How much money does a laundromat make in 2019?

[DonatellaNobody]

How much money does a pay phone robber make in 2019?

…

Sucks to be a laundromat owner then.

[nungesser]

I’ve been there! Another wonderful similar venue was Sudsy Malone’s next to University of Cincinnati – a combination music hall, bar, and laundromat. I saw many shows there by bands that seemed to be either amused, baffled, or depressed that their US tour had taken them to a laundromat.

[acidrain69]

There is a place in New Orleans called Checkpoint Charlie. Bar, laundromat and music venue.

[sosumi]

@jab

I bet most of the quarters get put back in the change making machine, and then people get $5, $10, or $20 bucks worth of quarters and use them in the washer/dryers.

You would win that bet.
I used to help a friend at her laundromat now and then; after emptying the machines of quarters she would keep about 20 dollars worth in the register and the rest went back into the change maker.

[phuzz]

@beschizza

But wait, isn’t the point of a laundromat to “break even” every year?

Well, he’d probably like to make enough to cover his time. If he’s spending an hour a day there, five days a week, making $0 is a bit pointless for something that is unlikely to be enjoyable in anyway.

@MBrody

When I was a student at The Ohio State there was a laundromat that had a liquor license. That way you could put a load in the washer and walk over to the bar and watch TV and drink a beer.

My local laundromat is combined with a cafe, and is also an internet cafe, which is only useful because they have a colour printer (essential when you suddenly have to print out physical tickets for something). I’m not sure if they have a booze license, but I think they do very small gigs and poetry readings etc.

[redesigned]

@beschizza

He was delighted to spot a gold one, but aren’t they worthless?

@Sqyntz

Just went to find out… novelty item and only worth face value.

huh? didn’t he say a “goldeny dollar”? i assumed he meant a sacagawea dollar which is legit legal US currency worth its face value of $1.

Sacagawea dollar

pauses video, yep that’s what he has, a gold colored US $1 coin.

[armozel]

You can also tell by the sound they made. It’s odd how silver makes a different sound versus zinc/copper sandwiched slugs. Same with the old steel pennies versus modern and proper copper ones.

[buddybradley]

@phuzz

But wait, isn’t the point of a laundromat to “break even” every year?

Well, he’d probably like to make enough to cover his time. If he’s spending an hour a day there, five days a week, making $0 is a bit pointless for something that is unlikely to be enjoyable in anyway.

I think what @beschizza was referring to by putting “break even” in quotes was the supposed reputation that laundromats have of being money-laundering operations? I.e. places that aren’t required to make a profit. Somebody correct me if I’m wrong on this though.

[InvestmentJoy]

I try to, but it’s so, so time consuming. When I started off originally, I looked through all the change and after the first $1,500 worth of quarters I realized I just couldn’t do it anymore. I do a real quick gloss over to see if I can find anything and so far I’m at only one silver quarter

[Wally]

You can line them up and look at the sides, right? Instead of reading dates? That’s how I spot the silvers.

[LutherBlisset]

What are ewashers?

Fun fact: advise by Miele customer service I got is to use powder whenever possible to get cleaner clothes, and cleaner machines. Contrary to intuition, liquid detergents build up more residues in the machine. Also, they are worse for the environment, because they are more difficult to remove from wastewater.
I dig those old ladies, obviously.

[LutherBlisset]

There is (was?) stand-up talent show called Nightwash set in laundromats, with an audience, on “regional” German television. (Available all over Germany via cable and satellite, I think.)

[InvestmentJoy]

Yep, that’s what I try to do. Gonna build a custom rig for the laundromat to check em all. Had 100s of people ask same thing

[jab]

I was in Seattle once on vacation. There was a coffee shop/bar/laundry mat. I was walking around in the rain all day and put some of my outer layers in the dryer, got a beer and sat and read while the clothes dried. Pretty awesome.

[Skeptic]

@InvestmentJoy

Yep, that’s what I try to do. Gonna build a custom rig for the laundromat to check em all. Had 100s of people ask same thing

IIRC, there is a cash vault that used an automated sorter to sort out all the valuable coins it sorted for merchants, without giving the merchants a cut AFIK. Probably has been done by many other vendors.

I’ve never even seen a silver quarter. But I remember during the artificial silver scarcity back in the 70s when Squaw Valley ski resort was offering a lift tickets for a quarter, but only if that quarter was a silver one.

[knoxblox]

@LutherBlisset

What are ewashers?

“Eco-friendly”.

@LutherBlisset

Fun fact: advise by Miele customer service I got is to use powder whenever possible to get cleaner clothes, and cleaner machines. Contrary to intuition, liquid detergents build up more residues in the machine. Also, they are worse for the environment, because they are more difficult to remove from wastewater.

What? Do you mean we’ve been lied to in the name of capitalism?

[someguy]

Also, with a cash only business that doesn’t generate receipts, how much income are you going to report now really.

[hecep]

We had a one week period when our washer had a major breakdown and so availed ourselves of a local laundromat while waiting on a new machine. I don’t know about “your” laundromat, but this one had you ‘buy’ a card that you then used to slide through the driers’ and washers’ readers; no coins involved. The pricing of the cards (whole bucks) and odd pricing for use of the machines meant that unusable “change” (in the short term, at least) would be left on the card. Bottom Line: Gift Card Strategy