.50 sounds about right...

wondercoin

Chris: Excellent example. I will post it on the 1953 cent thread on the other board

Wondercoin

redcents

"Is this any different than someone paying $39 thousand dollars for a 1963 Lincoln Proof Cent?"

Steve,
The "poolplayer" might not like your insinuation but I can get you not 1 but 2 POP 1 PR70DCAM Lincoln's, EACH for LESS THAN 1/4 of "that" price - i.e. for the "Costco Price" and NOT the "room service" price - take the cab ride!

wondercoin

Roger: I take it you are pricing those (2) pop 1 ultra-late date PR70 Lincolns at around $5k/coin then? If I may ask, what is your buy price for each of those coins as the pop 2 coin? Of course, those coins might remain pop 1 for a long time (I am not questioning your asking price), but, if they were to go to pop 2, what would you buy them for? If the figure is high enough, I just might submit a group of coins in flips on Monday I have sitting here that are candidates for the PR70DCAM grade.

Wondercoin

redcents

Actually, I must not have had it worded quite right but I added the word "EACH". Each one (i.e. either) for less than 1/4 of the one Steve referred to. As a pop 2 I'd pay half of what I'm currently paying for a pop 1.

cladking

<< <i>Mitch,
Is this any different than someone paying $39 thousand dollars for a 1963 Lincoln Proof Cent? If you have the money what difference does it make? And if it DOES make a difference to you, then you probably wouldn't spend the $887 for the Champagne or the $39K for the coin. JMHO. Steve >>




If this were normally a $10,000 coin and someone knowingly paid $39,000
just for the convenience of having it delivered to his room then it would, in-
deed, be very much the same. Otherwise there really aren't any similarities.

docday2003

The funny thing, to me, is that I think the $150 bottle is overpriced fermented grapes. Buy the pure grape juice for $2, get the health benefits, and save yourself the cash!

braddick

<< <i>The funny thing, to me, is that I think the $150 bottle is overpriced fermented grapes. Buy the pure grape juice for $2, get the health benefits, and save yourself the cash! >>

Or, drink tap water and have a grape flavored LifeSavor and save an additional $1.95.

wondercoin

Pat: What city were you vacationing in last week where (2) bottles of water by the pool cost you $32, plus tip? WOW!

Wondercoin

braddick

<< <i>Pat: What city were you vacationing in last week where (2) bottles of water by the pool cost you $32, plus tip? WOW! Wondercoin >>

Kauai, Hawaii- at the Princeton (far east end of the island). Beautiful views, warm tropical weather. Stunning, but causes great thirst!

TheNumish

You guys are thinking way too logically. Sometimes when in a fancy hotel with a beautiful women you don't think with the big head but the other one. That's what the hotel is counting on. Now if I was in a hotel room ordering Champagne it wouldn't be for me to drink but for me and whomever I'm with(aka my wife). The last thing I'd want to do is spoil the mood by going to Cosco to save money.

Of course if my wife saw that I'd paid that much for champagne the first thing she'd do is hit me in the head with the bottle to knock some sense into me.

cladking

It costs too much to run out to Cosco for any bottle of wine and this includes a $150 bottle.

I'd just wait until I'm driving by and I'd get a nice $40 bottle. I'll know it's not quite as good
but might even be able to get some satisfaction in thinking most people can't tell the difference.

In any case it will slake my thirst for wine.

Cost of wine and related costs, about $43. Value, priceless.

pontiacinf

yes mitchell theres people like that.

I dont like christal, or champagne, but ive entertained clients at Mohegan Sun Casino here in CT. A suite (3rooms, kitchen, jacuzi, av system)week days =400...saturdays when I do it (1400) just for the room mitch...never mind the 10 dollar snickers bars in the entertainment bar.

Its a conv charge...ruthless...room service same way...I wont list those bills

khayse

Mitch,

I believe it's education and discipline.

The difference between someone making "good money" and just getting by and someone making
less but having it go a lot farther is one makes smarter financial decisions.

You have to be educated that Costco is selling the wine for a lot less and you have to have
the discipline to force yourself not to waste the money foolishly. Most people who have money
have it because they haven't wasted it.

I would find a bellman and tell him I'll pay him $50 to go to Costco for me and get the Cristal.
That way I don't waste $700 and I don't leave the wife while she's naked and sudsy.

-KHayse

wondercoin

"I would find a bellman and tell him I'll pay him $50 to go to Costco for me and get the Cristal.
That way I don't waste $700 and I don't leave the wife while she's naked and sudsy."

YES - THAT'S THE TICKET!!!

Wondercoin

P.S. GO SEE THE NEW MOVIE DICKEY ROBERTS AND SEE HOW HE HANDLED THE ISSUE OF PRODUCING A BOTTLE OF EXPENSIVE CHAMPAGNE FOR HIS HOT EVENING!!!!!!