Wednesday, June 15, 2016

Junior Walker

I recently saw a flier for a dog walker that read:

Dog walker. Your pooches are in good hands

$7/ HR      $15/ 2 HR     $25/ 3 HR

For more information please call [redacted]

I would like more information, actually.

I'll ignore that this guy's price is below the California minimum wage. If he doesn't like it, he can take it up with himself.

What intrigues me is his payment plan. His first hour costs seven bucks.  His second, effectively, costs eight bucks.  His third, ten bucks. (Congrats--that last hour is the present-day minimum wage, though not for long.)

Perhaps he figures "for the first hour I won't be tired, but if they want me to keep walking those dogs, it's gonna be brutal, so I'll charge more as I go along."

Except it's a lot more common to charge most for the first hour of anything.  For one thing, some of your costs, like travel, are there no matter how long you work.

Second, if you want consumers to purchase more of your services than they might otherwise, it's a good idea to offer discounts--the more they buy, the greater the discount.

If I needed a dog walker, I'd hire this guy for one hour.  And then when he comes back, I'd say "you know what?  I think I'm going to hire you again for another hour.  Here's another seven bucks, see you soon." And so on.

4 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

I wonder if it is intentional because I could theoretically see it as a rational business model where he believes the one hour service is his/her sweet spot and wants to discourage (or charge more for) longer engagements. (I think hookers work on that principle too [though I would not know, not because of morality but rather frugality])

Of course, there would have top be a rule to disallow just paying for consecutive hours at the cheaper rate - possible in a small informal business.

5:57 AM, June 15, 2016  
Blogger LAGuy said...

Hookers work on that principle? I've never heard that. It would seem to me being hired by one man for the night, at a discount, is a good deal for everyone involved.

9:24 AM, June 15, 2016  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Why would reducing her income for a night be a good deal for the hooker (assuming a steady stream of customers). A whole night with a client would I believe involve premium pricing to cover the foregone wages [of sin].

10:48 AM, June 15, 2016  
Blogger LAGuy said...

A night with one man would be guaranteed income with no time and effort lost to find new customers, and much less labor involved, I would guess.

It's also the plot of Pretty Woman, and she ended up okay.

11:06 AM, June 15, 2016  

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