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Dollar Tree says US$1.25 price point to become new standard

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Re: Dollar Tree says US$1.25 price point to become new standard

#261

Post by throwaway0a5e »

throwaway946513 wrote: post #232
jodrellblank wrote: post #151

Earlier quoted context omitted.

His Chrysler 300? This thing Wikipedia describes as a V8 powered “full-size luxury car”? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chrysler_300

It's usually a greater-than decade old vehicle, common in the early-mid 2000's. Luxury cars (especially American luxury cars) have a trend of being extremely inexpensive to purchase compared to other vehicles when the age vs. their original price. For example, a similar year Toyota, Subaru, or pre-CVT Nissans will hold higher values than equivalent American brand vehicles, with some exceptions.

>For example, a similar year Toyota, Subaru, or pre-CVT Nissans will hold higher values than equivalent American brand vehicles, with some exceptions.

Cars move down the economic ladder as they age. A similiar year Camry, Accord, or other InternetApproved(TM) cheap to run commuter car, is going to be in much nicer shape because it started a few dozen rungs higher than that '04 Impala, Sebring or whatever domestic we're comparing to. The price will reflect that niceness.

The Camry that's the same price as the average '04 Impala is going to be in equivalently rough shape and will be an older model year because it took it longer to get to that point because it started in nicer hands.

Seriously, punch in a $3000 price limit into your preferred classified section and see what it gets you.

These people are poor, not stupid. They're buying Big3/Korean/VW/Nissan sedans because that's what's available in the best condition and lowest miles at that price point because nobody wants them because they're not as practical as crossovers and people making white collar money don't fetishize them as ideal beater cars the way they do Toyotas and Hondas of that era.

Re: Dollar Tree says US$1.25 price point to become new standard

#262

Post by throwaway0a5e »

brewdad wrote: post #255
throwaway946513 wrote: post #227

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Pretty sure the idea of financing groceries, or common daily/weekly expendables isn't a very good one.

Why do you think payday loan shops exist?

Primarily to pay government fines and auto repair bills. Nobody is getting a payday loan to buy groceries. They're doing it to stave off things that if ignored will cause them to lose their income and slide further into poverty.

They're poor, not stupid.

Re: Dollar Tree says US$1.25 price point to become new standard

#264

Post by [deleted] »

jaywalk wrote: post #215
jandrese wrote: post #193

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The big problem with this is that Dollar Stores generally don't have a produce section. Everything is in a box, bag, or can. This is not healthy. $40/week for a single person isn't an easy food budget, but I think could manage that at my grocery store. It's $5.71 per day for three meals. You really need to optimize for calories. Pasta, dried beans, potatoes, not much meat or dairy, even produce is a bit of a luxury.…

> $40/week for a single person isn't an easy food budget What? One person can easily get by on $40/week for food.

[deleted]

Re: Dollar Tree says US$1.25 price point to become new standard

#265

Post by RobertRoberts »

goostavos wrote: post #205
dragonwriter wrote: post #144

Earlier 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…

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 str…

I have been dirt poor most of my life. And I can tell you I was careful about where I shopped.

And many other poor people I knew _blew_ tons of money on McDonald's because "they couldn't afford to cook"

It's not so cut and dry.

Re: Dollar Tree says US$1.25 price point to become new standard

#266

Post by vore »

ingenieros wrote: post #259
HWR_14 wrote: post #225

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not sure where "poor people should subsist on only rice and beans" became a valid idea. Sure, I mean, it's a cheap meal. But it's also boring and soulcrushing to have everyday. You're also aside the fact that rice and beans takes a good amount of time to prepare, which is a problem if you're working 16 hours a day - making rice takes 30 minutes and that is coming out of your sleep. But most importantly, only havi…

"But it's also boring and soulcrushing to have everyday" It's also rich in vegetable protein and a great source of fiber. Geez, when I think of "boring and soulcrushing" meals I think of SOYLENT not a nutritious meal enjoyed by tens of millions across LATAM on a daily basis.

Just plain rice and plain beans every day? I think there is a lot of work that goes into preparation you're willfully ignoring for in making it less boring and soulcrushing.

Re: Dollar Tree says US$1.25 price point to become new standard

#267

Post by dragonwriter »

goostavos wrote: post #205
dragonwriter wrote: post #144

Earlier 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…

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 str…

> Classic analysis by someone who seemingly has never been dirt poor.

I’ve been dirt poor; I’ve never been in a situation where “dollar store as regular grocery source” made sense (though I’ve shopped in dollar stores, and occasionally when I did found deals on grocery items that were worthwhile), and I am very much aware of why that was never the case for me and why it is and was sometimes for other people.

Also, not all people who shop at dollar stores are 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.

Actually, it would probably suprise some of them. Believe it or not, poorly informed poor people do exist. The idea that they don't is as misguided as the idea that all poor people are poorly informed.

> Despite their limited ability, they ARE able to look at price tags in different stores

Not really, when reason #3 (“Lack of actual grocery stores conveniently located”) applies. Comparison shopping takes time and effort that is something of a luxury in the best of cases, but it also takes having alternatives in the first place.

> 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.

That's true, but it doesn't contradict anything I said. It's like you have a canned rant about poor people that you arr trotting out independent of its actual relevance to the discussion.

> 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.

Which would perhaps be an insightful counterargument if I had said something even approximately like “poor people who shop at dollar stores do it because they don't realize they should comparison shop”. Of the three reasons I gave for people shopping at dollar stores, only one relates to a failure to understand the price realities, and I never suggested that one was particularly common among the poor.

Re: Dollar Tree says US$1.25 price point to become new standard

#268

Post by selimthegrim »

throwaway946513 wrote: post #240
fortran77 wrote: post #226

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It's not like you need very much of it very often You never drove an old hooptie, like I did in my early years!

Oh, how I am reminded that I need to add yet another quart of oil into my Isuzu for the next two weeks.

So that’s how you keep it from rolling over.

Re: Dollar Tree says US$1.25 price point to become new standard

#269

Post by rudolph9 »

gkoberger wrote: post #126

I 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,…

I don’t think you appreciate that everything at “Dollar Tree” actually costs a dollar or at leas did.

Re: Dollar Tree says US$1.25 price point to become new standard

#270

Post by dragonwriter »

Digory wrote: post #199
dragonwriter wrote: post #144

Earlier 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.

> Yes, it's cheaper by the fluid ounce to buy a barrel of Pine-sol at Costco.

Its frequently cheaper to buy the same size package of a grocery item at a traditional grocery store than a dollar store; I've seen cases as extreme as things that regularly go 4/$1 (and occasionally go on sale at 10/$1) at regular grocery stores going for 1/$1 at a dollar store.

But if you don't have a regular grocery store in convenient distance (walking/biking distance if you don't have working car!), that doesn't matter. (Costco and similar stores present another level of problem; they tend to both be more distant for most people than even standard grocery stores and to bias toward larger package sizes—aside from whether you can afford to tie up money in the larger item even with a smaller unit cost, storage space becomes a problem.)

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