
'People come for the selfies but won't pay $2 for pizza' - vanilla-almond
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-50007566
======
protomyth
If you show up, order a $2 pizza, take a selfie, and then cancel your order,
then you are a garbage human being, full stop. I cannot even imagine what you
are like in other aspects of your life.

~~~
dsfyu404ed
If it happens enough it can be 90% fixed by plopping an ATM out front and only
accepting cash at almost no cost (the customers you lose will be made up for
by the lack of processing fees).

Edit: I'm genuinely curious why is this such an unacceptable opinion.

~~~
H1Supreme
Maybe because they could still refuse to pay? Anecdotally, I know of at least
two pizza shops near me that only accept cash, and don't deliver. They're not
hurting for business in any way. They're also on their 3rd and 4th generation
of owners, so maybe they never adopted the practice of accepting credit cards.

------
kstenerud
It's the tourist effect. Tourists tend to be cheap, and have zero emotional
investment in what they're touring or the people there.

You only spend money on things you identify with emotionally, which is mostly
limited to yourself, your family, and your tribe (and people also spend money
for signaling). This is also part of the reason why OSS and public service
projects don't get many donations, except for short bursts when it's
fashionable, and why you can't have nice things as a society without taxation.

~~~
Grue3
>Tourists tend to be cheap, and have zero emotional investment in what they're
touring

Then why do souvenir shops exist? Wouldn't they be extremely unprofitable if
this was true?

~~~
couchand
Souvenir shops basically prove this phenomenon. The goods they sell are
universally crappy and not a true representation of the place. The sorts of
things they sell are about proving to others that you went there, not about
taking back a piece of the actual experience. A souvenir is the physical
equivalent of a selfie.

~~~
ASalazarMX
I've found you can buy the exact same generic souvenirs off Amazon when you
get back. Less hassle and much cheaper.

------
sokoloff
> "We had a guy come in the other day who took a selfie, ordered a pizza,
> cancelled it and left. Is it really that hard to order a $2 pizza?"

I feel like there’s more to the story here. If I ordered a pizza and I cancel
it, _something happened_. I probably didn’t suddenly get not hungry or find an
investment opportunity that I was $2 short for.

Maybe the shop told me “that’ll be ready in 45 minutes” and I canceled over
the service not meeting my needs.

~~~
Spooky23
Don’t be so generous.

I worked at a place where Pokémon Go led some people to scale a jump a fence
to get to some poke-thing in an area that was both sensitive and incredibly
dangerous.

The site police people put up signs warning Pokémon players that they would be
arrested for trespassing, and I believe that at least 2-3 were!

~~~
lucb1e
I can see how this is a story about stupidity, but not so much about
cheapness. Not sure it's the same thing...

------
noja
People pay 1k for an iphone but won't pay $2 for an app.

~~~
noonespecial
As someone who's launched a few apps myself, that wasn't the strangest part.
People will throw down a fiver without hesitation or thought for mediocre
coffee but spend hours agonizing over a $1.99 app. And still be angry about it
a month later if it didn't perfectly meet their expectations.

Humans are just odd.

~~~
menzoic
It doesn't seem odd when you consider the effects of supply and demand. Many
players in the app market are willing to price their apps much lower than the
price of a cup of coffee. Maybe the way we got here is odd, but maybe not
since initially apps didn't come with business models, the culture could've
extended from there.

I wouldnt undervalue coffee production either, producing a cup of coffee
actually does cost more than digitally replicating and distributing an
application. The microeconomics are much different.

------
leppr
As per the article text, the event in the clickbait title was in fact an
isolated incident. So in reality there's not much to write about, except that
a pizzeria staffed by disabled workers doesn't immediately become profitable.

I don't know why I even clicked on this. Somehow I think I lower my clickbait
defenses while on HN.

~~~
joshspankit
The incident may be isolated, but the overall trend is valid: if people come,
take a selfie and leave without buying anything that still fits the title

------
angarg12
Lengthy but worthwhile article about a similar situation:

I Found the Best Burger Place in America. And Then I Killed It.
[https://www.thrillist.com/eat/portland/stanichs-closed-
will-...](https://www.thrillist.com/eat/portland/stanichs-closed-will-it-
reopen-burger-quest)

------
dghughes
And really what is the point of the selfie at the Pizzability pizza
restaurant. A few seconds on a person's Instagram page or maybe ever never
used.

Trophy selfies remind me of the trophies a serial killer takes from their
victims. Whether serial killers or Instagram nuts the only thing taken comes
from the victims.

------
joshspankit
I really wish more companies with altruistic hearts would simply embrace the
Patreon model. There could even be a QR code on the front so that selfies
become even bigger drivers to the fund. At least one of the donation levels
could be free pizza every month (or whatever works)

------
wendyshu
Maybe they should make their products as noteworthy as their hiring practices.

