4 ms·
Toilet paper also has relatively high storage costs and low shipping costs compared to other goods, which skews things. It obviously doesn’t spoil, but it’s phy
by goodside 6y ago
Toilet paper also has relatively high storage costs and low shipping costs compared to other goods, which skews things. It obviously doesn’t spoil, but it’s physically large for how cheap it is and presents a fire hazard in bulk quantities. A typical consumer could actually afford to fill their home with stockpiled toilet paper until it becomes unlivable if they really wanted to, which isn’t true of most consumer goods. There’s also subtleties related to the segregation of consumer and commercial toilet paper markets.
- sokoloff 6y agoTP has relatively high shipping cost, especially as compared to its value. Dimensional pricing (charging by volume) is what kills you trying to ship TP.
- goodside 6y agoFor consumers you’re definitely right, but I don’t think this is true when buying by the truckload. Paper manufacturers produce both very high-density products (office paper) and very low-density products (toilet paper). Office paper is so dense that you have to ship it in trucks that are half-empty due to safety regulations on truck weight, so I’d expect a customer that needs both products can receive toilet paper in the same truck without much marginal increase in fuel consumption. I don’t work in the industry though, so I admit I’m mostly speculating.