Restaurant Customers Aghast At Min. Wage Cost Being Passed On To Them
Reading the quotes from this story, which focuses on a restaurant in Minnesota that (rightly) passed along the increased costs of operating stemming from a higher minimum wage, made me so annoyed that I couldn't help but write about it.The Oasis Cafe's owners decided that they would add on a .35 cent minimum wage fee to every bill as a way to offset their ballooned costs of business following the minimum wage hike. Oasis' owners calculated that they would be paying roughly $10,000 a year more. This has outraged some of their customers, who apparently have no idea how the market works, and think that businesses are run solely as nonprofit organizations designed to provide free services. Some examples via WCCO CBS:
“You’re essentially blaming customers for the increase when you charge for it the way you do,” one customer wrote on Facebook.
Incorrect, how can they be "blaming" customers? Is there even a scrap of logic in this statement? It makes no sense on any level.
Another said: “It’s Oasis way of blaming our government for trying to set a fair living wage. It is political grandstanding.”
Now, that makes sense. Oasis is indeed blaming the government - though "fair living wage" is highly up for debate.Where the logic disconnect occurs in this person's brain is that they can't comprehend the fact that higher minimum wage equals higher costs for the business. The Oasis owners have options. Option 1: cut staff, which would then cause customer backlash due to bad customer service. Option 2: eat the costs, which is a losing proposition seeing as restaurants are one of the least profitable business ventures out there. A profit margin of 2-6% is considered a success. Compare this to other industries, like retail electronics for instance (53%). Profits are rail thin, which is why you see so many restaurants close their doors. Option 3: pass costs along to the consumer. Option 3 is the only one that makes sense from a business standpoint.If people insist on Congress upping the minimum wage, despite it's negative effects on the market, they shouldn't be able to say a peep when that cost is passed through to them. When the cost of labor rises, so does the overall cost of the product - that should seem very obvious to anyone whether they have a knowledge of economics or not. This is why companies move their manufacturing bases overseas, where labor is cheap. If they kept them here, paying these higher and higher mandatory wages, customers would refuse to purchase the expensive product.These people want to have their cake and eat it too, but the world doesn't work that way.Receive access to ALL of our EXCLUSIVE bonus audio content – including “Conspiracy Corner”, “Degenerate Gamblers” and the “League of Liberty Podcast” by joining the Lions of Liberty Pride and supporting us on Patreon!
