10 years
Bikes are very profitable. just get the cruising, back pedal break made of aluminum ones, those are easier to maintain.
in the course of 1 year they paid themselves about 4 times.
Any ideas for making extra money in you hostel?
Hostel Trends and News
Hi guys,
Does anybody have any ideas for ways to make extra money in your hostel?
What kind of activities are good money spinners?
Anybody have experience with what sells in vending machines?
Many thanks.
- Comments
9 years
I just joined Hostel Management today. I have to say that your hostel-to-hostel booking system sounds like a great, cost-cutting way to run a very efficient marketing program. I do hope that it is also easily found during an online search by a potential guest. Of course it's ideal if hostel owners/operators can stick together and in this regard, everyone in the hostel community benefit. Way to go! :cash:
9 years
Thank you.
The most helpful post from @Rucksack Brian:
You can make good cash with extras, but the amount of revenue that hostels actually generate with supplemental sales could also be negligible. Frequently hostels just sell things for the convenience of the guests without making much profit.
Here are some of the things that I hear people mention the most:
Commission-based sales
Tours
Museum tickets
Airport transfers
Taxi service
Car rental
Bicycle rental
Metro and bus tickets
Pub crawls
Laundry service
Beach/bath towel rental
Internet terminals
Phone cards
Bottled drinks
Beer
Wine
Soda
Juice
Water
Padlocks
Key chains
T-shirts and other apparel
Electrical adapters
Personal hygiene products
Soap
Shampoo and conditioner
Toothbrushes and toothpaste
Razors and shaving cream
Tampons
Condoms
Snacks
Potato chips
Popcorn
Cookies
Pasta and sauce
Microwave dinners
Chocolate
Ice cream
What can I add? Maybe, cigarettes? How is such item conflict with the law?
9 years
From ligold44:
What can I add? Maybe, cigarettes? How is such item conflict with the law?
I don’t know what kind of markup you can put on them to make them profitable. With all the taxes, they're usually pretty expensive already. I have heard that cigarette companies sometimes pay you decent money to advertise and sell their products with little to no markup. I can’t confirm that though, since I have never sold cigarettes. If there’s nowhere else around to buy a pack and a smoker needs their nicotine fix, then they’ll probably pay whatever you ask, right?
Someone once told me that they were selling individual cigarettes for a decent (although not legal) profit. Another hostel I heard about offers free cigarettes as a service to their guests.
You would need a license to sell tobacco just about everywhere in the world, wouldn't you?
9 years
So, you're right, if smoker real needs nicotine certainly he will buy my cigarettes.
I am concerned the license, so most likely I will not take for this dubious kind of income. But although I was thinking to sell the individual cigarette, because I have this demand.
5 years
This topic recently came up again, and I wanted to add a few items that were suggested:
- Charging cables for mobile phones
- Portable power banks
- Umbrellas / ponchos
- Cigarette lighters
- Beach bags / tote bags
- Bum bags (“fanny packs”)
- Blank travel journals
- Postcards (especially if they are combined to show the city and the hostel)
5 years
We heavily reduced our shop, we simply can not compete with the prices in the shops, so we just have basics. We stopped selling souvenirs. Bike rental does not really pay off, but is essential to have.
Out of curiosity I checked what are our best selling items in the past 5 years - as breakfast is not included, it's obviously all the breakfast packages (we have 4 of them, ranging from $6 to $15) and the group breakfasts.
No suprise: the best selling beverage is beer. To eat it's Kägi Fret, a Swiss snack bar.
I consider getting a popcorn vending machine, but I am a little bit concerned about the mess when everybody is eating popcorn all the time.
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