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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

#51

Post by leipert »

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…

Probably „only store that’s in my vicinity“ in rural areas vs. „if that bodega sucks, I go to another“. So one is a necessity which overcharges, the other a convenience which overcharges.

Re: Dollar-stores overcharge customers while promising low prices

#52

Post by qingcharles »

pilotneko wrote: post #36
modzu wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

then why do poor people shop there? is the idea dollar general is strategically misleading them to see prices advertised lower than a normal supermarket but in fact they are higher? i didn't think the article was making that strong of a claim at all. it seemed more like, operations are minimal and staffing short (which in theory enables lower prices) and they linked the staffing issue with simply just not being on to…

Dollar General and Family Dollar are smaller stores that are generally the only option within a reasonable travel distance. Here in the South, you might be able to catch a bus to Wal-Mart, but it’ll take 2-3X more time (1 hour instead of 20 minutes), so people go with the closer option even thought it is more expensive. No guarantees that Wal-Mart will be cheaper either.

In Chicago they closed the Wal-marts leaving only the Dollar Generals and Dollar Trees as the only walkable stores.

Re: Dollar-stores overcharge customers while promising low prices

#53

Post by analog31 »

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…

In both cases they charge a little more because the next store charges a little more too.

Re: Dollar-stores overcharge customers while promising low prices

#54

Post by masfuerte »

spwa4 wrote: post #37
analog8374 wrote: post #9

Happened to me yesterday. Haagendaz ice cream. $4 on the shelf, $5 at the register.

If it says $4 on the shelf and you pay $4 at the register and walk out with the goods, that's a 100% legal sale and not theft. Not even if it was a mistake on the part of some employee (and it's not the employee's fault either, by the way)

It literally is the employee's fault but they are not legally liable for it.

Re: Dollar-stores overcharge customers while promising low prices

#55

Post by gessha »

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.

What this calls for is an Amazon-style optimization of inspections. Given X inspectors and Y locations, what is the most optimal routing to optimize for coverage and penalty collection?

Re: Dollar-stores overcharge customers while promising low prices

#56

Post by hamdingers »

adrr wrote: post #42
hamdingers wrote: post #12

Even if they accurately charged shelf prices, these places are still a ripoff targeting the vulnerable. The list price is low but the per-unit price is astronomical compared to grocery store prices.

Have you ever been to a dollar store? Its much cheaper for the same items than a regular grocery store. Also not everyone needs a Costco sized tub of mayo. You test it yourself go by a standard sized candy bar at safeway/alberstons and then at a dollar store. Bottle of coke. Birthday card. Better yet compare the cost spices. Try to buy bay leaves at regular grocery store for under $5.

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 grocery store nearby to compare to. If you live in a food desert where these big chains have driven out all competition you wouldn't have a choice.

Re: Dollar-stores overcharge customers while promising low prices

#58

Post by gessha »

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…

Because in NYC I pass by tens of the bodegas on the way to work and I can shop at any one of them. I can also shop at Aldi’s, Trader Joe’s, Costco, what have you.

You said it well yourself - “begrudgingly”. With so many options and price points, I don’t have to begrudgingly shop at bodegas. I do it happily if it serves my goal of getting a single can of Coke. If I want to get a whole stack of them, I’d happily get them at Costco. Options are great when you have them.

Re: Dollar-stores overcharge customers while promising low prices

#59

Post by neilv »

analog31 wrote: post #45
neilv wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The "dollar stores" vary. I've been able to find good deals on some things at Dollar Tree. Usually the good deals were a smaller quantity of a normal-quality brand-name item. I mostly avoid the substandard quality items. But even sometimes substandard is OK if, say, you want to make your political demonstration sign on white foamcore (much cheaper than the art supply store, and you don't care if it's smaller, thinner…

>>> rather than on an Amazon shipping box. My wife attended a political protest, and said she noticed signs made from my employer's shipping boxes.

That's great, and a mix of all kinds of signs is to great effect. (People from all sorts of demographics using whatever means they can to be heard.)

Sometimes the sign-makers are artistically inclined, and may have access to better materials.

The most memorable example was at the political demonstrations (and counter-demonstrations) leading up to the Massachusetts constitutional convention that legalized gay marriage. For the State House one I photographed (learning photojournalism on the side), the anti-gay-marriage people were mostly bused in, including a pair of angry-looking old nuns in black full habit, and handed out the same ugly stock sign. (There's an obvious joke that they couldn't find a graphic designer who was sympathetic to the anti-gay cause.) Separated from them, across a street was a huge counter-protest, with an ocean of all sorts of creative, colorful, and positive handmaid signs, held by generally good-natured and thoughtful looking people.

Re: Dollar-stores overcharge customers while promising low prices

#60

Post by mindslight »

gessha wrote: post #55
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.

What this calls for is an Amazon-style optimization of inspections. Given X inspectors and Y locations, what is the most optimal routing to optimize for coverage and penalty collection?

Amazon-style optimization? You mean they send three different inspectors to the same store on the same day, each scanning one third of the necessary items for the audit?
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