I want to live like Costco people • Hacker News Board

Re: I want to live like Costco people

#221

Post by criddell » Thu, May 07, 2026, 7:36 PM UTC

add-sub-mul-div wrote: post #36

Aurornis wrote: post #8

> Something about the whole thing always registered to me as, like, lame—too normcore, too boring, perhaps even too cheugy to an informed and taste-driven millennial ur-consumer like me. The kinds of brands I like to buy aren’t what they sell at Costco Good example of how people can build identities through their brand choices and purchasing habits. It’s a foreign concept for many of us who seek out the best product…

> Some people are proud of their Audi or designer bag, but I rarely run into situations where I’d be judged for arriving in a sensible Subaru instead of a Mercedes. I agree. You can go into Costco and see a store full of individuals who happen to be shopping at Costco that day, or you can go to Costco and see the same people as slaves to an imagined Costco lifestyle that you can then write about for 800 words. It say…

Slaves to an imagined Costco lifestyle? That's not the vibe I picked up from the article at all.

I enjoyed reading about the writer realizing he's turning into his father and taking photos of things his dad used to buy to share with his mom. He spots people that may be falling in love. Clumsy people apologizing to nobody. He counts eight different languages.

I thought it was charming and a little nostalgic.

Re: I want to live like Costco people

#222

Post by throw0101c » Thu, May 07, 2026, 7:37 PM UTC

Aurornis wrote: post #8

> Something about the whole thing always registered to me as, like, lame—too normcore, too boring, perhaps even too cheugy to an informed and taste-driven millennial ur-consumer like me. The kinds of brands I like to buy aren’t what they sell at Costco Good example of how people can build identities through their brand choices and purchasing habits. It’s a foreign concept for many of us who seek out the best product…

> It’s a foreign concept for many of us who seek out the best product or deals for each purchase and will change brands in an instant if another company releases a better product.

Perhaps those folks found certain brands regularly have decent (enought) quality and stick with them, and/or they have a personal aesthetic that they've developed that may be 'limited' to certain brands.

Some folks also don't want to go through the effort of constantly/regularly (re-)evaluating things: they've found that Brand X gives them enough quality/value, and have stopped looking.

Re: I want to live like Costco people

#223

Post by sicvita » Thu, May 07, 2026, 7:37 PM UTC

> I will never buy Costco coffee—I know too much about coffee, and my allegiance to a coterie of indie micro roasters (Yes Plz subscription for life) and esoteric brewing methods has ruined me for life from enjoying the simple pleasures of a Kirkland Signature K-Cup pod.

You can pry the 2-lb bags of Mayorga Cafe Cubano dark roast coffee from my cold, dead hands.

Re: I want to live like Costco people

#224

Post by wing-_-nuts » Thu, May 07, 2026, 7:38 PM UTC

Our_Benefactors wrote: post #141

skeeter2020 wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

no - it will be getting very expensive servicing while you're enjoying 200K+ trouble-free miles

Which is of course entirely besides the point. While it’s receiving service the owner will be in their Honda accord (they drive it daily), but they will always have the top trim and will probably get a new one once it’s out of warranty and needs its first “real entropy” repair. Being rich is better than being poor. The Warhol quote has nothing to do with that fact.

>Being rich is better than being poor.

As someone who started out very poor, and is now ~ 30x above that. I strongly subscribe to the idea that happiness from income is very logarithmic. The first 2-3x income was life changing. I'm talking going from eating pasta, rice and beans for most meals to fresh fruit and veg, lean cuts of meat. From renting a room in a noisy apartment with 4 other people to having my own place that was both safe and quiet. My reading list was suddenly more constrained by time instead of price or library backlog.

I suppose it's down to my starting position, a content disposition and a boring lack of imagination, but my expenses have now ~ 5x'd what they were when I was on the strugglebus, but still very modest, and I honestly can't identify any spending that would make my life better or make me happier long term.

Re: I want to live like Costco people

#225

Post by owlninja » Thu, May 07, 2026, 7:38 PM UTC

m4ck_ wrote: post #34

silisili wrote: post #13

I've only been to Costco a handful of times in my life. It seems like each time, there were hordes of people standing lifelessly in a huge line waiting to check themselves out(sometimes with help from an employee), which took longer than it should. Then, once that task was accomplished, they'd then stand in another huge line waiting to leave. Is this the typical experience or did I just happen to pick the worst times…

In my experience, get there as early as possible and it's not bad. But that's the standard for these membership stores, although Sam's Club has the edge being able to use their app to scan your items and pay without having to stop anywhere (other than the line to get out.) Publix' pricing is obscene though.

I have a Sam's Club membership primarily because it is much closer to me than Costco. I hate the crowds but it baffles me there are lines when the scan & go app exists! And I swear last time I went they weren't even scanning receipts, but you walked through some sort of gateway?

Re: I want to live like Costco people

#226

Post by bell-cot » Thu, May 07, 2026, 7:39 PM UTC

twoodfin wrote: post #132

bell-cot wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

99% of the reason for the mom-and-pop groceries dying out is that "our" Federal Gov't decided that it would stop bothering to enforce the law - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robinson%E2%80%93Patman_Act And note how the modern Democratic Party - the originators of that law back in 1936 - utterly failed to give a crap about the issue.

Robinson-Patman is a bad law. Even if it were a good law, it would be effectively impossible to enforce equitably and not capriciously, which is probably why it hasn’t been. The government telling competitive buyers and sellers which kinds of price negotiation are legal and which are not is terrible economics because it attenuates price signals.

Pre-1980's, it seems to have been enforced well enough to keep a whole lot of mom-and-pop grocery stores in business.

I'm thinking the faded-out enforcement was due to a certain 1980's President, and his administration's "Greed is God" ethos. A lot of protections for the little guy got dumped on his watch.

Re: I want to live like Costco people

#227

Post by wing-_-nuts » Thu, May 07, 2026, 7:39 PM UTC

malfist wrote: post #172

queuebert wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A Tesla will out accelerate all but the most niche cars now. Even the cheapest cars can have giant screens and climate control. I don't think they are equal to a Rolls Royce, but extreme luxury has greater diminishing returns now than at any point in history. Where I live pretty much all new houses are being built with granite counter tops and hardwood floors. Whether that's a good thing is a whole other topic ...

A Tesla Model 3, dual motor has a 0 to 60 speed of 4.3 seconds. My F-150 lightening extended range can do that it 3.8 seconds.

I was sad to see it discontinued. I hope the slate truck is gonna be good when it's released, cause I dig their emphasis on customization and repairability.

Re: I want to live like Costco people

#228

Post by hparadiz » Thu, May 07, 2026, 7:41 PM UTC

crooked-v wrote: post #211

hparadiz wrote: post #176

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The basic membership is $65. If all you do is get a year's worth of detergent, toilet paper, and cleaning supplies chances are that will already pay for the membership. They also have grocery items that are kinda wholesale but not really. Pantry stuff like a bag of nuts that you can go through on your own in under a week that is marked down significantly from the grocery store. Oh also olive oil is another big one fo…

For the kinds of people who post on HN, the real savings of a Costco membership is that they regularly have high-end electronics, appliances, and home furnishings at $50-100 or more off retail elsewhere. Get a robot vacuum or a couch or a VR headset for $100 off and your membership's already paid for itself that year. For several years, if you need to replace a refrigerator or washing machine.

Paired with a costco credit card it usually pays for itself.

Re: I want to live like Costco people

#229

Post by margalabargala » Thu, May 07, 2026, 7:41 PM UTC

throw0101c wrote: post #222

Aurornis wrote: post #8

> Something about the whole thing always registered to me as, like, lame—too normcore, too boring, perhaps even too cheugy to an informed and taste-driven millennial ur-consumer like me. The kinds of brands I like to buy aren’t what they sell at Costco Good example of how people can build identities through their brand choices and purchasing habits. It’s a foreign concept for many of us who seek out the best product…

> It’s a foreign concept for many of us who seek out the best product or deals for each purchase and will change brands in an instant if another company releases a better product. Perhaps those folks found certain brands regularly have decent (enought) quality and stick with them, and/or they have a personal aesthetic that they've developed that may be 'limited' to certain brands. Some folks also don't want to go thr…

> Some folks also don't want to go through the effort of constantly/regularly (re-)evaluating things: they've found that Brand X gives them enough quality/value, and have stopped looking

This argument stops holding water when those same people start judging other people for not also using Brand X.

Re: I want to live like Costco people

#230

Post by jerlam » Thu, May 07, 2026, 7:42 PM UTC

legitster wrote: post #57

SoftTalker wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also the reason that small specialty shops, and mom-and-pop grocery, fruit, dairy, bakeries and butcher shops are largely gone. They just cannot compete with Costco and Sam's Club/Walmart's buying power.

The idealized small mom-and-pop shops were largely put out of business by WWII and rationing more than anything. Supermarkets and department stores have more or less been the norm in the US since long before Wal-Mart began spreading across the country. There are still plenty of produce stands, bakeries, and butcher shops in the country. Most of what was driven out of business were small bodega-style corner stores.

I would argue that corner stores were also driven out of business by suburbanization. If no one is within walking distance to a corner store, then it's not going to survive. Fewer people are going to drive to a corner store that costs more and stocks less than a supermarket.

They mostly exist now in a different form as gas station markets, or in dense urban areas like NYC, or some central business districts.