[HN Gopher] A site that tracks the price of a Big Mac in every U...
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A site that tracks the price of a Big Mac in every US McDonald's
Author : Ajay-p
Score : 302 points
Date : 2024-01-13 15:29 UTC (7 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (pantryandlarder.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (pantryandlarder.com)
| cryptichash wrote:
| See also the Economist's Big Mac Index.
|
| >> THE BIG MAC index was invented by The Economist in 1986 as a
| lighthearted guide to whether currencies are at their "correct"
| level. It is based on the theory of purchasing-power parity
| (PPP), the notion that in the long run exchange rates should move
| towards the rate that would equalise the prices of an identical
| basket of goods and services (in this case, a burger) in any two
| countries.
|
| Burgernomics was never intended as a precise gauge of currency
| misalignment, merely a tool to make exchange-rate theory more
| digestible. Yet the Big Mac index has become a global standard,
| included in several economic textbooks and the subject of dozens
| of academic studies. For those who take their fast food more
| seriously, we also calculate a gourmet version of the index.
| prairiedogg wrote:
| > more digestible
|
| I see what you did there.
| anthomtb wrote:
| Interesting. I expected Hawaii to skew high in price (it does),
| as does much of the northeast. But why are prices so high in
| Arizona?
| SV_BubbleTime wrote:
| As I understand it from my time there, one franchisee owns all
| of them and they set the price.
| thefourthchime wrote:
| It's a McMonopoly!!
| crazygringo wrote:
| Is there no competition from Burger King etc.? That's
| generally what keeps prices down.
| SV_BubbleTime wrote:
| This works while there are four food chains and they all
| completely independently decide that prices should be a
| little higher.
|
| Even without cooperation that isn't allowed, let's say
| 5Guys comes in and see that the market will bear higher
| prices. Why wouldn't they take advantage of that?
| crazygringo wrote:
| But if the prices are way higher, then 5Guys sees that by
| setting prices a bit _lower_ it can capture 90% of the
| market, rather than 50%. Which is way more total profit.
|
| That's how downwards price pressure in capitalism works
| -- by reducing price you gain market share and increase
| profit overall. Otherwise, under capitalism, all our
| prices would be sky-high!
| saltminer wrote:
| This assumes that Five Guys is in direct competition with
| those other chains and that people are directly comparing
| prices when choosing where to eat. People are not the
| perfect rational actors economists like to pretend they
| are, and they tend to make assumptions about prices and
| have personal preferences (e.g. the last time I went to
| BK it was so bad you would have to pay me to go back).
| crazygringo wrote:
| I'm just saying, there's generally fast-food competition
| in burgers pretty much everywhere in the US.
|
| The fact that a bunch of McD's franchises in Arizona are
| owned by the same person doesn't explain a lack of
| competition.
| yodon wrote:
| Looking at the SF Bay Area, Alameda and Contra Costa counties
| look to be significantly cheaper (~15%) than surrounding
| counties.
|
| Anyone know if this has roots in specific tax rate differences or
| other city/county rules?
| pkaye wrote:
| Alameda county has high sales rates actually.
| rconti wrote:
| I mean, in general, the east bay is cheaper than the peninsula
| and south bay. You can even see how the prices sorta stay high
| in fremont then go lower as you go north. And particularly when
| you get to the tri-valley, land is a lot cheaper (relatively
| speaking, of course :)
| LordShredda wrote:
| I'm actually surprised Hawaii isn't the most expensive,
| considering all mcdonalds are pretty much identical other than
| supply shipping costs
| yodon wrote:
| >identical other than supply shipping costs
|
| And taxes, labor rules, insurance rates, operating hour limits,
| ...
| HarryHirsch wrote:
| Don't forget rent and energy. They like to gripe about the
| cost of labour and labour regulations, but the biggest share
| of operating expenses is rent, then energy.
| pxeboot wrote:
| I remember the prices seeming comparatively much higher in
| Alaska/Hawaii in the past. Fast food prices have gone up so
| much everywhere that shipping to these places likely represents
| a lower percentage of the total cost now.
| orenlindsey wrote:
| There seems to be a big area centered in Arizona where they're
| more expensive. There's seemingly no reason for it.
| zdragnar wrote:
| Probably a combination of the franchisee that owns them and
| higher shipping costs to that region.
| orenlindsey wrote:
| Also, the most expensive McDonald's is actually connected to a
| gas station, which might be part of the high price. It's actually
| one of two on opposite sides of the highway (for travelers in
| either direction). The westbound side is more expensive and the
| eastbound side is cheaper. Wild!
| hiAndrewQuinn wrote:
| I'm a connoisseur of combination gas station/food joints
| worldwide. People get away with such interesting and varied
| culinary sins in those places. My favorite so far has been a
| place that sold moose steaks shot by the owner up in Finnish
| Lapland for way, way more than any sane person would pay for.
| yial wrote:
| Can you share the restaurant? I suddenly want to visit.
| mynameishere wrote:
| Why would you want to pay too much for moose? Go to a place
| with reasonable moose pricing.
| wahnfrieden wrote:
| They think that high price is a valuable novelty
| cylinder714 wrote:
| - If you ever find yourself in Reno, Deli Towne U.S.A. is
| locally known for making amazing sandwiches in a Chevron
| station at the corner of Lakeside and Moana.
|
| - Maverik stations in the western U.S. are about the nicest
| convenience stores I've ever visited, and their onsite
| kitchens prepare pretty decent gas-station food. Lately,
| they've rolled out premium pizzas in their larger locations;
| I had a thick-crust Detroit-style slice recently and it was
| absolutely restaurant quality.
|
| - I understand Wawa stations in the eastern U.S. are known
| for their food; can anyone here comment?
| ascagnel_ wrote:
| Wawa has generally good hoagies (they're a Philly-centered
| chain, so I'll use their vernacular), and above-average
| coffee. Their hot food is usually pretty disappointing,
| because they put all of it through convection ovens (vs
| frying/grilling/deep frying/baking as is usual).
|
| They recently rolled out pizza in my area (northern NJ),
| and while I haven't personally tried it, friends say it
| doesn't hold up to what local pizza places can do, but it's
| better than big chain pizza.
| metaphor wrote:
| > _I understand Wawa stations in the eastern U.S. are known
| for their food; can anyone here comment?_
|
| The only thing that Wawa food has going for it is that it's
| prepared hot at any hour; the quality of the food itself is
| quite mediocre.
|
| Different story for Buc-ee's, which I thought was of
| exceptional quality and value.
| gonesilent wrote:
| Lots of the Maverik stations now popping up along hwy 5
| love them.
| m463 wrote:
| Are they in the same state/county/city?
|
| The Valley Fair mall in the bay area is in both San Jose and
| Santa Clara, and the minimum wage is different at different
| locations in the mall.
| ourmandave wrote:
| They get you coming, but _not_ going.
| deathanatos wrote:
| On a toll road, so there's something like a local oligarchy of
| food and gas at service plazas. I figure the pricing is more
| akin to airport pricing, but it seems like Lee Plaza manages to
| beat even the airport McDs...
|
| (Unlike the freeways elsewhere in the US, where you can easily
| get on/off, so there's a bit more options for food and gas.)
| blamazon wrote:
| Regarding that turnpike, it may be of interest that the service
| stations were a public-private partnership between McD's and
| the commonwealth, and that the contract is up soon and the
| commonwealth gets a cut of the sales:
|
| > Under a 25-year deal brokered two years ago, [the year 2000]
| McDonald's has spent more than $25 million to overhaul the
| Pike's 11 service plazas. In return, the Pike receives at least
| $9.3 million annually in rent, plus a percentage of food sales.
|
| https://www.milforddailynews.com/story/news/2002/08/17/havin...
| photochemsyn wrote:
| Looks like McDonald's is having a bad public relations moment:
|
| https://www.cbsnews.com/news/mcdonalds-ceo-boycott-support-i...
| password54321 wrote:
| Boycotts work. If anyone wants to make an impact, point them
| towards boycotting. Definitely more effective than standing in
| the road.
| Beijinger wrote:
| Haw, I know a site that tracks the Bic Mac prices world wide!
|
| https://www.economist.com/big-mac-index
| wiradikusuma wrote:
| I have a pet peeve about this. From the chart, Indonesia's
| currency is undervalued (meaning burger prices should be more
| expensive). But for many people here, eating a Big Mac is a
| "luxury" (not "caviar luxury" but more like "taking Uber
| instead of taking the subway" luxury).
| paul7986 wrote:
| Another cool data set would be to show what hourly wage employees
| are making especially at the ones with dark red colored locations
| where a Big Mac is over $7.00.
| Kon-Peki wrote:
| First data point:
|
| According to this site a Big Mac costs $5.19 at my local
| McDonalds and I know from driving past it that the starting
| wage is $15+ per hour.
| diob wrote:
| I mean, we already have the big mac index:
| https://www.statista.com/statistics/274326/big-mac-index-glo...
|
| I don't think hourly wage is connected much to price given how
| high up the US is on that list compared to other countries.
| rconti wrote:
| The Axios article linked in another comment shows this data for
| selected cities.
|
| There appears to be a pretty weak correlation. Although there
| could be other offsetting factors (maybe fewer employees in the
| high wage areas, more use of the order-yourself screens or
| something).
|
| https://www.axios.com/2022/04/17/mcdonalds-big-mac-inflation...
| bryancoxwell wrote:
| Where does the data for this come from?
| bdcravens wrote:
| The mobile app lets you switch locations and see prices, so I
| assume there's a REST API somewhere.
| phkahler wrote:
| A few years ago I could get a sausage mcmuffin and a coke (any
| size) for $2.12. Over the last 4 years it kept creeping up, price
| bouncing etc. It reach $4.23 for a few weeks. I remember because
| it was a penny shy of double the old price. Then one day.... Boom
| $4.24. No idea how they set prices but it was interesting they
| felt "just one cent more" was important :-)
|
| And yes there is also a lot of variation around the region, but
| the above was at a single location.
| floren wrote:
| The McDouble used to be a good deal for a quick bite on a road
| trip... I think it was about $1.40 when it first showed up?
| It'll now run $4 at some Bay Area locations.
|
| Just like the high prices of soda ($2.50 for a 20oz bottle?)
| it's had the effect of making me stop consuming the stuff, so
| overall it's a win for me.
| earthling8118 wrote:
| The McDouble was a replacement for the double cheeseburger on
| the $1 menu. It was the same burger with one less slice of
| cheese and acted as a placeholder when they raised the price
| of the regular double beyond $1
| floren wrote:
| The $1 menu which is now of course the $1-$2-$3 menu... and
| I think the only thing that's still close to $1 is soda.
| WWLink wrote:
| Yea I remember when the McDouble was $1 .. that was like 10
| years ago wasn't it?! Burger king had a fantastic double
| cheeseburger for $1 too, pissed off all the franchisees lol.
|
| I think the mcdouble is $3.50 or so out here now.
| diob wrote:
| The 2 muffins for 4 was the only time I ever went to them. I
| don't really understand the folks still visiting Maccas these
| days.
| grecy wrote:
| Fun fact illustrated by the map on this page map - it's
| impossible to be more than 115 miles from a McDonalds in the
| lower 48. [1]
|
| Note that is not by road, that is taking a helicopter.
|
| I always take that to be proximate to electricity, a gas station,
| grocery store, parts store, etc.
|
| The lower 48 is _really_ developed.
|
| http://www.datapointed.net/2009/09/distance-to-nearest-mcdon...
|
| (see update)
| sneed_chucker wrote:
| Wow. I'm shocked anyone pays 8 US dollars for a McDonald's
| quality burger.
| distortionfield wrote:
| That's still the cheapest burger that one could find in my area
| at that price, just for reference.
| Beijinger wrote:
| I am shocked that somebody claims that McDonalds has quality
| burgers....
| bluedino wrote:
| I was okay paying $10 for Five Guys, but I haven't been there
| in a while, so it might be $15 for a meal there now.
|
| But most of the chains like Chili's/Applebees have a basic
| burger for $8.99 and even a combo or two for $20 where you get
| a fries and soft drink. That's hard to beat even when you throw
| in a tip.
|
| Fast food has become incredibly expensive if you don't have a
| coupon or use the app to get a "deal". Burger King has a two
| whopper meal for $13.99 with drinks/fries, and two Whopper jr
| meal for $7.99 with fries but no drinks.
| Retric wrote:
| Look at the location on the map. It's practically next door to
| a different McDonald's that's more than 1$ cheaper.
| angoragoats wrote:
| Despite them being next door, they're on opposite sides of a
| major highway (I-90/Mass Pike) and you'd need to drive just
| shy of 5 miles to get from one to the other.
| bigmattystyles wrote:
| I'm actually surprised it's not standardized and centrally
| dictated.
| night-rider wrote:
| Some things cost more depending on their situational advantage.
| For example a run-down Jeep sitting in a garage and thought of
| as 'worthless' would be worth a fortune at a Jeep fair and seen
| as a collectible.
| bigmattystyles wrote:
| Sure, but it's McDonald's, their thing is consistency, but I
| guess it's only for how their stuff tastes.
| Detrytus wrote:
| Well, some stuff can be centralized, like burger
| production, or ordering million gallons of Coke. Some
| stuff, however, has to remain local, like labor, or real
| estate costs.
| Zancarius wrote:
| Honestly, that's the only reason I'd ever go there (and
| even then only very rarely). Not because it was "good," but
| because I knew what to expect. Although... I should
| probably qualify that bit about expectations: Last time I
| was there was probably early '22 and only because my dad
| was in hospice with a craving for one of their menu items
| (and fries). I bought a BigMac for myself, got home, and
| saw that the bun was moldy. No thanks!
| bdcravens wrote:
| Price is also dictated by factors like labor costs, taxation,
| etc.
| diob wrote:
| It's kind of funny how far up the United States is on the big
| mac index these days:
| https://www.statista.com/statistics/274326/big-mac-index-
| glo...
| ourmandave wrote:
| And what the competition is charging down the street.
|
| The McD I worked at regularly sent someone to get the prices
| off the Wendys, Burger King, and Hardees menus.
| sib wrote:
| Over 90% of McDonalds locations are owned by franchisees - less
| than 10% corporate-owned. The franchisees have pricing
| decision-making authority.
| bigmattystyles wrote:
| Interesting! Are they completely free or does corporate set a
| range and you are only free within that range?
| marban wrote:
| How's the data being sourced?
| sach90 wrote:
| I used Appium (selenium based app automation) to screen scrape
| the McDonald's app on an android phone. It was painful and got
| blocked once it went viral.
|
| Couldn't figure out the security/certificate pinning in their
| internal API so just went with what worked.
|
| I'll update it soon and try again at cracking the API security.
| intrasight wrote:
| Really needs to be worldwide - in keeping with the Big Mac index
| DominikPeters wrote:
| Unfortunately most countries have their own app so scraping it
| would be rough.
| matrix87 wrote:
| Who the hell would get mcd when in n out is like 2x as good for
| about the same money. Absolute insanity
| echelon wrote:
| I've had it, but I wasn't impressed. Whataburger and Five Guys
| have better burgers.
|
| If we're going to rank fast food, Waffle House is the champion,
| followed by Chick-fil-A and Chipotle. Burgers are mostly
| fungible.
| urdbjtdvbg wrote:
| Five Guys is not in the same tier price-wise though. Might as
| well say you prefer the local brewpub.
| ajross wrote:
| Not where I live. A Five Guys little cheeseburger is maybe
| 20% more than a quarter pounder with cheese. It's true that
| Five Guys serves mostly exclusively the suburban markets
| that support higher prices, and doesn't compete with the
| cheapest McDonalds. But where they overlap, they're very
| comparable in price.
|
| And yeah, Five Guys is the best.
| spiderice wrote:
| 100%. I'm always surprised by the price when I go to five
| guys. They give off fast food vibes but with very high
| prices.
|
| Very high quality burgers though.
| matrix87 wrote:
| > Whataburger and Five Guys have better burgers.
|
| Can't speak for Whataburger but Five Guys is usually messier
| and the "little cheeseburger" is huge. Maybe the patties are
| better and the fries are objectively better but I wish they
| had a "little little cheeseburger" or something
| saurik wrote:
| FWIW, In-n-Out only exists in a few locations, many of us
| believe they have much worse fries (you might disagree), and
| McDonalds has a much larger menu (which is even more of a
| discrepancy if you don't know you can customize the In-n-Out
| burger, which many people do not); it additionally is a
| different model which takes a lot longer to order.
| Firmwarrior wrote:
| In n Out always has a 30+ minute line when I try to go there..
| quicker to buy ingredients at a grocery store, go home, cook
| burgers myself, then clean up
| tekla wrote:
| The secret is to walk in.
| Firmwarrior wrote:
| hmm, I could never see any open parking spots either.. it's
| weird too, that place is packed even in off-peak times
|
| I'll admit the burgers are a lot better than McDonald's,
| although still not as good as something half-assedly home
| made with bottom-shelf Safeway ingredients
| twoodfin wrote:
| 2X as good and maybe 4X the wait.
| bdcravens wrote:
| In Texas, there are very few In-n-outs, and they always have
| ridiculous lines. Sometimes you want literal fast food, and McD
| is everywhere. Also after having it a few times, I prefer
| Whataburger to In-n-out (like In-n-out, Whataburger isn't
| everywhere)
| rblatz wrote:
| Preferring Whataburger over In-n-out is the most Texas thing
| there is. It's more true of a stereotype than most Texas
| stereotypes like Cowboy Boots, cowboy hats, guns, or high
| school football.
| bdcravens wrote:
| Guilty as charged lol. Though to be fair, anecdotally I've
| heard of many travelers who are also impressed by the big
| W.
| adl wrote:
| I live in Monterrey, Mexico, 3 to 4 hours from the US
| border with Texas. There are people who offer Whataburger
| delivery services.
|
| They will collect orders throughout the week and on the
| weekend drive to Texas and pick up the burgers. I think
| they have a deal with a local whataburger because they pick
| the burgers disassembled.
|
| The heat and reassemble them here in Monterrey. No fries,
| though.
|
| They sell for 3x, I believe.
| MOARDONGZPLZ wrote:
| I am not usually a fast food person, but I've tried In n Out
| several times, because it seems to be recommended, in the last
| couple years due to travel taking me to their territory and
| haven't found it to be particularly good. Compared to
| McDonalds, which I also rarely frequent unless it's a splurge
| day from the gym or I'm on a road trip, it seems objectively
| worse. The McDonalds quarter pounder and double quarter pounder
| are significantly better than InO.
|
| My suspicion is, like Whataburger, it's a bit of a "having
| grown up with it" sort of thing that makes people recommend it
| so highly.
| cylinder714 wrote:
| _"having grown up with it" sort of thing_
|
| Kind of like beans on toast.... ;-)
| stalfosknight wrote:
| If you could explain to me where I might find an In-n-Out here
| in Florida, I would love to.
| cylinder714 wrote:
| If you're heading to Tahoe or Reno, Dave's Giant Hamburger in
| Fairfield makes burgers better than an animal-style Double-
| Double, and bigger: 1/3-pound (151g) patties and double-thick
| cheese. Ask for fried onions and "the hot sauce." The shakes
| and chili are brilliant, too.
|
| https://www.google.com/search?q=dave%27s%20giant%20hamburger
| beau_g wrote:
| The rural Arizona Mcdonalds kingpin may try to get this site
| taken down - make sure to archive
| rblatz wrote:
| I'm not sure if that's a joke or if there is a rural Arizona
| McDonalds franchisee that has a history of being litigious.
|
| If anything I'd expect McDonalds to block API access for this
| user and implement controls to limit data aggregation.
| dghughes wrote:
| My Canadian province there is a "kingpin" of sorts a family who
| owns many restaurants. One brother owns all the local Tim
| Horton's coffee shops here and another brother owns Wendy's
| restaurants. The also both have a pile of restaurants like
| steak, micro breweries. There is an even worse guy super
| arrogant but not related to the other two who owns many
| properties. People hate them.
| ethbr1 wrote:
| If I ever win the lottery, I'm opening Waffle Houses across
| the street from as many Tim Horton's as I can.
| TMWNN wrote:
| Are you in New Brunswick? I know the Irvings own everything
| in that province.
| ClimaxGravely wrote:
| If you don't mind my asking, which province?
| therealdrag0 wrote:
| Is that why it's so expensive there?
| trevcanhuman wrote:
| Is this with taxes included?
| mikekhusid wrote:
| Buffalo and Albany seem like business friendly locales.
| squeaky-clean wrote:
| Love the website idea. It seems a bit slow on updates. My local
| McDonald's is 40c more expensive than this website shows, and it
| says the last update was in February 2023.
|
| It would be neat if it tracked the delivery version of the price
| too. At my local McDonald's a Big Mac is $6.39 for pickup and
| $7.79 for delivery. That's not me including a delivery fee in the
| price, the menu prices are just higher if you select Delivery in
| the app. There's also a
|
| Okay everyone seems to be ignoring the fact that the Big Mac has
| 2 menu prices. 6.39 for pickup and 7.79 for delivery. So I'm just
| going to delete the part where I list the other fees that are
| separate from the hidden menu price adjustment.
| ajross wrote:
| What do you think would be a fair price for hauling a single
| burger 3 miles to you on demand would be? Objectively, on-
| demand/super-low-latency (less than an hour!) courier services
| have always been _vastly_ more expensive than mere food
| preparation.
|
| Seriously, get in your time machine and go check what it would
| cost for a law firm in Manhattan[1] c. 1930 to get a document
| across town on that schedule. That it's down to the same scale
| as the burger you crave to sate your grumbling tummy is an
| amazing innovation of our modern techno-whizgig society, not
| something to whine about in a throwaway comment on HN!
|
| [1] Because needless to say, no one would think to have applied
| that kind of service to mere burgers.
| squeaky-clean wrote:
| I think you've completely missed the fact that the base menu
| price increases when you select delivery? I listed the
| separate fees to show that the $6.39 to $7.79 price increase
| does not come from one of the later fees.
|
| Besides do what every other restaurant historically has done
| and say "$20 order minimum for delivery". Also it's not 3
| miles, it's 2000ft. The restaurant is literally 3 blocks away
| from me.
|
| There's no need to be such an asshole just because you
| misunderstood my comment. You could also get in your time
| machine to 2010 when every pizza chain or Chinese restaurant
| could do this for $2.99 plus tip.
| ajross wrote:
| My sincere apologies if you were offended. It really seemed
| to me (and still does, honestly; maybe you want to edit and
| rephrase?) like you were complaining about the cost of
| delivery. And I stand by my reply there. It's an
| unreasonable complaint, delivery is outrageously cheap in
| the modern world, such that we can now apply it to things
| we'd never have had delivered even a decade ago, like a
| McDonalds burger.
| squeaky-clean wrote:
| Yes I'm complaining about the fact that they sneakily
| change the menu prices for items when you select delivery
| as an option. All the other fees are kind of expected
| these days.
|
| But again if you want to argue about delivery prices,
| delivery is far more expensive than it was a decade ago.
| I know firsthand, I put myself through college delivering
| pizza and Burger King.
|
| https://www.meatpoultry.com/articles/8324-burger-king-
| expand...
|
| Burger King used to deliver for a $2 fee in major cities
| from around 2012-2015. $10 order minimum. No secret menu
| pricing changes.
|
| Even if you did understand my comment correctly, there's
| still no need to be an ass.
| mleo wrote:
| The delivery service charges a fee to the restaurant per
| delivery. So the restaurant can eat the commission,
| average it across all customers or pass it along the
| added cost to the delivery customer.
| Dylan16807 wrote:
| Yes, that's what the "delivery fee" line item is supposed
| to pay for.
| rconti wrote:
| But it's all part of the cost of delivery. I'm not sure
| anyone who points out that "delivering things costs lots of
| money" is missing your point. You're merely assuming that
| the prices you see broken down the way they break them down
| is actually an honest accounting.
| Dylan16807 wrote:
| I assure you nobody is assuming that.
|
| Especially the person complaining about the dishonesty,
| that wants an easier way to track the dishonest numbers.
| justsomehnguy wrote:
| No minimum order amount I guess?
| nharada wrote:
| The variation even for very nearby McDonalds is fascinating. In
| the bay area I see differences of over $1 for locations basically
| next door to each other.
| smithcoin wrote:
| Different franchisees probably.
| add-sub-mul-div wrote:
| In my area there's two Subways essentially next door, one
| inside a Walmart in a strip mall and the other in the food
| court of a healthy indoor mall. A footlong rotisserie chicken
| sub is $14 in the mall and $10 in the Walmart.
| bdcravens wrote:
| Funny enough, I've never liked the Big Mac. I prefer their
| Quarter Pounder with Cheese or the Deluxe version of the same.
| sib wrote:
| >> I prefer their Quarter Pounder with Cheese
|
| Do you mean the "Royale with Cheese"? :)
| bdcravens wrote:
| Call it whatever you want, I call it delicious. Unhealthy AF,
| but delicious. :)
| cylinder714 wrote:
| Agreed! Big Mac patties are wafer-thin and that bun disc in the
| middle makes the sandwich look bigger. I'll bet they're the
| most profitable burger on their menu.
| TulliusCicero wrote:
| Visiting Japan this last summer, I was shocked at how much
| cheaper basic meals were.
|
| Even if you used a 1 USD = 100 JPY exchange rate instead of the
| real one, I could get nicer breakfasts than McDonald's for much
| cheaper somewhere like Sukiya, and they're open 24/7 to boot!
| Fully open, not just a drive through sometimes like in the
| states. Ordering experience was great too, they have these
| tablets where you can switch the language to English so it's
| easy.
|
| Anyway, it kinda feels like McDonald's in the US isn't actually
| that cheap anymore? When I order breakfast there sometimes, it
| always feels like the food is kind of pricey considering they're
| just keeping it warm or warming up premade food.
|
| Edit: looks like I'm not just imagining it, Big Mac prices have
| outpaced inflation over the last couple decades -
| https://www.axios.com/2022/04/17/mcdonalds-big-mac-inflation...
|
| I wonder why?
| tehwebguy wrote:
| Maybe the inexpensive, fresh food at convenience stores drives
| down fast food prices there?
| mech422 wrote:
| I needed that laugh... :-D
| Dylan16807 wrote:
| What laugh, please explain.
| wkat4242 wrote:
| If people cared about fresh food, McDonald's would not
| exist let alone thrive :)
| Dylan16807 wrote:
| It's not binary. Even caring a tiny bit will add more
| competitive pressure. And that doesn't address the
| "inexpensive" part.
| nightski wrote:
| I care about fresh food, but I can still enjoy McDonalds
| every once and a while.
| hombre_fatal wrote:
| Yeah, Japan has so many more options than the US when it
| comes to food on the go whether you compare the foods
| available at 7/11s or the $2 bento boxes in a subway station.
| In the US, fast food is your only option on the go.
| throwup238 wrote:
| _> Anyway, it kinda feels like McDonald 's in the US isn't
| actually that cheap anymore? When I order breakfast there
| sometimes, it always feels like the food is kind of pricey
| considering they're just keeping it warm or warming up premade
| food._
|
| US McDonalds has extreme price discrimination akin to what you
| see with grocery store memberships like Ralphs where they have
| a "regular" price that almost no one is expected to pay because
| everyone has a free membership that just requires your (or
| Jenny's) phone number . If you download their app, it has a
| bunch of coupons that lower the price of (almost) the entire
| menu.
| ryanwaggoner wrote:
| The vast majority of McDonald's customers are not using the
| app to order.
| throwup238 wrote:
| They're coupons. They apply to drive through and dine in
| orders.
| dawnerd wrote:
| Still the vast majority do not use them.
| thrdbndndn wrote:
| That's their entire point.
|
| Extreme price discrimination against people who don't
| know better/don't bother/etc.
|
| McD has the most generous coupons in their apps among
| fast food chain and there is basically no limit.
| atdrummond wrote:
| It depends on the market. I worked at the East Palo Alto
| McD while I was getting back on my feet a few years back
| and we had hours where 60-70% of the orders used the app
| in some way. I'd say probably 35-40% of our customers
| used the app; of regulars, more than 50%.
| aworks wrote:
| Interesting.
|
| Note that the price was $6.69 at that McDonald's and the
| one at Stanford Shopping Center. But it was $6.09 at the
| locations on El Camino Real in Redwood City, Menlo Park,
| Palo Alto and Mountain View.
| rconti wrote:
| I was JUST looking at that location because it's about
| the closest to me. I'm between EPA, University Ave, Menlo
| Park, and Stanford locations: 6.59, 6.69, 6.09.
| Meanwhile, Foster City is only $4.99!
| crazygringo wrote:
| That's the whole point. Customers who are price-sensitive
| _do_ use the app to order, while people with money to spare
| don 't bother.
|
| That's why McDonald's does it. It's the same thing grocery
| stores have always done with coupons in the weekly flyer --
| customers who are price-sensitive cut them out and use
| them, while people with money to spare don't bother. Or
| with clothing sales -- people who want the trendiest
| clothes at the start of the season buy them full-price,
| while people who wait until the end of the season get them
| at a steep discount.
| ryanwaggoner wrote:
| Yes, I'm aware of the point of price discrimination, I
| was responding to "they have a "regular" price that
| almost no one is expected to pay"
| justsomehnguy wrote:
| >That's the whole point. Customers who are price-
| sensitive do use the app to order, while people with
| money to spare don't bother.
|
| That's the whole point. Customers willing to sell their
| privacy for the lower prices use the app to order, while
| people unwilling to sell their privacy are subject to
| 'privacy tax'.
|
| Slight /s but only slight.
| crazygringo wrote:
| The app isn't giving away much privacy information that
| your credit card isn't.
|
| Yeah, they know my name and what I ordered at each
| location. I'm OK with that.
|
| You can also use a throwaway email address to sign up and
| use the app to order, get the discounts, but pay in cash
| when you arrive. If you're determined to keep your
| identity secret from McDonald's.
| fragmede wrote:
| They don't staff the counter anymore so you order from a
| kiosk, and if I'm ordering from a computer anyway, I might
| as well use an app on my phone, and then I can do it from
| my car in the parking lot instead of going in. I'd love to
| hear from McDonald's how many orders are via the app vs the
| kiosk vs drive thru.
| crazygringo wrote:
| Exactly this.
|
| It used to be the same prices for everyone.
|
| Now prices have gone up, but if you use the app you basically
| always get either free medium fries (normally $4), buy-one-
| get-one-free for a Big Mac or QPC, or a few other promos, or
| accumulated points (that basically give you 10% off
| everything in the long run).
|
| Generally speaking I'll pay $8 for a meal that would be $12
| otherwise, basically every single time.
|
| (Not to mention that you also skip the line, and if you use
| the app a few minutes before you arrive, your food will be
| waiting for you when you do.)
| xattt wrote:
| I shuddered when the (Canadian) iPhone app insisted that it
| was allowed to run as a _background process_ and that
| _precise geolocation_ was on. GFYS was my second reaction.
| crazygringo wrote:
| Precise geolocation is used to pick the nearest
| McDonald's. You need precise in urban areas where there
| might be multiple locations only a few blocks away.
|
| I don't know why you would have given it always-on
| (background) location permission. iPhones don't ever
| grant that by default, you always have to opt in. Nor
| does the app require it -- when it asks the first time
| you run the app, just pick "only while using the app". Or
| turn it off in Location settings if you picked the wrong
| setting initially.
| gruez wrote:
| Even if you choose "only while using the app", the app
| can work around that if it's registered as a navigation
| app. I've seen the "[app] is actively using your
| location" message in the statusbar when using both the
| uber and mcdonalds app, despite only granting the "only
| while using the app" permission. Also the mcdonalds app
| _requires_ precise location access to see any of the
| offers /promos.
| crazygringo wrote:
| > _I 've seen the "[app] is actively using your location"
| message in the statusbar_
|
| Sure, but that's intentional and incredibly obvious in
| the status bar. It tracks your location between when you
| place an order and when you're close to the restaurant so
| that you can confirm for them to start the order.
|
| It's not like it keeps tracking you for hours or days
| afterwards or anything. Same as Uber -- it turns off
| after your ride is done. The status bar message
| disappears.
|
| Point is, the app doesn't seem designed to harvest
| location data. If you pick up an order at the restaurant,
| they know you were there anyways. Your phone isn't
| telling them something they don't already know.
| water-your-self wrote:
| Having location data on can potentially implicate you in
| a crime.
| fragmede wrote:
| It can also be used as an alibi, so if you go kill your
| ex wife, make sure you have location tracking turned on,
| and give your phone to someone else to be in another
| place.
| WWLink wrote:
| It does actually. The McDonalds app "accidentally"
| forgets to check when you've picked up your order and
| keeps tracking you until you go into the app, then it'll
| check and realize you picked it up and stop tracking you.
| crazygringo wrote:
| Sounds like a bug? It doesn't do that on my phone.
|
| Especially since the blue status bar is so obvious.
| Nobody wants that sticking around on their screen.
| kccqzy wrote:
| When using that workaround the Dynamic Island will show
| that the app is using navigation. It's a prominent UI
| indicator impossible to miss. Much more obvious than the
| small location icon next to the clock.
|
| For such apps I prefer to manually terminate them when
| not using, instead of merely moving them to the
| background.
| el_benhameen wrote:
| And here I've been paying for my fries like a sucker. I'm
| hesitant to call this information "helpful" as it'll
| increase my consumption of French fries, but I appreciate
| it nonetheless.
| skibbityboop wrote:
| Maybe it depends on the McDonald's franchisee in your
| area, I never see free fries in the app but it's always
| "any size fries for $1.29" (which is still massively
| cheaper than their normal price).
| crazygringo wrote:
| Yeah I think the promos are very region dependent. I've
| never seen that one, for instance. Yours is worse for a
| medium, but way better because it lets you save money on
| a large!
| gnopgnip wrote:
| They recently replaced the buy one get one free with buy
| one get one 30% off for Big Macs here
| ipaddr wrote:
| To save a few dollars you installed an app that will gather
| as much data as possible, selling your info to big data
| providers but we're only worried about Google.
| wkat4242 wrote:
| Weird. Here in Europe the prices are the same everywhere in
| the same country and they don't really do coupons.
|
| They also have the excellent "menu4you" meal here in Spain
| that gets you a double cheeseburger (basically a big Mac)
| medium meal for 4,50EUR. Previously it was even 4EUR.
|
| They are really trying to promote their app with free goodies
| though. I tried to install it but it refused to work because
| I didn't install it through the play store. I don't use a
| Google account so I use aurora store to install apps. I do
| have the basic Google play services installed for eg push
| messages, i just don't use a Google account to minimise
| tracking.
|
| For some reason the McDonald's app is the single one I have
| tried that complains about it. Not sure what their issue is
| with that.
|
| I use McDonald's if I need a known quality food quick. Not
| great quality but consistent. And I actually like their
| breakfast muffins once in a while.
| scubbo wrote:
| Huh - I tried installing the app a couple of times, and
| couldn't get it to work. I'll try again - thanks!
| dugmartin wrote:
| Yes, McDonalds is way too expensive now given the quality and
| (lack of) service.
| SoftTalker wrote:
| When I was a kid/young adult (1980s/1990s) I ate at
| McDonald's quite a bit. I remember it as being decent food
| and a pretty good value. The restaurants were generally clean
| and service was usually fast.
|
| I don't know if my tastes have changed or the food has or
| both, but I can't stand McDonalds now. I may have eaten there
| once or twice in the past 5 years.
|
| The food is bad, the french fries in particular are awful
| (they used to be great), the employees are indifferent and
| act like customers are an interruption, and it's expensive.
| thrdbndndn wrote:
| I mean, first of all, Japan as a whole has lower cost of living
| than the US (in term of absolute value, not percentage of
| income).
|
| And from my personal experience, certain things like eating out
| and hotels are particularly more expensive in the US than the
| baseline.
|
| > Even if you used a 1 USD = 100 JPY exchange rate instead of
| the real one
|
| Well, if we use this.. their website currently lists Big Mac as
| 450 yen, which isn't that different from 4.x USD price that
| covers majority of the US.
| mplewis wrote:
| 450Y= is actually $3.11 which is cheaper than any US Big Mac.
| thrdbndndn wrote:
| Hence I quoted his "Even if you used a 1 USD = 100 JPY".
| practicemaths wrote:
| Economic theory would suggest that you price your product where
| it will give you the maximum amount of return or profit.
|
| So even if increasing price might lower total number of sales
| the total dollar amount might actually be bigger than before.
| TulliusCicero wrote:
| Right, but normally this is kept somewhat in check by
| competitive markets.
|
| Prices rising are usually a sign that either input costs have
| risen in a way in which all parties have to deal with them,
| _or_ the market is becoming less competitive somehow so
| incumbents can get away with higher prices.
| blackoil wrote:
| In short term aligned with the bonus cycle of management. If
| high price cause people who have McD as habit slowly trickle
| to alternate chains/cuisine/modes of eating. In long they may
| make loss.
| chii wrote:
| > price your product where it will give you the maximum
| amount of return or profit.
|
| this is where price discrimination, aka charging a different
| price to each customer, comes in.
|
| By finding out the maximum a customer would be willing to
| pay, you can get more profit than a static price for all
| customers. The only thing is that another customer would not
| like to see themselves pay a higher price for the same good.
|
| Coupons, apps, etc, are the modern way to get around the
| customers seeing the "real" price others are paying.
| rangestransform wrote:
| I suspect the difference in Japan is actually related to
| commercial real estate rent
| Drew_ wrote:
| The Japanese Yen is just very weak right now for a number of
| reasons.
| thekevan wrote:
| >I was shocked at how much cheaper basic meals were
|
| Gregg's in England has entered the chat
| nightski wrote:
| I feel like exchange rate doesn't tell you the whole story. If
| relative income is lower in Japan then items might be priced
| lower to accommodate the market.
| fragmede wrote:
| Right. How many hours do I have to work for this food is the
| real question.
| paxys wrote:
| The reason is that they have captured a set of customers who
| don't want cheap fast food, they want _McDonalds_. Same for
| most other similar chains.
|
| Chipotle was great when it was a filling Mexican-ish meal for
| $5-6. Today the same food is $13-16. It makes no sense for them
| to stay in business when you can get a burrito for the same
| price from a much nicer Mexican restaurant across the street,
| but the people going there specifically want _Chipotle
| burritos_ and are willing to pay $16 for it.
| tbihl wrote:
| FWIW, I see 9.20 for Chipotle in Maryland (and one of the
| more expensive parts of that expensive state, at that) for
| the chicken burrito/bowl, no add-ons. I don't deny the
| disappearance of formerly free hacks and add-ons, or that
| price has gone up, but the nearly 2.5x probably has some
| local craziness thrown in.
|
| Edit: ouch, just saw it jumped to 10.10 since my last monthly
| Chipotle order.
| Rapzid wrote:
| And that's without guac? What's the point.
| matteoraso wrote:
| McDonald's prices are all over the place. Big Macs are
| expensive because of the brand name, but other stuff is
| remarkably cheap.
| gnicholas wrote:
| Yeah, egg McMuffins are like 5 bucks now. I've started making
| them on my own, which is actually pretty easy.
| voidfunc wrote:
| I guess the most expensive Big Mac in the US is in my state of
| Massachusetts...
|
| I've lived here my entire life and I didn't have a fucking clue
| where "Lee" MA is.., but I have learned now, it's somewhere out
| in the Berkshires.
| aldanor wrote:
| And according to the map, there's a mcdonalds across the road
| where big Mac is a dollar cheaper
| voidfunc wrote:
| Well the road is the Mass Pike (I-90) so a little harder than
| just driving across the street to get to, but pretty wild.
| Also the variances for fairly short distances are very
| interesting. I wonder how this is all computed.
| nostrademons wrote:
| A lot of New England towns have local regulations that say that
| any McDonalds (or other chain business) needs to fit in with the
| local architectural style. Take a look at the most expensive
| McDonald's in the country in Lee, MA:
|
| https://maps.app.goo.gl/gWFtn5PRmzHtYq3D9
|
| It's not what you would think a McDonald's looks like; it
| actually looks basically like every other rest stop on the Mass
| Pike, which looks like most of the commercial real estate in the
| area.
|
| There are probably extra costs associated with making the outside
| of a building look just like every other building, while making
| the inside conform to McDonald's franchise specifications. Also
| you lose some of the branding benefit that the nationwide chain
| has, and the local populace tends to be a bit more hostile toward
| fast food.
| KarlKemp wrote:
| Prices have little to do with costs, and absolutely nothing to
| do with a minor issue such as local regulations of
| architectural standards.
| thrdbndndn wrote:
| Yeah, I thought it's going to be some ridiculous building,
| but it looks very generic. I doubt it would be any harder
| than fitting a McD in some plazas/department stores.
| ttyprintk wrote:
| Not sure what the downvotes are for. Pricing capabilities at
| volume have surpassed the period where prices are affected by
| business costs.
|
| Three of the five factors used by a corporation like
| McDonald's to mandate the maximum price are oriented toward
| the kinds of advantages you get by maintaining a presence,
| regardless of a boutique facade. Only one (bundle pricing) is
| even indirectly related to cost.
| djkivi wrote:
| Indeed, see the ones in Freeport, Maine or New Hyde Park, New
| York:
|
| https://www.architecturaldigest.com/gallery/beautiful-mcdona...
| sach90 wrote:
| This is my site. I need to re-run a scrape and update the prices.
|
| McDonald's blocked my scraper when it went viral the first time
| ape4 wrote:
| Ah I was wondering where the info was from. Nice site.
| cylinder714 wrote:
| Don't you have an identical site with Taco Bell prices?
| sach90 wrote:
| I do - taconomical.com
| paulkrush wrote:
| +1 for https://taconomical.com/ Texas is really divided.
| spiffytech wrote:
| Could I interest you in listing any others you have?
| foxandmouse wrote:
| Would it be possible to include Canada? food inflation has been
| massive over the last couple years.
| joenot443 wrote:
| Big +1 to this. A medium fries at Canadian McDonald's is now
| $5, it's madness!
| switch007 wrote:
| Wow. $2.74 CAD in the UK.
|
| I feel they've shrunk too but ymmv.
| nosecreek wrote:
| Not for Big Macs, but if you're interested I've been
| collecting Canadian grocery price data over the past couple
| of years here: https://grocerytracker.ca/
| ClimaxGravely wrote:
| Oh wow! I've been looking for something like this. Thank
| you.
| joenot443 wrote:
| Well done. Any personal findings?
| orenlindsey wrote:
| You should publish the dataset or provide an API to get it. I
| found what seems to be a dataset but it doesn't have a clear
| structure.
| ratsmack wrote:
| Is there a way you prevent them from identifying your scraper?
| jonnycoder wrote:
| Yes, there is a lot written about it. Here is one link I have
| saved:
|
| https://github.com/niespodd/browser-fingerprinting
| jrmg wrote:
| How old is the data?
| Wistar wrote:
| I admire the crispness and precision of your mapping. Zooming
| in tight so just three or four McD locations are on screen and
| then sliding a location juuuust off-screen immediately changes
| the price results.
| seanhandley wrote:
| Would be interesting to know the cost as well as the price.
| monitron wrote:
| This is really neat. I wish it had an alternate color mode, as
| when the creator chose the endpoints of their scale, they managed
| to pick the two colors that are least distinguishable for me and
| about 5% of people!
| utkarsh123 wrote:
| Why are there different prices across the country ? For context,
| I am not from the US
|
| In my country, the price is same across all the states
| smithcoin wrote:
| There is a massive difference in cost of living between the
| states. A six figure salary in New York City would afford a
| very different lifestyle than one in the rural Midwest.
| zdragnar wrote:
| They're all owned by different people (it's a franchise) and,
| as you might expect with a country the geographic size of the
| US, costs vary widely.
|
| Land taxes, shipping costs, utility costs, average local salary
| pushing up (or down) the wage floor they hire at, all influence
| the minimum amount of money any particular restaurant needs to
| make to break even or be profitable.
|
| Since they're all owned independently and merely rent the name
| (and sometimes the land) from the McDonald's corporate entity,
| they have some leeway on setting their prices. There's a whole
| lot of rules they have to follow, of course, but that's the
| jist.
|
| Usually, prices don't vary much, if at all, when looking at a
| smaller area or among locations owned by the same person.
|
| The exceptions are if a particular location is especially
| expensive or high demand, such as interstate highway rest stops
| or when the location is attached to a highly trafficked gas
| station. The rents and taxes on those locations alone are
| enough to push prices up.
| metaphor wrote:
| On a related note, an equivalent site[1] for select Taco Bell
| products.
|
| [1] https://taconomical.com/
| avalys wrote:
| Am I the only one that didn't know the price differed between
| locations?
|
| I just assumed that, other than airports and other special cases
| like that, the prices were set nationally.
| ttyprintk wrote:
| You might also be surprised that 82% are franchises.
| Sebb767 wrote:
| I'm actually surprised that 18% aren't. I always assumed that
| all McDonalds are franchises, with a few exceptions for halo
| stores and the likes.
| throwaway290 wrote:
| McD direct owned almost all stores in Russia from what I
| heard, I bet they are done with that model now...
| throwaway290 wrote:
| I thought franchisees cannot just set whatever price they
| feel like though?
| epolanski wrote:
| Why wouldn't they?
| Dylan16807 wrote:
| The contract that makes so many other things be the same.
| michaelt wrote:
| If they want to run national advertising campaigns about
| the price of a value meal, every store has to offer a
| value meal at the advertised price.
|
| I suppose they could just leave all the prices off
| national advertising, though.
| 8organicbits wrote:
| Ads that quote the prices and the dollar menu give the
| perception of uniform pricing. I guess ads are regional,
| only mention one or two products, and they mention "in
| participating stores". I wonder how much the dollar menu
| varies (if that's even a thing any more, it's been many
| years...)
| crazygringo wrote:
| Franchisees have very little control over anything.
|
| They can't change decoration, they often can't add an
| extra employee on a shift, they can't opt out of
| promotions, and they often can't set prices at all, or
| are allowed to change them only within a very narrow
| range.
|
| They run the restaurant exactly the way corporate
| decides. This is standard for franchising. It's just how
| it works.
|
| (If you want to do things your way, you start your own
| independent restaurant -- you don't franchise.)
| UberFly wrote:
| They have to be able to adjust to whatever the local
| landscape allows. I know in places like Seattle they tax it
| heavily.
| ttyprintk wrote:
| As I understand it, corporate in Chicago sets a USA maximum
| price.
| boguscoder wrote:
| Ditto, this site brought me observational joy but informational
| shock
| BuildTheRobots wrote:
| I was doubly surprised to find out that price varies by
| location in the UK as well (seems to have been introduced in
| 2008).
| whartung wrote:
| Certainly not. Land, taxes, labor, etc. vary across the
| country, and that has an impact on local pricing.
|
| An extreme case is the McDonalds at the South Rim of the Grand
| Canyon, which is a small town, obviously catering to the
| tourist trade. But, it's also, essentially, in the middle of
| nowhere. Plus, they have to truck water in, as there's no
| ground water or wells.
|
| The prices of sodas and beer were about the same, and they have
| to pay more labor to attract folks to make the drive out to the
| town to work.
|
| At the time, this was early 90's, it was almost $6.00 for the
| quarter pounder/fries/coke, which was an "outrageous" price,
| especially for McDonalds.
|
| Similarly, not McDonalds related, but there's another gas
| station in the middle of the desert with signs around the store
| to essentially tell folks "Yes, we know everything is expensive
| here. We're in the middle of the desert."
| crazygringo wrote:
| Thank you, this is amazing -- especially with so many stories
| about McDonald's sticker-shock recently. This actually shows
| where that is and isn't the case, how localized it is.
|
| It also illustrates a fundamental problem with the Economist's
| famous Big Mac Index [1] -- I've never understood how they choose
| the price of a Big Mac per-country, when it's so _extremely_
| variable locally. Even if they tried to choose "major
| metropolitan city prices", Big Mac prices vary a ton even within
| New York City, for example. There's more variation within NYC
| than the Economist reports between many _countries_. I 've never
| understood it.
|
| Edit: their GitHub page [2] reports:
|
| > _In July 2022 we updated the Big Mac index to use a McDonalds-
| provided price for the United States (previously, we averaged the
| price from four major US cities)._
|
| Which again, gives me no confidence. How is McDonald's providing
| a single price? That's a black box. And even averaging the cost
| between four major cities, there's a meaningful difference
| between a McDonald's in Times Square vs. in the Bronx. So how did
| they even used to pick a price per-city?
|
| So just thanks for this McCheapest site. Pretty awesome to have
| actually accurate data.
|
| [1] https://www.economist.com/big-mac-index
|
| [2] https://github.com/TheEconomist/big-mac-data
| tekla wrote:
| If you read the article that you posted and the methodology,
| they document exactly how they calculate the big mac index and
| how they choose the price.
|
| https://github.com/TheEconomist/big-mac-data#methodology-cha...
| p3rls wrote:
| Well, NYC has wildly differing levels of affluence mostly
| segregated into neat neighborhoods, sometimes even along a nice
| north-south gradient.
|
| What's interesting here is how there's barely any pattern
| visible to me at all, besides lower manhattan = stay away. The
| most expensive McDonalds there for instance (besides airports),
| 1540 Westchester Ave is not affluent at all, the streetview is
| even covered in garbage.
| rconti wrote:
| To an outsider shocked by the NYC garbage situation, that's
| what all of the street views look like :)
| Detrytus wrote:
| How come? Did Google make a deal with a garbage truck
| company to put Street View cameras on their trucks?
| rconti wrote:
| No, it's a comment about how NYC (until very very
| recently) just threw their trash in plastic bags on the
| sidewalk.
|
| https://www.npr.org/2023/11/09/1210494331/trash-problem-
| nyc-...
| p3rls wrote:
| Lil bit of that lil bit of residents just not caring in
| these neighborhoods... Above ground train station in a
| poor neighborhood? You're going to need some very
| dedicated porters in those buildings next door.
| MrFoof wrote:
| The most expensive _($8.09)_ in Lee, MA is in a highway rest stop
| plaza about 110 miles west of Boston near the state's western
| border _(just outside the Berkshires)_ that is _well known_ for
| its crazy prices. You buy _anything_ in that plaza and you're
| getting taken for a ride.
|
| For comparison, Boston _(and immediate surroundings)_ Big Mac
| prices are $5.89 - $6.79 depending on the location, and that
| includes one of the city's largest train and subway stations /bus
| terminals, in some extremely expensive to rent real estate within
| the financial district because of how many potential customers go
| through it every day.
| linehedonist wrote:
| Weirdly defensive about high hamburger prices.
| quotemstr wrote:
| What's with the cluster of extremely high prices in the
| southwest?
| ilamont wrote:
| Those two really expensive ones in western Massachusetts are on a
| toll road in a sparsely populated area (Mass Turnpike/I90). Lee
| is a rest area franchise and a de facto monopoly - no competition
| for hamburgers unless you significantly interrupt your journey.
| There are likely high fees charged to the franchisee to operate
| at that location over a period of many years.
| scotty79 wrote:
| Customers should have right to convenient pricing information.
| Companies should be forced to publish up to date prices in
| machone readable prices so they can be tracked and compared by
| third parties.
| xivzgrev wrote:
| Wow this shatters my assumption that prices were generally the
| same in my metro. I figured real estate, prevailing wages, etc
| were main drivers of price but there's a lot of variability
| despite that.
|
| I wonder why?
|
| My guess is different franchise owners - I notice some lower cost
| ones cluster near each other and then another cluster in next
| city over will be more expensive
| Workaccount2 wrote:
| Not surprised one of the most expensive McDonald's in the country
| is the one by me. This dude took over it about 5 years ago and
| seemingly just doubled the cost of everything. The prices are jaw
| dropping insane.
|
| But...
|
| It's in an extremely high traffic area and still to this day
| regularly has lines at the drive through. Even though there are
| two other McDonald's within 5 miles with sane prices.
|
| Not that I go to McDonald's a lot and am upset about it, but more
| upset that this guy is shamelessly ripping people off and no one
| seems to care.
| Caitlynmeeks wrote:
| I am reminded of Blahaj Quest
|
| https://blahaj.quest/
| sh1mmer wrote:
| Just looking at Austin area I was pretty surprised to see that
| the price varied from $3.89 to $5.39 between South Austin and
| Round Rock (North Austin). But also even a $1 difference from
| McDonalds in Round Rock on opposite sides of the free way.
|
| I don't really eat at McDonalds but surely people who do would
| notice these kinds of differences right away.
| tempodox wrote:
| Interesting how the Big Mac density is so much lower in the
| western half.
| codingdave wrote:
| The population density is likewise lower in the western half.
| PerilousD wrote:
| Umm this is fine for HISTORICAL prices but if I want a burger
| today - DONT be telling me what it cost nearly a year ago!!
| alkonaut wrote:
| TIL it's not the same (or merely varying by sales tax) across the
| US. I thought they always had the same prices in one country.
| That's why they feel cheap at the airport or in the center of the
| capital but relatively more expensive in rural areas. Not so in
| the US then?
| throwawaaarrgh wrote:
| McDonalds is a franchise. Franchise owners set prices and
| promotions. The cost of running any given McDonald's is going to
| be different based on many factors. Hence the prices are
| different.
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