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Costco is the anti-Amazon

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Re: Costco is the anti-Amazon

#131

Post by scrame »

dpark wrote: post #102
newaccountman2 wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I could imagine Amazon incentivizing reusable containers on their own TBH. If I was living in a house and not an apartment, I could easily imagine putting the Amazon bins back out so the next time I get a delivery, they take those, and we are constantly cycling bins back and forth. Even environment aside, from a purely self-interested perspective, I would much prefer it to dealing with the recycling Amazon deliveries…

Amazon did that with an earlier version of their grocery delivery service. I assume the cost and logistics of managing and cleaning the bins just wasn’t worth it because their grocery service delivers in paper bags now. One problem with the bins for normal items is that rarely will they be packed to the brim. I imagine the overall item density would drop significantly if they started using standardized bins instead o…

I quite often get inappropriately sized boxes.

Re: Costco is the anti-Amazon

#132

Post by skeeter2020 »

SoftTalker wrote: post #115
anon7000 wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Costco is one of the few stores in America that attempts to give great value to consumers. Most supermarkets just don’t

Aldi seems to. I thought of them as I read about Costco, not because of the size of their stores (which are generally quite small as supermarkets go) but because of the limited choices. Aldi normally has everything I need but doesn't have a lot of choice in any individual thing. It makes shopping there feel very efficient.

Walmart does this too, and it's one of the worst experiences/value-propositions I've ever experienced. It might be better in the US but in Canada it's expensive, poor quality and painful: pick three.

Re: Costco is the anti-Amazon

#133

Post by dghlsakjg »

rr808 wrote: post #75

I dont like Costco, it epitomizes American over-consumption. Parking lot overflowing with oversized SUVs with people loading up oversized trolleys with food from food corporations to take back to their oversized fridges and storage basements.

If you don't like American over-consumption you can go to Carrefour and try out French overconsumption where people load up oversized trollies with corporate food to take to their SUVs in the overflowing parking lot... in France.

Are you under the impression that it is a uniquely American trait to have a bigger house than you need, more car than you need, and a penchant for corporate food? Over-consumption is human nature, not an American invention. America just happens to be able to afford it on a scale that most countries can't. Go to the poorer countries on earth, and you will still see people over-consuming if they have the means.

Maybe it isn't even overconsumption. Maybe it's just a different way of getting things done. Do you think that the people that buy Costco sized packs of toilet paper wipe their ass unnecessarily? Or maybe they just make fewer trips to the store to buy toilet paper.

Re: Costco is the anti-Amazon

#134

Post by m463 »

Backslasher wrote: post #19

The part about Costco choosing to avoid the last mile shipping problem reminded me of a proverb, roughly translated as: A clever person solves a problem; a wise person avoids it. I think it holds a lot of truth in engineering.

It seems costco can deliver HEAVY things that amazon can't (economically, afaict)

Re: Costco is the anti-Amazon

#135

Post by skeeter2020 »

gustavus wrote: post #89
rr808 wrote: post #75

I dont like Costco, it epitomizes American over-consumption. Parking lot overflowing with oversized SUVs with people loading up oversized trolleys with food from food corporations to take back to their oversized fridges and storage basements.

Because of the large quantities my family with 4 children is able to go to Costco once a month and purchase almost everything our family will need for the entire month this means we only need to go to the store one or two additional times during the month for things like milk and bread. Saying that everyone eating there is indulging in overconsumption is a ridiculous overgeneralization. Not to mention people that are…

We have a larger family and Costco combined with access to a decent grocery store that's within walking distance is great: get deals on larger quantity staples and milk, eggs and bread several times a week.

Re: Costco is the anti-Amazon

#136

Post by rpdillon »

rr808 wrote: post #75

I dont like Costco, it epitomizes American over-consumption. Parking lot overflowing with oversized SUVs with people loading up oversized trolleys with food from food corporations to take back to their oversized fridges and storage basements.

Over-consumption? That doesn't follow. I sustain my family on Costco, going once a month or so, but have to feed four people, including two teenagers that consume way more than 2000 calories a day. You keep using the word "oversized", but that assumes the SUV, the fridge, the trolley are not suited for purpose. But they are!

I think what you're really critiquing is people who don't shop frequently, and therefore buy in bulk.

Re: Costco is the anti-Amazon

#137

Post by snypher »

imoverclocked wrote: post #97
troupo wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> There has to be a warehouse somewhere which means there are trucks/trains/planes moving goods around regardless. Do you want an 18-wheeler truck to do your curb-side deliveries? Or a personal train?

What?

I think to clarify your point, curbside pickup is the curb of the store/warehouse, not the curb of your house, correct? I think the netizen above thought it was your house's curbside?

Re: Costco is the anti-Amazon

#138

Post by oezi »

zeroonetwothree wrote: post #109
gwbas1c wrote: post #33

> Even if you think it is preferable at an individual level, there are good reasons to question the social value of the logistical complexity that it necessitates. Home delivery of single-packaged items entails an entirely different cost structure than freight trucks driving to consumer-facing warehouses delivering entire pallets of goods to be driven home by customers themselves. Ok, so 100 people can all drive to t…

When the Amazon truck drives down my street it’s always stopping at 5 houses or so. So the marginal cost of my package is practically zero.

If you have ever watched a deliver truck on their tracking app to crawl its way to you from stop to stop you realize the most optimistic timing is maybe 1 minute per package. Assuming the truck, driver, gas could be operated for 60 USD/hr the marginal cost seems more like 1 USD per package, but likely more.

Re: Costco is the anti-Amazon

#139

Post by Amezarak »

rr808 wrote: post #75

I dont like Costco, it epitomizes American over-consumption. Parking lot overflowing with oversized SUVs with people loading up oversized trolleys with food from food corporations to take back to their oversized fridges and storage basements.

> to take back to their oversized fridges and storage basements.

It's really awesome to have plenty of food storage, with extra and oversized refrigerators, and a deep freeze too.

I keep mine full of vegetables and beef - I have a whole beef slaughtered annually.

Can you explain why this is a bad thing or why it means overconsumption? Why is the stereotypical "European" method of going to the store every day superior to me spending ~10 minutes once every two to three weeks to go to Wal-Mart? What do you do when there are shocks, like weather events, power outages (my generator will tide my fridges over, but will take down a store POS terminal), civic unrest, or pandemics? Or if you're just plain busy? I really appreciate being able to be fully stocked (with rotating backups so I am never actually out) of basically all foods and home staples (like TP). What's the downside?

Re: Costco is the anti-Amazon

#140

Post by thallium205 »

mmooss wrote: post #40
nerdsniper wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Right but that’s a government service and it should be totally fine for them to deliver mail below cost using taxpayer money to make up the deficit. Like every other government service - highways, defense, etc. They’re profitable to the system, but not per se.

The US Post Office is funded by its own revenue, I'm pretty sure.

It still enjoys many government mandated monopolistic advantages.

See: American Letter Mail Company.

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