Here's a statement of the obvious: The opinions expressed here are those of the participants, not those of the Mutual Fund Observer. We cannot vouch for the accuracy or appropriateness of any of it, though we do encourage civility and good humor.
To me what they're going after is Costco. I mean, first thing on that clip is a dig at Costco.
Here's the thing: I was a Costco member. I decided to let it expire. Yet, I liked the experience and often think about going back before I question what it is I'd be getting. There is a novelty about the Costco experience - finding new things (as the selection often changes), finding deals (although honestly, the deals for some things at Costco aren't great, some things are). Overall, Costco didn't work for me but I know it does for a lot of people.
That said, Costco has always struck me as a little "old school". The deal booklets only recently changed so that there is one code and you don't have to cut out a dozen coupons from the booklet. Much more recent was the app introduction. The website is ... okay.
Amazon has prime, which is doing quite well and now more and more zip codes are getting Amazon NOW (which is I believe delivery within a couple of hours for something like $6.) Plus, there's Prime Pantry (as much food as you can fit in a box for $5.99 shipping.)
If you can create something that kind of pulls positive aspects of Costco and Amazon together, that's awfully interesting. I would not be as worried if I was Amazon. Costco will continue to do fine, but I think they face increasing headwinds.
Not as qualified on this as bee and others. A few observations re Amazon:
- Bezos has done a nice job on customer satisfaction as most will attest. A number of times they've happily issued refunds. Once when the gift wasn't delivered by Christmas (as promised) they refunded the $$ to us and let the recipient keep the gift when it arrived.
- Prime is a big convenience. It may not "pay" dollar-wise, but I love getting things so quickly and their shippers rarely "flub" it.
- Their site is smooth-as-silk. Even with relatively low bandwidth we rarely encounter any issues. I've tried to shop Walmarts' and it's a nightmare for us to navigate. Amazon gets a "10" and Walmart a "3" if I were rating them.
- The reviews on Amazon are fabulous and well presented. That's really remarkable because, to my knowledge, they don't edit them or prevent you from going in and revising at later dates. I often do this with my reviews because the electronic device that worked so well out of the box and received my "5-star" rating may prove to be a "dud" 3 months later.
- Walmart saved their skin by getting into groceries a couple decades ago. Amazon is working to take away that one remaining advantage. Apparently they're doing "same-day" delivery in some metro areas right now. Drones are coming in 5-10 years in some capacity. (BTW: While in Manhatton recently we were nearly run over by a speeding "Amazon Fresh" vehicle while attempting to cross a street. Not the most cautious of drivers.)
FWIW, and maybe not much at all, I will only be drug into Walmart kicking and screaming. I do more and more business with Amazon Prime, and love some of the deals that I can only get at Costco. Have never been disappointed by the larger purchases from Amazon, and Costco's quality is generally much better than any other supermarket or big-box chains. Just my observation.
I am a professional shopper/extreme couponer. I hardly go to Costco at all anymore ...can usually do better at Target or Publix. I use Costco for eye exams, rental cars, and some vitamins. I had Amazon Prime for one year and dropped it...I use it mainly for specific things I don't want to drive all over the place to find. My boyfriend and I keep a list and consolidate our orders to get free shipping. I will only go to Walmart if I can get there by 7 am.
BobC - Are you saying that you have to be drugged to go into a Walmart
Interesting that Walmart and Amazon are moving in opposite directions with respect to delivery. Five years ago, Walmart started offering free shipping to local FedEx stores to make inroads in major cities that, shall we say, were not hospitable toward Walmart (LA, Boston, New York, SF, Chicago, Washington).
But earlier this year, Walmart announced: "As of June 2015, we are no longer offering FedEx Office locations as a Site to Store Pickup Location."
When Jet or Amazon Prime can sell me a rotisserie chicken for under $5, or get it to me faster than it takes for me to make the 6 mile round trip for "takeout" from Costco, I'll take a closer look at them.
Also, as little5bee mentioned, good, inexpensive eye exams (and glasses) - Warby Parker just isn't going to provide the excellent custom fitting service and minor repairs that Costco does. (Except perhaps in their retail stores; there are a couple about as close to me as is Costco, so I may stop by. Call me a brick and mortar person when it comes to personal items.)
For inexpensive vitamins, try Puritan's Pride. Especially when they have a 1-for-3 sale (their 2-for-5 sales are more common).
I am a professional shopper/extreme couponer. I hardly go to Costco at all anymore ...can usually do better at Target or Publix. .
I don't have publix, but I'll agree with you on Target. Target's Cartwheel app is often a plus and I've saved a bunch using that. Target's Up and Up store brand is also pretty good.
Hi, Scott -- Be sure you print out the Target store coupons on Target.com. You can stack those with manufacturer coupons and Cartwheel. Put Ibotta and Checkout 51 on your smartphone, too!
I'm waiting for a site that will just give me the LOWEST possible price available for an item w/o coupons, w/o apps, w/o having to buy buy a bunch of other stuff I didn't come there looking for and probably don't need and w/o needing to join or subscribe or be subjected to their email whatever's. If you hear of something like that give me a shout.
@Mark- hang on, that's scheduled as our very next project after we complete our transformation of Wall Street and the Big Banking sector to complete honesty and transparency.
Canute Regulatory Commission A division of M. Python Enterprises
I'm waiting for a site that will just give me the LOWEST possible price available for an item w/o coupons, w/o apps, w/o having to buy buy a bunch of other stuff I didn't come there looking for and probably don't need and w/o needing to join or subscribe or be subjected to their email whatever's. If you hear of something like that give me a shout.
the only way to do that is to buy a time machine and travel back to the good old days
Jet's website could use a some work. Its cart gets confused between the price for one item and the price for all items in the cart. (Sometimes I have to go to "proceed to checkout" to see the full cart price.)
I asked for gluten free cold cereal, and some of the cereals it displayed were: Wheat Chex (all Chex cereals except for wheat are gluten free), Cheerios (which won't be gluten-free for a couple of months), and various Barbara cereals (only a few of which are gluten-free). This is a health issue, and rather disturbing.
The 12 month membership coupon little5bee pointed to does not seem to work. A couple of six month coupons (here, and here) do. No, they don't stack to twelve months.
Since discounts increase as you add more to your cart, you're never quite sure how much you'd be paying for another unit of an item in your card. Trial and error.
On the plus side, it seems to use the gross price (before you subtract the "savings") to meet the $35 min for free shipping.
Overall, not a fun shopping experience. Not something Mark would like; nor does it appeal to me at this point.
Here's a WSJ article on the business model (which will take years to break even) - link is a google search.
P.S. Regarding Target - sometimes their online price is cheaper than their in-store price, so it pays to order online with in-store pickup.
"P.S. Regarding Target - sometimes their online price is cheaper than their in-store price, so it pays to order online with in-store pickup."
That right there baffles me. Hopefully someone in sales or marketing will explain how that works. Is it a 'teaser'? Are your company's pricing programs too slow to keep up? I just don't get it.
Frankly I'd be embarrassed if I was quoting one of my customers a price and they'd come back at me with "But your website says such-and-such."
"P.S. Regarding Target - sometimes their online price is cheaper than their in-store price, so it pays to order online with in-store pickup."
That right there baffles me. Hopefully someone in sales or marketing will explain how that works. Is it a 'teaser'? Are your company's pricing programs too slow to keep up? I just don't get it.
Frankly I'd be embarrassed if I was quoting one of my customers a price and they'd come back at me with "But your website says such-and-such."
Happens all the time. I've seen it plenty with Best Buy and Wal-Mart, as well. Wal-Mart and Best Buy will match the website. I'm not sure about Target but I'm guessing it's the same. They are probably hoping you won't notice and will pay full price.
Hi, Scott -- Be sure you print out the Target store coupons on Target.com. You can stack those with manufacturer coupons and Cartwheel. Put Ibotta and Checkout 51 on your smartphone, too!
"Are your company's pricing programs too slow to keep up?"
I wouldn't be surprised at something like that. It's really easy to change a website price, but then every Target store would have to be notified, and then pay local employees to duplicate that reprice. That might be practical if their main network computer setup had an automatic feature which daily checked each store's posted price against a master website price file, and generated a quick report for each store with the items that needed to be repriced, but of course I have no idea if they have such a system.
I think Amazon is amazing. My son-in-law offered a piggy-back Prime membership to us: it includes everything except the music, videos and library of books. I sell my stuff on Amazon as well as buy all manner of items. Daughter took an online class and needed a text; bought it and when the class was over we got credit towards three more books she needed for SAT preparation. If I buy something that's not quite right, Amazon OKs the return with free shipping in seconds. I'd order prescriptions from them if it were possible and I wouldn't feel guilty about eliminating a local pharmacy. Best deals are to be found in the "used" section when the items are things returned and re-packaged by Amazon. Items are just like new, nicely discounted, and ship for free.
I experienced dynamic pricing when I was booking a return flight from some off-site work. The price would bounce around by the hour in a way that suggested the system was trying to find the highest price I would nibble at. I stopped looking, waited several hours, and the price dropped back down to the low price I had seen initially.
The more conventional dynamic pricing simply tries to maximize revenue on a perishable product (like seats) by varying the price according to seats left and days until flight departs, but not based on who's looking for a seat.
Regarding Target - the particular item I got cheaper online was already on sale in the store - even that sale price was higher than the online price. Since then the sale has ended (store price went up) but the online price has remained the same. This is not a question of slow retail pricing. More likely, Target (online) is price matching its competitors' online prices.
We've seen attractively priced flights disappear in less than an hour. Usually happens after we proceed to book a room in NY and check-out various play schedules. Set-up all that other stuff and return to buy the airline ticket - only to find it's doubled in price.
Serving northern Michigan are United, American and Delta - all with connections. One's as bad as the next (in just about every respect). Over the past year two drastically altered our schedule after we purchased the tickets to the point where we sought refunds. American rescheduled our arrival to 4-5 hours later than originally ticketed. Delta moved an 8 AM departure up to 5:30 AM. Delta voluntarily issued full refund. With American we had to get the credit card company involved - but got our money back.
Seems like I can recall when the major carriers really did compete on fares. No longer appears the case. But, at that time there were 5, 6 or possibly 7 major carriers,
Hi, Hank -- Yes, and why with the price of gasoline and oil plunging are airfares rising? When I fly out to Vegas to visit my son, I am paying on average $250 more roundtrip than when gas was at $4.00/gal and oil was over $100/barrel. They removed the "gasoline surcharge" and just tacked it on the price of my ticket!
There is a very simple reason airlines can charge what they do. Fewer flights and full flights. Unless one or both of those change, don't expect fares to drop. For the first time in years, airlines are making money, and they are not about to turn back the clock. We still pay much less for flights than we did 25-30 years ago. I just have to tell myself that every time I book a flight. Thank goodness for my hundreds of thousands of Delta FF miles.
"Are your company's pricing programs too slow to keep up?"
I wouldn't be surprised at something like that. It's really easy to change a website price, but then every Target store would have to be notified, and then pay local employees to duplicate that reprice. That might be practical if their main network computer setup had an automatic feature which daily checked each store's posted price against a master website price file, and generated a quick report for each store with the items that needed to be repriced, but of course I have no idea if they have such a system.
Kohl's - at least that I've seen - has digital price signs. It would be harder for something like Target to do that, but it wouldn't surprise me if more stores went that way.
Hi, Hank -- Yes, and why with the price of gasoline and oil plunging are airfares rising? When I fly out to Vegas to visit my son, I am paying on average $250 more roundtrip than when gas was at $4.00/gal and oil was over $100/barrel. They removed the "gasoline surcharge" and just tacked it on the price of my ticket!
I'd say Priceline, but I think that's better for hotels. When you bid on airfare you can wind up departing at who knows when during the day selected.
Hi Scott: We've tried these discount providers and agree they offer advantages. We much prefer to buy directly from the airline. In the event there's an issue (like the ones we had with schedule changes) I've found it very difficult to resolve these when working through a third party. -
To my earlier grumblings, I'm not arguing for lower ticket prices. I'm arguing for some fair dealing with consumers:
1. There's no reason why the price of a particular flight on an airline's website should double from $400 to $800 in less than an hour's time.
2. "Time of day" greatly affects prices. There are cost-related reasons, including the cost and availability of takeoff/landing "slots" at big airports. If a traveler pays substantially more at booking for attractive departure/arrival times, airlines shouldn't be allowed to "downgrade" that ticket afterwards to a less attractive (cheaper) time without compensation and/or refund.
Fares appear to me much higher today than in the mid-80s and 90s after all the added charges are taken into consideration. I'd agree that prior to about '85 they were higher in inflation-adjusted dollars. The "add-on"s today are absolutely nuts. Most charge for "preferred" seats, exit-row, extra leg-room, earlier boarding & checked bags. That can add $150-$200 to a round trip. Spirit charges for carry-on items. Southwest is the most decent, having lower fares, free schedule changes, free checked bags and (I think) more comfortable seating. We'll sometimes drive a few hours extra to reach an airport served by SW.
Comments
Here's the thing: I was a Costco member. I decided to let it expire. Yet, I liked the experience and often think about going back before I question what it is I'd be getting. There is a novelty about the Costco experience - finding new things (as the selection often changes), finding deals (although honestly, the deals for some things at Costco aren't great, some things are). Overall, Costco didn't work for me but I know it does for a lot of people.
That said, Costco has always struck me as a little "old school". The deal booklets only recently changed so that there is one code and you don't have to cut out a dozen coupons from the booklet. Much more recent was the app introduction. The website is ... okay.
Amazon has prime, which is doing quite well and now more and more zip codes are getting Amazon NOW (which is I believe delivery within a couple of hours for something like $6.) Plus, there's Prime Pantry (as much food as you can fit in a box for $5.99 shipping.)
If you can create something that kind of pulls positive aspects of Costco and Amazon together, that's awfully interesting. I would not be as worried if I was Amazon. Costco will continue to do fine, but I think they face increasing headwinds.
- Bezos has done a nice job on customer satisfaction as most will attest. A number of times they've happily issued refunds. Once when the gift wasn't delivered by Christmas (as promised) they refunded the $$ to us and let the recipient keep the gift when it arrived.
- Prime is a big convenience. It may not "pay" dollar-wise, but I love getting things so quickly and their shippers rarely "flub" it.
- Their site is smooth-as-silk. Even with relatively low bandwidth we rarely encounter any issues. I've tried to shop Walmarts' and it's a nightmare for us to navigate. Amazon gets a "10" and Walmart a "3" if I were rating them.
- The reviews on Amazon are fabulous and well presented. That's really remarkable because, to my knowledge, they don't edit them or prevent you from going in and revising at later dates. I often do this with my reviews because the electronic device that worked so well out of the box and received my "5-star" rating may prove to be a "dud" 3 months later.
- Walmart saved their skin by getting into groceries a couple decades ago. Amazon is working to take away that one remaining advantage. Apparently they're doing "same-day" delivery in some metro areas right now. Drones are coming in 5-10 years in some capacity. (BTW: While in Manhatton recently we were nearly run over by a speeding "Amazon Fresh" vehicle while attempting to cross a street. Not the most cautious of drivers.)
Interesting that Walmart and Amazon are moving in opposite directions with respect to delivery. Five years ago, Walmart started offering free shipping to local FedEx stores to make inroads in major cities that, shall we say, were not hospitable toward Walmart (LA, Boston, New York, SF, Chicago, Washington).
But earlier this year, Walmart announced: "As of June 2015, we are no longer offering FedEx Office locations as a Site to Store Pickup Location."
When Jet or Amazon Prime can sell me a rotisserie chicken for under $5, or get it to me faster than it takes for me to make the 6 mile round trip for "takeout" from Costco, I'll take a closer look at them.
Also, as little5bee mentioned, good, inexpensive eye exams (and glasses) - Warby Parker just isn't going to provide the excellent custom fitting service and minor repairs that Costco does. (Except perhaps in their retail stores; there are a couple about as close to me as is Costco, so I may stop by. Call me a brick and mortar person when it comes to personal items.)
For inexpensive vitamins, try Puritan's Pride. Especially when they have a 1-for-3 sale (their 2-for-5 sales are more common).
http://hip2save.com/2015/07/22/jet-com-free-12-month-membership-after-1st-purchase-save-on-groceries-household-items-more/#Va_pmysVO7g.email
Canute Regulatory Commission
A division of M. Python Enterprises
I asked for gluten free cold cereal, and some of the cereals it displayed were: Wheat Chex (all Chex cereals except for wheat are gluten free), Cheerios (which won't be gluten-free for a couple of months), and various Barbara cereals (only a few of which are gluten-free). This is a health issue, and rather disturbing.
The 12 month membership coupon little5bee pointed to does not seem to work. A couple of six month coupons (here, and here) do. No, they don't stack to twelve months.
Since discounts increase as you add more to your cart, you're never quite sure how much you'd be paying for another unit of an item in your card. Trial and error.
On the plus side, it seems to use the gross price (before you subtract the "savings") to meet the $35 min for free shipping.
Overall, not a fun shopping experience. Not something Mark would like; nor does it appeal to me at this point.
Here's a WSJ article on the business model (which will take years to break even) - link is a google search.
P.S. Regarding Target - sometimes their online price is cheaper than their in-store price, so it pays to order online with in-store pickup.
Re Target...you can also price match in store to Target.com.
If you have any questions regarding couponing/shopping, feel free to pm me. I know some people are unhappy if you post off-topic.
That right there baffles me. Hopefully someone in sales or marketing will explain how that works. Is it a 'teaser'? Are your company's pricing programs too slow to keep up? I just don't get it.
Frankly I'd be embarrassed if I was quoting one of my customers a price and they'd come back at me with "But your website says such-and-such."
I wouldn't be surprised at something like that. It's really easy to change a website price, but then every Target store would have to be notified, and then pay local employees to duplicate that reprice. That might be practical if their main network computer setup had an automatic feature which daily checked each store's posted price against a master website price file, and generated a quick report for each store with the items that needed to be repriced, but of course I have no idea if they have such a system.
I actually think such practices should probably be illegal.
The more conventional dynamic pricing simply tries to maximize revenue on a perishable product (like seats) by varying the price according to seats left and days until flight departs, but not based on who's looking for a seat.
Regarding Target - the particular item I got cheaper online was already on sale in the store - even that sale price was higher than the online price. Since then the sale has ended (store price went up) but the online price has remained the same. This is not a question of slow retail pricing. More likely, Target (online) is price matching its competitors' online prices.
Serving northern Michigan are United, American and Delta - all with connections. One's as bad as the next (in just about every respect). Over the past year two drastically altered our schedule after we purchased the tickets to the point where we sought refunds. American rescheduled our arrival to 4-5 hours later than originally ticketed. Delta moved an 8 AM departure up to 5:30 AM. Delta voluntarily issued full refund. With American we had to get the credit card company involved - but got our money back.
Seems like I can recall when the major carriers really did compete on fares. No longer appears the case. But, at that time there were 5, 6 or possibly 7 major carriers,
Yes, I've tried Skiplagged, too, but just doesn't work with my home airport and the airports I fly into.
http://thekrazycouponlady.com/tips/store-hacks/27-genius-accurate-kohls-coupons-shopping-hacks/
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To my earlier grumblings, I'm not arguing for lower ticket prices. I'm arguing for some fair dealing with consumers:
1. There's no reason why the price of a particular flight on an airline's website should double from $400 to $800 in less than an hour's time.
2. "Time of day" greatly affects prices. There are cost-related reasons, including the cost and availability of takeoff/landing "slots" at big airports. If a traveler pays substantially more at booking for attractive departure/arrival times, airlines shouldn't be allowed to "downgrade" that ticket afterwards to a less attractive (cheaper) time without compensation and/or refund.
Fares appear to me much higher today than in the mid-80s and 90s after all the added charges are taken into consideration. I'd agree that prior to about '85 they were higher in inflation-adjusted dollars. The "add-on"s today are absolutely nuts. Most charge for "preferred" seats, exit-row, extra leg-room, earlier boarding & checked bags. That can add $150-$200 to a round trip. Spirit charges for carry-on items. Southwest is the most decent, having lower fares, free schedule changes, free checked bags and (I think) more comfortable seating. We'll sometimes drive a few hours extra to reach an airport served by SW.
DOJ investigating possible collusion among major air carriers
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/doj-investigating-potential-airline-collusion/2015/07/01/42d99102-201c-11e5-aeb9-a411a84c9d55_story.html
European airline considers "Fees to Pee":
http://abcnews.go.com/Travel/Green/paying-pee-airlines-critics-call-ryanairs-fee-inhumane/story?id=10355139
Sorry: I've tried hard to condense this down.
@BobC: Maybe, but 25-30 years ago there was room for your legs and feet.