Menu pricing of donuts at Mikes
Recently I saw the movie Freakonomics and it was as good as both of the books, the blog, and the podcast. They really seek to tease out causation from a large data set instead of just talking about correlation. It's really fascinating stuff regarding natural experiments and real world numbers. If you're not familiar with the stuff, you should start with their first book. They also had this post on their blog about how to price chicken wings. Weird menu prices exist everywhere, right? It shouldn't come as a surprise that an old school doughnut place in Brooklyn would do that. That's where Mike's Donuts and Coffee comes into the picture.
Before we get to the menu pricing of these donuts, how's do they taste? Yes my love of doughnuts has been previously cataloged. Mike's Donut probably can't compete with the newer doughnut place like The Doughnut Plant, and their location in Bay Ridge area of Brooklyn makes it difficult for most to find. The fixtures in Mike's look as if they were installed before I was even born. It's the whole thing where old school becomes cool and isn't shabby-looking.
If you get a custard doughnut at Mike's, you'll be doing just fine. Flavorful on the same level as other classic donut shops like Peter Pan's Donuts. It wasn't anything that will be orgasm inducing, although it was enough to make me realize this wasn't just a run-of-the-mill kind of doughnut from Dunkin.
Back to the menu prices of these doughnuts... Usually when you buy more and more things, you're likely to get a discount from the store. When you look at the chart, you see that one doughnut is $0.75, but if you buy a dozen donuts, the price per donut falls to $0.50. Something funny happens between buying one, two, or three donuts. Let's examine the numbers:
1 donut = $0.75.
2 donuts = $1.25. Per donut = $0.625
3 donuts = $2.00. Per donut = $0.667
Weird right? The price-per-donut actually goes up when you buy your donut #3, even though the price-per-donut went down between donut #1 and donut #2.
The pricing structure here seems like it was based on the idea that folks like to buy either one or two donuts, and then half a dozen, and then a dozen. The price regularly moves in increments of 50 cents. Although between the 7th and 8th donut, the price increase is only 40 cents. And then between the 8th and 9th donut, the price increasesonly 35 cents. Then between the 9th and 10th donut, the increase goes back up to 50 cents.
Even though the menu pricing is a bit funny, I'm glad that Mike's keeps the doughnut prices down for those who want to buy a dozen at a time. I wouldn't necessarily travel all the way to Bay Ridge to get these doughnuts, but if you're in the neighborhood, it's definitely worth a try.
Mike's Donuts
6822 5th Ave.
Brooklyn, NY 11220
718-745-6980
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Ha I made that same observation when Robyn(?) first wrote about Mike's. Solution - to find a homeless person who'd want to split that second "pair" with me. Problem - making sure that homeless person will actually pay up.
Nicholas
April 22, 2011 5:05 pm
@Nicholas,
It must be an Asian thing. haha. And sure finding a homeless person to help would work. In fact there was one in the place drinking coffee that time. It might be easier to just eat two donuts by yourself though.
Danny
April 25, 2011 9:50 am
Danny, have you had the creme donut at the Donut Pub? I highly recommend it. The powdered kind without any frosting or glazing.
LUNCH
April 25, 2011 5:20 pm
@LUNCH,
ooooh Donut Pub. Yes I gotta go back for the creme donut then. I'll remember to get the powdered kind!
Danny
April 25, 2011 9:31 pm