Fewer Ocean City Beach Tags Sold, But More Money Made in ’23

How is this for a successful business model? Charge more for your product and increase your profits even while selling less of it.

That was the winning formula for beach tag sales in Ocean City this summer, according to numbers released by the city on Thursday.

OCNJDaily reports that Ocean City sold 5680 fewer beach tags in 2023 than in 2022. However, since prices went up for tags this summer-- doubling in some cases -- overall revenue for Ocean City beach tags increased by 52.5%.

Ocean City's Public Information Officer Doug Bergen said the higher cost of the tags was the main driver for the revenue spike.

“The price increase that went into effect for 2023 is the primary factor in the changes from year to year in both revenue and number of tags sold. The greatest percentage change was in weekly tags.”

The cost of weekly beach tags doubled this summer from $10 to $20, as did the price of daily tags, going from $5 to $10.

So, while the number of weekly tags sold went down 18% from 46,692 in 2022 to 37,854 in 2023 -- over 8,800 fewer tags -- my math shows profits on the weekly tags increased by $290,360 this year.

That's a pretty good economics lesson.

Bergen thinks many beach-goers may have opted for the value of seasonal tags over the daily or weekly tags. The after-Memorial Day price of seasonal tags only increased by $5, up to $35 for the summer.

Ocean City leads all New Jersey shore towns in the sale of beach tags.