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Unfortunately Walmart’s in-store selection is often junk. For example, I bought some rope to tie down furniture in a truck; they at least had some braided nylon

Unfortunately Walmart’s in-store selection is often junk. For example, I bought some rope to tie down furniture in a truck; they at least had some braided nylon cable, or so I thought. When I cut it to length, it had a foam core and the “braiding” was just a deceptive sheath around the cable. I went back to the store and there were no other options. Given their extreme pressure on suppliers, I don’t trust their food offerings either.

syntaxing 6y ago
Yeah, I don't really trust Walmart for their quality but I do trust that their stuff is genuine from the supplier/manufacturer. There's some household items that I decided not to get from Amazon. The issue got so bad that good LED lightbulbs are fake too even ship and sold by Amazon. Another big problem is toys especially big brands like Fischer Price. I would order the same set of toys and my friends/family can have a completely different set (in terms of plastic quality). It's crazy.
- philsnow 6y ago
  > I don't really trust Walmart for their quality but I do trust that their stuff is genuine from the supplier/manufacturer. I don't; Walmart courts brands, tempting them with access to thousands and thousands of stores. As soon as an irreplaceable proportion of the brand's revenue comes from Walmart, they start turning the screws, lowering the price they sell the product at, forcing the supplier to reduce costs. This often ends up with the brand producing a different product, with the same name, to sell at Walmart. I can't find fault in any party's decisions in these scenarios; consolidation is the inevitable result of capitalism. https://www.fastcompany.com/54763/man-who-said-no-wal-mart https://www.fastcompany.com/54763/man-who-said-no-wal-mart is one example of a company that saw what was coming and refused to go along with it.
  - baddox 6y ago
    That's still not what the commenter is talking about. The problem on Amazon is that you can buy a product that is listed as "CompanyX microSD Memory Card" and you will receive something that was not actually manufactured by CompanyX. AFAIK that will happen rarely if ever at Walmart. But yes, it's possible that CompanyX will make lower quality products in the future.
  - Spivak 6y ago
    This practice isn't really unique to Walmart. You have to be wary of this at pretty much every major box store including Amazon. Target seems to have this down to a science. You have to know the exact model of the thing you want. The whole thing sucks because most of the time I would be happy to make expensive purchases direct but they don't want to make enemies of their resellers by undercutting them so they won't even price match.
    - pkaye 6y ago
      Costco > Target > Walmart > Amazon is my order of trust. Costco has quality products and a great return policy but lower selection. Amazon has a good selection and browsing/searching is pretty good but the quality is unknown.
      - jbgud 6y ago
        Walmart's returns section is also (deliberately?) frustrating.
        pkaye 6y ago
        Yes Amazon returns are much more streamlined. I could drop most returns off at my local Kohls. Just show the person my barcode on the phone to scan, give them the item and done in 10 seconds.
        exclusiv 6y ago
        Walmart's actual return policy has always been better though. I've taken stuff there that I don't even know was purchased there and got a credit. This was some time ago so not sure if it changed, but they used to give you a few receiptless returns per year.
delfinom 6y ago
Walmart forces manufacturers to sell them items at fixed priced points. To the point they extort manufacturers to hand over bill of materials and demand certain prices or face repercussions, they are in very much worse than Amazon and literally run like a mafia. The end result is manufacturers make separate SKUs of the same product especially corner-cut just for Walmart.
- gruez 6y ago
  >they are in very much worse than Amazon and literally run like a mafia ...except that you can refuse to do business with them and they're not going to kneecap you or burn down your business
  - CamperBob2 6y ago
    Arguably they do 'burn down' small local businesses through aggressive price-cutting competition and supplier relationships, which a lot of people object to. I'm not among those complainers, having grown up in a small town where you couldn't get anything without mail-ordering it until Wal-Mart came in. But I could certainly be swayed to their point of view if Wal-Mart starts selling counterfeit or extremely low-grade crap like the rope ericbarrett purchased.

syntaxing 6y ago

Yeah, I don't really trust Walmart for their quality but I do trust that their stuff is genuine from the supplier/manufacturer. There's some household items that I decided not to get from Amazon. The issue got so bad that good LED lightbulbs are fake too even ship and sold by Amazon. Another big problem is toys especially big brands like Fischer Price. I would order the same set of toys and my friends/family can have a completely different set (in terms of plastic quality). It's crazy.

philsnow 6y ago
> I don't really trust Walmart for their quality but I do trust that their stuff is genuine from the supplier/manufacturer. I don't; Walmart courts brands, tempting them with access to thousands and thousands of stores. As soon as an irreplaceable proportion of the brand's revenue comes from Walmart, they start turning the screws, lowering the price they sell the product at, forcing the supplier to reduce costs. This often ends up with the brand producing a different product, with the same name, to sell at Walmart. I can't find fault in any party's decisions in these scenarios; consolidation is the inevitable result of capitalism. https://www.fastcompany.com/54763/man-who-said-no-wal-mart https://www.fastcompany.com/54763/man-who-said-no-wal-mart is one example of a company that saw what was coming and refused to go along with it.
- baddox 6y ago
  That's still not what the commenter is talking about. The problem on Amazon is that you can buy a product that is listed as "CompanyX microSD Memory Card" and you will receive something that was not actually manufactured by CompanyX. AFAIK that will happen rarely if ever at Walmart. But yes, it's possible that CompanyX will make lower quality products in the future.
- Spivak 6y ago
  This practice isn't really unique to Walmart. You have to be wary of this at pretty much every major box store including Amazon. Target seems to have this down to a science. You have to know the exact model of the thing you want. The whole thing sucks because most of the time I would be happy to make expensive purchases direct but they don't want to make enemies of their resellers by undercutting them so they won't even price match.
  - pkaye 6y ago
    Costco > Target > Walmart > Amazon is my order of trust. Costco has quality products and a great return policy but lower selection. Amazon has a good selection and browsing/searching is pretty good but the quality is unknown.
    - jbgud 6y ago
      Walmart's returns section is also (deliberately?) frustrating.
      - pkaye 6y ago
        Yes Amazon returns are much more streamlined. I could drop most returns off at my local Kohls. Just show the person my barcode on the phone to scan, give them the item and done in 10 seconds.
        exclusiv 6y ago
        Walmart's actual return policy has always been better though. I've taken stuff there that I don't even know was purchased there and got a credit. This was some time ago so not sure if it changed, but they used to give you a few receiptless returns per year.

delfinom 6y ago

Walmart forces manufacturers to sell them items at fixed priced points. To the point they extort manufacturers to hand over bill of materials and demand certain prices or face repercussions, they are in very much worse than Amazon and literally run like a mafia. The end result is manufacturers make separate SKUs of the same product especially corner-cut just for Walmart.

gruez 6y ago
>they are in very much worse than Amazon and literally run like a mafia ...except that you can refuse to do business with them and they're not going to kneecap you or burn down your business
- CamperBob2 6y ago
  Arguably they do 'burn down' small local businesses through aggressive price-cutting competition and supplier relationships, which a lot of people object to. I'm not among those complainers, having grown up in a small town where you couldn't get anything without mail-ordering it until Wal-Mart came in. But I could certainly be swayed to their point of view if Wal-Mart starts selling counterfeit or extremely low-grade crap like the rope ericbarrett purchased.