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Comment by Hytosys | Hacker News Reader

Really cool read; had me learning a lot about economic theory. That first blurb about The Economist was enlightening!

Not many are buying Chicken McNuggets for their entire family because 68% of sales are for a 10pc meal that feeds at most 2 people. The reality is that people are buying chicken nuggets for themselves and/or another person. Not many can stomach 20 nuggets at once, and certainly no one wants leftover McDonald's.

(According to the author's discretion, I may be taking that sales data too seriously.)

To me, this seems like a symptom of McDonald's collapsing in the States. I wonder if the author's mistake was searching for a lesson from a nationally failing franchise.

Provocative article, nonetheless! Good share.

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The glaringly obvious explanation is that people are buying the quantity they wish to eat. Why is it so unbelievable that people will buy 10 nuggets instead of 20 for the same price? I'm not going to take 10 extra nuggets and either throw them out or put myself into a food coma.

If we were discussing 1 vs. 2 cans of soup from the local grocery for the same price, of course everyone would buy 2 - you can save the additional can for another day. Here, we're talking about fast food that has to be eaten within a couple of hours. There is no "deal" to be had by buying a larger quantity if you're not willing to eat it.

The only sad thing about this article is the apparent inability to understand why someone won't stuff their face with more food than they can eat without making themselves sick and likely obese.

The buyers are undergrads. They could easily turn around and sell the remaining 10 nuggets for $1 to their roommate or classmates. There are always hungry people within arm's reach looking for a deal in college.

As a college student I had much better things to do with my time than try to sell 10 McNuggets for $1. I'd much rather eat the 10 and get on with my life than carry around an extra 10 nuggets to try and make a single buck.

So give it away for free. After eating yell "I have extra, anyone want some free nuggets?". If no takers just walk away.

Have you ever tried this? In my experience, people tend to favour handing over their own money rather than taking something from the weirdo shouting 'free nuggets'.

Which is why I'd be the guy studying at McD's in ear-shot of the cashier. When I hear somebody order 10 I ask them to order 20 and I'll pay them a quarter.

Yeah, I think all the drink prices are the same, too, but... I just don't want a large drink. And that's assuming I buy one to begin with.

The author's sales data is for undergraduate students, so extrapolating to family meals may be misguided.

That said, I think quantity is key here. There may be a correlation between "concern about calories and transfats" and "need to price discriminate". Those who's buying patterns are less price based (higher income and higher household income while being raised) are possibly more likely to be worries about their consumption habits, whereas buyers for whom price is a big deal want to maximize caloric intake for their $$. Thus, McDonalds is successfully getting a reasonable margin for natural 20pc buyers, and double that for 10pc buyers who wouldn't care about the price anyway.

The author is also a Dartmouth student, so his customer base of undergraduates is not exactly the same as most samples of undergrads. Ivy League students tend to be a lot less price-conscious.

The bigger question, is whether his service operates late-night. With Gusanoz gone, pretty much the only option for late-night drunk food is EBAs, home of the most godawful and expensive pizza I've ever experienced. If somebody opened a 24-hour hotdog cart or something and parked it on Webster Avenue, they'd make a killing.

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