Costco is also an anti-Amazon in that they treat their workers and their suppliers well.
Costco is the anti-Amazon
321–330 of 610 posts
Re: Costco is the anti-Amazon
#322Costco should aquire Hetzner :)
Re: Costco is the anti-Amazon
#323> 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…
Carbon offset credits bought by Bezos' Yacht holdco.
Re: Costco is the anti-Amazon
#324Earlier quoted context omitted.
OIC. I will note like the other person though that I often get like "just one thing in a box that's clearly too big"
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?
Re: Costco is the anti-Amazon
#325Earlier quoted context omitted.
If I'm grabbing a couple items, I can be in and out of my Costco on the way back from work in 10m if the timing is right. But yeah the wrong day, and it's 30m at least.
People go to Costco and only get a couple of things and not a cart load? You've got more self control than I.
When I lived closer to a Costco and had my membership, I used to do what I called cartless runs. Go into Costco, only buy what you can carry. Usually just the thing I needed and maybe one or two other things.
Re: Costco is the anti-Amazon
#326Has Amazon ever tried a curated, low-SKU section of the website? I guess that’s just the “Overall Pick.” For that is a large appeal of Costco. If I need a blanket, I can visit a Costco and buy their softest blanket with no hesitation. It will be around $20. If it’s bad, they have the most generous return policy.
Biz idea for you. Make that as an external site using Amazon associate.
Re: Costco is the anti-Amazon
#327> 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…
Also, in the photo, it shows a huge car park. The stores, have to support large empty spaces for parking of those 100 people all driving to the store. I also wonder about the social value of utilizing the land that way.
SoMa Costco has the parking under the store. It’s just economics.
On the other end of the spectrum, the notorious (in the Bay Area) Sunnyvale Costco actually demolished a nearby restaurant just to expand the parking lot.
Re: Costco is the anti-Amazon
#328I think Costco is good, but it's vastly overhyped. Comparing the two is just ridiculous. Having only 4,000 SKU's and thinking less choice is good is brainrotted. Costco shoppers are annoyingly conformist. Costco is an exploitative mega-corporation and Amazon is too. Ask a Costco enthusiast and they will say they do it out of the goodness of their heart. It's really annoying and makes me completely avoid Costco. Pleas…
I agree IKEA is my cathedral. Aldi Süd is my shrine.
Re: Costco is the anti-Amazon
#329Hate Costco. Buying from Amazon
Re: Costco is the anti-Amazon
#330Earlier quoted context omitted.
Both spectrums are hard. Solving last mile is really really hard, but if you do that's a huge moat (aka Amazon). If you avoid last mile, you best deliver value in some other way, which Costco does by giving you more per dollar than anyone else.
They also offer some degree of curation, so your dollar goes further by volume/weight/unit on average, but also in less quantitative ways quite often. I trust what I buy from Costco, but I’ve completely stopped buying from Amazon (many years ago now) because apart from the poor value prop, I simply don’t like the quality or reliability of what’s offered.
This is an important point for me. I am too lazy (too much executive dysfunction) to research products. I trust Costco to do the product research and offer us a good quality/price match up.
Return policy is also pain free. You can pretty much return anything you don't like. Just take it back.
They used to have amazingly generous return policy for electronics. Since some people abused it, bit tighter now.