4 ms·

Leave it to capitalism to drive people away from capitalism

teej 2y ago
The general consumer does not care about this at all. If Costco passes this revenue down to consumers as savings, it will only drive more purchases.
- darby_nine 2y ago
  > The general consumer does not care about this at all. The general consumer will note that Costco wants their money.
  - llamaimperative 2y ago
    What. No one is under the illusion that Costco is a charity.
    - darby_nine 2y ago
      putting aside the heinous concept of a "charity" as their existence enables just this sort of parasitic behavior, the faith that people do not expect Costco to reflect their best interests or work in our collective favor is exactly why I think people will inevitably turn their back on Costco.
- janalsncm 2y ago
  I don’t think that’s the case. People do care if they find out, which is the reason these things are usually some combination of buried in legalese, opt out (rather than opt in) unclear that you can opt out of or not easy to opt out of. Edit: For example, in order to opt out without a membership you need to provide your street address. > If Costco passes this revenue down to consumers If they explicitly offered to pay people cash to track them, uptake would be nowhere near 100%. And this isn’t even as good as that, since as you say the payment would only be in the form of coupons which may or may not materialize.
- m463 2y ago
  really? I care. actually most people DO care, but businesses purposefully have added enough friction so that the common person gives up.
webdoodle 2y ago
I've had a Costco membership for over 20 years. I'll be letting it expire when my yearly renewal runs out. My privacy is worth more than the insignificant discounts they provide anymore. I hope I'm the first of many that leave.
- bigstrat2003 2y ago
  I don't disagree with your actions, but make no mistake: you won't be the first of many. Unfortunately the market has shown us again and again that people a) don't look deeply into the business model and mostly care about price, and b) even if they did bother to look into it they don't value privacy. I wish it were otherwise, but sadly it just isn't.
  - webdoodle 2y ago
    You can try to manage perception as much as you like, but the facts are: Many people value there privacy, and will dump companies that abuse the privilege of purchasing products from them.
    - seaal 2y ago
      Seems like an insignificant enough number of people that companies will continue to make the choice to sell your data rather than appease privacy conscious individuals.
    - cootsnuck 2y ago
      I save too much on gas to do that. Just gonna use their opt out and still save me some money.
- x0x0 2y ago
  fwiw, the most beneficial way of doing this for Costco is also relatively private. That is, companies tell Costco who they want to target and then costco shows the ads on their behalf. This maximizes value for Costco because advertisers have no alternative to paying Costco each and every time they want to show an ad. It also mostly prevents data exfiltration.

teej 2y ago

The general consumer does not care about this at all. If Costco passes this revenue down to consumers as savings, it will only drive more purchases.

darby_nine 2y ago
> The general consumer does not care about this at all. The general consumer will note that Costco wants their money.
- llamaimperative 2y ago
  What. No one is under the illusion that Costco is a charity.
  - darby_nine 2y ago
    putting aside the heinous concept of a "charity" as their existence enables just this sort of parasitic behavior, the faith that people do not expect Costco to reflect their best interests or work in our collective favor is exactly why I think people will inevitably turn their back on Costco.
janalsncm 2y ago
I don’t think that’s the case. People do care if they find out, which is the reason these things are usually some combination of buried in legalese, opt out (rather than opt in) unclear that you can opt out of or not easy to opt out of. Edit: For example, in order to opt out without a membership you need to provide your street address. > If Costco passes this revenue down to consumers If they explicitly offered to pay people cash to track them, uptake would be nowhere near 100%. And this isn’t even as good as that, since as you say the payment would only be in the form of coupons which may or may not materialize.
m463 2y ago
really? I care. actually most people DO care, but businesses purposefully have added enough friction so that the common person gives up.

webdoodle 2y ago

I've had a Costco membership for over 20 years. I'll be letting it expire when my yearly renewal runs out. My privacy is worth more than the insignificant discounts they provide anymore. I hope I'm the first of many that leave.

bigstrat2003 2y ago
I don't disagree with your actions, but make no mistake: you won't be the first of many. Unfortunately the market has shown us again and again that people a) don't look deeply into the business model and mostly care about price, and b) even if they did bother to look into it they don't value privacy. I wish it were otherwise, but sadly it just isn't.
- webdoodle 2y ago
  You can try to manage perception as much as you like, but the facts are: Many people value there privacy, and will dump companies that abuse the privilege of purchasing products from them.
  - seaal 2y ago
    Seems like an insignificant enough number of people that companies will continue to make the choice to sell your data rather than appease privacy conscious individuals.
  - cootsnuck 2y ago
    I save too much on gas to do that. Just gonna use their opt out and still save me some money.
x0x0 2y ago
fwiw, the most beneficial way of doing this for Costco is also relatively private. That is, companies tell Costco who they want to target and then costco shows the ads on their behalf. This maximizes value for Costco because advertisers have no alternative to paying Costco each and every time they want to show an ad. It also mostly prevents data exfiltration.