WiFi and Coffee shop ethics
February 6th, 2009
Eric Rescorla: If the shop is pretty full, I think it’s reasonably clear: you’re depriving the shop of space that could be used by paying customers so you should be buying a bit more than the average customer. The same logic holds for the staff, since presumably those customers would tip. If the shop is mostly empty, though, the situation seems a little more complicated.
I don’t think it is. You should be paying the same amount for the same service. There’s a tendency to look for variable pricing here, but it’s not like coffee shops charge you $10 for a cup of coffee at 8:30am on Monday.
February 7th, 2009 at 8:22 pm
Coffee shops *would* have variable pricing if there weren’t additional costs involved (which includes maintaining a complex price schedule and also confusing customers). Hotel room rates are a good example of where admin costs are low enough for variable pricing to work.
You are also conflating self-interest (of the coffee shop) and ethical value (your concern for the well-being of the owners and workers).
February 7th, 2009 at 9:13 pm
I guess you have a point about variable pricing, if by “cost” you mean the fact that customers wouldn’t put up with it.
I didn’t mention anything about the well-being of the workers or the owners. If I was concerned about the well-being of the workers, I would make the tip jar heavier (surprise, I do that). If the owners aren’t doing well, they should raise their prices. It’s not like a coffee shop owner is a subsistence farmer.
February 7th, 2009 at 9:29 pm
Given the title of the post, I assumed you were interested in the well-being of workers or owners (or someone). But maybe you were simply suggesting that Eric should haven’t such ethical concerns?
February 8th, 2009 at 10:36 am
I reused the title of Eric’s post.
February 9th, 2009 at 9:01 am
Free wifi at a coffee shop is a value-added feature designed to get people into the door. I buy whatever I would normally buy (no matter if it is full or empty) and if I get free wifi, that is a bonus that would make me go back to them in the future instead of their competition.