A fair price for ice cubes

[glasto-worker]

Please be realistic as Ice has to be transported to the event - has to be stored in a refrigerated truck so it will cost far more than what it costs at your local supermarket.

I will send the results to the WBC and if they think its worth the effort to hire a extra refrigerated truck and running it 24 hours for nine days { it of course has to be in place before the event starts } then they may decide to stock ice for sale this year.

Edited May 11, 2011 by glasto-worker

[ukslim]

Very difficult to answer; I don't know what a "fair" price is. I can only make guesses as to what I would personally be willing to pay.

If it's not too late, how about asking that question instead: "How much would you pay for a bag of ice at Glastonbury", and include a "I'm not interested in buying ice at Glastonbury" option.

[clarebear86]

in my work a kilo bag is 89p - i voted for £2 as things are obviously gonna be more expensive at a festival plus if people really want it they'll pay whatever for it

[MamaJojo]

they are £1 a bag in the supermarket, so I'd realistically expect them to be approx £2.50-£3 a bag at Glasto considering all the other costs involved. I know that if it was boiling I'd consider paying that to have a nice cold vodka and orange.... I mean you could end up paying that for an ice cream and that's just for 1 person.

[bumpy_capers]

Please be realistic as Ice has to be transported to the event - has to be stored in a refrigerated truck so it will cost far more than what it costs at your local supermarket.

I will send the results to the WBC and if they think its worth the effort to hire a extra refrigerated truck and running it 24 hours for nine days { it of course has to be in place before the event starts } then they may decide to stock ice for sale this year.

Edited May 11, 2011 by bumpy_capers

[whateverman]

I've voted £2, but realistically I reckon you'd get away with £3. Last year I was dying for some ice to put in my mixed drinks. You'd have made an absolute killing.

[jameshunt]

I think the reasoning behind this thread is the wrong way around. Why are you asking what the market will bear? Are you looking to maximise profits?

Surely it would be better to work out what the cost of the refrigerated truck & bulk purchase/manufacture of ice cubes would be and then you'd know what your cost basis is (including other factors such as staff costs etc.). Then you'd add on a reasonable mark-up for profit and that would determine your resale price. Then a poll asking how many punters would be willing to pay said price would give you a measure of the feasibility of said plan

[saratink]

Last year I saw somewhere selling ice for £2 a cup!!!!

[jimmystobo]

i'd pay a fiver, wouldnt want to but definitely would.

last year at points i would have paid a tenner.

sad but true.

[glasto-worker]

I know the WBC has looked at this before and they have rejected it as a gamble not worth taking.

At the end of the day we are in the middle of a field so everything has to be in place and buying and storing ice takes up a lot less staff time than hiring Commercial ice making machines and then hiring a water truck etc etc

My point was to take the results to the people who will decide if its commercially viable and they may decide to take the gamble or they may tell me to get stuffed.

Its a big gamble because if there is not enough demand we may end up with tons of ice that has to be tossed away after Glasto.

Space in refrigerated trucks is always tight at the start of a event so it would mean hiring a few extra trucks and then shifting ice about .

its not as simple as you would imagine hence why the WBC has never sold ice in bags at any event.

If I had to put a price on it I would imagine it would be twice as expensive as bottled water

[Styliko]

Being at home / work I would say £2-3 but I know if I was there and dreaming about waking up to an ice cold beer I think I might even go as far as £5.

[ukslim]

From WBC's perspective, wouldn't it be making it more attractive for people to bring their own drinks.

That is, when choosing between a can I've brought with me, and a beer bought from the bar, the fact that the bar beer is chilled is a factor.

So the markup on the ice would have to justify the loss of bar sales.

As an aside, Google tells me that you can rent a 240kg/24h ice machine for £50 a week, although that's based on a 1 year contract.

[LusciousLucy]

Glasto Worker - concerning people being aware of it, just make sure you have big signs saying ICE FOR SALE and if needs maybe get some stickers made up, get them up in some of the longdrops and the names of the bars that could be selling.

May be too late to get anything into the GlastoMag but maybe if the newspaper is up and running, get a shout included there. And also when people buy theirs, get them to tell people too

Tough decision. Hmm. And you never know what the weather is going to do

Oh...wait...idea popped into brain. Its a bit of a logistic issue BUT in the same way there is the milk tractor that pootles about in the morning and is totally sold out by 11am normally, could there be an refrigerated ice truck that could drive around the campsites?

[glasto-worker]

Oh...wait...idea popped into brain. Its a bit of a logistic issue BUT in the same way there is the milk tractor that pootles about in the morning and is totally sold out by 11am normally, could there be an refrigerated ice truck that could drive around the campsites?

[Bubblepopelectric]

Would you have the room to offer a freezer pack re-freeze service too? That would be a fab idea

[Yoghurt on a Stick]

Sober it would pain me but I'd go £2 - £3 per kg. Drunk and it could go anywhere in terms of £'s. I think it's a commendable gesture on your part but would think of it as too much of a gamble in terms of weather being bad = no ice sales, weather being good possibly = lots of ice sales, reduced drink sales. Why bother taking the risk, we'll all survive - hopefully!

[hashcity]

Everyone on here selecting £3 a kilo, I hope you all realise that supermarkets sell ice in 2 kilo bags! At that price you'd be paying £6 a bag - which is too much. £3 a bag (i.e. £1.50 per kilo) would be fine though. I'd definately buy some.

Benicassim (the only festy I have seen selling it) was charging 5 euros for 2 kilos. So yes! Definately a company selling ice could make money: although to be honest I can't see what incentive any of the bars have to sell it because it just serves to undercut their drinks profits, surely?

As it is I'm having to buy a massive coolbox and fill it up with supermarket ice (50p a kilo). It is necessary to take a lot if you want to have any as the stuff melts so quickly. This is a massive pain to carry around!

[hashcity]

If I had to put a price on it I would imagine it would be twice as expensive as bottled water

[VeeDub]

Are you suggesting that you take all of the ice to the site, pre made?

An ice machine would be far more sensible. Then you are producing on demand. People can then buy however much they want, rather than an enforced 1kg.

As for how much would I pay? Probably wouldn't bother to be honest.

[rubenz]

I would pay good money for it and also put it in pints of cider bought from the bar.

[mouikey]

As a worker, I was on-site for 10 days last year. Whilst we brought a fair amount of ice with us (bought, made and ice packs), we did leave site to go shopping where we bought some more. Given that its around £1 in the supermarket, I'd be prepared to pay up to £3 a bag. I would only ever pay more than this if the weather was super hot as in 2010. However, I was one of the mugs who paid £2 for a glass of ice last year!!

[old fence jumper]

Last year I saw somewhere selling ice for £2 a cup!!!!

[old fence jumper]

we met a lad last year that paid a tenner from the 24 hour shop,thought it was dear but when we swapped for a joint it was the first cold can i had since wednesday afternoon it was money well spent on his side

[CitizenErased]

I'd buy it at £3 a kilo, but would probably buy a cup at a £1 a cup too, either way I'm sure you could make a killing out of ice at sunny Glasto. I'm thinking of taking a thermos with me in case it's hard to come by and I manage to score some.

[glasto-worker]

Are you suggesting that you take all of the ice to the site, pre made?

An ice machine would be far more sensible. Then you are producing on demand. People can then buy however much they want, rather than an enforced 1kg.

As for how much would I pay? Probably wouldn't bother to be honest.