Costco is the anti-Amazon • Hacker News Board

Re: Costco is the anti-Amazon

#331

Post by reddit_clone » Sat, Jul 04, 2026, 3:44 AM UTC

m463 wrote: post #134

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)

Yes! When you order a washing machine (I did couple months ago), everything was included. Somebody brought it, lugged it up 3 stairs, fixed it all up and took the old one back.

They even rebated $100 because it got scuffed during installation :-)

Re: Costco is the anti-Amazon

#332

Post by hx8 » Sat, Jul 04, 2026, 3:53 AM UTC

joezydeco wrote: post #155

bellgrove wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Perhaps this depends a lot on location. Parking is a nightmare at my local Costco. The employees are friendly enough most of the time. I truly admire the value and business model but Costco is pretty much the absolute worst shopping experience I can think of.

Agreed. The entire store is wired to encourage impulse buying and keep you from making rational decisions about whether you'll be able to finish that 3lb container of guacamole before it goes bad.

I don't see how Costco prevents you from making rational decisions. If anything the incredibly plain atmosphere (wide open spaces, no flashing lights, no loud music) feels much more calm than the typical retail experience.

My average food waste from a Costco trip is significantly lower than other grocery stores.

Re: Costco is the anti-Amazon

#333

Post by wombat-man » Sat, Jul 04, 2026, 3:55 AM UTC

furyofantares wrote: post #57

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.

But they don't avoid solving it, they offer it by partnering with instacart.

They also ship a lot of items.

Re: Costco is the anti-Amazon

#334

Post by _RPM » Sat, Jul 04, 2026, 3:56 AM UTC

arealaccount wrote: post #244

Oh man we went to Costco today to purchase a membership, was finally convinced after all of the $1.50 hot dog memes It was a used car tier hard sell to get the “executive” membership, after saying no a half dozen times literally everything we said was an invite to highly recommended the damn executive card. Then they offer $20 back on your membership if you sign up for auto pay (and install the costco app on your pho…

You can sign up online, which you should have done, the guy you were taking was doing his job.

Re: Costco is the anti-Amazon

#335

Post by culi » Sat, Jul 04, 2026, 4:03 AM UTC

marcosdumay wrote: post #87

pupppet wrote: post #4

Whenever someone says America can do great things, I don't think of battleships, fighter jets, or AI models, I think of Costco.

Wallmart is absolutely impressive. But many places have something similar to Costco.

Internally, Walmart is the a larger planned economy than the Soviet Union ever was. If you have a product you agree to sell in Walmart you basically give up total control. They tell you how to manufacture it, where/when to sell, and even at what price. There's a tongue-in-cheek 2019 book exploring this idea called The People's Republic of Walmart: How the World's Biggest Corporations are Laying the Foundation for Socialism. Cory Doctorow wrote about it

https://archive.ph/cnDtu

Re: Costco is the anti-Amazon

#336

Post by goosejuice » Sat, Jul 04, 2026, 4:06 AM UTC

hx8 wrote: post #319

oatmeal1 wrote: post #287

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The next revolution is zoning reform so it's legal to build shopping people want to do within walking distance of where they live.

As someone that has lived in a walkable neighborhood with a lot of shopping let me tell you, it doesn't solve the problem. Realistically you aren't going to reach more than 250k skus within a 20 minute walk of your home, and probably less. Even this is very heavily biased towards using retail space instead of space for anything else (homes, restaurants, parks, offices). You can only build up to add more space within…

250k skus seems pretty arbitrary. What's the significance of this number? A bodega goes a long way for most people's daily needs.

Re: Costco is the anti-Amazon

#337

Post by rmunn » Sat, Jul 04, 2026, 4:10 AM UTC

newAccount2025 wrote: post #324

rmunn wrote: post #311

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have been told, by (if I'm remembering my source right) someone who has worked as a UPS driver for 30+ years, that Amazon does that on purpose. Because the variable they're optimizing for is not "are we wasting cardboard". Cardboard is a renewable resource, which also recycles really well, so a little wasted cardboard is not a big deal. What they're optimizing for is packing the truck . Your item arrived in a too-b…

The other boxes would slide around anyways after your box was delivered tho?

Yes, but by that time you're driving the truck around neighborhood streets, getting up to 25 mph at most before you stop at the next stop sign. Not nearly as much force being applied as making turns at 55 mph. During the long drive from the warehouse to that city (and the specific neighborhood), the boxes are packed in tightly.

Plus, I seem to recall that they also optimize by giving the driver a route to follow and planning the boxes to be packed in order, so that only one row is being emptied at a time. I know my UPS driver friend has told me UPS does this, and it's an obvious optimization so I'm sure Amazon does it too.

Re: Costco is the anti-Amazon

#338

Post by culi » Sat, Jul 04, 2026, 4:10 AM UTC

sholladay wrote: post #285

I understand the appeal, but let’s be honest. Costco is designed for rich people who think they are frugal. You drive your big SUV there to load up on months worth of food and goods, which you can only do because you have a big house with enough storage for all of it. And who cares if some of it goes bad because you can always go back for more and hey it was so cheap anyway. You even pay a membership for the privileg…

I know it's not your point, but the idea that SUVs have more cargo space is a myth. They are large cars with really thick hulls but they do not compete with station wagons, minivans, etc when it comes to cargo space

https://www.consumerreports.org/cars/buying-a-car/measured-c...

Re: Costco is the anti-Amazon

#339

Post by culi » Sat, Jul 04, 2026, 4:13 AM UTC

narag wrote: post #269

I just realized that I use more different kind of stores and transportation to shop than ever. I walk for groceries, ride the motorbike to malls for monthly or yearly buys like clothing or light electronics, take the metro to specialized stores for heavier items and buy online hard-to-find or high-margin-elsewhere stuff. Also online buys are seldom delivered home, but to a nearby convenience store because work hours…

I've rarely lived somewhere where I can't bike to a grocery store within 10 minutes. It's definitely something I look out for when picking a place to live. I can't imagine having to drive every single time and I dread the few times I do have to get in a car to get something

Re: Costco is the anti-Amazon

#340

Post by ElProlactin » Sat, Jul 04, 2026, 4:18 AM UTC

goosejuice wrote: post #336

hx8 wrote: post #319

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As someone that has lived in a walkable neighborhood with a lot of shopping let me tell you, it doesn't solve the problem. Realistically you aren't going to reach more than 250k skus within a 20 minute walk of your home, and probably less. Even this is very heavily biased towards using retail space instead of space for anything else (homes, restaurants, parks, offices). You can only build up to add more space within…

250k skus seems pretty arbitrary. What's the significance of this number? A bodega goes a long way for most people's daily needs.

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