Now let’s talk about ownership and inventory. At one of my bars, I did the inventory and cost control. I’d like to clear something up here. If you’re a bar owner and counting your loss for the day in association to a buyback, you’re not a very good businessman. The bar industry is an industry of return customers and word of mouth. You did not ‘lose’ revenue by giving away one drink, you lost cost. What you have gained is the potential for that person to come in on another occasion, hopefully with a friend or friends, telling others that your establishment is doing it right, clearly making up for your cost ‘investment’. This is the cost of doing business. In this business, it takes money to make money. If you can’t control your costs below 30% then you’re doing it wrong, whether it be your price point or you have too much inventory and not moving it fast enough. That 30 dollar bottle of Goose should make you 150 dollars.. So giving away a shot(.75 cents @ cost) may make you 40 bucks the next time.
If you don’t think these numbers are completely 100% accurate you’re right, but the principle can’t be argued: give a little to gain a lot.

As far as calling an individual a douchebag for giving away a drink or two, you’re way off the mark. “Robbing them blind” is too strong too. Do you know that this bartender does this everyday, or for every patron? If two drinks is robbing somewhere blind then I feel bad for that bottom line.

Secondly…any good bartender worth their salt knows this is a valuable tool for not only maintaining, but growing the business. It’s does not exist for you to flirt with chicks or get your friends gassed on the cheap. It’s a way of rewarding regulars and expressing to new customers that you value their patronage.

Thirdly…to the assholes think that bartenders/servers are overpaid needs not only a headcheck, but to actually spend some time working in industry. If everyone coming out of high school had to do a 3-6 month stint in a busy resto/bar they’d never complain again and be a hell of a lot more respectful to boot. You try working an 6-8 hour shift in a bar where people or 3 or 4 deep for hours on end and you’re constantly in the weeds dealing with drunken, obnoxious assholes, people yelling, snapping, waving, whistling, arguing about bills, etc. etc. etc. and still trying to ensure everyone has a good time. Try it sometime.

The fact is most people lack the skill, co-ordination, grace and testicular fortitude that it takes to do this night after night, week after week, year after year. Do not doubt that everyone in the hospitality field – and I mean real professionals, not just students passing some time – earn every penny they make and then some.

I mean, if it’s a place that you like, you don’t want to cheat them or shortchange them.

P.S. I just left the amount that the drinks would have cost in addition to the tip.

Is it customary to include the price of the buyback drink in the tip? I usually do.

Thanks.

One bartender who I was friends with would not let me pay for my drinks, ever. He said they were on him.

One day when it was very slow in the bar I asked him if he could let me pay for my drinks, because he was losing $14 for the two drinks that I had. The owner was present and heard me say this. Thee next time I saw him he was absolutely furious with me and said that this got him in trouble (reprimanded).

Yeah, that’s definitely theft.

a minute. Not all buybacks are outright theft.

At the bar I worked for a long time, we had a certain amount allowed for comps, for good customers. Bosses were aware of that.

It’s a bit ridiculous to compare the convenient store to the bar. Anyone who has worked the bar knows that an extra drink, or a round of shots can turn a walk ins into a loyal customers or just keep your customers a little longer to keep your party going.

For instance, at my bar, there were those girls, 6 gorgeous girls, who’d come to the bar every week, often more than once a week. They would always bring a nice ambiance at the bar, create a party. Of course, those girls always had shots on the house and the two most regular ones would always get at least one free drink.

It’s not theft. When it was one of these girl’s birthday, they manage to make a guy spend 700$ buying them and the whole bar shots. They always ordered a few drinks, never asked or expected for anything to be free and always tipped marvelously.

Most of the time I’m getting something free, I would never go to that place if I wasn’t. That’s really not hurting the business, especially if I also pay for something or leave a big tip.

I work at a video game company, and I give really cheap games to my friends. Most jobs have benefits, not just bartenders. Now, if a bartender is giving free drinks solely because he expects a big tip, it’d be the equivalent of me marking up my cheap games to get a profit on them. That’s not cool.

Regarding the topic at hand, I have only been out west once, but on that occasion I chanced to visit the Zig Zag Cafe in Seattle. Murray Stenson was absolutely incredible behind the bar – great drinks, but his hospitality was the factor that really made the evening. In the same vein as what angelhair has said, he had a penchant for offering free drams of the odder bottles behind the bar – an Oregon whiskey, Aperol, pimento dram…

I don’t think this sort of hospitality is only the domain of legendary bars and bartenders. Murray might have cost the bar a few bucks in the short run, but he turned that whole evening from a mere social situation into an adventure. Zig Zag let us explore weirder drinks than we’d have ever ordered, and I’ll remember the place forever as a place of discovery, a place that brought strangers together through collective exploration of an unfamiliar taste. In this case, I’m thinking about the pimento dram, which incidentally led to six or seven people ordering a Northern Spy in just a few minutes. Letting people sample odd bottles in this case directly resulted in massive sales of a solid drink.

But that’s just from one side of the bar. How do bartenders or managers feel about this? How is it regulated?

Often these are not inexpensive liquors. Is a bartender stealing from his boss if he does this? Do you ever do this?

I am by no means a regular anywhere, but I think I tip well. BTW this happens to me most often at Clyde and at Teardrop.

I got online to look for some good pointer to revamp my dull server/bartender resume. Through chance, I stumbled onto your awesome blog and have found some really great ideas. I got on your site at 5:20pm and it is now 6:30pm! I haven’t even started on my revamp. I think you owe me a drink for all that time. :) Anyway, I have you bookmarked now and I’ll be taking your tips to heart. I’m in P-town as well and I am looking for bartending work now that the bars are smoke-free. Thanks again and wish me luck! I’m competing with the the influx of new transplants, laid off professionals, and real estate agents.

Cheers,

Lisa

feeling when liquor store clerk nods approvingly and says “classic”: priceless

I’m confused. Did you actually pay for the drink out of your tip jar because you put quotes around “bought”. Is this a way to make them feel guilty and receive “the best tips”? Strange.