I want to do whatever Costco people do.
I want to live like Costco people
611–620 of 760 posts
Re: I want to live like Costco people
#612> Something about the whole thing always registered to me as, like, lame—too normcore, too boring, perhaps even too cheugy to an informed and taste-driven millennial ur-consumer like me. The kinds of brands I like to buy aren’t what they sell at Costco Good example of how people can build identities through their brand choices and purchasing habits. It’s a foreign concept for many of us who seek out the best product…
> It’s a foreign concept for many of us who seek out the best product or deals for each purchase and will change brands in an instant if another company releases a better product. For those of us who grew up in the era of the "Are you a Mac or a PC" [1], many Americans are intimately familiar with the concept of brand identity. [1] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Get_a_Mac
Mac, yes. But I feel like being a "PC user" was never a coherent social identity. People use PCs for various reasons, usually pragmatic.
(Reflecting on it, I don't think I ever knew anyone who was "loyal" to Microsoft, or, dare I say, even particularly liked them as a company. At least certainly not the way people like Apple.)
In that sense, I feel as though Apple is the exception that proves the rule. There are really (almost) no other brands in Americans' everyday lives that elicit such a strong brand identity.
Re: I want to live like Costco people
#613Earlier quoted context omitted.
I wish Costco were accessible to basically everyone. Among some poorer people I've got to know in the SF Bay Area, having the card and confidence in the means to use it are a mark of the middle class, an aspirational thing. Membership is an up-front cost. That excludes those who can't part with the cash for no immediate benefit. Depending on what you buy, and what else is available around you, breakeven can take a go…
I dont understand this. All Costco memberships are functionally $65 at most. How is this beyond literally anyone in America? Am I so out of touch? Why would corner stores have to pool together to get a membership when they absolutely negate the cost of the membership from the cashback? You only have to spend roughly $6,500/year for the executive membership of $130 to cost zero. That seems like something a corner stor…
$65 is just the cost of one or two minutes of fuel for a private jet
Re: I want to live like Costco people
#614Re: I want to live like Costco people
#615>The kinds of brands I like to buy aren’t what they sell at Costco
If what food you buy is "brands", it's shit to begin with. Just that some of it is more expensive shit.
If you want to be uppity about it, buy mostly local, fresh produce and meats, not packaged brands, as much as you can.
Re: I want to live like Costco people
#616Earlier quoted context omitted.
>build identities through [...] purchasing habits > foreign concept for many of us who seek out the best product or deals for each purchase and will change brands in an instant But you are, yourself, defining yourself partially here through your own purchasing habits. In fact you are doing it to a far more universal degree than most of the ones you criticize. Not that I'm immune to it, but nor do I claim to be. I thi…
Exposing my superficiality, perhaps: but it pains me that you don't wear pants.
Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.
Re: I want to live like Costco people
#617CostCo has dropped off a bit in the UK. They've oversold the memberships (which were being abused anyway) and now the stores are always crowded, often it seems with people who don't know what a shop is or who can't push a trolley in a straight line.
Re: I want to live like Costco people
#618Earlier quoted context omitted.
>A Tesla will out accelerate all but the most niche cars now. Claims presented without evidence. My slightly modified Subaru Wagon from '05 "out-accelerated" base Teslas - dead even in 1st gear, started pulling once the shift to 2nd happened. (Most) EVs cannot shift gears to get torque multiplication, so they start fast, but fall off as speeds get higher. My Kia gas car will outrun all but the model 3 performance - w…
> My slightly modified Subaru Wagon from '05 "out-accelerated" base Teslas - dead even in 1st gear, started pulling once the shift to 2nd happened. Slightly modified is doing some heavy lifting there. No 2005 Subaru wagon in stock config is anywhere close to beating a Model 3. > (Most) EVs cannot shift gears to get torque multiplication, so they start fast, but fall off as speeds get higher. Pretty much irrelevant, b…
Another reason it's irrelevant is you just don't need the accel. Flooring a Tesla is fun once or twice, but if you floor it every chance you get I don't want to be your passenger. It's neither comfortable nor safe.
Re: I want to live like Costco people
#619You'll never live like Costco people You'll never do what ever Costco people do Never fail like Costco people You'll never watch your life slide out of view And then dance and drink and screw Because there's nothing else to do
hacker news really needs a best-of page the way craigslist did (sorry, does), just so I can nominate this. Made me discover a great song (and a great cover), with such a wry commentary (the song's and your own comment being spot on for the original drivel). Or like we used to say, you win the internet for today.
Re: I want to live like Costco people
#620Earlier quoted context omitted.
> The computers are not dumb. Nobody has suggested that they malfunction. I thought this was obvious, but to spell it out: I was suggesting that they might not necessarily be programmed to apply a different price depending on quantity. An item might have a flat price of $1 each, but labeled on the shelf/bin as "special: five for $5" to encourage larger purchases. I have personally encountered this. Meanwhile, I do no…
> An item might have a flat price of $1 each, but labeled on the shelf/bin as "special: five for $5" to encourage larger purchases. That's not a special, that's just math. I've only ever seen that kind of nonsense from Amazon. I've seen Buy 3 for $5, while the individual is $1.99. If you buy one you pay $1.99, if you buy two you pay $3.98, but if you buy three, you end up paying $5. The receipt will show 3 @ $1.99 wi…
Counterpoint: Publix will absolutely show a special price of "2 for X" and will charge you X/2 if you only buy one. I did it just this morning.