Reminds me of the 99c DREAMS stores in Brooklyn. "Everything 99c and up!"
Dollar Tree says US$1.25 price point to become new standard
201–210 of 341 posts
Re: Dollar Tree says US$1.25 price point to become new standard
#202I don't think that people in this thread appreciate how prevalent grocery shopping in dollar stores is. In the US, half of shoppers buy groceries from a dollar store. They do it because it's literally all they can afford anything else. There are more dollar stores than Walmart, Starbucks and McDonald’s combined. "Kyle Dishman can’t afford to shop at the local grocery store anymore. Instead he goes to Dollar General,…
Isn't that the motor oil that's not rated for cars after the mid-80s or something?
Dollar Tree motor oil is API SN rated. It is basic oil that will work in many basic late model vehicles.
Re: Dollar Tree says US$1.25 price point to become new standard
#203I don't think that people in this thread appreciate how prevalent grocery shopping in dollar stores is. In the US, half of shoppers buy groceries from a dollar store. They do it because it's literally all they can afford anything else. There are more dollar stores than Walmart, Starbucks and McDonald’s combined. "Kyle Dishman can’t afford to shop at the local grocery store anymore. Instead he goes to Dollar General,…
> They do it because it’s literally all they can afford anything else. Dollar stores very often aren’t cheaper than other sources for similar products especially for grocery items (which they tend to have very limited selections of.) People that shop for groceries at dollar stores do it because: 1. They shop for other things at dollar stores (either for price, or for reason #2, or because its the only place close by…
When I was a college student I priced Walmart and the dollar store on over one hundred items. My experience was that the dollar store was indeed cheaper than other sources.
I did notice that some of the products (like deodorant) typically "the sell by" date was much faster, but that wasn't a deterrent to me at the time.
I bought from the Dollar Store exclusively for 3 years for two reasons : 1) It was cheaper 2) the closest competitive store was 20 miles away
Re: Dollar Tree says US$1.25 price point to become new standard
#204Earlier quoted context omitted.
by charging huge markup on per unit cost by reducing quantity. 3 pills of Tylenol for example for $1 instead of a bottle which may have dozens for $6 . The brands create special mini-sized packages specifically for dollar stores. Big business.
See Sharpie pens, which are sold at dollar stores with less ink.
Which is why I buy mine there. I have never run a Sharpie out of ink but I have lost them or broken them.
Re: Dollar Tree says US$1.25 price point to become new standard
#205I don't think that people in this thread appreciate how prevalent grocery shopping in dollar stores is. In the US, half of shoppers buy groceries from a dollar store. They do it because it's literally all they can afford anything else. There are more dollar stores than Walmart, Starbucks and McDonald’s combined. "Kyle Dishman can’t afford to shop at the local grocery store anymore. Instead he goes to Dollar General,…
> They do it because it’s literally all they can afford anything else. Dollar stores very often aren’t cheaper than other sources for similar products especially for grocery items (which they tend to have very limited selections of.) People that shop for groceries at dollar stores do it because: 1. They shop for other things at dollar stores (either for price, or for reason #2, or because its the only place close by…
Classic analysis by someone who seemingly has never been dirt poor. It may be tough to believe, but y'know what'd surprise literally none of the poors if you told them? That they pay more money for less product at the dollar store than elsewhere.
Despite their limited ability, they ARE able to look at price tags in different stores and go "hey, wait a minute!"
If you're dollar store level poor, it's expensive and stressful, and you're constantly weighing spending money now versus keeping what little remains for whatever awful thing is going to leave you destitute. There's a fair amount of conflicting and complex psychology going on in that shopping decision beyond not just knowing that they should comparison shop.
Re: Dollar Tree says US$1.25 price point to become new standard
#206Earlier quoted context omitted.
With often same great sized packaging only with smaller amounts inside. Very wasteful. Deodorant, chips, pills, etc all look like a normal sized bottle but in reality is a smaller size for dollar stores. I have also heard things like canned goods of say a brand of soup they have special made for places like Costco that demand higher quality ingredients where the dollar store would get lower quality versions. Perhaps…
This reminds me of an argument I had a few Thanksgivings ago with an aunt who loudly proclaimed that the $0.49 can of black beans from the bargain store is exactly the same as the $3.49 can of black beans from the supermarket.
That could be the case, for black beans. $3.49 for a can of black beans is highway robbery. Beans are among the cheapest foods on the planet.
My local Whole Foods charges $0.89 for a 15oz can.
Re: Dollar Tree says US$1.25 price point to become new standard
#207Earlier quoted context omitted.
> They do it because it’s literally all they can afford anything else. Dollar stores very often aren’t cheaper than other sources for similar products especially for grocery items (which they tend to have very limited selections of.) People that shop for groceries at dollar stores do it because: 1. They shop for other things at dollar stores (either for price, or for reason #2, or because its the only place close by…
> People that shop for groceries at dollar stores do it because: 4. They only have a dollar. Yes, it's cheaper by the fluid ounce to buy a barrel of Pine-sol at Costco. But if you have $100 for groceries and household expenses this week, you'll pay more per ounce to minimize the cash-flow problem. Their cash-flow constraints and cost of credit both prevent them from economizing. That is how most Americans shop.
$100 is plenty to afford groceries at a grocery store. If they only had $4 or something your point would make more sense.
You can take $30 to a grocery store and walk out with a decent quantity of rice and beans, at good prices per ounce.
Re: Dollar Tree says US$1.25 price point to become new standard
#208Along these line why is the US still minting pennies? At some point we could just start rounding to the nearest nickel (or dime). Also, why is gas always ab extra 9/10 of a penny? Reminds me of paying 3123 RON for a Big Mac in Romania -- that last digit is just noise at the consumer level.
> why is the US still minting pennies? A lobbying group funded by the producer of the blanks used to make pennies opposes penny abolition [1]. There is no similarly-motivated group promoting it. (Citizens to Retire the Penny exists, but their last news item is from 2019 [2].) When the U.S. eliminated the half cent it was worth 14 cents [3], so there is a good case of nixing the nickel alongside the penny, whenever we…
> why is the US still minting pennies?
> > A lobbying group...
It is astonishing how many problems in this country start with those three words.
Re: Dollar Tree says US$1.25 price point to become new standard
#209I don't think that people in this thread appreciate how prevalent grocery shopping in dollar stores is. In the US, half of shoppers buy groceries from a dollar store. They do it because it's literally all they can afford anything else. There are more dollar stores than Walmart, Starbucks and McDonald’s combined. "Kyle Dishman can’t afford to shop at the local grocery store anymore. Instead he goes to Dollar General,…
A 50lb bag of white rice can be had on Amazon for $88, which translates into roughly 1k calories/$1 delivered to your doorstep for free in two-three days. You can get similar calorie/$ value with pasta, peanut butter, oatmeal. No one who has $40/week to spend on food in America needs to go anywhere close to hungry if they don't waste their money and time driving to dollar stores to buy overpriced non-bulk groceries. You Americans can't afford frozen pizza and think that means you're suffering
Re: Dollar Tree says US$1.25 price point to become new standard
#210I don't think that people in this thread appreciate how prevalent grocery shopping in dollar stores is. In the US, half of shoppers buy groceries from a dollar store. They do it because it's literally all they can afford anything else. There are more dollar stores than Walmart, Starbucks and McDonald’s combined. "Kyle Dishman can’t afford to shop at the local grocery store anymore. Instead he goes to Dollar General,…
"In the US, half of shoppers buy groceries from a dollar store."
I do not think it means half of Americans buy groceries from dollar general. I do not think it means of all those who shop groceries, half of them buy it from dollar general. I think it means, half of the people who buy stuff at dollar store also buy some groceries there. It does not mean much when put it that way.
I am familiar with poor people's shopping habits. The biggest advantage that Dollar stores have over others is not the price but rather their convenient location. A lot of Indians/Chinese students who come on shoestring budget would often buy lot of junk food from dollar store because they did not own car. For other items such as rice etc. they would request me to buy a large bag for them and then divide it among themselves. Similarly, trip to walmart etc. were rationed mostly because they did not own cars. People who owned cars on other hand could stretch their budgets even more. It was not uncommon for 5 of the folks to share one car, share a costco membership and buy in bulk and save lot of money in the process.