Tips for negotiating?

J&K10910

The place we want to have our reception charges a ridiculous amount for beer by the keg.  I'm hoping to negotiate it a little lower.  Any tips?

AmoroAgain

Be willing to walk away- and mean it.  Whenever I negotiate on things here, I'll set my price, stick to it, and if they don't meet me anywhere near it, I walk.  You'll be surprised how many times I've been asked to come back.

bombtones

Is there another brand you can opt for?

lyndausvi

Alcohol is sometimes one of those areas that is hard to lower the rate.  A lot of alcohol costs are from taxes.  First, I would ask to have it lowered.  If they can't see if they can lower the food costs to offset the alcohol.  A lot of venues have more flexiblity it food costs than alcohol.

Soon-to-be Mrs. Vogt

Ditto what everyone else said. Be up front with them that it's out of your budget and see what they can do to help you (lower the food, waive the cake cutting fee, etc.) Some places have to get licenses for each event they have alcohol served at, or they figure in the cost of tapping the kegs, wait staff, gratuity, etc. Some places know that alcohol is a must have for most parties and gauge you with it. If they really want your business, they'll negotiate. If not, you'd probably rather work with a vendor who wants to make you happy and keep you around.

bombtones

What about getting a quote from a local liquor store? Obviously you can't use them, but you could say, "Look, kegs in this area cost $X. We are paying an adminstrative fee and gratuity on top of our bill. What can you do about this huge price difference?"

AmoroAgain

That's a great idea Lynda!

J&K10910

Amoro--good call.  I'll definitely keep that in mind.Bomb, it's the same price for all domestics.Lynda, that's a good point, but the alcohol is literally quadruple what it would cost for me to go to the liquor store and buy a keg (completely with deposit, tap deposit, and means of keeping it cold).  I guess that just seems ridiculous to me.  But it's a good idea to ask about lowering other prices to compensate if they can't lower alcohol.  Thanks!

vallyhoo

Also, if you are using the reception venue's coordinator, when it comes to the F&B you might have better luck asking to speak to the catering manager because they know exactly where they can cut costs.

J&K10910

Some places have to get licenses for each event they have alcohol served at, or they figure in the cost of tapping the kegs, wait staff, gratuity, etc.We pay bartenders and gratuity separately too.  And it's a place that I would guess has a standing liquor license and insurance and all that jazz. 

lyndausvi

But you can say that about everything.  I can buy a 6-pax of Amstel for $9.00.  The bar charges me 4.75.  That because they have overhead costs to have to cover.  Insurance, employees salaries (not just bartender, dishwashers, trash guys, admins, etc), electricity, etc. etc.  Plus as a business they would like to make a profit.  I'm not saying they should not lower the costs. but you can't compare wholesale prices with retail prices since wholesales does not have the same overhead.

lyndausvi

oops.. that is $4.75 for one bottle.  

Soon-to-be Mrs. Vogt

Ask them to explain why it's so high. I'm sure you won't be the first person to have asked them that. Then just talk to them about your alcohol budget. You have to be prepared to walk out though if they can't lower their prices to meet your budget (or compensate with a lower price somewhere else)

J&K10910

That is very true, I guess I just thought even with those things it was still quite high.  Even compared to other similar venues in the area.  Do you think it would help if I can say "this venue charges xxx for their kegs?"  Or is that a bad idea?

lyndausvi

comparing venues is a great idea. 

vallyhoo

I was prepared to do that with our reception venue. It is a hotel, and there is another location across town and at first I thought our venue was charging substantially more than their other hotel. But after speaking with the catering manager, I found our meals include the liquor charges and the other hotel separated them. That's a very long way of saying, no I don't think it is a bad idea.

lyndausvi

make sure you are comparing apples with apples. We had someone who wanted us to match the prices on another boat. They complained about the extra $20 pp price.  But what that did not take into account is the other bar was cheap vodka, cheap rum punch, budweiser and bud light and some stupid snacks.  Our bar is top shelf with 2 vodkas, 12 rums, 2 tequilas, 2 gins, whiskeys, bourbons, scotches, 3 types of beer, wines, champanged, etc, etc.  Plus gourmet snacks.We did not come down in price.  Fact is we didn't need the business bad enough to lower our standards.  (they keep us after we showed them why our prices are justified)

J&K10910

Of course.  I plan on comparing their domestic keg price to a similar hotel's reception domestic keg price.  It's about $100 difference (and the food prices and room rental prices are similar).