RFK Hawker Economics 101
While I decry the outrageous prices at RFK Stadium ($6.50 for a Miller Lite!) the August 2006 issue of Washingtonian Magazine does illuminate the life of a RFK vendor.
In their One Mistake and You’ll Be Selling Soft Pretzels for $5 missive we learn that the 40,000 hot dogs sold annually at RFK are distributed by vendors who fight over who sells what under a strick pecking order determined by who sold the most from the last home stand.
The hawkers also work on commission, between 12 and 15 percent of the units (not the full value) of what they sell and the 60 hawkers make about $150 at each game.
In light of the $6.50 Miller Lite’s, I’m not surprised by this choice quote
“If it’s real hot out, I’m definitely selling water,” [Clarence Rucker] says. “But with hot dogs you can’t go wrong. Everyone comes to the baseball park to get a hot dog.”
Now just how much are those hot dogs? And are they really worth it?
I think $150 for two or three hours of work for an average baseball game is pretty good. Yeah, I don’t doubt that it’s hard (physical) work, but that’s some decent coin.
Many moons ago, I hawked once for the Molson Indy race on a hot summer day. I sold ice cream. You had to buy your supply first at cost and then sell everything at a set mark-up price which then earned you enough money to buy the next batch. Anything extra on top of that was yours to keep. It was slow selling in the morning but I sold out of everything by the end of the event and made $75 cash that day. For a first year college student, that was pretty good cash at the time.
It was a good experience but definitely, was physically exhausting to do day after day.