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I want to live like Costco people

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Re: I want to live like Costco people

#271

Post by queuebert »

hn_acc1 wrote: post #122
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 will out accelerate all but the most niche cars now. Claims presented without evidence. My slightly modified Subaru Wagon from '05 "out-accelerated" base Teslas - dead even in 1st gear, started pulling once the shift to 2nd happened. (Most) EVs cannot shift gears to get torque multiplication, so they start fast, but fall off as speeds get higher. My Kia gas car will outrun all but the model 3 performance - w…

EV motors can rev insanely high, so they don't need to shift gears, while most gas engines are limited to 6-7k RPM from factory. Thus the gassers need gears that essentially torque divide to reduce RPMs. You are very confused.

Re: I want to live like Costco people

#272

Post by dboreham »

type4 wrote: post #199

I have a really mixed feeling about Costco. I hate it, I going there, I hate the crowds, the parking, the people, being hawked a credit card, a cell phone, whatever the vendors are selling. It makes me feel like a pig in a slaughterhouse waiting to get out of the store, I feel like it's the platonic form of consumption. We all go to the nice little consumption center like good piggies to get our sustenance and to get…

Perhaps worth noting that this Costco experience is localized. I've experienced it myself in Los Angeles when visiting, and when I lived in the Bay Area. No carts. Takes 10 minutes to get a parking spot, etc. But here in Montana Costco is very chill. The same people have worked there for 25 years and will ask you how your kids are doing. Plenty carts. Plenty parking. There is still the cell phone guy but even he can be defeated with a cheery "my company pays for my service".

Re: I want to live like Costco people

#273

Post by jedberg »

Marsymars wrote: post #264
jedberg wrote: post #182

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you have an executive membership they guarantee that you make back your membership dues. If you fall short you can just ask them to give you the difference (and then they will downgrade you to the regular membership). But also remember regular members don't get cash back. The ratio is about 50/50. So about 40 million people pay for membership and don't get cash back.

> If you have an executive membership they guarantee that you make back your membership dues. That's not quite their policy - their explicit policy is "The Reward is not guaranteed to be equal to or greater than the Executive upgrade fee paid." - but they will refund you if you ask for it.

Much like the In-N-Out secret menu, while it's not explicitly stated it's basically company policy.

Re: I want to live like Costco people

#274

Post by coryrc »

Kirby64 wrote: post #27
qrush wrote: post #6

I just got (at 38) a Costco membership this year, thanks to my in-laws gifting us a membership. There's another huge discount retailer here in Boston (BJs) that I have gone to for years, but Costco is another 10+ min drive away so I've resisted thus far. I will say... I'm still adjusting. - No aisle signs or labels anywhere. I understand the retail strategy here but the lack of efficiency in MY experience kills me. C…

> No aisle signs or labels anywhere. I understand the retail strategy here but the lack of efficiency in MY experience kills me. Clearly they can't move the bakery, or meat department. But after ~5 visits I still have no idea where some basic products can be found. What are you having trouble finding, out of curiosity? In my Costco everything is pretty much in the same general area. They might move stuff a little bit…

> What are you having trouble finding, out of curiosity?

Five employees couldn't find the macarons (I found them next to the raw chicken!?)

The snack bars are being moved around. Now some of the ones we buy are with the toothpaste!?

My wife asks me to pick up some sort of caffeine product. There's three spots they could be in she tells me to look. Sometimes that doesn't work either.

We're considering cancelling. We don't drive much and our vehicles are electric. Not a lot of extra money for their vacation packages.

Re: I want to live like Costco people

#275

Post by vunderba »

teepo wrote: post #256

My family and I recently completed this Costco 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle made by Dowdle Folk Art(1). And I have to say, I had a very similar feeling to what the author of this piece is describing. Lots of different people, all walks of life, and no words requiring a dictionary! (looking at you, "Contrapuntal") (1) https://boardwalkpuzzles.com/products/costco-treasure-hunt-1...

From the article:

> Contrapuntal to the list of things we must buy on each visit, there is perhaps a more controversial list.

That's... a very strange application of the word. I’ve only ever seen it used in the context of baroque music, interchangeable with the idea of counterpoint referring to independent melodic lines in a piece, such as you would see in Bach’s The Well-Tempered Clavier. Using it here feels forced and out of place.

Re: I want to live like Costco people

#276

Post by windows2020 »

antonvs wrote: post #250
legitster wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> "What's great about this country is America started the tradition where the richest consumers buy essentially the same things as the poorest. You can be watching TV and see Coca-Cola, and you can know that the President drinks Coke, Liz Taylor drinks Coke, and just think, you can drink Coke, too. A Coke is a Coke and no amount of money can get you a better Coke than the one the bum on the corner is drinking. All th…

Andy Warhol was an apologist for the toxic consumer culture in the US. It’s a big part of why he was so successful. Coke is a great example. There’s no product more useless and unnecessary than that flavored fizzy sugar water. Or should I say, high fructose corn syrup water. If you drink it, why? Probably because you were indoctrinated since childhood. Same goes for pretty much all fast food. There’s nothing good or…

Sometimes on a hot day for the short period the kid's napping I find myself at Home Depot searching for this or that tired from the work week under pressure as the clock ticks down having no idea what I'm doing and I make it to checkout tired no exhausted and I see the ice cold cooler the Coke its last moments before it's soaked with condensation open the door scan it rush to the car twist it open it screams wow sometimes there's nothing like an ice cold Coke.

Re: I want to live like Costco people

#277

Post by toast0 »

jldugger wrote: post #157
legitster wrote: post #29

I grew up in a post soviet country. To me Costco, has perfected the soviet ideal of shopping more than any soviet economy ever could. In a Costco, we are all equal. I could be shopping for the same set of beige slacks right next to the CEO of a multi-million dollar company and never know it. We'll own the same Waterpik. Identical towels. Our lawn furniture will look the same. Everything is purchased at a fair price.…

Interestingly, my local subreddit loves to describe Costco as a late stage capitalist dystopia. - fighting for space everywhere: fighting for a parking lot, avoiding people seeming to ram you with their shopping cart, waiting for the extended family of seven in front of you to pick a cereal so you can leave the aisle, waiting for traffic to clear so you can _leave_ the costco - you have to pay to get in - and then yo…

Look, I get that everybody has a job and can't go during the week, but if you're going to Costco outside of working hours, you're doing it wrong. I dunno about fighting over pokemon cards, which like you do you, but crowding doesn't happen at 10 am on a tuesday.

Re: I want to live like Costco people

#278

Post by fundad »

dahinds wrote: post #161
hn_acc1 wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I always found that weird because we get like 5x our membership dues back in rewards every year, so I guess we're the exception, rather than the rule?

The claim could be true even if every customer is exactly like you. The implication is that Costco doesn't really make money selling stuff, they just need to roughly break even. And "breaking even" here includes paying rewards on purchases. The fact that you earn a lot of rewards doesn't stop your membership dues from contributing to Costco's bottom line.

Plus every manufacturer discount is technically advertising revenue for Costco (or any retailer).

Affiliations with providers of products like insurance, bottled water delivery, checks and the credit card are also sources of revenue.

Re: I want to live like Costco people

#279

Post by Marsymars »

tristor wrote: post #216
BoneShard wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was a coffee snob, but now I'm buying coffee in Costco, you just have to do it online: https://www.costco.com/p/-/kirkland-signature-organic-ethiop... https://www.costco.com/p/-/mayorga-buenos-das-usda-organic-l... I have no idea why do they not sell these(light roast) ones in warehouses.

My local Costco carries the fair trade artisanal coffee brand that is roasted in my city, just in a 3 pound bag of beans instead of a 1 pound bag of beans like at the bougie grocery store. I can understand not wanting the Kirkland brand coffee, but that is far from the only coffee brand for sale at Costco. I am a coffee snob of the highest order and I buy my beans at Costco.

They've got decent beans, but you can't get anything with more exotic processing techniques, e.g. lactic or carbonic maceration.

I get my beans for my summer cold brew at Costco, but my typical pour over beans elsewhere.

Re: I want to live like Costco people

#280

Post by computerdork »

RigelKentaurus wrote: post #125
giwook wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not necessarily. South Korea is one example that I have intimate knowledge of where one's consumer habits (the clothes one wears, the car one drives, the logo on one's handbag) is the ultimate signal of status. You're automatically pre-judged by complete strangers without having to say a single word. There are always exceptions to the rule, but it is in fact an unspoken rule over there.

The same is true in India. I live in the US, and when I visit relatives in India, they are nonplussed that I can afford a fancier car but choose to drive a Toyota. Clothes, watches, my phone brand - everything is under constant analysis and people feel free to comment on everything. I am used to it now but it gets tiring.

Was going to say this. Am in the US, and have Indian friends, and they are much more brand conscious than the average American.
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