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DaughterofLaketown
Gondor
Sep 3 2014, 8:53pm
Post #1 of 15
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Do you think movie tickets are expensive?
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Magpie
Immortal
Sep 3 2014, 9:07pm
Post #2 of 15
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full price and IMAX/3D show tickets: yes
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matinee and second run: no
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Elarie
Grey Havens
Sep 3 2014, 9:51pm
Post #3 of 15
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Ticket prices around here vary from $13 to $1.50, depending on first run, second run, IMAX, etc., so there are ways around the higher ticket prices if you're willing to go to a matinee or wait awhile. And there are two ways to look at it - on the one hand, it's cheap compared to live performances, but on the other hand, it's expensive compared to staying home and watching a DVD.
It's the theater food prices that really amaze me. A small coke is now $5 at most of the theaters. I've been told that the food is where the theaters actually make their profit, and I can understand that - running a movie theater must be terribly expensive - but it's still hard to shell out that kind of money for a coke.
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Dwarewien
Rohan
Sep 3 2014, 10:41pm
Post #4 of 15
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Not in our cheapest theater they're not...
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since you can get into a matinee for in between $4.50 and $6.50 (unless it's Tuesday, when all seats are in between $3.50 and $5.50). They were having a summer deal where all matinees were only two dollars that ended the last day of August (so it's a good thing that Into the Storm just recently moved over from our newest theater at that time. Movies don't end in my neck of the woods until they go through both our theaters, except if it's a limited release, which means they may not move to the cheapest theater before ending it's theater run). In contrast, our newest theater (which isn't that new anymore, since it's nearly four or five years old), tickets can cost you about $10.50 for a regular 2D movie, and vary in price for 3D, depending on if the movie is playing in our UltraAVX auditorium, which is the most expensive at a whopping $15.50. Good thing I got a Scene card, since once you earn about 1000 Scene points (which is after you purchase about 10 regular movie tickets), you get free admission. Our cheapest theater also does this, but in stamps, and you have to buy 12 regular movie tickets (as opposed to 10 in our other theater) to earn free admission.
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DaughterofLaketown
Gondor
Sep 4 2014, 12:24am
Post #5 of 15
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I agree the food prices are ridiculous! Four dollars for a bottle of water?!
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It's cheaper to get coke than water, how crazy is that? These days when my whole family goes we either eat before we go so we aren't hungry and don't buy any food, or we'll share something. Candy is really high too. We usually buy our own candy and bring it with us in a bag or something.
(This post was edited by DaughterofLaketown on Sep 4 2014, 12:25am)
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Annael
Immortal
Sep 4 2014, 12:51am
Post #6 of 15
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I voted yes but I meant in the city
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Where they are $16. Here we pay half of that. One advantage of living in a small rural town.
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cats16
Half-elven
Sep 4 2014, 2:29am
Post #7 of 15
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But in comparison to other events, I think it is a very cheap form of entertainment (that's relative, of course). Sporting event ticket prices come to mind. Some people pay thousands of dollars for a couple of hours (with a large chance of disappointment--if their team loses), while I'll pay, say, $15 to see BOTFA and likely come away very pleased with the experience. I'm sure some would disagree with that thought, so of course I don't mean to apply it to anyone other than myself!
It's all about what we're willing to pay as consumers, and that varies for each of us.
(This post was edited by cats16 on Sep 4 2014, 2:31am)
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Kim
Valinor
Sep 4 2014, 2:46am
Post #8 of 15
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I tend to only see a movie in the theater if I think the visuals/sound are going to be a big part of the experience, so I'll pay for that ($16.75 for 3D IMAX HFR - totally worth it!). I save the quieter, smaller movies to rent at home at a lower price. Or binge watch Netflix streaming - now there's where I get my money's worth! 
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Elizabeth
Half-elven
Sep 4 2014, 6:36am
Post #9 of 15
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Theaters make all their money on the concessions.
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Here's an interesting article on the economics of running a movie theater. It was written in 2007, before the advent of bigtime 3D, but I suspect the breakdown hasn't changed much.
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Loresilme
Valinor
Sep 4 2014, 2:51pm
Post #10 of 15
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I remember when movie tickets were $5.00 and sometimes less, but I also remember in those days that theaters had uncomfortable seats, often with poor visibility, inadequate a/c and heating, smallish screens and sometimes terrible sound systems.
When I go to the movies now, I sit in comfortable, cushy recline-able seats, in aisles designed with lots of leg room, in tiered rows to allow everyone good visibility, with very comfortable temperature control, and excellent sound and huge screens.
So in comparison, the ticket today costs three times as much, but the overall experience is three times as good.*
*As long as the movie itself is good, lol, but that's a topic for another poll .)
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Otaku-sempai
Immortal
Sep 4 2014, 3:46pm
Post #11 of 15
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Certainly not when compared to tickets to a Broadway show or a professional sporting event; but, I'm a child of the '60s and can see how much prices have increased over the years.
The real outrage should be reserved for the concession stand! And not just the prices; a small drink should not exceed 12 ounces, much less be twice that or more.
(This post was edited by Otaku-sempai on Sep 4 2014, 3:49pm)
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Darkstone
Immortal
Sep 4 2014, 4:27pm
Post #12 of 15
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Considering all the capital improvements being required of theater owners, like conversion to digital projectors, installing 3-D projector systems, updating to the latest Dolby system (This year it's Dolby Atmos.), and getting ahead of the proposed Department of Justice mandate to provide accomodations for theater patrons who are deaf and/or blind, the prices are surprizingly cheap.
As for high prices for movie popcorn, I think it's worth it, because, really, you can't find the taste of movie popcorn anywhere but in a movie heater.
As for high soda pop prices, hey, everywhere you buy soda in a cup is overpriced: McDonald's, ballgames, amusement parks, airports. Welcome to captive market economics!
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Aunt Dora Baggins
Immortal
Sep 5 2014, 1:30pm
Post #13 of 15
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We get the senior discount, though. We don't buy food at the theater; we have a meal before we go.
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joec_34
Rivendell
Sep 9 2014, 2:11pm
Post #14 of 15
(240 views)
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Yes, but not too expensive to see a few. EOM
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Cirashala
Valinor
Sep 10 2014, 1:57am
Post #15 of 15
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unless it's a second run/discount theater. Thankfully we have one in town 
At our Regal Cinema (it's either that or discount theater, which has a much later opening for the movies) ticket prices are $10.75 for an adult (I think matinees are about $8 per ticket) for regular, and about $14 for 3D (we don't have IMAX here, and I don't think we have HFR either but could be wrong- it's been a good while since I've seen a movie- DOS to be exact ). At the discount theater, the movies are $3 for regular, and 3D is $5.
That certainly doesn't seem as bad as, say that famed "hobbit super ticket", which ran $30. BUT- when you consider wages for most of the US population- the retail workers (my husband, as a retail manager, makes (before taxes) $15.10 per hour and he's been there for ten years and that's FAR better than many retail managers get paid- plus with full medical/dental/vision), the fast food workers, the grocery store cashiers, the waiters/waitresses, that guy at Best Buy who sold you your computer, the janitor in your office, the nursing assistants at assisted living facilities- most of America's younger generation works at places like this- AS ADULTS. And most of those jobs are minimum wage or not that much above- in fact, I would say the average wage I see listed on job searches (I keep an eye out for mental health jobs for my husband, who is a counseling major working on his master's degree- and sometimes that entails sifting through ALL jobs available) makes around $10 per hour, with many making less! Medical office workers? $11-$12 per hour. Bank tellers? $12 or so per hour, etc.
These jobs are no longer "high school jobs"- in fact, you now have to be 18 years old to work at many fast food joints! Thanks to OSHA and the federal government's ideas that a 16 year old cannot possibly push a button to lower a basket of fries in a deep fryer because it's "heavy equipment operation"  And yet, they're allowed to drive because operating a car isn't considered "operating heavy machinery".....
Ah well....
My point is, I don't see a ton of teenagers (under 18, which means having disposable income as opposed to trying to pay rent, food, car insurance, quite possibly college tuition, daycare fees (unfortunately there are many unwed mothers in the US now, and many single parents at a very young age- early twenties)) working in these entry level jobs anymore. I see cashiers at the grocery store who are old enough to have teenagers of their own!
I see elderly people working in the drive through. I see thirty year olds with wives and children (my husband being one of them) working as retail workers (or in his case, footwear manager). I see people like my husband's coworker, whose around his age and works part time at his store as a cashier while her husband works full time, and she comes to work as he comes home from work- so they barely see each other in order to avoid paying daycare. She's been working there nearly as long as he has (again, 10 years) and probably doesn't make more than $9 per hour (of course, I wouldn't know for sure- wages aren't generally discussed freely at his job because of corporate policy). But given that part time workers start at $7.25 per hour, I'd bet that after ten years she's probably only up to that.
So, when you consider the average US wage- about $52,000 when you consider everyone from entry level to doctorates, turns into about $25 per hour, and yet most of the population makes half that if they're lucky, and then compare that to movie ticket prices, you get this:
A movie ticket for a first run theater is about, if not more, than a person's hourly take home pay for probably at least 1/3 of American workers.
So, if the average wage is supposed to amount to about $25 per hour, then respectively that's how much it costs these lower wage earners to go to the movies. When you add high rents, high cost of groceries (apparently according to the USDA website, a poverty stricken family of four still spends about $500 per month on groceries for a family of four!), car insurance rates, utility rates, etc- every penny counts.
I am not kidding- we're a one income family (I can't work outside the home- health reasons, plus I find ways to work at home). We track each and every penny we spend, and oftentimes run out of money before everything on our grocery lists are checked off. And we only spend about $350 for a family of four per month on groceries! And that's with two growing little girls who eat everything in sight (and not buying packaged food- I can't eat it). We can't even afford to pick up a roast (beef) or a ham every couple weeks! We subsist on dry beans, chicken, cheese, and tuna (occasionally bagged salmon at $11 per bag because it's good to ward off certain cancers that my family is very prone to), and hamburger most of the time as protein sources.
And we make nearly twice what most minimum wage workers make!
So yes, movie tickets (except discount theaters) are expensive, considering the average American worker's pay in the area (and while pay is higher in non-rural areas like mine, cost of living is astronomically higher too so we actually have more once bills and low mortgage are paid than many people living in higher cost areas- enough that I don't have to work, thank goodness).
I understand that movie theaters have to make their money somehow (on the rare occasion I do spare the money to go, I can't eat the food anyway so I just haul in my filtered water bottle- constantly dehydrated despite sipping at it all day all the time so it's also medical necessity and no one's stopped me for it yet).
Yes they are expensive in relation to the population they're serving (I will likely never see a sporting event live, no matter how much I like the team, because of this very thing- if this is expensive then those prices are unreal!  ). But the nice thing is there are things like Netflix out there for those of us who can't spare the funds to go as often, and that way we can save up throughout the year to go see the ones we REALLY want to see (it makes movie theater trips that much more special since it's not something that happens often).
Plus Christmas overtime helps  And coincides quite nicely with TH movies 
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