Walmarts Issues

[justin]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ladelfina I have to say I never set foot in a Wal*Mart until about 2 years ago (once; they're not near my US stomping grounds anyway). I wasn't real impressed; it felt kinda cheesey and slapped-together.

works for me as long as I can save a few bucks!

[Texas Proud]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FinanceDude On another note, I went to WalMart last night, because my new printer didn;t come with a USB cable............. Found one that lights up at both ends when it's plugged in, for $12.67. Just for fun, I found the SAME ONE at Best Buy for $16.88.......... Hmmmmmmm................

Go to the dollar store and you can find one for.... yes, $1.00. works great.

[ladelfina]

Quote:

works for me as long as I can save a few bucks!

ahh Justin, would that were the case.. !
My shopping sprees in the US are few and far between, so I have to focus on #1) baggage weight, #2) desirablity/impossibility of finding item where I am in Italy and #3) ease of finding said item vs. its cost in USD (rather than everyday consumption concerns).

I carefully weigh the euro/dollar differential versus desirabliity versus my pain/expense of importation. Cracker Barrel cheddar is precious to me.

Some examples; Ramen noodles exist at my Italian supermarket, but at more than $1.25 apiece. The most average of US supermarkets sells them at maybe $0.15-0.20 apiece. Thus, I buy some to offset the heavier items like books and computer stuff that I cram my suitcases with on my too-infrequent overseas voyages, to keep myself under the (new, lower, terrorist- $$-influenced) baggage weight limits. Every so often I get a craving, and they are almost as cheap as newspaper stuffing in my bags. Likewise (believe it or not) with Kleenex, which cost 3+x the US price here. Or Zip-Locs, which are practically non-existent in Italy.. Boxes of Ziplocs make excellent cushioning for more $$$ items!

A US-purchased Mac mini (easily stashable) saves me a boatload; take any electronic device, multiply it by 1.2 (the Value-Added Tax) but then add 50-200% on top of that for no reason whatsoever. Bose Wave Radio in the US: $499; in Europe €698 ($927) . Ah, but that's a "US" product! Ok, let's take the Braun, German-made. coffeemaker (no auto-anything).. US price = $20. Italy price = almost $80 FOR THE IDENTICAL MODEL, and this is from a mfr. within the EU, so minimal transporation costs and NO tax differential. 'splain me why? There is no 'why'... that's just the way it is!

But I get free health care..
That doesn't mean that I don't get swept up into being "furbo" ("crafty") when it comes to assessing purchases!
My latest US hauls are solar garden lights and a three-station cordless phone system.

--
My experience in the Los Angeles "dollar stores" was that they were full of mis-guided 3rd-world-to-1st-world crapola. Like the stuff they show on Jay Leno that says "corkscrew", but it's a butter knife... Maybe there's a different strain of Dollar Stores where you guys are, but the ones I've been into in the last couple years are solely for yucks, with MAYBE the odd potential purchase.

I actually kind of feel sick when I realize the (not overwhelming, but still present) amount of focus I put on obtaining US goods at a steep discount to EU prices. How I would love to feel FREE to just buy the damn things here for 2-3x the price... E' piu' forte di me (it's stronger than I am)!

I guess that's part of why I am ER.

[Goonie]

Quote:

Originally Posted by perinova Do you guys consider Volkswagen and Honda? Germans and Japanese killed many Americans sixty years back.

My Dad fought in WWII, and said that he would NEVER purchase a Japanese car! He DID own a Volkswagen, though!!! When asked about that, he always said "I was on Okinawa getting shot at by the Japs! The Germans weren't trying to kill ME!!!"

[justin]

Ladelfina,

Sounds like someone needs a walmart near them in Italy!

Although I doubt that Walmart would want to venture into Italy, and I'm sure some Italians are happy that walmart is staying away...

[ladelfina]

I guess I love a bargain as much as the next person.. guilty as charged. I have just not completely adjusted psychologically to paying the "normal" prices 'round here, but I need to, as making comparisons just gets me depressed.

I have to get my bargain shopping fix from the odd trip to the Rome IKEA and the local semi-Costco-like food wholesaler (that we get to shop in because DH has a business tax #, but the discounts are actually very minor).

In the north of Italy there are a lot more big-box-style shopping opportunities, the most notable being Carrefour.

(but they are FRENCH... ahhhh!!!)

Don't worry, let's-retire.. they are far away from where I am, so I have not had the opportunity to set foot in one.

[lets-retire]

[haha]

Most recent Wal-Mart victory.

My dog needs a pain medication, 60 pills a month. Local chain price, $50. Wal-Mart price, $4!

Add that to his phenobarb Rx, big savings.

The other thing I like about Wal-Mart is that they hammer all the obnoxious local merchants who being free of any significant competition charged a lot and gave surly service if they bothered to give any at all.

A week ago I saw a particularly odious former hardware store owner cleaning the men's room at Wal-Mart. I hesitate to tell this Victorian sounding story because it sounds made up, but there he was.

He had been well off, with lots of property. Two divorces, a business failure at his store, and a generally difficult personality has brought him low.

I should add that his problems were not caused by Wal-Mart. The local merchants successfully kept Wal- Mart out of town. Somehow they convinced enough of the other 99.5% of the population that buying stuff cheap from a store that keeps long hours would be harmful.

In an ironic twist, the bete noir that he worked to ban has turned out to be his lifeline in a time of distress. Except he has to drive farther to get to work!

Ha