Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

The Enduring Enigma of Costco's $1.50 Hot Dog and Soda Combo

mentalfloss.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

81–90 of 135 posts

Re: The Enduring Enigma of Costco's $1.50 Hot Dog and Soda Combo

#81

Post by emodendroket »

jerf wrote: post #32
biastoact wrote: post #10

It is not unlike Prime Video and Prime Music (among others). When you run a membership program you create offers that increase the perceived value of the membership and engagement with your ecosystem. Similar is Costco gas, people wouldn’t drive out of their way for the discount if they didn’t already pay the membership. And while you are there you might as well pick up four times the bread you need, more milk than y…

I'm only consuming "far more than I normally would" if I'm routinely throwing away things I bought from CostCo, unconsumed. I don't. Nor does anyone else I know. It's just consumption moved around in time. I know, I know, it may be aesthetically distasteful to you to see people walking out with 36 rolls of toilet paper instead of six. It may be hard not to sneer at the poor people trapped on the capitalist treadmill.…

I mean, I agree, in the sense that I also like to buy in bulk and save a lot on things I use a lot this way. But it is true that a membership makes people shop at a store more to "get their money's worth" for the membership.

Re: The Enduring Enigma of Costco's $1.50 Hot Dog and Soda Combo

#82

Post by emodendroket »

Retric wrote: post #75
mywittyname wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Bread and milk are considered by most people to be perishable -- they go bad within a few weeks of purchase. Non-perishable goods are canned or sealed items that can be kept for years in cool, dark, dry places.

Frozen bread lasts for ~6 months to a 1 year. Which is hardly going to be an issue for most people. Unopened milk does not last nearly as long. Still, it can last for ~3 weeks at home depending on how it's preserved, how old is was when you got it, and if you keep your fridge cold enough. Which again should be plenty if you actually use milk.

Most people don't freeze bread and I think most people have probably experienced not finishing a carton of milk fast enough or having bread go moldy on them.

Really the trick to bulk buying (besides liberal use of your freezer) is only bulk-buying things you actually use a lot of. I'll buy tomatoes at Costco because I'll eat them but I don't eat nearly enough apples for buying a massive thing of apples to make sense.

Re: The Enduring Enigma of Costco's $1.50 Hot Dog and Soda Combo

#83

Post by qubex »

fencepost wrote: post #55

While the article starts with a "we're losing money on these" anecdote, the article does not say that they're losing money in terms of selling the combo below cost. They are selling it for less than the market will bear, but that also applies to the rotisserie chickens ($5/3lb vs grocery stores at 2lb). If it makes you feel better, think of the lost $0.50-$2 as being silently charged to their marketing budget behind…

Yeah... the leading quote screamed “loss leader” at me, and the whole article that ensues tries to dispel that notion; in my mind it fails, because I’m left with the feeling that they’re doing their best to minimize the loss they make on unit economics but still provide a subsidy from their overall operations.

Re: The Enduring Enigma of Costco's $1.50 Hot Dog and Soda Combo

#84

Post by emodendroket »

wtfreally wrote: post #27
aviv wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Taking care of employees has nothing to do with what I said. Tobacco companies also take care of their people. Panda Express and Five Guys are also well-liked by the customers who get sick consuming their products.

How do you get sick eating Panda Express? You can get veggies and noodles in addition to meat there...

I haven't been to one in quite a while but my impression is that there is lots of added sugar in all the sauces they use, in addition to a lot of fried food.

Re: The Enduring Enigma of Costco's $1.50 Hot Dog and Soda Combo

#85

Post by emodendroket »

gowld wrote: post #20
VectorLock wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think your lack of cynicism is misguided. CostCo doesn't "care" about anything but its bottom line, like any other corporation.

Individuals also don't care anything but their bottom line, so this whole line of reasoning is void of meaning.

That's just not true.

Re: The Enduring Enigma of Costco's $1.50 Hot Dog and Soda Combo

#86

Post by flyGuyOnTheSly »

tomlor wrote: post #65

One of my gripes about this price point is that they downgraded the buns they use with their hot dogs a few years ago. They used to be these tasty, substantial picnic rolls, but now they're bland and bready. I'd happily pay a few cents more to get the better buns. The real kicker is that if you look at the photo of the hotdogs in their food courts (in SoCal, at least), the photos are of the old, picnic style buns and…

The buns are declining in quality... you have to ask for the free toppings now (like onions and sourkraut which were always kept in the condiments counter until a year or two ago). They are now kept in carefully measured tiny plastic containers completely void from view. And the quality of the "meat" inside has dropped off a cliff in recent years.

I don't enjoy them at all anymore, where as I used to go into Costco sometimes just to get their hotdogs.

It's not the same $1.50 hotdog when they change literally everything about it.

Re: The Enduring Enigma of Costco's $1.50 Hot Dog and Soda Combo

#87

Post by emodendroket »

thx11389793 wrote: post #59
implements wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fresh whole milk freezes ok, and only takes a few days to thaw out in a fridge. Same with bread, btw. (To be fair, I think I'm the only person I know who does this)

I've known people to freeze bagels. Apparently they toast more or less equivalently compared to bagels stored above freezing.

Yeah, you can't tell the difference. You can even microwave them for 30 seconds instead of slowly defrosting and if you're toasting you can't really tell the difference.

Re: The Enduring Enigma of Costco's $1.50 Hot Dog and Soda Combo

#88

Post by chillwaves »

aviv wrote: post #11
ceejayoz wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The real problem with what you said is probably the visit frequency of your average Costco customer. It's not likely to be the place you go often enough to get unhealthy off the hot dogs - the whole point is stocking up on items in bulk. A hotdog a month isn't going to make you need blood pressure or cholesterol meds.

That is a huge misconception. Many people use Costco as a frequent take out food place. Pizza and hotdogs. In my kids class alone I know of several parents who often pass by Costco on the way from school to feed kids dinner there. It's done far more often than you think.

If CostCo didn't exist do you think their eating habits would improve?

Re: The Enduring Enigma of Costco's $1.50 Hot Dog and Soda Combo

#89

Post by SirYandi »

gowld wrote: post #18
biastoact wrote: post #10

It is not unlike Prime Video and Prime Music (among others). When you run a membership program you create offers that increase the perceived value of the membership and engagement with your ecosystem. Similar is Costco gas, people wouldn’t drive out of their way for the discount if they didn’t already pay the membership. And while you are there you might as well pick up four times the bread you need, more milk than y…

Your examples don't makes sense, as bread and milk (which Costco sells as multi-packs) keep fine in storage. Buying perishables and junk food would be a better example. Costco electronics prices are competitive and have the best return policy and practice in the industry.

Interesting re their return policy, could you expand on that?

Re: The Enduring Enigma of Costco's $1.50 Hot Dog and Soda Combo

#90

Post by hotdog97 »

HenryBemis wrote: post #60

So (I assume) this is where IKEA got the idea from, with their $1.5 hotdog in the exit of every store. Someone even made a comparison! [1] [1]: https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/review-it-costco-hot-dog-vs-...

So I just had to Google this.

According to https://newsroom.inter.ikea.com/news/ikea-develops-a-veggie-...

"The hot dog at IKEA has a long history: In 1981, and true to his vision for IKEA to be affordable for the many, Ingvar Kamprad set the price of the IKEA hot dog at 5 Swedish Krona – which was half price compared to competitors in Sweden at that that time. It was the beginning of the success story of the IKEA hot dog that today is served at IKEA all over the world."

So, Ikea Sweden introduced a hot dog priced at 5 SEK in 1981. (The USD was super cheap at that time; my best guess is that this corresponded to like $0.90.)

According to Costco themselves, their hot dog enterprise started in 1984:

http://www.costcoconnection.com/connection/200903/?u1=texter...

Myself: I don't think IKEA in Sweden were even on the radar for these Costco people in San Diego in 1984. I don't think they "copied" this concept.

But it's safe to say that IKEA did not got this idea from Costco.

Interestingly, the price for a hot dog at IKEA in Sweden is still 5 SEK, 37 years later.

Post reply on HN