Comps Cost More Than You Think

One comped cocktail erases the margin from several full-price sales. Track them like a budget.

Updated May 6, 2026

Comping a drink feels small in the moment. It's one cocktail. The math of replacing it is what makes most managers flinch.

A Single Comped $30 Cocktail

  • You still paid ~$9 for the ingredients
  • You lose the $21 margin you would have earned
  • Replacing the profit takes 3–4 more full-price sales
  • 2 comps/night × 5 nights × 52 weeks ≈ $15,000/year in margin given away

Comps can absolutely pay for themselves: fixing a bad experience, surprising a regular who brings new guests, building goodwill for reviews. The failure mode is untracked comps: staff drinks that never get logged, 'a round on me' with no owner oversight, friends who've stopped being guests.

Track comps in their own line, separate from variance and spill. Set a weekly budget (say, 2% of beverage sales) and review who's using it and why.

Takeaway

Comps are marketing. Give them a budget, not a free pass.