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See's Candies is Warren Buffett’s ‘dream’ investment

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Re: See's Candies is Warren Buffett’s ‘dream’ investment

#31

Post by daniel-cussen »

Animats wrote: post #22
Barrin92 wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

is there branding to this? Because if Vitamin C is 10 bucks in bulk and 100 bucks in drug stores I'm about to open a 50 bucks vitamin C store in the US. Competition generally eliminates these kinds of margins. Quick check here on the German Amazon you can get Vitamin C ranging from 13€/kilogram to 117€/kilogram, they show that ratio explicitly. If people want to pay 10x for the fancy bottle and name they can but I do…

Competition generally eliminates these kinds of margins. That's last-century thinking, from when manufacturing cost dominated. Today, it's all about building a monopoly and crushing any new entrants. Comcast. Apple. Google. Facebook. CVS. The US is down to four big banks.

Yeah I just mentioned Comcast and a hospital, along with Wells Fargo.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31384732

"Don't say the money is like magnetically charged. It's not the money is attracted to the north. It's the people, an asshole whose idea of invention is coming up with excuses, couldn't come up with shit if he cleaned up after his dog for once. Wants what is rightfully for innovators (creation of wealth that can scale, through thought that can be imprinted many times) and tries to corner a market. It always has a name, it's not an organic thing, there is always a guilty party. Not ISP's, Comcast. Not local banking, Wells Fargo. Not healthcare, Christus. Say it, corner the market. They're trying to corner the market. The markets have been cornered."

Re: See's Candies is Warren Buffett’s ‘dream’ investment

#32

Post by bluedino »

Animats wrote: post #22
Barrin92 wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

is there branding to this? Because if Vitamin C is 10 bucks in bulk and 100 bucks in drug stores I'm about to open a 50 bucks vitamin C store in the US. Competition generally eliminates these kinds of margins. Quick check here on the German Amazon you can get Vitamin C ranging from 13€/kilogram to 117€/kilogram, they show that ratio explicitly. If people want to pay 10x for the fancy bottle and name they can but I do…

Competition generally eliminates these kinds of margins. That's last-century thinking, from when manufacturing cost dominated. Today, it's all about building a monopoly and crushing any new entrants. Comcast. Apple. Google. Facebook. CVS. The US is down to four big banks.

7-11 came out with their own brand chips, donuts, etc a few years ago. It's every hit as expensive as the brand name stuff was.

Re: See's Candies is Warren Buffett’s ‘dream’ investment

#33

Post by Animats »

Barrin92 wrote: post #24
Animats wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Competition generally eliminates these kinds of margins. That's last-century thinking, from when manufacturing cost dominated. Today, it's all about building a monopoly and crushing any new entrants. Comcast. Apple. Google. Facebook. CVS. The US is down to four big banks.

That's not last century thinking. You can't create any monopoly for generic drugs, by definition. You're not even forced to buy an an expensive Apple or Google phone. You can buy a 200-300 dollar phone with more than decent specs. They reason why people are running around with 1k phones is because it's a status symbol. It's exactly this century where you can buy anything at manufacturing cost from India or China if y…

You can't create any monopoly for generic drugs, by definition.

Sure you can. If you're the dominant player, you can pay or buy out new entrants. Happens all the time in generic drugs.[1]

[1] https://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/21/business/a-huge-overnight...

Re: See's Candies is Warren Buffett’s ‘dream’ investment

#34

Post by lotsofpulp »

Animats wrote: post #12

It's the slow and steady increase in prices that made it so profitable. About 5x over inflation during Buffett ownership. This has happened to far too many items over the last few decades. Most of the things drugstores sell are cheap to make, but have steadily increased in price in the US over the last few decades. Vitamins used to be priced according to manufacturing cost. Slowly, the low-cost vitamins have been up-…

>Vitamins used to be priced according to manufacturing cost. Slowly, the low-cost vitamins have been up-priced to match the expensive ones. Vitamin C is about $10/Kg in bulk, but about $100/Kg at a US drugstore.

How does one even know if the Vitamin C is Vitamin C? There is no government agency that confirms supplements and vitamins are what they say they are, nor are there penalties. The only thing I have heard of is the USP branding being a signifier of higher likelihood of the supplement/vitamin being what it says it is.

Re: See's Candies is Warren Buffett’s ‘dream’ investment

#35

Post by alexb_ »

hamiltonians wrote: post #30

i think it also cannot be ignored that his companies and investments are a contributing factor for diabetes and obesity in america and worldwide. he will be dead soon but future generations will have to deal with it.

No post body was provided.

Re: See's Candies is Warren Buffett’s ‘dream’ investment

#36

Post by johnday »

ww520 wrote: post #29

Sees sells gift certificates on one pound of candy that can be redeemed whenever, like 10 years from now. I bet they wrap those certificates in NFT their value would quadruple.

Per the end of the attached article, you're wrong - maybe their price would quadruple, but their value would not change at all.

Re: See's Candies is Warren Buffett’s ‘dream’ investment

#37

Post by Vladimof »

lotsofpulp wrote: post #34
Animats wrote: post #12

It's the slow and steady increase in prices that made it so profitable. About 5x over inflation during Buffett ownership. This has happened to far too many items over the last few decades. Most of the things drugstores sell are cheap to make, but have steadily increased in price in the US over the last few decades. Vitamins used to be priced according to manufacturing cost. Slowly, the low-cost vitamins have been up-…

>Vitamins used to be priced according to manufacturing cost. Slowly, the low-cost vitamins have been up-priced to match the expensive ones. Vitamin C is about $10/Kg in bulk, but about $100/Kg at a US drugstore. How does one even know if the Vitamin C is Vitamin C? There is no government agency that confirms supplements and vitamins are what they say they are, nor are there penalties. The only thing I have heard of i…

The US is very bad at ensuring our food supply is what it claims to be.... you have to trust companies, basically.

Re: See's Candies is Warren Buffett’s ‘dream’ investment

#38

Post by ethbr0 »

Animats wrote: post #22
Barrin92 wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

is there branding to this? Because if Vitamin C is 10 bucks in bulk and 100 bucks in drug stores I'm about to open a 50 bucks vitamin C store in the US. Competition generally eliminates these kinds of margins. Quick check here on the German Amazon you can get Vitamin C ranging from 13€/kilogram to 117€/kilogram, they show that ratio explicitly. If people want to pay 10x for the fancy bottle and name they can but I do…

Competition generally eliminates these kinds of margins. That's last-century thinking, from when manufacturing cost dominated. Today, it's all about building a monopoly and crushing any new entrants. Comcast. Apple. Google. Facebook. CVS. The US is down to four big banks.

Costs of goods sold always dominates.

Comcast, Apple, Google, and Facebook are all who they are because they manufacture the thing they're selling for cheaper than anyone else can.

Whether that "thing" is last mile connectivity, iPhones, or segmented advertising eyeballs.

Re: See's Candies is Warren Buffett’s ‘dream’ investment

#39

Post by HomeGear »

Animats wrote: post #33
Barrin92 wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's not last century thinking. You can't create any monopoly for generic drugs, by definition. You're not even forced to buy an an expensive Apple or Google phone. You can buy a 200-300 dollar phone with more than decent specs. They reason why people are running around with 1k phones is because it's a status symbol. It's exactly this century where you can buy anything at manufacturing cost from India or China if y…

You can't create any monopoly for generic drugs, by definition. Sure you can. If you're the dominant player, you can pay or buy out new entrants. Happens all the time in generic drugs.[1] [1] https://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/21/business/a-huge-overnight...

There has to be more to it. If not, a simple refusal to sell would allow you to move the market. If the sellout bundle is profitable enough, why doesn’t everyone start a generic drug company to be sold and retire rich?

Re: See's Candies is Warren Buffett’s ‘dream’ investment

#40

Post by otherme123 »

01100011 wrote: post #23

I'm pretty sure the peanut brittle has crack cocaine in it. Avoid at all costs unless you want to spiral into a never ending addiction. Sees is able to transform cheap ingredients into a premium product. It has a strong brand and pricing power. These are good things to have in a company. Still though, it's a luxury good and not something I'd want to own as we head into a recession. Own things people need, not things…

I find that afordable luxuries are good in a recession. People still want to feel that they are buying something more than pure need, and a box of good chocolate or a Coke instead of tap water are more afordable that a tailored suit or an expensive car.
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