Costco is the anti-Amazon • Hacker News Board

Re: Costco is the anti-Amazon

#481

Post by frrlpp » Sat, Jul 04, 2026, 4:26 PM UTC

Broken_Hippo wrote: post #419

throw1234567891 wrote: post #416

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As you have to carry everything, how often do you go shopping?

not who you were asking, but I walk to the store and carry my groceries home. Usually, twice a week or something. It's great. 10 minute walk each way, approximately, and never more than I can easily carry. I buy for two people. I'd go more often if I shopped for more. I do occasionally visit other stores - once or twice a month - because they have different selection of goods. To be fair, I'm still carrying the stuff…

You clearly have no family

Re: Costco is the anti-Amazon

#482

Post by dietr1ch » Sat, Jul 04, 2026, 4:26 PM UTC

mlinsey wrote: post #472

Costco is an elegant solution for the suburbs, where everyone is driving around a vehicle large enough to store giant boxes off a pallet and bring them home. Here in NYC, it's really impractical to go to a warehouse and carry a month's worth of supplies home on the subway. The flip side is that the Amazon last mile deliveries are done on electric scooters that can bring a whole trailer worth of packages to the mailro…

I wish cities should design a delivery railroad. I don't want to let food delivery robots take over pedestrian spaces and having standardised package sizes and weight limits would help make things efficient.

Re: Costco is the anti-Amazon

#483

Post by QuiEgo » Sat, Jul 04, 2026, 4:26 PM UTC

I like Amazon's service. Parking at Costco on a Saturday is absurd to the point there's memes about it. I really hate standing in lines. Delivery to my door is awesome and I'm willing to pay extra for it. I also see the Amazon truck going house-to-house and don't feel guilty: I'm just one more stop along the way, my marginal impact is nothing at this point.

Re: Costco is the anti-Amazon

#484

Post by mike50 » Sat, Jul 04, 2026, 4:27 PM UTC

mlinsey wrote: post #472

Costco is an elegant solution for the suburbs, where everyone is driving around a vehicle large enough to store giant boxes off a pallet and bring them home. Here in NYC, it's really impractical to go to a warehouse and carry a month's worth of supplies home on the subway. The flip side is that the Amazon last mile deliveries are done on electric scooters that can bring a whole trailer worth of packages to the mailro…

This has to be astoturfed or something. There is literally a Costco in Manhattan and several in suburban Queens and Staten Island. Nothing stops you from going to Costco and just getting a cab back for a once a month trip.

Re: Costco is the anti-Amazon

#485

Post by danny_codes » Sat, Jul 04, 2026, 4:29 PM UTC

jstanley wrote: post #420

tstenner wrote: post #403

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I live in a walkable quarter and I can reach three full supermarkets and 2 specialty supermarkets within 5 minutes. Doesn't matter whether I need to stock up on milk, vegetables or hand peeled shrimp in garlic sauce, I can get it. Same with public schools (5 within a 2 mile radius), childcare (3), hospitals (2) and the park.

Ok but that doesn't come close to the variety of products you can buy online.

Sure, but 98% of what you buy is is either in the set of SKUs near you or substitutable for them. Near you only applies if you live among actual density of course.

Re: Costco is the anti-Amazon

#486

Post by mike50 » Sat, Jul 04, 2026, 4:29 PM UTC

Insanity wrote: post #430

card_zero wrote: post #409

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't get the argument either. Perhaps if you can't walk very far? If I put half an hour into walking I can easily buy all the essentials, such as a crash cymbal, oil of violets, steel nibs for my dip pen, a CD player, and a teapot.

I live in a metropolitan area and can walk to many stores within a 30 minute radius. (First supermarket is less than 5 minutes away). But there is the added complication of weight. I can’t buy food for a week without driving there. Nor can I go and buy a TV by just walking to the hardware store.

Personally owned folding shopping carts exist.

Re: Costco is the anti-Amazon

#487

Post by troyvit » Sat, Jul 04, 2026, 4:30 PM UTC

lanthissa wrote: post #459

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.

i mean its a value exchange, the last mile matters a ton to the consumer, the value prop the average person gets from amazon vs shopping in 2000 is insane and scales up the more valuable your time is. Not only are prices good, but if i lose my remote or need a shovel for the winter or whatever in 2000 im going to a store for that, that 15m of my time each way+parking+less choice. Lets say i make $50 an hour, and lets…

> Saving me 10m in the store 15m of driving both ways and 2-3m of transit is worth more than most items i purchase.

It's the opposite for me. The walk to the store, screwing around in the aisles, dragging my dog into the dressing room, the walk home enjoying the sunset, those things mean so much more than cracking open a box I found on my stoop.

Re: Costco is the anti-Amazon

#488

Post by Loughla » Sat, Jul 04, 2026, 4:34 PM UTC

QuiEgo wrote: post #483

I like Amazon's service. Parking at Costco on a Saturday is absurd to the point there's memes about it. I really hate standing in lines. Delivery to my door is awesome and I'm willing to pay extra for it. I also see the Amazon truck going house-to-house and don't feel guilty: I'm just one more stop along the way, my marginal impact is nothing at this point.

Your last sentence is literally the tragedy of the commons.

Re: Costco is the anti-Amazon

#489

Post by windowsrookie » Sat, Jul 04, 2026, 4:34 PM UTC

fragmede wrote: post #426

windowsrookie wrote: post #425

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What? Like you plan a day of shopping at Costco? That's insane to me. I have never spent more than 30 minutes inside a Costco.

Why the rush? Why even plan? Just go in and wander around without a mission.

Interesting how people view shopping at Costco differently. My goal is to spend the least amount of time as possible in there.

Re: Costco is the anti-Amazon

#490

Post by hx8 » Sat, Jul 04, 2026, 4:35 PM UTC

ssl-3 wrote: post #392

rahimnathwani wrote: post #366

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For reference, Google tells me that the largest Argos stores in the UK have only ~20k SKUs in stock.

One article I found[1] says that a Kroger store typically carries about 15k SKUs. As another point of comparison: Costco themselves say[2] that they have about 4k SKUs, and state that most supermarkets have about 30k SKUs. --- Anecdotally, I can find just about everything I want, in terms of consumables, at Kroger. Sometimes I walk over to the bodega instead. They don't have much for inventory outside of beer/smokes/…

A full sized target would have about 80k skus. A small independent book store might have 25k skus stocked. A Sephora would stock 20k different skus.

I think people are underestimating the variety of products that are available.