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>> Why is the public still so naive about the "hidden costs" of cheaper? Because it is not true. Apple products are considered luxury goods and the company is

>> Why is the public still so naive about the "hidden costs" of cheaper? Because it is not true. Apple products are considered luxury goods and the company is known for the horrendous treatment of their workers in Asia. And ALDI is a very cheap supermarket chain in Germany but pays and treats their employees better than some more expensive ones. There might be a correlation but that means nothing for each individual purchase.

jgamman 9y ago
shouldn't you be quoting examples from within the same society? it seems a bit suss to quote a German budget chain acting reasonably responsibly towards its employees as a counter point to an American one. last time i looked labour laws were vastly different between the US and Germany...
- jnbiche 9y ago
  > last time i looked labour laws were vastly different between the US and Germany... Exactly.
  - deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]
  - markshead 9y ago
    Companies operating in the United States (like ALDI) are going to be subject to all the same labor laws as any other company operating in the United States. (I believe ADLI is owned by the same parent company as Trader Joes.)
- A_Beck 9y ago
  ALDI has stores in the US, and it looks like they pay higher than the prevailing wage in the US too: https://www.glassdoor.com/Hourly-Pay/ALDI-Hourly-Pay-E7337.htm https://www.glassdoor.com/Hourly-Pay/ALDI-Hourly-Pay-E7337.h...
- na85 9y ago
  > last time i looked labour laws were vastly different between the US and Germany... Labour laws in the US seem to boil down to "should have pulled yourself up by your bootstraps harder" .
chiefalchemist 9y ago
The Apple example is accurate. But it's also an outlier, and in the context of the discussion even worse. Agreed. Aldi is a great outfit and gets more of my business because of that. It IS possible to live without Amazon. I don't think it's unreasonable for more people to consider trying a bit to consider that.
markshead 9y ago
The reason ALDI pays employees really well is because the entire store is run with only a few employees at a time. A significant portion of the value you get from the store (cheap prices) is because their labor costs are low. I'd go as far to say that the real thing you are buying at ALDI is products that don't have a lot of labor waste built into the price. I've heard most places have 2 to 4 working at a time, but I've seen stores where a single employee is running everything. Every employee I've seen there is working very hard the entire time. Before they added scanners, they were required to memorize the price of every item in the store. They pay more because they will not get the type of employee they need by paying less. While most of the people who are a good fit for ALDI like it there, you can find many reviews saying the work was too hard and that there was too much pressure. If you look at retired RVers who have written about working at Amazon.com, you'll find many who felt that while the work was hard, it was good work and paid well (especially with holiday overtime) but you had to be willing (and physically capable) of doing hard work. Like you say, the cost of each individual purchase from a company has little to do with how much they pay their employees. There is a much stronger correlation between employees who are doing hard things that add significant value and higher pay.

jgamman 9y ago

shouldn't you be quoting examples from within the same society? it seems a bit suss to quote a German budget chain acting reasonably responsibly towards its employees as a counter point to an American one. last time i looked labour laws were vastly different between the US and Germany...

jnbiche 9y ago
> last time i looked labour laws were vastly different between the US and Germany... Exactly.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
- markshead 9y ago
  Companies operating in the United States (like ALDI) are going to be subject to all the same labor laws as any other company operating in the United States. (I believe ADLI is owned by the same parent company as Trader Joes.)
A_Beck 9y ago
ALDI has stores in the US, and it looks like they pay higher than the prevailing wage in the US too: https://www.glassdoor.com/Hourly-Pay/ALDI-Hourly-Pay-E7337.htm https://www.glassdoor.com/Hourly-Pay/ALDI-Hourly-Pay-E7337.h...
na85 9y ago
> last time i looked labour laws were vastly different between the US and Germany... Labour laws in the US seem to boil down to "should have pulled yourself up by your bootstraps harder" .

chiefalchemist 9y ago

The Apple example is accurate. But it's also an outlier, and in the context of the discussion even worse. Agreed. Aldi is a great outfit and gets more of my business because of that. It IS possible to live without Amazon. I don't think it's unreasonable for more people to consider trying a bit to consider that.

markshead 9y ago

The reason ALDI pays employees really well is because the entire store is run with only a few employees at a time. A significant portion of the value you get from the store (cheap prices) is because their labor costs are low. I'd go as far to say that the real thing you are buying at ALDI is products that don't have a lot of labor waste built into the price. I've heard most places have 2 to 4 working at a time, but I've seen stores where a single employee is running everything. Every employee I've seen there is working very hard the entire time. Before they added scanners, they were required to memorize the price of every item in the store. They pay more because they will not get the type of employee they need by paying less. While most of the people who are a good fit for ALDI like it there, you can find many reviews saying the work was too hard and that there was too much pressure. If you look at retired RVers who have written about working at Amazon.com, you'll find many who felt that while the work was hard, it was good work and paid well (especially with holiday overtime) but you had to be willing (and physically capable) of doing hard work. Like you say, the cost of each individual purchase from a company has little to do with how much they pay their employees. There is a much stronger correlation between employees who are doing hard things that add significant value and higher pay.