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How do the Jimjillbangs make money?
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rabidcake



Joined: 10 Aug 2009

PostPosted: Thu Dec 27, 2012 11:02 am    Post subject: How do the Jimjillbangs make money? Reply with quote

How do the Jimjillbangs make any money? People that go visit them pay about 7000 to 8000 won per visit, and I'd say on good days there might be up to 100, sometimes maybe even 150 people. I'd guess on average there is only about 50 to 60 per day.

How do they survive? There's usually about at least 5 people working, whether they be cleaning, doing the cashier work, or cooking. Assuming they work for only 5000 won an hour (which I'm really guessing it's much more than that), that's a 25000 won hour charge, and if you were to multiply that on an average of 24 hours (some hours would probably have more staff and others less), then you are looking at 600000 Won per night in labor costs alone. Then there is all sorts of other variable costs like energy, water, soap, detergent, etc. All of that is not including the fixed costs such as rent, the pools, and what other else.

I must be overlooking how many/few people are going, or they must have other ways of obtaining revenue (Ads, items purchased inside like eggs and snacks). Anyone here a bit more familiar as to how these Jimjillbangs manage to survive? I'd say they have a much stronger hold on buisness than their PC Bang cousins.
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PatrickGHBusan



Joined: 24 Jun 2008
Location: Busan (1997-2008) Canada 2008 -

PostPosted: Thu Dec 27, 2012 3:24 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Food, drinks, busier days where a heck of a lot more than 100 people go....
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blm



Joined: 11 Nov 2010

PostPosted: Thu Dec 27, 2012 3:55 pm    Post subject: Re: How do the Jimjillbangs make money? Reply with quote

rabidcake wrote:
How do the Jimjillbangs make any money? People that go visit them pay about 7000 to 8000 won per visit, and I'd say on good days there might be up to 100, sometimes maybe even 150 people. I'd guess on average there is only about 50 to 60 per day.

How do they survive? There's usually about at least 5 people working, whether they be cleaning, doing the cashier work, or cooking. Assuming they work for only 5000 won an hour (which I'm really guessing it's much more than that), that's a 25000 won hour charge, and if you were to multiply that on an average of 24 hours (some hours would probably have more staff and others less), then you are looking at 600000 Won per night in labor costs alone. Then there is all sorts of other variable costs like energy, water, soap, detergent, etc. All of that is not including the fixed costs such as rent, the pools, and what other else.

I must be overlooking how many/few people are going, or they must have other ways of obtaining revenue (Ads, items purchased inside like eggs and snacks). Anyone here a bit more familiar as to how these Jimjillbangs manage to survive? I'd say they have a much stronger hold on buisness than their PC Bang cousins.


Actually I know some Koreans that get paid as little as 3,000 an hour.
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No_hite_pls



Joined: 05 Mar 2007
Location: Don't hate me because I'm right

PostPosted: Thu Dec 27, 2012 7:44 pm    Post subject: Re: How do the Jimjillbangs make money? Reply with quote

blm wrote:
rabidcake wrote:
How do the Jimjillbangs make any money? People that go visit them pay about 7000 to 8000 won per visit, and I'd say on good days there might be up to 100, sometimes maybe even 150 people. I'd guess on average there is only about 50 to 60 per day.

How do they survive? There's usually about at least 5 people working, whether they be cleaning, doing the cashier work, or cooking. Assuming they work for only 5000 won an hour (which I'm really guessing it's much more than that), that's a 25000 won hour charge, and if you were to multiply that on an average of 24 hours (some hours would probably have more staff and others less), then you are looking at 600000 Won per night in labor costs alone. Then there is all sorts of other variable costs like energy, water, soap, detergent, etc. All of that is not including the fixed costs such as rent, the pools, and what other else.

I must be overlooking how many/few people are going, or they must have other ways of obtaining revenue (Ads, items purchased inside like eggs and snacks). Anyone here a bit more familiar as to how these Jimjillbangs manage to survive? I'd say they have a much stronger hold on buisness than their PC Bang cousins.


Actually I know some Koreans that get paid as little as 3,000 an hour.


Really? Ministop pays 7,000 an hour in my city, and legal minimum wage is near 5,000 an hour. Most university educated full time workers make on average 4.5 million a month.
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giraffe



Joined: 07 Apr 2009

PostPosted: Thu Dec 27, 2012 7:53 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

everyday i wonder how 98% of korean businesses make money. There are SOOOO many little stores and business and restaurants all over the place. Most of them barely get any customers Yet they staff more than a few people and they stay open for years and years. Really no clue how people do it..
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Daniel1981



Joined: 30 Dec 2009

PostPosted: Thu Dec 27, 2012 9:04 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I think a LOT of the places are not paying rent. They are putting the big deposit (key money) down and paying 0, or only a little bit of rent.

A lot of them are also owner-managed.
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Porksta



Joined: 05 May 2011

PostPosted: Fri Dec 28, 2012 3:28 am    Post subject: Re: How do the Jimjillbangs make money? Reply with quote

No_hite_pls wrote:

Really? Ministop pays 7,000 an hour in my city, and legal minimum wage is near 5,000 an hour. Most university educated full time workers make on average 4.5 million a month.


I believe a lot of Koreans are salaried, so if you take into account their working hours they make less than minimum wage.
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PatrickGHBusan



Joined: 24 Jun 2008
Location: Busan (1997-2008) Canada 2008 -

PostPosted: Fri Dec 28, 2012 4:55 am    Post subject: Re: How do the Jimjillbangs make money? Reply with quote

No_hite_pls wrote:
blm wrote:
rabidcake wrote:
How do the Jimjillbangs make any money? People that go visit them pay about 7000 to 8000 won per visit, and I'd say on good days there might be up to 100, sometimes maybe even 150 people. I'd guess on average there is only about 50 to 60 per day.

How do they survive? There's usually about at least 5 people working, whether they be cleaning, doing the cashier work, or cooking. Assuming they work for only 5000 won an hour (which I'm really guessing it's much more than that), that's a 25000 won hour charge, and if you were to multiply that on an average of 24 hours (some hours would probably have more staff and others less), then you are looking at 600000 Won per night in labor costs alone. Then there is all sorts of other variable costs like energy, water, soap, detergent, etc. All of that is not including the fixed costs such as rent, the pools, and what other else.

I must be overlooking how many/few people are going, or they must have other ways of obtaining revenue (Ads, items purchased inside like eggs and snacks). Anyone here a bit more familiar as to how these Jimjillbangs manage to survive? I'd say they have a much stronger hold on buisness than their PC Bang cousins.


Actually I know some Koreans that get paid as little as 3,000 an hour.


Really? Ministop pays 7,000 an hour in my city, and legal minimum wage is near 5,000 an hour. Most university educated full time workers make on average 4.5 million a month.


Just curious but where did you get this 4.5M per month average figure for a University Educated Korean that works?

Just read a book on Korea where the author cites economic stats that say that the average monthly family income in Seoul is 3M...
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jennykwon



Joined: 19 Aug 2012

PostPosted: Fri Dec 28, 2012 5:20 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

4.5M per month average?? Hahaha! Someone doesn't read statistics carefully!
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alongway



Joined: 02 Jan 2012

PostPosted: Fri Dec 28, 2012 10:08 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I think there was a report a couple years back that said the average salaried worker (male) was getting around 2-2.2 million a month in Seoul, add on a wife doing some part time cafe type work and that'd put you around 3 million a little more a month. The average university graduate isn't making anywhere near 4.5 a month, especially considering the amount of university grads they're pumping out here every year.
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alongway



Joined: 02 Jan 2012

PostPosted: Fri Dec 28, 2012 10:11 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Daniel1981 wrote:
I think a LOT of the places are not paying rent. They are putting the big deposit (key money) down and paying 0, or only a little bit of rent.

A lot of them are also owner-managed.


Yes, the places have to pay a small percentage of their net as a rent, but if you're not paying monthly rent and just paying to keep the lights on, you can get by on little business.
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fosterman



Joined: 16 Nov 2011

PostPosted: Sat Dec 29, 2012 12:27 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

a lot of them also are gangster fronts! laundering money.
some pay key money, some don't make money, some are just lively hoods for the old ajossi who owns it.
retirement plan etc..
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NohopeSeriously



Joined: 17 Jan 2011
Location: The Christian Right-Wing Educational Republic of Korea

PostPosted: Sun Dec 30, 2012 8:03 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I know an ajumma at my church who works at a jjimjilbang. I asked her about this and she replied.

"You don't make any hefty money by working at a jjimjilbang. It's a very recession-proof business for the owner and the manual labor at a jjimjilbang is decent enough for an old woman like me."
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IlIlNine



Joined: 15 Jun 2005
Location: Gunpo, Gyonggi, SoKo

PostPosted: Sun Dec 30, 2012 7:31 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

jennykwon wrote:
4.5M per month average?? Hahaha! Someone doesn't read statistics carefully!


Well - he referred specifically to full-time workers, which I would read as permanent full-time salaried. If you take the company I work at as an example, I can completely believe that the average salary here is about 4.5m. Those family income statistics that float around also cover a lot of people that don't work - wives, grandparents, kids... This tends to drive down the average family income figure.

Any ways - to the original author - a source might be helpful
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alongway



Joined: 02 Jan 2012

PostPosted: Sun Dec 30, 2012 7:38 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

IlIlNine wrote:
jennykwon wrote:
4.5M per month average?? Hahaha! Someone doesn't read statistics carefully!


Well - he referred specifically to full-time workers, which I would read as permanent full-time salaried. If you take the company I work at as an example, I can completely believe that the average salary here is about 4.5m. Those family income statistics that float around also cover a lot of people that don't work - wives, grandparents, kids... This tends to drive down the average family income figure.

Any ways - to the original author - a source might be helpful


The statistic I read specifically applied to average monthly pay of salaried full time workers in Seoul. If that was the average pay for a salaried educated worker in Korea or Seoul their averages would be a heck of a lot higher or a lot of global indexes.

http://www.worldsalaries.org/korea.shtml

This is old, from 2005, but only a couple salaries are anywhere near that, and from what i've seen a lot of Korean companies aren't big on raises, so you're unlikely to see most of those jobs be hugely increased from those amounts. Most of those jobs do include university educated full time workers.

It's just not remotely conceivable that your average full time salary for university educated individuals in Korea (which is a massive majority of all young people under 40) is 4.5 million a month.
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