4 ms·

I almost can't believe that there's a place where you can specifically buy a product that's not (or less) user hostile (there's a reason all the manufacturers h

I almost can't believe that there's a place where you can specifically buy a product that's not (or less) user hostile (there's a reason all the manufacturers have jumped on this train). Does Costco do stuff like this in more instances? Are they for real some kind of consumer super heroes?

AdamJacobMuller 4y ago
> Are they for real some kind of consumer super heroes? I'm reluctant to call any company a super hero, but, costco does some fairly great stuff aside from this TV thing (which I wasn't even aware of). Costco are fairly famous for cost optimizing with their vendors, but, in contrast to how others do it they have a much different model from what i've read and heard. They try to help their vendors to optimize their own costs and thereby sell things cheaper by using their extensive operational knowledge to help them both understand their own cost structures and what they can do to reduce their costs. Unlike most other brands they then just pass that savings on to members. Many other companies would chose to use this information gathering to undercut their vendors and eventually supplant them and/or force them out of business (I'm looking at Amazon as the prototypical company here for this bad behaviour) but costco seems to value their relationships more and doesn't really do this (see https://www.trendymatter.com/fast-gallery/these-big-name-brands-actually-make-costcos-kirkland-products/12 https://www.trendymatter.com/fast-gallery/these-big-name-bra...). Anyway, i'm hesitant to canonize any corporation but I do love their food.
m463 4y ago
I really like costco, but I'm not sure if they are that mindful. I bought a treadmill from costco, a proform 2000 pro. It said stuff in a weasely way 1-year iFit membership included (internet required for ifit). I didn't care about that at all. I just plugged it in and after a bunch of "now lets set up your treadmill" screens and asking for wifi access... you can see "manual mode" in the corner of the screen. That's all you get. You can press start and then press the speed or incline buttons but nothing really useful. I called them and they said there are canned workouts that will unlock if you connect it to the internet, but without doing that, you only get manual mode. jerks.

AdamJacobMuller 4y ago

> Are they for real some kind of consumer super heroes? I'm reluctant to call any company a super hero, but, costco does some fairly great stuff aside from this TV thing (which I wasn't even aware of). Costco are fairly famous for cost optimizing with their vendors, but, in contrast to how others do it they have a much different model from what i've read and heard. They try to help their vendors to optimize their own costs and thereby sell things cheaper by using their extensive operational knowledge to help them both understand their own cost structures and what they can do to reduce their costs. Unlike most other brands they then just pass that savings on to members. Many other companies would chose to use this information gathering to undercut their vendors and eventually supplant them and/or force them out of business (I'm looking at Amazon as the prototypical company here for this bad behaviour) but costco seems to value their relationships more and doesn't really do this (see https://www.trendymatter.com/fast-gallery/these-big-name-brands-actually-make-costcos-kirkland-products/12 https://www.trendymatter.com/fast-gallery/these-big-name-bra...). Anyway, i'm hesitant to canonize any corporation but I do love their food.

m463 4y ago

I really like costco, but I'm not sure if they are that mindful. I bought a treadmill from costco, a proform 2000 pro. It said stuff in a weasely way 1-year iFit membership included (internet required for ifit). I didn't care about that at all. I just plugged it in and after a bunch of "now lets set up your treadmill" screens and asking for wifi access... you can see "manual mode" in the corner of the screen. That's all you get. You can press start and then press the speed or incline buttons but nothing really useful. I called them and they said there are canned workouts that will unlock if you connect it to the internet, but without doing that, you only get manual mode. jerks.