4 ms·

It's nonsense even with multiple products. At scale, yes, inventory costs make a huge difference. Practically, for most Americans anyway, there is storage room

It's nonsense even with multiple products. At scale, yes, inventory costs make a huge difference. Practically, for most Americans anyway, there is storage room in your place for bulk products. We have what I like to call a "general store" in our basement that takes up two shelves full of several bulk products. (perhaps 10-15 different products, some small, some not) We're talking about a space that might be 2.5 ft on a side, 1 ft deep. Hardly a ton of space that will require additional capital "tied up in owning this before you need it." In Tokyo? Sure. In the US? Not so much.

stvswn 11y ago
There's not room in my two-bedroom house in Silicon Valley for bulk versions of normal staples. I do not have a basement or attic. I have two closets; one has my clothes in it, the other is full of my daughter's baby stuff. Toilet paper gets stored under the sink in the bathroom. Does it seem insane to you that I don't have space for bulk toilet paper buys? That I'd actually consider storage space during these types of purchases? Congrats on your basement, do you think apartment dwellers have basements?
- redblacktree 11y ago
  I'll bet that you could find the space if you were creative. Also, I'm not saying that storage space isn't considered, only that it isn't a "capital investment" when we're talking about a relatively small amount of space. How many square feet? I bet there is a corner where you could put a shelf.
- Lawtonfogle 11y ago
  I have an apartment. I keep the toilet paper at the bottom of my closet. I keep a bulk supply of paper towels in the corner of the kitchen area. I have plenty of places where I can put bulk items. It would look cluttered, messy even, and it would put things where they wouldn't normally belong, but I could do it. But even if I had less space, I could still have space for the most common bulk items. (Now if I had a pet I had to keep the items away from, that would be another issue.)

stvswn 11y ago

There's not room in my two-bedroom house in Silicon Valley for bulk versions of normal staples. I do not have a basement or attic. I have two closets; one has my clothes in it, the other is full of my daughter's baby stuff. Toilet paper gets stored under the sink in the bathroom. Does it seem insane to you that I don't have space for bulk toilet paper buys? That I'd actually consider storage space during these types of purchases? Congrats on your basement, do you think apartment dwellers have basements?

redblacktree 11y ago
I'll bet that you could find the space if you were creative. Also, I'm not saying that storage space isn't considered, only that it isn't a "capital investment" when we're talking about a relatively small amount of space. How many square feet? I bet there is a corner where you could put a shelf.
Lawtonfogle 11y ago
I have an apartment. I keep the toilet paper at the bottom of my closet. I keep a bulk supply of paper towels in the corner of the kitchen area. I have plenty of places where I can put bulk items. It would look cluttered, messy even, and it would put things where they wouldn't normally belong, but I could do it. But even if I had less space, I could still have space for the most common bulk items. (Now if I had a pet I had to keep the items away from, that would be another issue.)