3 ms·
Yes, you are correct. All retailers play the same game though, with products priced as loss leaders to get traffic in the door in the hopes you don't notice yo
by jstarfish 8y ago
Yes, you are correct.
All retailers play the same game though, with products priced as loss leaders to get traffic in the door in the hopes you don't notice you're paying 1.5x as much for anything else you grab while there.
The dollar stores take it to the next level (as you noticed). They thrive on the financial illiteracy of poor and rural demographics.
Look at the price of paper towels. Only $1, right? But it's half the size of the $1 rolls at Walmart.
Other stuff is just poor quality. $1 for a gallon of watered-down "bleach", versus $3 for the real deal elsewhere.
God help you if you swing a dollar store hammer around. Those dollar safety glasses will be about as effective as taping an actual dollar across your eyes.
Like a timeshare salesman or casino, they make you think you're winning to keep you coming back.
- xnyan 8y agoI would not be so casually disparaging of the intelligence of the poor. Sometimes you know its crap and more expensive in the long term but just don't have the funds to buy the better version. Poverty in the United States is an endless series of traps and gotchas to take advantage of people too weak to properly defend themselves.
- dmitryminkovsky 8y agoNot to mention “rural”? You’re rural so you’re financially illiterate?? Might make sense to follow some farmers on twitter if you think rural means financially illiterate.
- jstarfish 8y agoI'm only this blase because I've lived among them. They generally make poor decisions. Is renting a couch from a rent-to-repo store truly necessary? No. Nobody needs a couch. But they'll insist they do and willingly amortize the cost of 10 couches to temporarily have one.
- dmitryminkovsky 8y ago> The dollar stores take it to the next level (as you noticed). They thrive on the financial illiteracy of poor and rural demographics. :/ Might make sense to review this thread: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18746790 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18746790.