Ever Wanted To Know How Much Things Cost At McDonalds?

reply to post by tothetenthpower


all that PROFIT is what feeds the Beast.

We are all dogs with ticks sucking the LIFEBLOOD out of us. the RICH are the ticks.

Anytime we purchase something, remember that a portion of your money is going DIRECTLY into someone's pocket that ALREADY have more wealth than you and I will see.

Investors are the SCOURGE of the world.

For they continually take more money out than they put in. That is called PROFIT.

until we, as a society, refuse to further lining of RICH people's pockets, nothing will change,

Personally, I would rather @#@! someone than put money into THEIR pockets. How can people justify allowing some/FEW rich to continue picking OUR pockets ALL DAY, EVERY DAY?

Obviously, the only fix is for government to do all the food processing and deliver us meals which they deem we should consume at times when we should consume them.

Hunger and waste would be abolished, we'd all weigh exactly what we should, all health problems would be diminished! It would be a great leap forward!

reply to post by tothetenthpower


Lest we forget how MANY McDonald's that there are across the globe. This amounts to incredible purchasing power....buy quantity think big savings like Costco or Sam's.

Is there a mark up ? Of course its business with a capital B. It takes loads of money to operate across the globe....remembering the cost to produce the burgers, fries, and other assorted junk they serve....remember that it is specially produced for them and that cost extra. Real estate is not exactly cheap so mark it up....yes they don't pay a lot...but multiply minimum wage (even though most pay more) by oh I don't know...maybe a billion and its a pretty hefty sum.

They must transport it across the globe on trucks, ships, planes and whatever conveyance they can which cost money. So the bottom line is the bottom line, and I'm sure they know exactly where the line is and charge exactly what they need to make a profit and provide the service we all believe we get.

Let us also remember that McD's is a franchise and the Corporation sells the product to the franchise owners who in turn sell it to you and I at a final price agreed too by all parties corporate and franchise alike as prices vary region to region and country to country.

Are they enjoying extraordinary profits...YES...its the point they are in the business to make a profit. On a side note, as I write this I am watching a TV show with Robin Williams (new show and I don't know the name of it) using Kelly Clarkson to sing the McD's jingle from the 70's "you deserve a break today"...imagine how much McD's paid for that to happen...it actually may have paid for one whole episode but I kinda doubt it...but maybe just maybe.

I am no fan of corporate America and the lengths they go to to make a buck, case in point a TV show featuring a real product otherwise known as product placement...but for a minute...give yourself a break...and just stay away...and teach them that sometimes businesses fails.

reply to post by tothetenthpower

Back in 1986 that big mac was about 18 cents and Quarter Pounder 24 cents. These numbers are believable.

reply to post by rickymouse


Well said. Yes, if you were able to purchase in huge quantities you could probably have a Big Mac for $1.

ALL businesses pay WAY less than what they sell the product for with the exception of gas stations (they don't make much until you start buying Coke).

I saw this on Reddit earlier today (the guy claimed he took the picture) and was not outraged or impressed. While I would disagree that McDonald's and the franchisees don't make a lot of money, I do disagree that the food is overpriced. Also that $250,000 cash on hand to open a McDonald's is nonsense. It's more like $1 million + (around here at least).

OK I Googled. From the horse meat's mouth:

Startup Costs, Ongoing Fees and Financing

Total Investment: $1,031,350 - $2,182,050
Franchise Fee: $45,000
Term of Franchise Agreement: 20 years, renewable
FINANCIAL REQUIREMENTS
Liquid Cash Available: $750,000
OPERATIONS
88% of all franchisees own more than one unit. Absentee ownership of franchise is NOT allowed. (100% of current franchisees are owner/operators).

So the owner is VERY invested and most likely has to take out a rather large loan. Couple that with maintenance, paying McDonalds their cut, paying for employees, paying for insurance on the property, paying for insurance for the employees, paying for OH **** moments, paying for rent, and paying for all the other things..... Yeah, I don't care that they knock the price up.

Some franchisees are paying 12% of their sales in rent, an increase from the historic levels of 8.5%. Since U.S. McDonald's locations on average net about $2.5 million in annual sales, operators who recently renewed leases are paying an average of $300,000 under the new rate, a steep increase from the $212,500 under the previous rate. Not surprisingly, franchisees want McDonald's to roll back fees to the old rate.

Remodeling a McDonald's costs about $800,000, more than twice as expensive as the $300,000 rival Burger King (BKW +0.66%) charges its franchisees. It also tops the $375,000 Wendy's (WEN -1.14%) expects to charge for its least-expensive model, according to Bloomberg News

It's our decision to buy the food. It's interesting to see what companies pay, but I'm not going to begrudge them for wanting to make a tidy profit. I'm well aware the laptop I'm typing on did not cost Apple the exorbitant price I payed to produce. There are so many costs the average consumer doesn't take into account. I don't think McDonald's is rich because they overcharge, I think they're doing well because they are so high volume.

I love McDonalds. Don't care, shut up holier than thou ATSers. McDonalds was a special treat growing up, and it still is. If I go I splurge. Bad. I get a Big Mac, large fries, and two double cheeseburgers (and sometimes a chicken sandwich shhhhhhhh!). Not a big ol fatty, this is my 'so hungover I woke up at 6 PM' cure. 5 times a year. And it is AMAZING. Go get food at 7 PM, gingerly lie down on bed and watch a movie while the dog snuggles and shares in the glory that is hungover ToTheTenthPower food.

Link

I have to say that this isn't particularly bad or disturrbing.
That mark-up is low to average really and no different to every other business out there.

While I understand that McDonald's is one of the most abhorrent and vile companies out there, their profit margains and such have zero to do with that.
The real issue is the crap they sell, how they destroy the environment and how they still primarily target kids.
Plus their exploitation of developing nations, cattle, land, etc etc.

This is a non-issue IMHO.

reply to post by Domo1


nice post.

i paid way less for the food i sold, not enough to make a million bucks, tho, it has a shelf life.
not like auto parts.

i still have my wholesale meat account, i buy from them instead of retail for big tic items, like a whole strip sirloin or tenderloin.

same with seafood and wine, booze and dry goods.

i couldn't just charge anything i wanted for a dish. it had to be market sensitive, to the area and dish.

mac D's just has good buying power and a solid biz plan. you don't have to know anything about food, just what they teach you and money, like everything else.

same with wal-mart, when they wanted to put one in steamboat springs, co, people were freaking about the mom and pops.

being a resident of the town (about 5500, pop yr round, then) i welcomed it, it was expensive to shop for anything. unless we drove to craig, 40miles, 1 way, to Target or something.
not many went out of biz, maybe 10% of tourist traps and most all dropped the over priced necessities from their inventory. the high end shops did great.

i wasn't crazy about where they put it, but time marches on.
it employed a hellova lot more people than that lost their jobs.

Quite frankly I'm surprised that is ALL that mcdonalds profits.

I used to work for a wholesale eyeglass lab that made lenses for eyeglasses (where eye doctors get your lenses from, as they can't fabricate and mold lenses with a prescription in them in their doctors office.) It would cost us about a penny in materials and almost nothing in man hours since the robots did all the work, to make a PAIR of lenses. In turn, we would sell them to the doctors office on demand for $25 a pair (2,500% markup) to $150 a pair (15,000% markup) depending on type of lens and prescription.

The doctors would then take that price and either double, triple, or quadruple it depending on the doctors office and that's what they charge you, the patient for lenses.

Eyeglass frames were the same way. That nice designer frame you bought at an eyeglass boutique for $500? It cost that boutique $80 wholesale to buy it. And it cost the manufacturer probably less than a dollar to make.

To the day since I left that company on good terms I can go back to them and get a pair of of lenses for my glasses for free, since it only costs a penny to make and they liked me. For anyone else though, you're stuck with paying $300 or more for a complete pair of eyeglasses (or your insurance is).

I am also an inventor now and sell the product I invented. It costs me about $20 to make. I sell it MSRP for $100. I actually don't sell it too much directly itself, I sell them in batches to retail chains for $50 each. So I make $30 on each unit sold. I'm really getting cheated compared to most other businesses. Not even 200% markup. I could manufacture it in China for $5 a unit but I really wanted it made in America and high quality...

rickymouse
I don't think this takes into consideration ongoing franchise fees, costs of buying the franchise, property taxes, Utility costs, phone costs, Labor costs and also the cost of unemployment insurance, Employers costs of Social Security and medicare contributions, business insurances and Workers Comp costs, Snow removal costs, maintenance costs, and I am sure there are a few more I haven't listed. The owner of a McDonalds doesn't get that rich.

franchises.businessmart.com...

In the end, nobody gets filthy rich owning a small business. If you luck out and get A McDs in a very good location it isn't bad. When a McDs comes to town the business is good for a few years but then another restaurant starts up and yet another. Nobody gets rich.

The build out for an average McDonalds is over a million dollars, some significantly more, and the franchisees are obligated to renovate every time corporate decides they want each location to look like a coffee house, have a children's play area, etc. in the 70's and 80's you were guaranteed if you bought a franchise, you would become a millionaire. Now that is not the case.

fWIW, my neighbor did all of the franchise development and real estate planning for McD in several states

I don't know why society is so anti-capitalism. Even here on ATS, which used to be fairly conservative, liberalism has gotten out of hand.

I don't care if anyone ever eats at McD's. It isn't my business. But whether you love them or hate them, they provide inexpensive food to the masses. You could eat at McD's for far less than it would cost you to make things yourself. Yes, the quality and ingredients would not compare, but if you are poor, eating 2 burgers off the dollar menu might be your best option for not starving for the day. You couldn't get anything in the grocery store for that.

And I believe that all businesses deserve to make a profit. There has to be some reward for putting up with the risk and stress of being a business owner. Profits are what allow companies to hire people.

reply to post by tothetenthpower


Awesome find, Tenth. And yes. There are a lot of people in the U.S. who are getting shafted on their wages. Obama was proposing a minimum wage hike to above $10.00. According to The Economist, which would normally be against that kind of hike, it would merely bring our minimum wage to 50% of the median wage, which is exactly what they would recommend, and it would not affect employment levels according to their analysts.

rimjaja
You could eat at McD's for far less than it would cost you to make things yourself.

Bull# on that. That's so far off - eating out is actually one of the main ways to screw up a budget. And two burgers off the dollar menu? The McDouble over here in Washington skyrocketed to $2.00 +.

I think the issue here is making sure that people in America, who used to be part of the Middle Class, are able to live off of the service industry wages they are forced to have now. I also posted above what The Economist had to say about minimum wage in the U.S.

The French are the ones who messed up lol - their minimum wage at 60% of the median wage causes unemployment.

Right now the U.S. minimum wage is probably around 30% of the median wage - and notice that median is used instead of mean, because the average wage would be so far off that it would be useless.

And remember, America is the Land of Opportunity. So that has to remain in place for everyone, or else it could cause civil unrest and / or bad living conditions / human rights violations, all kinds of things. And the majority of the U.S. is probably poor now.

So think of it this way - you roll dice to decide who you get to be in life. Wouldn't you like to have a chance? If your country doesn't offer this, it is an embarrassment to the First World.

reply to post by Domo1


Eating at McDonalds occasionally won't hurt anyone. I don't understand why some people have to blame their OCD dependance on fast food on the places that produce it. We grew up going occasionally to fast food restaurants like the A&W root beer stand. It is when you make a treat into a way of life that it is a problem.

If a construction worker or farm worker who works hard eats these things for lunch every day, they burn off the toxins by sweating them out and the body can create more enzymes during heating caused by exercise. If you work in an office, they become more of a problem. There are many kinds of metabolisms. Some people can eat things with no problem while others have all sorts of metabolic issues. We can't blame this on McD's or BK though.

I owned a business, I wound up investing a lot of money in it over the years. My workers sometimes took home more money than I did. The value of the tools is not there as I thought it would be. It seems that consumerism has trained people that new and improved is better and with the influx of cheap chinese tools, the value of what I own is way down. I do have high quality tools but why would someone buy an old tool when they can get a new one for about the same price.

Small businesses do not make much for the amount of financial risk they take. People do not want to support their local markets anymore either, they run to Walmart and big chain home improvement centers instead of the small lumberyards. The American dream is dying.

reply to post by rimjaja


It is nice to meet someone who has first hand knowledge from someone doing this stuff.

I'm not trying to defend them but this is how a business works.. buy in or produce your own product to sell as cheaply as you can and sell it for as much as you can for a profit. They also have
a miriad of other cost to include from staff, energy, waste disposal, advertising, insurance etc.
they are no different to any other chain restaurant world wide.

reply to post by tothetenthpower


This isn't any different than what jewelry stores charge or what any other store charges vs what you pay. It's ridiculously inflated.

I worked Zales customer service a couple years ago and dealt with all online sales and customer service related issues. We had access to a program that gave us the cost of an item for Zales and then of course we had the customer price. It was INSANE the mark up!! For example they had given all employees a pair of pearl earrings and bracelet at a meeting. It wasn't unusual for them to give us items at meetings. I LOVE pearls so I was super excited to get them and I still have both. The earrings were simple studs and the bracelet had an elastic band with fresh water pearls strung on it, nothing fancy yet on their site the SAME set sold for $100 bucks. Do you know what it cost them???! $4 BUCKS yes FOUR DOLLARS! After I saw that i started looking up certain items and the mark up should be considered price gouging. Vera Wang has a bridal collection there and her stuff is nice but the diamonds aren't anything special, meaning the "4 C's" were at the low end yet the items were priced in the thousands. Her cheapest item was $1200 bucks and it only cost Zales $300!! So yea the mark up in jewelry is insane.

I also worked retail for years and the same goes there. We would learn the cost of items and that is how they priced items for clearance. I always wondered how they priced things on clearance and then found out at one of my jobs. So when you see something at the lowest clearance price well that item really only cost them a few bucks yet they mark it up times 5 almost to make a profit and "pay" employees as they put it.

I personally don't eat at McDonalds and it doesn't surprise me their mark up is so high, their food is gross. I do't even consider it food. Food molds and goes bad, this stuff can sit for a year and look like it did the day you bought it!

S&F

MysterX
reply to post by DeadSeraph

 

When you were 13??

Really?

Isn't that...kinda illegal?

That's normal..(in the US)...that children work.

rimjaja
I don't know why society is so anti-capitalism. Even here on ATS, which used to be fairly conservative, liberalism has gotten out of hand.

I don't care if anyone ever eats at McD's. It isn't my business. But whether you love them or hate them, they provide inexpensive food to the masses. You could eat at McD's for far less than it would cost you to make things yourself. Yes, the quality and ingredients would not compare, but if you are poor, eating 2 burgers off the dollar menu might be your best option for not starving for the day. You couldn't get anything in the grocery store for that.

And I believe that all businesses deserve to make a profit. There has to be some reward for putting up with the risk and stress of being a business owner. Profits are what allow companies to hire people.

Wow...2 Burgers off the dollar.menu from McD are "the best option for not starving"? Pretty funny..and sad really.

It's exactly SUCH opinion that "liberals" (and what on earth has this even to do with liberalism/capitalism) have to open their mouth because the COMMON JOE is too dumbed down...I mean look at yourself! You're seriously stating that two burgers are "the best option to not starve".

Like there is no alternatives even for very poor people to at least SOMEWHAT eat and be healthy....but with a view such as yours the masses just kept dumbed down. You're living in a society with...like....70% obese people and heart disease topping all the charts for death causes...and you write such nonsense....cheezus christ.

tothetenthpower

See where I'm going with this? Meanwhile you all pay 10$ a meal. Now they could claim this is to pay for staffing etc, but clearly as we all know, they pay their staff crap. Provide hardly any benefits and as we've seen with their website that was taken down recently, they even try to tell them NOT to eat at fast food restaurants.

Ridiculous.

Anywhoo, it's certainly interesting to see.

~Tenth

You do know that McDs are franchises and so wages are set by the owners... McD gets like 20% kickback on all sales, so that is where they make their money on top of the base cost of their food.

I think that if you went out and invested 2 million into one you could set the example and pay 15 bucks an hour...

The problem is a McD pays about 20% of sales back to the corp for rent, profit sharing,training etc. Just about every restaurant pays 30 to 35% of its profits in wages so to raise wages at McD this would mean that McD would need to take a much smaller cut of the profits, lower the rent etc as the restaurant would now be paying about 45% to employees, if not that meal price would jump upward of 5 bucks more.


So just like near Seattle where minimum wage was recently raised to 15 bucks per hour the businesses will be reducing their staffing and cutting hours to make that happen...

My big question is why is someone working at McD after the age of 22 in the lowest paid position there and expecting it to be some kind of living wage?