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I'm not familiar with planet money, but I'm fascinated by how they never challenged the assumption that warehouse stores & buying in bulk save you money. The cl

I'm not familiar with planet money, but I'm fascinated by how they never challenged the assumption that warehouse stores & buying in bulk save you money. The closest they come is when one of the hosts admits he impulse-purchased 12 gallons of carrot juice and the interviewee laughs. Then the story goes into how Jet.com and Costco are cheaper than Amazon, gets a couple other types of digs in on Amazon, and proceeds to expound on the wonders of how Jet.com gives you 24¢ off for each box you buy that ships from the same warehouse. It really made the whole thing come off like a native advertisement, to my ears.

shalmanese 11y ago
Planet Money is one of the flagship programs of National Public Radio which has notoriously high journalistic standards. I'm pretty sure non-disclosed native advertising for pay would be a severe breach of standards for them.
Malician 11y ago
I don't go to Costco primarily to save money. (Most of the time.) Of course, if you're able to plan your meals out enough to use 100% of what you buy from Costco it's impossible to beat them. (Exception: if you're an extreme couponer who has the time and energy to watch grocery store sales, which are rarely on items I actually want to buy.) I go to Costco because I know I will get something good for a decent price. At the grocery store, it will (probably) cost more and very likely be mediocre if not strikingly bad. For example, the lowest grade of steak Costco stocks is Choice. Until recently, Costco was the only place in my town you could get choice ribeye for under $17/lb (Costco was $8 or 9 at the time.) Recently, the groceries have started stocking that grade - according to the packaging, but the meat is visibly inferior and it's still more expensive. I'm not saying everything there is great, but I can buy a product off the shelf because it looks tasty and it will almost invariably be good.

shalmanese 11y ago

Planet Money is one of the flagship programs of National Public Radio which has notoriously high journalistic standards. I'm pretty sure non-disclosed native advertising for pay would be a severe breach of standards for them.

Malician 11y ago

I don't go to Costco primarily to save money. (Most of the time.) Of course, if you're able to plan your meals out enough to use 100% of what you buy from Costco it's impossible to beat them. (Exception: if you're an extreme couponer who has the time and energy to watch grocery store sales, which are rarely on items I actually want to buy.) I go to Costco because I know I will get something good for a decent price. At the grocery store, it will (probably) cost more and very likely be mediocre if not strikingly bad. For example, the lowest grade of steak Costco stocks is Choice. Until recently, Costco was the only place in my town you could get choice ribeye for under $17/lb (Costco was $8 or 9 at the time.) Recently, the groceries have started stocking that grade - according to the packaging, but the meat is visibly inferior and it's still more expensive. I'm not saying everything there is great, but I can buy a product off the shelf because it looks tasty and it will almost invariably be good.