WalMart in the news again...

Ford SportTrac Forum

Help Support Ford SportTrac Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Chic-fil-A also makes a habit of hiring outspoken Christians. I like it. That takes some cajones these days!
 
Going back to the original post...

Class action lawsuit by (ex) female employees goes to the supreme court.

Actually, you have that wrong. The lawsuit is by female (ex) employees. A lawsuit brought by (ex) female employees would be a completely different story...

:banana::banana::banana::banana::banana:

Just yankin' your chain. :grin:
 
Hugh gave 1st-person testimony on here that their profit margins are so low that they cannot afford to pay more.



Here is an example of Wal*Marts ultra slim profit margin.



Wal*Mart had a trailer tire, mounted on a rim. Wal*Marts bottom dollar, ULTRA low profit margin, price?



$72.18



Local trailer part supplier. (Same brand tire, EXCEPT the wheel is made in the USA where the Wal*Mart wheel was China, but both tires were China)



$54.00



Thats right, we saved $18.00 per wheel/tire by not shoping at that store has has a low profit margin.



Wal*Mart is not the cheapest prices and a recent thread put Target as even lower prices than Wal*Mart.



I save money and live better by NOT shopping at Wal*Mart.





Tom
 
You will live better by not shopping Wal*Mart. That I am in agreement with.



One product is not indicative of all pricing. That's basically a high ticket item at Wal*Mart. Look at the cheaper stuff. The markup is based on selling tons of the product, not maximizing profit per unit.
 
Hugh,



On average, I can find the majority of items elsewhere than I can at Wal*Mart. Wal*Mart USED to have the best prices on ammunition, but it is cheaper at local gun shops, these days.



Oil and filters are cheaper at Autozone and O'reilies than Wal*Mart. Food is cheaper at Aldi, Marc's, and Giant Eagle than at Wal*Mart.



I just don't see the deals, especially when I have to drive twice as far than anywhere else.





Tom
 
Look at how many different store you're traveling to, also. Never forget the laziness of many Americans.
 
Look at how many different store you're traveling to, also. Never forget the laziness of many Americans.



I think TJR needs to have an enlightening discussion with Wal*Mart regarding their absolute marketing campain of "Always the lowest price, Always!".





Tom
 
That suit has been in litigation for a while~ finally it goes to Supreme Court.



don't think it would have gotten that far if there was not "some" point to it. Either that or the lower courts are afraid to make a ruling



 
Caymen,



Why do I need to have an enlightening discussion? Marketing campaigns are just that, a campaign and marketing. Marketing is often spin. I hate spin, but I'm not about to pi$$ into the wind, either.



Does WalMart have a price-match guarantee that goes along with that lowest price, always slogan?



Not sticking up for them, just asking...



TJR
 
Look at how many different store you're traveling to, also. Never forget the laziness of many Americans.

Why do you call that 'laziness'? Traveling to multiple stores takes more time, and in most cases costs more for the transportation. And to a certain extent, that extra time can be assigned a monetary value.



Factor those into the overall cost of the items purchased, and even in cases where a one-stop shop may have slightly higher shelf prices, the overall cost (including time and transportation) is still lower.



That's not laziness. That's sound fiscal decision-making.
 
My grocery shopping trip yesterday included the following:



- 8 miles to nearby town where there is a Costco, Bottom Dollar Foods, and a Produce Junction.



- At Costco I got k-cups for our Keurig (indulgence, I know), and cleaning supplies and protein bars in bulk. Spent about $50 (had some coupons).



- At Bottom Dollar Foods I spent $49 on several bags of groceries, that included most of the week's grocery shopping. Dairy, meats, bread, frozen items, cereal, some fruit.



- At Produce Junction I spent $11.50 on a flat of fruits and veggies.



- Then, on the way home I stopped at Giant to get some name-brand items not carried at Bottom Dollar. There I got mostly dairy stuff (non-fat cheese, yogurts), juice boxes, bunch of frozen dinners on sale, etc. Spent about $40 there.



So, for around $150 I got groceries that will last all week for my family of 5, including school lunch provisions for 3.



If I got all the same food and supplies at Giant, or at Wegman, it would have cost well over $200, probably closer to $250, and the fruit would not have been as fresh.



It *CAN* pay to drive around.



TJR
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I call it laziness because that is what it is. If it's going to be argued that Wal*Mart's prices aren't really any lower, then the "savings" don't really exist. Wal*Mart's success must then be defined by laziness rather than saving money. Either people shop there because the prices are lower or they shop there because they don't want to make multiple stops. Or, they can shop there because the prices are lower AND they can get it all in one place.
 
Sure, it *CAN* pay to drive around, depending on the situation, how much price difference there is, and on what your knowledge is of what things cost at each of the locations.



But acquiring that knowledge takes time. Driving to those places takes time. Driving to those places takes gasoline.



Now if you know from past experience that location A will always have significantly lower prices on certain items, and location B will always have significantly lower prices on other items, and location C will always be competitive on certain other items but will also have higher quality, and the distances between them are short enough to make running from one to another to another practical, then fine.



But if you live in an area where the stores are relatively price and quality competitive, like where I live, you're not going to see that big of a swing in prices from one to another--and when you do, it's going to be short-term, you'll have to spend considerable time researching the prices to find out who is low on which items at that point, and those differences are typically pretty small. In which case, you're having to spend more time researching to find a smaller price savings. To where the savings per hour of your time are well below minimum wage. At that point, it's not laziness to say that your time isn't worth it--rather, it's simply a realization that life is too short to be spending so much of it on such endeavors.



TJR, of the stores you listed, I'm only familiar with Costco, but for there to be a $50 - $100 estimated savings on your trip, it sounds like you have enough pricing variety in your area for it to be worth that. If I had purchased those same items here, and driven around to the stores available to pick out only the best prices, I probably would have saved $5, with almost no difference in quality, and a shopping trip which took twice as long, when I could have instead have gotten something done at home or spent more time with my kids. That's not worth it. And Hugh, that's not laziness--it's simple common sense.



So yes, I agree, in certain cases it *CAN* pay to shop around--but in certain other cases, there's absolutely no way to justify it.
 
Bill V,



I agree. It takes time, and sometimes extra gas, and some knowledge to save like I did.



Recently I purchased over $100 worth of frozen foods from Giant, paying only about $35 out of pocket for them all. It was during their annual freezer-stocker sale. The sale ran several weeks and was on select frozen items. Purchase $100 total of those items and get $25 off a future purchase. That offer ran several weeks. That was the deal they were running, but as an added bonus for one week they also had a "spend $25 on one order and get $5 off your next purchase." So, during that week I went in 4 times, spending just over $25 each time. I also used coupons I found online for many of the items I purchased.



Granted, I had to spend $100, but the coupons dropped more than $20 off that total. Then, I got another $45 off of that with the "off next purchase" coupons (1 for $25, 4 for $5). That's $65 total that I saved all for $100 worth of frozen food. It did fill the freezer.



It can be done. The good part was that it was all frozen stuff we buy anyway. Given that Giant is only 2 miles from our house, no big deal.



TJR
 
Top