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Dollar-stores overcharge customers while promising low prices

theguardian.com

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Re: Dollar-stores overcharge customers while promising low prices

#221

Post by joncp »

Waterluvian wrote: post #148
thanhhaimai wrote: post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And this is exactly why I only shop at Costco. While other retailers try to get me to buy more stuffs, Costco try to make sure I'm satisfied enough that I'll renew my yearly membership (their main profit source). The incentive structure aligns very well.

Buying in bulk is about having the ability to both afford next week’s food this week and have the means to store it. Not to mention the annual subscription. Responding to a comment about dollar stores preying on the poor with, “that’s why I shop at Costco” is… a choice.

... and a car to haul all that stuff, and time to drive to the nearest Costco.

It really is a luxury that a ton of people can't afford.

Re: Dollar-stores overcharge customers while promising low prices

#222

Post by dehrmann »

regera wrote: post #116

Dollar stores are private equity with a checkout lane. In 2025, Dollar Tree sold Family Dollar to a group of private-equity firms: Brigade Capital Management, Macellum Capital Management and Arkhouse Management Co. https://corporate.dollartree.com/news-media/press-releases/d... It’s a business model cosplaying as poverty relief while quietly siphoning money from the people least able to lose it. They already run on a…

> Dollar stores are private equity with a checkout lane.

Dollar Tree and Dollar General are publicly traded.

So Family Dollar might be the result of PE tactics, but the other two aren't, and Dollar Tree sold Family Dollar because they saw it as under-performing.

It's actually sort of weird Dollar Tree couldn't make it work. I know the dollar stores all have somewhat different businesses, but you'd think that Dollar Tree could have either turned Family Dollar around or knew it was selling a loser (see the market for lemons) to PE.

Re: Dollar-stores overcharge customers while promising low prices

#223

Post by cluckindan »

”Dollar General argued that when customers create accounts – for example, by downloading the company’s mobile app – they agree to use arbitration to resolve disputes and forfeit the right to file class-action suits. The judge agreed.”

Let me guess, the mobile app provides discounts…?

Re: Dollar-stores overcharge customers while promising low prices

#224

Post by rs186 »

gruez wrote: post #185
CPLX wrote: post #171

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Private equity is far worse. It means 100% ownership by a group of sociopaths who are executing on a plan to extract as much cash as possible quickly with no other goals at all. At least public companies have some diversity in ownership and agenda.

>Private equity is far worse. It’s mean 100% ownership by a group of sociopaths who are executing on a plan to extract as much cash as possible quickly with no other goals at all. ...as opposed to the average public company? An average company might have more "average joe" shareholders (almost by definition, because private equity is typically off limits to non-accredited investors), but outside of meme stocks, there…

Let me explain this with a simple example:

* If a company controlled by PE goes bankrupt, shareholders (PE) likely make a profit * But if a publicly listed company goes bankrupt, shareholders lose their money

In other words, PEs almost never lose money, so they could extract the last bit of a company, even more short sighted than shareholders of a public company

Re: Dollar-stores overcharge customers while promising low prices

#225

Post by dmurray »

mindslight wrote: post #121
dmurray wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think the laws of the specific jurisdiction matter. In every US jurisdiction, the prices aren't completely legally binding (what if the previous customer changed the price tag?). In ~every US jurisdiction, if you systematically show one price but charge customers another, that's an offence. So intent matters. What would decide an individual case is not the exact characterisation of the laws on the books, but…

If another customer changed the price tag, that would be in the same category as if a person unaffiliated with the store said "I'll give you a deal on this item for $10", then pocketed the money while you walked out with the (still not yours) item. This doesn't really have any bearing on whether the owner of a store putting up a sign with a specific price for a specific item that a customer can directly take possessi…

Sure, but it's in the same category as the owner putting up a sign by mistake, or omitting to update a sign by mistake. Or more realistically, an employee of the owner putting up a sign even though the owner had instructed him to put up a different sign.

Re: Dollar-stores overcharge customers while promising low prices

#226

Post by EnPissant »

regera wrote: post #116

Dollar stores are private equity with a checkout lane. In 2025, Dollar Tree sold Family Dollar to a group of private-equity firms: Brigade Capital Management, Macellum Capital Management and Arkhouse Management Co. https://corporate.dollartree.com/news-media/press-releases/d... It’s a business model cosplaying as poverty relief while quietly siphoning money from the people least able to lose it. They already run on a…

Then why doesn't some other established brand open in the same area and undercut them?

Re: Dollar-stores overcharge customers while promising low prices

#227

Post by itchingsphynx »

In Australia, according to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission:

- Businesses must communicate clear and accurate prices prior to consumers booking, ordering or purchasing. They must not mislead consumers about their prices.

- There are specific laws about how businesses must display their prices.

- Businesses must display a total price that includes taxes, duties and all unavoidable or pre-selected extra fees.

- If a business charges a surcharge for card payments, weekends or public holidays, it must follow the rules about displaying the surcharge.

- If more than one price is displayed for an item, the business must charge the lowest price, or stop selling the item until the price is corrected.

In practice, if the checkout price is more than listed price, many retailers give the item for free. It doesn’t stop dodgy constantly fluctuating ‘on sale’ pricing…

https://www.accc.gov.au/business/pricing/price-displays

Re: Dollar-stores overcharge customers while promising low prices

#228

Post by rtp4me »

seizethecheese wrote: post #140

This comment section is full of allegations that dollar stores are predatory, yet when I look up their operating margins they are super low (4% for Dollar General, for example).

Yeah, queue the HN fake outrage about big companies and their C-Suite who are billionaires on the backs of the little people. So predictable.

Fact is, Dollar General and similar stores provide a real value to people who live in rural areas. Yes, their prices may be higher for some goods, but that is the price you pay for the convenience they provide. People are free to drive another 20mins to a WalMart or another store to save $0.50 for the same can of corn or loaf of bred. And, people who are really on a budget actually scrutinize the register receipts to make sure they are paying the price listed on the shelf. They can immediately bring up the discrepancy to the staff.

Re: Dollar-stores overcharge customers while promising low prices

#229

Post by devilbunny »

venturecruelty wrote: post #164
seizethecheese wrote: post #140

This comment section is full of allegations that dollar stores are predatory, yet when I look up their operating margins they are super low (4% for Dollar General, for example).

Just because your margins are low doesn't mean you still aren't screwing over poor people.

It’s a bit like payday loans; they are a bad financial deal, but the alternative is no credit at all because the people who get them are high-risk borrowers and the costs associated with making and servicing a loan aren’t radically different for $500 or $50k.

Being poor is tough. But the low margins are a pretty good indicator that the alternative to shady businesses is simply not having businesses at all.

Re: Dollar-stores overcharge customers while promising low prices

#230

Post by raw_anon_1111 »

js2 wrote: post #144
mschuster91 wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Unfortunately, this type of conflict can only be adjudicated by courts, which low-income people don't have the time and money for. Here in Europe, we have consumer protection agencies. Get wronged? Shoot them off an email and they'll take care of it. And overcharging at the cash register? That gets handled by the responsible authorities. Again, call them, tell them what happened and it can get real messy real fast.

I was having trouble getting Verizon to unlock an iPhone that had been purchased (not financed) from Best Buy and that had been on Verizon's network for more than two years. Verizon support said only BB could unlock it[^1]. I thought that was poppycock. I filled out a form on the FCC's web site just before midnight. By 8 AM, the FCC had forwarded the complaint to Verizon. By 9 AM Verizon executive relations called me…

I bet you didn’t try that this year when every single part of the federal government is actively trying to harm people.
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