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The economics of dollar stores

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Re: The economics of dollar stores

#91

Post by wenc »

dukeofdoom wrote: post #89

Dollarama is by far the best one. Super popular in Canada. Things are around the $4 mark. Surprising good enough quality for some things. Clean and well organized store.

When I was younger, every single Dollarama item was priced at exactly $1 before tax (prices inched up to $2 for some products a decade after, but the majority of items were still priced at $1). On average, the quality of most items ranged between passable and decent. Most university students I knew bought household items from Dollarama and for the most part it would be fine. I find that Dollarama is just more mainstream in Canada than dollar stores are in the U.S. You would find Dollaramas in mall basements and other medium rent places.

The key was to have some idea of the quality floor of the product one was buying. Winter mittens for example. Unless you really try, it's hard to make winter mittens that suck -- there's just not that many ways to go wrong. I still have mine from a decade ago and they're fine. I still wear mine in the winter.

Re: The economics of dollar stores

#92

Post by pessimizer »

II2II wrote: post #63
melling wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The article claims that Dollar Stores are more expensive. They often sell smaller amounts to meet the price, but unit cost is more

I agree with the claim that dollar stores are sometimes more expensive, but asserting the unit cost is higher is an over generalization. One of the nice things about dollar stores, in my part of the world, is they don't play games with sale prices. Sale prices make it easy to cherry pick prices seen at other retail chains once or twice a year then claim they are cheaper. In many of those cases, the product is only ch…

Another result of this, especially with food, is that it probably causes you to gorge in order to keep things sold in too large amounts from going bad. Now you don't have any of the thing you like, so you go buy another oversized package which will lead to you gorging again in a week or two.

Re: The economics of dollar stores

#93

Post by allenu »

eisa01 wrote: post #40
herbst wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

AliExpress has escrow. You are essentially less likely to be screwed than with Amazon (no escrow, and still many shady sellers) I also never had empty or wrong products show up, and I shop nearly everything that is made in china anyway directly from ali. And assuming it would happen, I just get my money back thanks to escrow.

I was still screwed, couldn’t get a refund on a 10 USD USB-C headphone adapter that hissed with my iPad. They claimed they couldn’t hear it on the video I submitted, and there was no possibility to protest or submit a new recording

I bought a couple of items there and they were great deals. Tried buying a third item and it never showed and the seller said to wait a bit longer and eventually it went over the time limit to get a refund. Seller didn’t respond after that, so I’ve learned my lesson and won’t shop there anymore.

Re: The economics of dollar stores

#94

Post by jfk13 »

robjan wrote: post #38
june_twenty wrote: post #12

In the UK we have poundland which is the same idea. To be honest I love it. I get protein bars, chewing gum, cans of coke, milk and sweets cheaper than anywhere else.

From what I understand, a lot of the Poundland goods are grey market parallel traded goods. e.g. Colgate toothpaste manufactured in the UK but intended to be distributed in Poland. The manufacturer often sells them at a lower margin in lower income markets because some money is better than none.

Sometimes the foreign-language packaging of an otherwise-familiar brand item makes this really obvious!

Re: The economics of dollar stores

#95

Post by proggy »

mcshicks wrote: post #88
tkgally wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Daiso, the largest chain in Japan, designs a lot of their own products, and the shear variety of some product lines is one of the stores’ attractions. Twenty years ago, before going back to the U.S. from Japan for a family reunion, I bought fifty folding fans, each with a different Japanesey design, at Daiso as gifts. The relatives I handed them out to seemed delighted, and they cost me only a buck apiece. Until I st…

There are Daiso locations in the US (and I think many other countries now), at least in California. They aren't as good as the ones in Japan, and they have somewhat different items in one location than another. But they do have lots of interesting stuff, although most of it is $1.50 and up. The tool section is pretty neat as well as their stationary section.

As someone who’s spent time between California and Japan recently (2019-2020), I honestly think the differences between a Daiso in the US (Los Angeles) and a Daiso in Japan (central Tokyo) are very slight. I bought a lot of little gifts for people from Daiso when I was in Japan, and I’ve found that most of what I bought is also available in the stateside stores. Most of the everyday goods (household, serving ware, tools, cleaning, toys, stationery, etc.) are identical, with only the food and beverage section differing significantly. For instance, in Japan there is a limited stock of local brands by the register (somewhat marked up vs. the local combini). In California, it’s a very select handful of true imports, but most of it are brands who are producing a local US variant that Daiso doesn’t have to ship through customs. And interestingly, they stock some specialty Hawaiian drinks like POG that you can’t find easily in either California or Japan.

Re: The economics of dollar stores

#96

Post by wffurr »

NikolaNovak wrote: post #15

Interesting; most stores are similar or same brands in Canada vs USA (with noble exception of Tim Hortons). But we have Dollarama and Buck Or Two, whereas top US are completely different. I wonder if it's because Canadian supply chain logistics tend to be different (Target famously flopped for not taking that into account), or some other factor.

Loonie Toonie was a pretty entertaining name for one. I didn’t get it at first when I visited.

Re: The economics of dollar stores

#97

Post by xtracto »

june_twenty wrote: post #12

In the UK we have poundland which is the same idea. To be honest I love it. I get protein bars, chewing gum, cans of coke, milk and sweets cheaper than anywhere else.

I have fobd memories of Poundland, 99c and Home Bargains while living in the UK as a poor international student (poor meaning I lived with a scholarship from my country).

Re: The economics of dollar stores

#99

Post by jessedrain »

I think the article oversighted that even dollar general has loss leader products. When I was a poor student, I remember practically living on $2 worth of 5-10 bananas and a gallon of milk everyday, it was the cheapest in my town and I looked.

You can be poor and still have a fair, unexploitative shopping experience at those stores.

Re: The economics of dollar stores

#100

Post by bumby »

bradleyjg wrote: post #54
41209 wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The worse alternative is sleeping on the streets when you can't pay your rent. While I do think payday loans are evil, I recognize why they exist. I would prefer a much more robust housing support system for lower income people. Almost all of society's problems could be fixed with more affordable housing. For example let's say you have abusive parents, if affordable housing exist the moment you turn 18 you can up and…

> I would prefer a much more robust housing support system for lower income people. Almost all of society's problems could be fixed with more affordable housing. > When I was young I was able to find a $600 apartment, on the free market. Now the same place is 1200$. The issue is that the overwhelming goal of politicians at all levels is to increase the value of individually owned residential units above the rate of g…

It’s interesting as well that the policies used (e.g., mortgage interest deductions) are almost universally considered bad policy by most economists. It’s rare to find such a consensus in economics, yet it’s such a third-rail that politicians can’t touch it
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