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Dollar-stores overcharge customers while promising low prices

theguardian.com

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Re: Dollar-stores overcharge customers while promising low prices

#291

Post by jkaplowitz »

dawnerd wrote: post #288
jkaplowitz wrote: post #241

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In a lot of places in the US, the lower of the shelf price and the scanner price is by law the most they can demand, at least for retail sales to consumers. Attempts to stop the customer from leaving after having paid the legally appropriate amount would be criminal acts by the store, no?

Have you seen the cops here though? Good luck trying to argue it when they’re loving you up for “shoplifting”. They’re going to side with the store.

I did call it a theoretical option and not a practical option. Although they might be a little more sympathetic to someone who is white, in a business suit, has a photo of the shelf price on their phone, can confirm that a surveillance camera captured them paying the shelf price, and is lucky enough to either get a cop who knows about the local price accuracy law or can point the cop to a visible posted sign about the law in the store.

Re: Dollar-stores overcharge customers while promising low prices

#292

Post by pixl97 »

mystraline wrote: post #90
JSR_FDED wrote: post #2

23% of items are rung up at a higher amount at the register than what it says on the shelf, yet North Carolina law caps penalties at $5,000 per inspection, offering retailers little incentive to fix the problem. In other words, regulatory capture at its finest, over the backs of the poorest in the country.

> yet North Carolina law caps penalties at $5,000 per inspection So, have every agent in the state inspect them. Fine 5k. Immediately inspect again, different goods. Fine another 5k. Keep doing it opening hours. Treat them like an inspection money piñata until they fix their ways. State gets a big pile of money to do better, and massive fines at 5k a pop for a few weeks punish the company and their bottom line.

I mean, more like someone elected and really high up in the state government calls the inspection office and tells them to stop, or everyone at the inspection office will get fired, since said elected person cares far more about getting reelected then the people that they should be representing.

Re: Dollar-stores overcharge customers while promising low prices

#293

Post by pixl97 »

tyre wrote: post #85
hamdingers wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Candy bars and soda sure whatever. Look at essentials. The dollar store near me charges $1.99 for 8oz of Tide, the Albertsons a single block further charges $9.99 for 84oz, the dollar store is over double the cost. It's the same story with soap, cleaning products, etc. A tiny container for cheap feels like a deal if you can't do the math, but it's not. Feel free to "test it yourself." I'm lucky in that I have a real…

It's not only the math but access to cash. Families living paycheck-to-paycheck struggle to make long-term investments. Paying 5x for larger quantities may pay off in the long-term, but if you're struggling to make ends meet and stretch dollars today , it might be overwhelming.

>Sam Vimes ‘Boots’ Theory of Socio-Economic Unfairness

in action.

Re: Dollar-stores overcharge customers while promising low prices

#294

Post by pixl97 »

cm2012 wrote: post #204
bjackman wrote: post #189

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is like cheating in a golf match against a professional and then saying "I got the same score as my opponent, I am not the villain here".

Do you think large dollar stores are faking or cheating their profit margin numbers?

I mean, they are cheating customers on the item price, so it goes to show they'll do illegal stuff without care, so yea, why not.

Re: Dollar-stores overcharge customers while promising low prices

#295

Post by BrenBarn »

> But North Carolina law caps penalties at $5,000 per inspection, offering retailers little incentive to fix the problem

This is a huge problem with all manner of laws in the US. We are not willing to insist that fees be limited only by their ability to prevent the prohibited behavior. Fines should continually escalate, if necessary until the offender is bankrupted, at which point their assets are taken. If Dollar Tree keeps doing this, the fines should eventually reach into the hundreds of millions of dollars, even the billions. Such penalties should also apply to company executives and board members who are responsible for the company's overall conduct.

Re: Dollar-stores overcharge customers while promising low prices

#296

Post by JumpCrisscross »

pwg wrote: post #182
dotancohen wrote: post #174

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, but the US consumers are conditioned to see one price and pay a higher price. You and I might see +40% and think "that's too high a percentage". Others see +something and think "just like every other time". If they even look - I'm sure these items are often in a cart with many other items.

The stores get away with it because even when ignoring the fact that tax is added after, few of the shoppers in these stores will remember the shelf price for a basket of 20+ items from the store. They might remember one or two, but they won't remember (and therefore will not notice) enough of the shelf prices to notice the systematic overcharge at the register. In reality, a good number of the shoppers likely don't…

> stores get away with it because even when ignoring the fact that tax is added after, few of the shoppers in these stores will remember the shelf price for a basket of 20+ items from the store

We don't bother remembering it because we're in a high-enough trust society where that burden shouldn't be necessary.

Re: Dollar-stores overcharge customers while promising low prices

#297

Post by 1123581321 »

bombcar wrote: post #215
bjackman wrote: post #189

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is like cheating in a golf match against a professional and then saying "I got the same score as my opponent, I am not the villain here".

Especially since it’s advantageous to adjust suppliers that you own to maintain tiny margins (who owns the land they rent, for example)

Subsidiary income would be included in a financial statement.

Re: Dollar-stores overcharge customers while promising low prices

#298

Post by tclancy »

cm2012 wrote: post #186

Dollar stores have on average a 2% profit margin, just like grocery stores. They are not the villains here.

What does their margin have to do with anything? Or, what things do you think they should and shouldn’t be able to do given their low margins?

Re: Dollar-stores overcharge customers while promising low prices

#299

Post by Jill_the_Pill »

pclmulqdq wrote: post #277
collingreen wrote: post #236

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Lol, the "it's actually good for customers" response is "they should have paid more"? I love it.

Nobody in this comment chain was saying it was good for the customers. The GP was saying that they clear out room for new businesses, and if brick-and-mortar-fabric-superstore were still a viable model someone would be doing it.

I am looking for fabric right now and am terribly frustrated not to have anywhere but limited quilting shops available. Online is not an answer, because you can't handle the fabric for weight, exact color, and stretchiness.

JoAnn drove all the medium-sized fabric stores out and left us with nothing.

Re: Dollar-stores overcharge customers while promising low prices

#300

Post by pixl97 »

bluedino wrote: post #194
parpfish wrote: post #44

an interesting contrast that i think about a lot: - in rural america, there are dollar stores everywhere that overcharge for small items. people treat them as a necessary evil and begrudgingly shop there. - in nyc, there are corner bodegas everywhere that overcharge for small items. they are generally seen as beloved neighborhood institutions. so... what's the difference? corporate owned vs family owned? length of ti…

Hey, Starbucks charges $3.50 for a cookie, I could buy 4 at the local bakery or two at the farmers market for that much (and get a better cookie).

>Hey, Starbucks charges $3.50 for a cookie

No, that's not what the article is about.

"Starbucks has a sign saying the cookie is $3.50. You are charged $5 at the counter".

That is the infraction here.

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