As a customer what is acceptable to you?

[CausticUrbanCoast]

As I said, times are changing. Even if EVERYONE quit buying online the inevitable will still happen. As you said there will be those trips to the big city will become more frequent if ya can offset the fuel from the savings.

In a previous small town if I went to the True Value in town I saw the same cheap stuff as in the big box store - even in the same packaging - at at least 2x the cost. The guy that owned the store was my neighbor. Cool guy. Loved him. But how do you work with those economics? His was also the small engine shop: Mowers, saws, etc. That novelty kept him going except for not finding good help at minimum wage $5.61/hr as I recall.

His cost was 2x as much because he doesn't forcibly order extreme amounts of inventory with a contract clause that failure to deliver the full order volume forfeits payment of the order.

If the supplier manages to deliver, Wally just increases the next order by another 3rd until they decimate the supplier and have a warehouse of free goods to sell.

Not to mention the tax deduction that the municipality gives to wally and not to the small business. Or the excessive part time staffing so benefits and holiday/overtime do not have to be covered.

Convince always comes at a price.

 

[Steppenwolfe]

Exactly, yet too many only look at the price they are paying without considering the full cost. As I've said in the past, the more necessary something is for life the less we are willing to pay for it. We bi*** about farming practices yet buy the lowest priced can of mushrooms on the shelf or bag of shrimp in the cooler, with no regard that they came from Thailand or the Philippines and have no idea what the growing medium was.

Speak for yourself. We buy only the best we can find. And looking at the crowds of where we shop, so do many others.

 

[JRH02]

In that small town was a very small manufacturing facility. I came in as the production manager. I did a bunch of stuff. I increased wages for the line folks by ~50% based upon performance as a team and it was a knock down drag out with the 'board'. Bottom line? Even though I increased wages it was a wash. Production came up to the point where we didn't need to run as often. Each time we set a record I covered the celebration down the street. But the crew didn't need to work as often so it was a wash for weekly wages. It was an eye opener for me. I had never before encountered that style of oversight and selfishness.

So what does this have to do with Amazon and WM? It isn't too complex. The folks are getting milked and are unappreciated. It can happen in small town USA and it can happen it the big mega warehouses. At least in the bigger places there is opportunity for a voice. I am not a union guy but there is certainly a reason, IMO.

 

[JRH02]

Speak for yourself. We buy only the best we can find. And looking at the crowds of where we shop, so do many others.

I do speak for myself. If you have crowds shopping in a spot we are talking apples and oranges.

 

[Steppenwolfe]

I do speak for myself. If you have crowds shopping in a spot we are talking apples and oranges.

I see crowds when I drive past the dollars stores too... To each his own.

 

[Frankenkubota]

I have noticed a trend in the past several years where they are leaving country of origin off of the packaging and especially the web page descriptions of the items. I try to buy American made or from local owned businesses where possible. Even when possible, it's not always practical. I bought my $3,800 brush hog from a different dealer when my local guy quoted the same cutter at $1,000 higher. I will deal locally when possible but I'm not going to be stupid about it. I agree that we need better leadership but we also need the American people to wake up and start making smarter choices and decisions for the long term.

i bought the top of the line rigid chopsaw with their stand only to find it was made in china, i should have known. plus the saw and stand were both damaged in shipping.

problem was......the "made in china" markings were so well hidden it took me 5 minutes to find it.

that tells me they are ashamed.

 

[Hay Dude]

i bought the top of the line rigid chopsaw with their stand only to find it was made in china, i should have known. plus the saw and stand were both damaged in shipping.

problem was......the "made in china" markings were so well hidden it took me 5 minutes to find it.

that tells me they are ashamed.

A very astute observation
8 years ago, I bought a JOHN DEERE 15’ bush hog mower for $22,000.
Almost all the mowers parts were made in China, then shipped to Mexico for assembly.
They hide the markings well. While I admit, it’s been a good mower, but made in China? Come on John Deere. That’s profits over people taken too far. Yeah I know it’s their company and they can do damn well as they please, but that’s just…..
Come to find out all the major brands gear boxes are made in China, too whether it’s bush hog, rhino or woods.

 

[MoKelly]

Most US manufacturing went overseas when the Corporate tax rate was 35% - which was one of the highest rates in the world. Tax rates are a big factor in addition to labor costs.

Now the rate is 21% which is competitive.

But - it takes time to relocate production PLUS you have to have faith the rate won’t go back up. Do you have faith the rate won’t go back up?

MoKelly

 

[Hay Dude]

Most US manufacturing went overseas when the Corporate tax rate was 35% - which was one of the highest rates in the world. Tax rates are a big factor in addition to labor costs.

Now the rate is 21% which is competitive.

But - it takes time to relocate production PLUS you have to have faith the rate won’t go back up. Do you have faith the rate won’t go back up?

MoKelly

Lol, nope.

 

[tradosaurus]

Amazon prime delivering virtually anything to me in two days has spoiled me. I have ordered things less than $5 and things over 10k and bam they are on my porch in two days with no shipping charge. Covid has caused a lot of chaos in the supply chain and while things are out of peoples control in some cases I still find it unacceptable. For example I ordered a widget and paid in full up front for it. I was told I would have it in 12 weeks. It is now 16 weeks, I don't have my widget, the manufacturer says it is beyond their control, they don't know when I will get it, and they are doing the best they can. They literally have no clue if I will get my item next week or 30 years from now.

What are your thoughts on this? They are still selling this widget on their website with no mention on there that if you pay for and order one it might five months before you get it. Seems like a shady business practice to me. They want their orders to keep piling in because once they have your money they got you. At this point I don't know what to do. I wasn't happy about a 12 week wait but figured I could live with it. Now that they haven't lived up to that timeline I am angry and feel deceived. I can assure you that once I get my item no matter how good it is I will never do business with this company again.

I'm going to be getting rid of my Amazon Prime. I live out in the country of East Texas and it's typical to take a week to get stuff I've ordered. Also not interested in help funding Bezo's space trips.