Wal-Mart Does it Again!!! (Great consumer news)

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Wal-Mart Does it Again!!! (Great consumer news) - 11/5/2007 10:19:18 AM

FatDomDaddy

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A lap top under $350 and an HDTV under $1000

Students and working families will reap the benefits.

Way to go Wal-Mart.

http://http://aol.bloggingstocks.com/2007/11/01/wal-mart-launches-secret-early-black-friday-website/

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RE: Wal-Mart Does it Again!!! (Great consumer news) - 11/5/2007 10:29:39 AM

Archer

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Just remember that they cut the quality of commponents often in order to get that price.
Compare the model # between the one at Wlamart and the same one elsewhere and you'll often find that it's 1 didget off.
Because Walmart models have different specs on the parts.

As with anything Buyer Beware applies whenever you see cut rate prices, do your homework.

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RE: Wal-Mart Does it Again!!! (Great consumer news) - 11/5/2007 10:33:36 AM

servantforuse

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The old saying " You get what you pay for" has a real meaning when buying anything with lower than usual prices. My Dads favorite saying. Sleep on it.

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RE: Wal-Mart Does it Again!!! (Great consumer news) - 11/5/2007 11:47:03 AM

Elegant

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Points up to Archer's comments and adds more:

How does Wal-Mart do it? Not by focusing on profits, but rather on cost containment. Relentlessly driving pennies out of the dollar: driving jobs overseas (without much concern for how those jobs are fulfilled, so long as the result is a lower cost), driving costs of its own employees (locking them in its stores overnight, forcing them to work overtime without pay, skimping on their wages and health insurance, etc.), and driving its suppliers out of business.... and a rigid insistence on lower costs means suppliers must cut corners on products made for Walmart.

You might want to read Charles Fishman's The WallMart Effect.

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RE: Wal-Mart Does it Again!!! (Great consumer news) - 11/5/2007 11:52:42 AM

EPGAH

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*GASP* You mean like WalMart computers being ridiculously inferior in components to their Best Buy "equivalents"? Perish the thought!

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RE: Wal-Mart Does it Again!!! (Great consumer news) - 11/5/2007 11:57:46 AM

pgashlie

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The reason WalMart are trying to sneak a lead on computer sales is that another major chain is about to become a "real" distributor for Dell, and WallyWorld will lose a big chunk of their market.

And, yes, computer goods and other consumer electronics sold at WM are usually very slightly different - built down to a price, not up to a standard.

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RE: Wal-Mart Does it Again!!! (Great consumer news) - 11/5/2007 12:15:56 PM

SeeksOnlyOne

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i gave up walmart back in june............wont go back, no matter how cheap they go.....

im not above cutting off my nose to spite my face when i get pissed off....

bassturds probably gonna start giving away stuff to grouchylunchladies next....

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RE: Wal-Mart Does it Again!!! (Great consumer news) - 11/5/2007 12:46:22 PM

FatDomDaddy

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I bought a toaster at Wal-Mart 14 years ago and it has worked perfectly. My current desk top is a Compaq from 2003, I've never had the slightest problem with its performance.

Whenever I happent to be in there, I tend to buy milk and dry goods and food items that I see on-sale.

I buy motor oil, windshield wipers, car mats, light bulbs, underwear, various sporting goods, sundries, my daughters Ti-80something gold edition calculator all of it brand name and of excellent quality.and less expensive than I would have paid for at Best Buy, K-Mart or Target.

Are Best Buy, K-mart and Target these "Mom & Pops" the anti-consumers are always whining about?

< Message edited by FatDomDaddy -- 11/5/2007 12:47:30 PM >

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RE: Wal-Mart Does it Again!!! (Great consumer news) - 11/5/2007 12:55:27 PM

Archer

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I wasnt bitching I was simply making sure that folks are aware of the facts.
The STI1103 and the STI1103W are not the exact same product although they look the same the componentsin the W model are cheaper and not up to the usual company standards for the manufacturer.
If the fact doesn't bother you or you are willing to take the chance, great have at it hope the thing works forver and it might, but if it doesn't then you have to know that part of the problem was the manufacturer cut corners to meet Walmarts price demands.

Personally I avoid walmart whenever possible, the customer no service sucks, the lines are too long, and the $5-10 more at another store are worth the better service and shorter lines to me.

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RE: Wal-Mart Does it Again!!! (Great consumer news) - 11/5/2007 1:02:01 PM

Lordandmaster

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I hate Walmart from just about every point of view, but I have to say I've never endured anything like the horror stories that I hear other people tell. Maybe it's because I don't shop there often enough. But they seem to have a decent return policy, and I've never been hassled. I don't find that the things I buy there are particularly crappy, either, but then I calibrate my expectations. If I buy a $39 DVD player at Walmart, I don't expect the same performance and durability that I would expect from a $299 model from Circuit City.

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RE: Wal-Mart Does it Again!!! (Great consumer news) - 11/5/2007 1:02:49 PM

angelikaJ

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my personal experience has been that if I buy brand name underwear at Walmart, it does not last as long as if I purchase undies from another store that sells the same brand.

aJ

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RE: Wal-Mart Does it Again!!! (Great consumer news) - 11/5/2007 1:07:29 PM

LaTigresse

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I have the same thought process. Yes, I do shop at Walmart. The type of things typically on my Walmart shopping list

cat litter
fish food
laundry detergent
garbage bags
hair spray
chewing gum
Doves dark promises
the latest movie
motor oil
etc etc

The sort of thing that isn't going to get too screwed up and will be pretty obvious if it will. They are cheaper, I dig spending less money if I don't have to. There is no reason that HyVee grocery store should charge almost $4 for a bag of chocolate that Walmart charges $2.70 for.

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RE: Wal-Mart Does it Again!!! (Great consumer news) - 11/5/2007 2:35:10 PM

FatDomDaddy

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The big question is what are you going to use it for.

For non gamer students that $350 laptop might be just the ticket and the 1,2 or 300 dollars it might save could be real bonus. In fact, use $25 of it and but an extended warranty.

I also have to agree with the poster who noted Wal-Mart's return policy, even without a reciept, they will take most anything back.

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RE: Wal-Mart Does it Again!!! (Great consumer news) - 11/5/2007 2:55:05 PM

Durus

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I don't have a problem with capitalism or being thrifty. I do have a problem buying from a store that gets a majority of it's products from China, who uses slave labor to produce them. I think profiting from slave labor is immoral so I won't support it. If someone else wants to do it then that's fine for them.

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RE: Wal-Mart Does it Again!!! (Great consumer news) - 11/5/2007 3:00:48 PM

TPEsadist

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then how does the family mom and pop store survive against the giants like walmart? They cant go to there suppliers and tell them to make it over seas or to sell it to us at this price. They cant buy in bulk and save money and they cant compete with walmart. so the next time you need to buy something go to walmart and be a dollar short and see if they tell you that is okay the next time you stop in you pay us or dont worry about it. Tom

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RE: Wal-Mart Does it Again!!! (Great consumer news) - 11/5/2007 3:04:07 PM

SeeksOnlyOne

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quote:

ORIGINAL: TPEsadist

then how does the family mom and pop store survive against the giants like walmart? They cant go to there suppliers and tell them to make it over seas or to sell it to us at this price. They cant buy in bulk and save money and they cant compete with walmart. so the next time you need to buy something go to walmart and be a dollar short and see if they tell you that is okay the next time you stop in you pay us or dont worry about it. Tom

amen....the mom and pop store i buy a lot of things from actually does buy a good many of wal mart brands and resell them.....and i dont mind paying the mark up a bit, as they know me when i walk in the door, are genuinely glad to see me, and yes have let me owe them a dollar and come back later.......

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RE: Wal-Mart Does it Again!!! (Great consumer news) - 11/5/2007 7:45:53 PM

EPGAH

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Archer
I wasnt bitching I was simply making sure that folks are aware of the facts.
The STI1103 and the STI1103W are not the exact same product although they look the same the componentsin the W model are cheaper and not up to the usual company standards for the manufacturer.
If the fact doesn't bother you or you are willing to take the chance, great have at it hope the thing works forver and it might, but if it doesn't then you have to know that part of the problem was the manufacturer cut corners to meet Walmarts price demands.

They also use it to dodge price-matching: If either WalMart or Some Specialty Store has the "same" item cheaper, and you call them on it, trying to start a price-war DOWNWARD, they can point to the number and say, "Hey! It's not the same item! We don't have to price-match!"
As the others have said, though, it's great for foods, movies, trash-bags, candy...basically consumables or expendables, yes, BUT electronics, go somewhere else!

One caveat: The $29 "special" DVD players lack some or all of the copy-protection recognition hardware/firmware, so you can play ANY movie without problems, while the more expensive ones will balk at certain Sony movie-rentals! So more expensive is NOT always better!
However, how long will the MPAA "let" that continue?

< Message edited by EPGAH -- 11/5/2007 7:50:11 PM >

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RE: Wal-Mart Does it Again!!! (Great consumer news) - 11/6/2007 6:42:34 AM

FatDomDaddy

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quote:

ORIGINAL: TPEsadist

then how does the family mom and pop store survive against the giants like walmart?

quote:

ORIGINAL: SeeksOnlyOne
..the mom and pop store i buy a lot of things from actually does buy a good many of wal mart brands and resell them...

Can somebody please tell just what in the world a Mom & Pop shop is? I live in a fairly large Metro region, BALT/DC over 8 million people. Wal-Mat's competition is Best Buy, K-Mart, Target, Sears, JC Penny, Kohls and some of the areas major supermarket chains. Mom and Pop they ain't!

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RE: Wal-Mart Does it Again!!! (Great consumer news) - 11/6/2007 6:48:52 AM

SimplyMichael

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Every penny you spend at Walmart is a nail in the coffin of your children's and our countries future and a penny spent supporting China in its destruction of the US economy.

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RE: Wal-Mart Does it Again!!! (Great consumer news) - 11/6/2007 6:52:06 AM

SeeksOnlyOne

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the mom and pop store i speak of is a store owned and run by a family. they all work there in one capacity or another. mom and dad and brothers and sisters, and the grandkids help as they get old enough. i have been shopping there since i bought this house 15 years ago.

it is a medium sized place in a strip shopping center right down the road from me, and they have never not had something i went there looking for.

they know what cigarettes to hand me when i say gimme 2 packs, they know i only want a winning scratch off ticket, and they tell me when the budweiser may not be as cold as usual because the cooler has been acting goofy.

< Message edited by SeeksOnlyOne -- 11/6/2007 6:53:15 AM >

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it aint no good til it hurts just a little bit....jimmy somerville

in those moments of solitude, does everyone sometimes think they are insane? or is it just me?

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