Wildguzzi.com
General Category => General Discussion => Topic started by: Lannis on April 19, 2017, 08:47:57 AM
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So I needed a 55-gallon drum at the house for storage. I’d like a nice new one, but a refurbished clean one would be OK. OR if it were free, I’d pressure-clean the inside and paint it myself.
I went looking at my local places, I’m a “locavore” kind of guy. First to places like Home Depot and Tractor Supply. Nope, not even on-line. Then to places that sell storage solutions, truck transfer tanks, hydraulic supplies. Nope, we don’t sell those. Matter of fact, one or two of the guys went like Bob of Bob’s Country Bunker in the “Blues Brothers” when he was explaining to Jake that the band’s beer wasn’t free, smiling with pity and shaking their heads with “Naw, naw, naw son … nobody sells those.”
55 gallon drums are the most common commodity on the planet Earth. Literally BILLIONs have been produced, and tens of millions are used every year, and I can’t buy one. So I go on-line to “U-Line”, who sells all sorts of shelves, baskets, industrial tanks and storage solutions. “BINGO”, thought I, look they have lined 55 gallon drums for $103! So I go to order one. ONLY available shipping is One Day Delivery from Allentown PA to my house, $109 by truck. I call, and they say that UPS absolutely will NOT deliver 55 gallon drums, THEIR truck is the only way to transport it.
So I go to Amazon. It’s over in 2 minutes. Brand new lined 55 gallon drum, $105 delivered FREE and TWO DAYS LATER the UPS truck pulls up to my garage, 10 feet from where it will stay, and unloads my drum.
So any retailer of this kind of stuff will have to explain to me WHY I would EVER consider buying anything from them again when Amazon is providing this kind of service. Ever. Deodorant, printer cartridges, ammunition, my wife’s makeup, tools, nuts and bolts, anything like that. If they make their living selling in bulk to industry, fine, but I’d be foolish to waste one minute even asking if they have anything I need. I’m sure that when 50 million others start doing like I do, these other outfits will blame “The Economy” for their bankruptcy ...
Lannis
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I've dealt with U-Line before, but only with large orders. IIRC, when I last ordered something they had a $500 minimum order.
Maybe what you got was their way of discouraging small orders.
They obviously didn't know who they were dealing with. :grin:
I am surprised UPS would handle a drum that large. Way back when I worked there, the largest liquid container we handled was 5 gallons.
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I've dealt with U-Line before, but only with large orders. IIRC, when I last ordered something they had a $500 minimum order.
Maybe what you got was their way of discouraging small orders.
They obviously didn't know who they were dealing with. :grin:
I am surprised UPS would handle a drum that large. Way back when I worked there, the largest liquid container we handled was 5 gallons.
Maybe they just handle this kind of package for Amazon. They'd laugh at me, I'm sure, if I calculated the "Dimensional Weight" of this box for shipment from here. Regardless, if that's the deal, I'll take it!
Lannis
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I've been buying almost exclusively from Amazon for 10+ years now. Their Prime membership is a steal for me. Living so long in the sticks it was the only option. My dad and my brother now buy almost all of their aftermarket car parts from Amazon for a fraction of the cost.
-AJ
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My goodness, Lannis, next you'll be telling me my typewriter is obsolete!
Amazon is something, though. On line is something, period. I was a nice guy and ordered a part from my Indian dealer a week ago instead of just going to the computer. Still not in.
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Another Amazon Prime user here. No matter what I'm looking for, for work or personal use, I go there first. Amazon Business for work is normally 2 day delivery. Computers, guitar strings, hair products, dog food in 30lb bags, brake pads, it's all there.
Tobit
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Really. You can buy 55 gallon drums that had food in or the steel ones that contained who knows what all day for 10 bucks here in E. Texas. But, I don't live in a high dolla place.
Tex
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So I needed a 55-gallon drum at the house for storage. ONLY available shipping is One Day Delivery from Allentown PA to my house, $109 by truck. I call, and they say that UPS absolutely will NOT deliver 55 gallon drums, THEIR truck is the only way to transport it.
So I go to Amazon. It�s over in 2 minutes. Brand new lined 55 gallon drum, $105 delivered FREE and TWO DAYS LATER the UPS truck pulls up to my garage, 10 feet from where it will stay, and unloads my drum.
Amazon has shipping pricing that others can only dream about!
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Not only that but you can order a 55 gallon drum, socks, a fishing pole, soccer cleats, pop tarts, etc. and only make ONE payment, and it's a secure payment. That's been a huge plus in my book.
-AJ
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I'm the touchy feely type. I like to buy my books and my music from places I can browse in. I don't buy clothes online. If I can't look at it and feel it, I don't want to buy it. I'm prepared to pay more to buy for a bricks and mortar retailer. I hate Amazon because it's putting shops out of business.
That said, I've never needed to get hold of a 55 gallon barrel.
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I'm the touchy feely type. I like to buy my books and my music from places I can browse in. I don't buy clothes online. If I can't look at it and feel it, I don't want to buy it. I'm prepared to pay more to buy for a bricks and mortar retailer. I hate Amazon because it's putting shops out of business.
That said, I've never needed to get hold of a 55 gallon barrel.
For things like clothes, or motorcycle helmets, or other things for which a brick-and-mortar retailer can provide me a service that I need, then I go brick-and-mortar.
My local bike shop has ordered the same helmet in three different sizes for me, so I could try them all on, and they sold the others on, I suppose. I love personal service, WHEN I NEED SERVICE.
But when I go to a book store and ask for a book, and they tell me they can ORDER it for me? Are they mad?
Lannis
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When I can, I buy local. Amazon isn't going to pay school taxes for my grandkids or local ambulance & hospital or senior center support. When my money goes to them, it leaves my community. When I buy from the hardware store or auto parts in town, they pay local people who also pay local taxes and buy things from neighbors and friends. That said, the attraction, ease, and savings of online shopping draws me in, especially when nothing available locally.
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..... especially when nothing available locally.
.... and that's what got me to where I was ....
I spend beaucoup d'argent in the local Tru-Value hardware, Tractor Supply, veterinarian, home-owned restaurants, the building supply place, Hometown Pharmacy, and barbershop.
The WalMart, 6 fast-food franchises, the Verizon and T-Mobile stores, the scruffy Kroger grocery store, and the cheap-stores don't get any of my business; they just don't have anything I need ....
Lannis
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Ammunition? - not when I've searched on Amazon
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Ammunition? - not when I've searched on Amazon
Right you are ... that particular item is via "Target Sports USA" online ......
Lannis
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Ammunition? - not when I've searched on Amazon
You can buy reloading stuff..
You just might not get the best prices on Amazon, though.. many times I've found something for less elsewhere.
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Amazon IS the Robot that will take away all the jobs.
It's a retail store that has a vast selection, has reliable customer reviews of everything on its virtual shelves, has low prices (usually), is open 24/7, doesn't require you to get in your car or even get dressed, and, soon, will deliver within hours via a robotic drone. Resistance is futile.
I shop locally when there is little downside. But frequently the downside determines my choice. Often, I've bought stuff I never would even have known about without Amazon.
People displaced by the Robot will need other forms of support. There is nothing impossible about that.
Just like the loss of other forms of employment over time, the demise of walk-in retail stores (on the whole) may not seem bad at all in a few decades.
I do wonder what will happen after Amazon has driven more other businesses under. It won't keep delivering 50 gallon drums for free, I bet.
Moto
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You should have gone cruising behind a few strip centers. I have never needed a 55-gallon drum myself, but when I have inspected properties for my job, I invariably see some.
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I use both Amazon and Target Sports USA. We even set up frequent Amazon purchases (dog food, mostly) to be sent on a monthly basis. I also try to support local merchants, but Amazon has a pretty compelling business model. Access to their video/music catalog is pure lagniappe...
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It's sometimes tough not to buy online. I go to my local Guzzi shop to support him when I can. If he does not have a part I'm looking for, he could order it. But tells it would be quicker for me to order it myself. Funny part is we both get the part from the same place and we both know that.
Online sure makes it much easier to find that whatchamacallit part for an older something that the MFG has not had in stock for years. What the heck did I do before???
Tom
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My goodness, Lannis, next you'll be telling me my typewriter is obsolete!
How did you get that thing connected to the Interwebs? :tongue:
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I do support the local folks when they have the item in stock. Buying paint etc in the local yards, and found a nice new microwave at Ace Hardware yesterday. But for stuff they don't have on hand, it's now Amazon. I need a tile saw tomorrow and an electric hoist on Saturday. Harbor Freight charges shipping and can't guarantee quick delivery -- and their brick/mortar store is 90 minutes away. Amazon was cheaper, with "free" two-day delivery, so I ordered last night and UPS will deliver tomorrow.
What does it mean for the future of local retail? I think the local businesses are gradually focusing on consumables -- stuff people need often and right now. Food, toilet paper, paint, nails, printer paper. No more locally-owned appliance stores except to the extent that the hardware store stocks small appliances -- a need-it-right-now replacement market since there's no longer a repair shop in town or anywhere.
Gail went to Home Depot last week, an hour away, to buy tile for her new kitchen. She couldn't get anyone to help her find what she wanted, and waited an hour for a high school kid to help load the tile into the car. Visit took two hours for a half hour of transaction time and she was away four hours. Who will tolerate that repeatedly? If Amazon can out-service HD and HF, that's fine by me.
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I cant wait until they get their flying delivery ovens working with enough range, to cover the local San Juan islands.
(http://i1299.photobucket.com/albums/ag77/Penderic/Penderic005/dodo-pizzas-new-drone-pizza-delivery-service_zpsp23ohgih.jpg)
Hot Food Faster! No tipping please.
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Amazon prices will also change for the same item at different times of the day. High traffic times during the evenings and weekends are higher priced. I checked this out a few times and it wasn't a major difference in price.
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The local dimly lit cluttered auto parts store owner told me Rock Auto sells parts for less than he pays for them....I just ordered two 02 sensors for my 03 Chevy truck from Amazon, 22 bucks each shipped, Bosch brand...Rock auto wanted 28 each ,same brand and part number...I didn't check at the parts store...But I do try and buy from the parts store and a genuine hardware store...
My race bikes are at least 50 percent Ebay bought parts...
Me or the wife go in a Walmart/ Target type store maybe once a year....We still have a K Mart..
This area is the home of Wegmans supermarkets, an excellent place than in some ways caused the demise of small town grocery stores ...Wegmans used to have a few home improvement stores called Chase Pitkin...When a Lowe's was built near here, Wegman's bitched it would run their Chase Pitkin out of town...Never mind that Chase Pitkin ran smaller home improvement joints out of business years before....
It's an endless chain of changes, learn to adapt or perish....
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It's an endless chain of changes, learn to adapt or perish....
Always been that way.
Someone mentioned "Rock Auto". Seems to me that the lyrics from "Rock Island" (the recitation of the salesmen on the train in "The Music Man") lays out exactly the same thing, but from 100 years ago ...
Cash for the merchandise.
Cash for the buttonhooks.
Cash for the cotton goods.
Cash for the hard goods.
Cash for the soft goods
Cash for the fancy goods.
Cash for the noggins, and the piggins, and the firkins.
Cash for the hogshead, cask and demijohn.
Cash for the crackers, and the pickles, and the flypaper.
Look, what do you talk?
What do you talk?
What do you talk?
What do you talk?
Where do you get it?
What do you talk?
You can talk, you can talk, you can bicker,
You can talk. You can bicker, bicker, bicker, you can talk
You can talk. You can talk, talk, talk, talk, bicker, bicker, bicker.
You can talk all you wanna, but it's different than it was.
No it ain't, no it ain't, but you gotta know the territory!
Well, it's the Model T Ford made the trouble,
Made the people wanna go, wanna get, wanna get, wanna get up and go.
7,8,9,10,12,14, 22, 23 miles to the county seat.
Who's gonna patronize a little 2 by 4 kind of store anymore?
It's not the Model T at all,
Take a gander at the store,
At the modern store,
At the present day store
At the present day, modern,
Departmentalized grocery store.
You can bicker, bicker, bicker.
You can talk all you wanna,
But it's different than it was.
No, it ain't, but you gotta know the territory.
Why, it's the U-needa biscuit
Made the trouble
U-needa, U-needa,
Put the crackers in a package, in a package,
The U-needa biscuit
In an air-tight sanitary package
Made the cracker barrel obsolete, obsolete
Obsolete, obsolete, obsolete
Cracker barrel went out the window
with the Mail Pouch cut plug chawin' by the stove
Changed the approach of a travelin' salesman
Made it pretty hard.
No it didn't, but ya gotta know the territory.
Gone, Gone
Gone with the hogshead, cask and demijohn. Gone with the sugar barrel, pickle barrel, milk pan,
gone with the tub and the pail and the till.
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I mean, it was exactly the same thing happening. Packaging changed, they started putting crackers in cellophane, people had cars to drive to town ... and there aren't any more traveling salesmen. I don't think anyone regrets that ... And the salesmen found something else to do.
Lannis
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I mean, it was exactly the same thing happening. Packaging changed, they started putting crackers in cellophane, people had cars to drive to town ... and there aren't any more traveling salesmen. I don't think anyone regrets that ... And the salesmen found something else to do.
Lannis
But Lannis, what about those poor lonely farmers' daughters? :wink:
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Lannis got it. The only constant is change. When affected, it's no use complaining, there's no going back. Find another path.
When I started in publishing we used linotype machines. The highly-skilled linotype compositors lost their jobs when we went to cold type. Then the typists lost their jobs when we went to computerized typesetting from floppy disks. Then the layout/paste-up artists lost their jobs when art directors got wysiwyg publishing software. Then magazine staffs lost their jobs when we went to online publishing and social media.
Now steelworkers, auto workers and coal miners have lost their jobs to automation.
Lesson to the young: Don't get boxed in. Have versatile skills and a flexible lifestyle. Be ready to move to where the work is.
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Lannis got it. The only constant is change. When affected, it's no use complaining, there's no going back. Find another path.
When I started in publishing we used linotype machines. The highly-skilled linotype compositors lost their jobs when we went to cold type. Then the typists lost their jobs when we went to computerized typesetting from floppy disks. Then the layout/paste-up artists lost their jobs when art directors got wysiwyg publishing software. Then magazine staffs lost their jobs when we went to online publishing and social media.
Now steelworkers, auto workers and coal miners have lost their jobs to automation.
Lesson to the young: Don't get boxed in. Have versatile skills and a flexible lifestyle. Be ready to move to where the work is.
I was trained in hot-lead typesetting at 17 - the Linotype was like a cross between a steel mill and a pipe organ. No wonder they called it a 'type foundry'!
While in university, I learned early photo-typesetting on machines like the AB Dick that used two separate parts - an entry device that created a punch tape, and the film and paper device that exposed the photo paper to create the columns of type - lots of spinning disks or ribbons of type images, and xenon flashes). Later, I worked on the first fully digital machines that used a cathode ray tube (such as the CRTronic from Mergenthaler-Linotype), floppy drives and eventually hard drives. By then I'd gotten into computers, so I experimented with ways to use the CRTronic linked to CP/M-based word processors, mainframes, and (gasp!) early PCs, XTs and ATs.
I tested a pre-production Apple Lisa, worked on the pre-release beta of the first generation of PostScript, and messed around with a bunch of pre-press RIPs.
By then, I'd gotten into networking, and that led to security, privacy and access control - and the rest of a career so far.
You live and learn - but the most important thing is to learn how to learn, and keep doing it.
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Hey Lannis, come to Maine. We have thousands of those 55 gallon barrells but they might be a little smelly. The local craigslist has some for $25.
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And here is where the retail thread crosses with the insurance thread. I need a 55-gallon drum to make a burn barrel. Some locals recommend ventilating the barrel with a pistol.
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You live and learn - but the most important thing is to learn how to learn, and keep doing it.
A smart man once said:
"Education is what is left when you have forgotten everything you learned".
Sort of another way of saying it.
It really is amazing how many people, when technology or changing market does away with their job and their skills are no longer in demand, just sit where they are and DEMAND that someone fix it! Make the company go back into business! Give me money to live on!
When it happened to me, I either learned something new that someone in my area DID want, or I upped stakes and went where the work was. We've been able to do that ever since the Black Death killed 1/3 of the feudal lords in England and the serfs found that they could move around and work for someone who would pay them ....
Lannis ("Who Moved My Cheese?")
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We've been able to do that ever since the Black Death killed 1/3 of the feudal lords in England and the serfs found that they could move around and work for someone who would pay them ....
Don't forget that the Black Death killed 1/3 of everybody. When the supply of labor was cut by 1/3, guess what? The price of labor rose.
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Don't forget that the Black Death killed 1/3 of everybody. When the supply of labor was cut by 1/3, guess what? The price of labor rose.
Yes, very true. I was, however, referring to the "side benefit" that once the serfs realized that there weren't enough people to keep them 'down on the farm', legally tied to a specific manor, they could then move around and sell their labor to the highest bidder at the new prices .... Sort of a watershed moment ....
Lannis
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No argument from me. It is a complex and fascinating topic.
http://www.economist.com/blogs/freeexchange/2013/10/economic-history-1 (http://www.economist.com/blogs/freeexchange/2013/10/economic-history-1)
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No argument from me. It is a complex and fascinating topic.
http://www.economist.com/blogs/freeexchange/2013/10/economic-history-1 (http://www.economist.com/blogs/freeexchange/2013/10/economic-history-1)
A great source.
I'm one of those rarest of all animals - an extreme leftist who's favorite mags include The Economist! :evil:
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Competition for tiny parking spaces, lots of rows coupled with a bad memory. Lovely.
Oh dear, I think someone is not having a good day.
(http://i1299.photobucket.com/albums/ag77/Penderic/Penderic005/aaa%20parking_zpsfcuvu6qy.jpg)
Don't park, don't park, don't park so close to me!
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Competition for tiny parking spaces, lots of rows coupled with a bad memory. Lovely.
Oh dear, I think someone is not having a good day.
(http://i1299.photobucket.com/albums/ag77/Penderic/Penderic005/aaa%20parking_zpsfcuvu6qy.jpg)
Don't park, don't park, don't park so close to me!
Don't park so close to my karma?!?
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Interesting that many who won't put a foot into a Walmart will shop Amazon?
Might check with some people who work for Amazon. Not a nice place to work. Amazon is just the Walmart of the internet world. And Walmart is trying to catch up to them.
I laughed when Amazon started. How could a company survive that way? They don't do anything except act as a go between. I can buy from the mfg just as easily as from Amazon. What changed? All the small mfgs (and some not so small) found they could turn over all their retail sales to Amazon. No more customers to deal with. Just get the order through Amazon and ship it.
An economist predicted Target is going to start down. His comment based on Target's nod to the future was putting in self check out lanes instead of investing more in their internet business.
Yep, 90% of the brick stores will be going out of business sooner rather than later.
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A lot of companies won't sell stuff like barrels to the general public for liability reasons. Back when I worked for a chain of wholesale bakeries, they went through a phase of trying to sell all kinds of surplus stuff through the thrift stores, including 55 gallon drums that baking ingredients had come in. They quit when they saw what buyers were doing with those drums- making stoves out of them, storing hazmat, etc.. Though it cost us nothing for the drums and we had empty space in the semitrailers to haul them to the thrift stores, the $20 or so we got for them wasn't worth the risk of someone doing something stupid with them that causes a multi million dollar accident, then the heirs get a lawyer who traces the barrel back to the bakery company and sues them. This is why a lot of old stuff like Post Office Jeeps, fuel and oil tanks, etc. never make it to market- It's just not worth the liability.
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Interesting that many who won't put a foot into a Walmart will shop Amazon?
I'm one of them. WalMart has nothing that I need, when I balance their presence against the cost of actually driving Service Oriented small businesses out of town. I used to patronize the little brick-and-mortar shops that provided me a local retail service that neither WalMart nor Amazon could provide.
When WalMart first comes to town, the stores are clean and nice and well-staffed. After the local "mo' money, we need mo' money" guys are hooked, the stores go downhill fast. It's already happening to ours. And since they have a policy of NEVER confronting shoplifters who are walking out of the store with carts full of electronics and rib-eyes, our court system gets loaded with theft cases, ones that never happened before WalMart. I've sat on recent Grand Juries and know how it works.
Now, Amazon MAY go that way. They may, in a blind green-eyeshade quest for higher profits, cut their service levels, start hitting me with unidentifiable fees, get orders wrong, make my life more difficult. If they do, I'll drop 'em like a hot 55 gallon drum .....
Lannis
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Amazon has been "dropping the ball" of late for me. March 1st I ordered a pair of K&N air filters and a package of 12 Knorr rice side meals (a flavor that I can't find anywhere local). Two weeks go by, neither has shipped. I cancel the order for the filters and buy them for the same cost locally (Advance Auto). The rice sides still haven't shipped! Call just now to find out WTF is the hold-up. "Oh, we somehow missed that order and apologize". Now it's backordered and they *think* it would ship sometime the end of May! Told then just to cancel that too. :angry: They did give me a $20 credit towards a future order.
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check Amazon prices thoroughly .
I read in CR , or somewhere Amazon will (hide) an item that sells cheaper on the site than the one sold by Amazon.
ya gotta really search for it.
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Amazon has been "dropping the ball" of late for me. March 1st I ordered a pair of K&N air filters and a package of 12 Knorr rice side meals (a flavor that I can't find anywhere local). Two weeks go by, neither has shipped. I cancel the order for the filters and buy them for the same cost locally (Advance Auto). The rice sides still haven't shipped! Call just now to find out WTF is the hold-up. "Oh, we somehow missed that order and apologize". Now it's backordered and they *think* it would ship sometime the end of May! Told then just to cancel that too. :angry: They did give me a $20 credit towards a future order.
Uh oh, could be the start of it.
A company comes up with a great business model, executes it, gets rich.
Then the analysts and "experts" set "expectations" for quarterly earning and equity results. If you don't "meet the expectations", then you look bad and the short timers quit investing.
So the green eyeshades start getting involved, "cutting overhead", making service "more efficient", replacing real people on the phone with robots and non-English-speakers, and for a while, until customers start getting hurt, earnings go up.
But then it catches up to them, and they start falling and can't figure out why.
Only a few companies have avoided that path. Look up companies that have had good earnings and reasonable growth over 20, 40, 100 years and you can see how it's done ....
Lannis
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I mean, it was exactly the same thing happening. Packaging changed, they started putting crackers in cellophane, people had cars to drive to town ... and there aren't any more traveling salesmen. I don't think anyone regrets that ... And the salesmen found something else to do.
Let me tell you a traveling salesman story, Lannis. No kidding, this is true.
In the early 90s Dorcia and I were finishing dinner at the table, and I told her I need to get a new grill brush, my old welder's brush was worn out. She said, " Too bad, there's no Fuller Brush man any more.." In less than a minute, there was a knock on the door.
You guessed it. (Cue Rod Sterling) He was a little gnome of a guy with a bowler hat. (!) We bought a grill brush.
Don't believe me? Ask Dorcia some time.
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Let me tell you a traveling salesman story, Lannis. No kidding, this is true.
In the early 90s Dorcia and I were finishing dinner at the table, and I told her I need to get a new grill brush, my old welder's brush was worn out. She said, " Too bad, there's no Fuller Brush man any more.." In less than a minute, there was a knock on the door.
You guessed it. (Cue Rod Sterling) He was a little gnome of a guy with a bowler hat. (!) We bought a grill brush.
Don't believe me? Ask Dorcia some time.
The bakery man used to come to our door every day, leaning hard to one side toting a big tray of bread, donuts, and other baked things for my Mom to pick from.
The ice cream truck used to come down the street and we'd run out with our nickels and dimes.
The milkman used to drop off six quarts of milk every week and take the empties.
I don't guess anyone does that sort of thing any more.
BUT ... the Snap-On man and the other tool vendors DO still drop by the shop and the employees all come out to trade or buy tools ... that's sort of like a Fuller Brush man!
Gone, Gone with the hogsheads casks and demijohns ....
Lannis
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Let me tell you a traveling salesman story, Lannis. No kidding, this is true.
In the early 90s Dorcia and I were finishing dinner at the table, and I told her I need to get a new grill brush, my old welder's brush was worn out. She said, " Too bad, there's no Fuller Brush man any more.." In less than a minute, there was a knock on the door.
You guessed it. (Cue Rod Sterling) He was a little gnome of a guy with a bowler hat. (!) We bought a grill brush.
Don't believe me? Ask Dorcia some time.
I believe you! The same Fuller Brush man, maybe, visited my house in the early 90's in Madison, WI. He looked like he had stepped out of a Popeye cartoon. I was stunned. I bought a brush and a multi-pants clothes hanger.
I figured later that he was deliberately dressing to imitate the old styles, but when he showed up it was Twilight Zone time in my head too.
Moto
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The milkman used to drop off six quarts of milk every week and take the empties.
Lannis
There's a local creamery ( http://www.southmountaincreamery.com/ ) that will deliver milk and more right to my door. When the farmer that owns it announced plans to open the creamery and do that everyone thought he was nuts. But, it's turned out to be very successful and he's expanded the operation a little each year.
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There's a local creamery ( http://www.southmountaincreamery.com/ ) that will deliver milk and more right to my door. When the farmer that owns it announced plans to open the creamery and do that every one thought he was nuts. But, it's turned out to be very successful and he's expanded the operation a little each year.
George Barber's family made a good thing out of it for sure! And good thing too, for the motorcycling community ....
Lannis
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Retailers could come up with a few improvements with the in-store experience, to bring in more shoppers.
(http://i1299.photobucket.com/albums/ag77/Penderic/Penderic005/shopping%20biker_zpshzhlde7z.jpg)
:laugh:
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To have a real chance at being successful, a store needs to have a STORE of the merchandise it plans to sell. The attraction of going to a STORE is one can purchase the item and drive home with it.
If the STORE has to ORDER the product, why, you are paying someone to type on a computer. That isn't too hard anymore, so fewer people go to such establishments.
I recognize the difficulty and expense associated with being a STORE, and in fact have tied my fortunes to their success over my career.
I like to support local business. Surprisingly I have noticed that local businesses often will make purchases based on price, not on the vendor's proximity to their business. Funny, that.
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Locally we have to head south over the NC line for steel barrels. Local Bubba's down there sell them for good prices. They don't seem to exist up here on the Va. side.
Last year I got a couple from a guy on Craigslist. He had them left over from doing foam insulation work. They contained the foam resin at one time. Still sticky inside. His property was stacked with these barrels! No good for storage but excellent for burn barrels. I got two for $30 plus about $10 worth of gas round trip to go fetch them. I drilled some holes in one to use as a burn barrel and later passed the second one along to a neighbor for $20. He bitched about the price. But he was too lazy to drive down there to get his own!
I've run into a number of folks who think "They're used! They oughtta be free!" But Nope! They're a commodity. They retain some value. The farmers and tradesmen down over the NC line do a part time business moving these after their primary use is done.
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Locally we have to head south over the NC line for steel barrels. Local Bubba's down there sell them for good prices. They don't seem to exist up here on the Va. side.
Well thank goodness someone else noticed that. I was starting to think that I was the only one who couldn't step next door and buy a truckload of them for a few bucks ..... !
Lannis
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Race you to the checkout! :huh:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0OHmiwGI98
(http://i1299.photobucket.com/albums/ag77/Penderic/Penderic005/guzzi%20food_zpsnvsvhfvy.jpg)
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" Too bad, there's no Fuller Brush man any more.." In less than a minute, there was a knock on the door.
How many buy from the Swan's Man?...(meat, ice cream, pizza, sold out of a truck) Had dinner with a neighbor who worked at Corporate until a few years ago. Same story, door to door is dying.
Now that I'm a retired fart, it's amazing how an open garage door in a neighborhood of two income families (everyone's at work 8-5) attracts a variety of salespeople during the day.
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How many buy from the Swan's Man?...(meat, ice cream, pizza, sold out of a truck) Had dinner with a neighbor who worked at Corporate until a few years ago. Same story, door to door is dying.
Now that I'm a retired fart, it's amazing how an open garage door in a neighborhood of two income families (everyone's at work 8-5) attracts a variety of salespeople during the day.
My Mom used to, when she was living alone in her 70s and 80s. She lived a mile from her next neighbor and 10 miles from the store, she liked the convenience, and didn't mind paying a little more to get stuff she liked, the guy put it right in her freezer.
I've thought about it, I don't like grocery shopping much, but I probably won't.
I'd forgotten about them when I was talking about the Snap-On truck!
Lannis
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I'm one of them. WalMart has nothing that I need, when I balance their presence against the cost of actually driving Service Oriented small businesses out of town. I used to patronize the little brick-and-mortar shops that provided me a local retail service that neither WalMart nor Amazon could provide.
When WalMart first comes to town, the stores are clean and nice and well-staffed. After the local "mo' money, we need mo' money" guys are hooked, the stores go downhill fast. It's already happening to ours. And since they have a policy of NEVER confronting shoplifters who are walking out of the store with carts full of electronics and rib-eyes, our court system gets loaded with theft cases, ones that never happened before WalMart. I've sat on recent Grand Juries and know how it works.
Now, Amazon MAY go that way. They may, in a blind green-eyeshade quest for higher profits, cut their service levels, start hitting me with unidentifiable fees, get orders wrong, make my life more difficult. If they do, I'll drop 'em like a hot 55 gallon drum .....
Lannis
Well, Amazon is doing EXACTLY what you accuse Walmart of. You may not have been a victim of the bad service, but, wages, working conditions and driving out local small businesses is exactly what they are doing.
And, they are accomplishing that WITHOUT hiring ANYONE locally. At least Walmart does provide some local jobs, even it they are paid sucky wages. And some of our Walmarts are still clean and have good customer service, especially the rural ones.
And, local Walmarts are starting to feel the pinch of Amazon, since even a Walmart cannot carry everything for everyone.
WE will get what we deserve. Everything will be shopped online. Once clothes mfgs figure out body sizes the retail stores will be in trouble.
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Clothing stores are already in trouble, with the return policies. And shoes..very hard to find a shoe store anymore.
Things change.Whether they are for the better depends on how old you are..
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Clothing stores are already in trouble, with the return policies. And shoes..very hard to find a shoe store anymore.
Things change.Whether they are for the better depends on how old you are..
The "Jake Wilson" bike site has a no-cost return policy - order it, try it on, if it doesn't fit send it back and get the right size for free. Very tempting!
Can't do shoes that way though. I like having perfect fitting shoes, and I do that in an old-fashioned shoe store with that thing that measures your feet both ways .... Maybe someone will invent technology where I hold my foot up to my webcam and they make a shoe just for me ....
Lannis
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Well, Amazon is doing EXACTLY what you accuse Walmart of. You may not have been a victim of the bad service ....
And that's why it's not exactly the same. Service is everything to me, and if local stores can't or won't provide it, I go elsewhere. Local stores where they say "LANNIS!" like they used to say "NORM!" when he walked into "Cheers" will always have my business ....
Lannis
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I can foresee an evolution where brick-and-mortar stores will mainly be showrooms, where folks can see the items, try them on (clothes and shoes, for example), and then go home and order them from e-tailers that sell at the lowest prices. Of course, the manufacturers will have to subsidize the brick-and-mortar stores, to use them as showrooms.
Something of this sort is already happening with Revzilla since they merged with Cycle Gear. I have a Cycle Gear store a few miles away, where I can see and try out gear I might want to buy, then buy it from Revzilla or some other online source.
I consider myself a true capitalist, I always seek the best deal.
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I can foresee an evolution where brick-and-mortar stores will mainly be showrooms, where folks can see the items, try them on (clothes and shoes, for example), and then go home and order them from e-tailers that sell at the lowest prices. Of course, the manufacturers will have to subsidize the brick-and-mortar stores, to use them as showrooms.
Something of this sort is already happening with Revzilla since they merged with Cycle Gear. I have a Cycle Gear store a few miles away, where I can see and try out gear I might want to buy, then buy it from Revzilla or some other online source.
I consider myself a true capitalist, I always seek the best deal.
Yes, the best deal must also be the best quality for the money...And this can mean spending more to get a better product...A online retailer like Amazon, Rock Auto or Summit racing offers a variety of brand names, price and quality for a particular item...
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I'm one of them. WalMart has nothing that I need, when I balance their presence against the cost of actually driving Service Oriented small businesses out of town. I used to patronize the little brick-and-mortar shops that provided me a local retail service that neither WalMart nor Amazon could provide.
When WalMart first comes to town, the stores are clean and nice and well-staffed. After the local "mo' money, we need mo' money" guys are hooked, the stores go downhill fast. It's already happening to ours. And since they have a policy of NEVER confronting shoplifters who are walking out of the store with carts full of electronics and rib-eyes, our court system gets loaded with theft cases, ones that never happened before WalMart. I've sat on recent Grand Juries and know how it works.
Now, Amazon MAY go that way. They may, in a blind green-eyeshade quest for higher profits, cut their service levels, start hitting me with unidentifiable fees, get orders wrong, make my life more difficult. If they do, I'll drop 'em like a hot 55 gallon drum .....
Lannis
I buy stuff @ WM every week. I've noticed in areas where theft is high in other parts of the US the WM has security people checking your shopping cart if it looks like you don't have a receipt. They don't do that in my town but I've seen it in other areas. I believe if theft is really high and they can't stop it enough they just close the store. Then the honest retail buyers there get screwed.
Mail order is fine if you don't need the items immediately. We hardly use Amazon at all.
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I've noticed in areas where theft is high in other parts of the US the WM has security people checking your shopping cart if it looks like you don't have a receipt. They don't do that in my town but I've seen it in other areas.
In this part of Virginia, no Walmart employee is allowed to physically confront a shoplifter even if the shoplifter is saying "Hey, look, buddy, I'm stealing a TV!" Not worth the liability if a confrontation starts ... they just turn the tapes over to the cops. Probably a good way to do; wouldn't work at my house though! :thewife:
Lannis
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In this part of Virginia, no Walmart employee is allowed to physically confront a shoplifter even if the shoplifter is saying "Hey, look, buddy, I'm stealing a TV!" Not worth the liability if a confrontation starts ... they just turn the tapes over to the cops. Probably a good way to do; wouldn't work at my house though! :thewife:
Lannis
I guess Virginia is different than out West. :huh: Technically here, until you go out the door w/o paying for your merchandise you have not broken the law. But here they sure aren't going to just stand there and watch you do it w/o stopping you. In fact some how if you haven't paid for your stuff an alarm goes off before you get out the store door and they search/talk to you about it. That doesn't happen very often here but it's very embarrassing if it does. :embarassed:
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Can't do shoes that way though. I like having perfect fitting shoes, and I do that in an old-fashioned shoe store with that thing that measures your feet both ways .... Maybe someone will invent technology where I hold my foot up to my webcam and they make a shoe just for me ....
Lannis
https://feetz.com/
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https://feetz.com/
I can see that I'm not cut out for this brave new world.
Although I'm pretty far along. I use "glassesusa" to buy glasses. They take a picture of you with your own webcam on your desktop, center it all up, find your pupillary distance, and then they show what YOU will look like in every model of their glasses; you pick, and they already know all the dimensions, you send them your prescription, and for 1/4 the price of a mall optician, you're on.
But this "feetz" thing needs an "app" on a smartphone that will take pictures of your feet, so I guess I'm on the sidelines till the world changes as far as feet go ....
Lannis
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If feetz, why not seetz? That'll me my new custom saddle brand. Send me a seat pan and three pix of your glutes.
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If feetz, why not seetz? That'll me my new custom saddle brand. Send me a seat pan and three pix of your glutes.
I'm starting to worry about you ...
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Not too far in the future, you'll go into a store, stand in a machine and a 3D Printer will build a set of custom shoes contoured exactly to your feet.
Already in pre-production, I should expect it to come out in a year or two...have to imagine that Nike or Adidas will want a piece of this market as well, so I wouldn't be surprised if they start installing these shoes in sports stores soon enough.
It's coming!
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Not too far in the future, you'll go into a store, stand in a machine and a 3D Printer will build a set of custom shoes contoured exactly to your feet.
Already in pre-production, I should expect it to come out in a year or two...have to imagine that Nike or Adidas will want a piece of this market as well, so I wouldn't be surprised if they start installing these shoes in sports stores soon enough.
It's coming!
Save this post. I know I will.
Lannis
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Not too far in the future, you'll go into a store, stand in a machine and a 3D Printer will build a set of custom shoes contoured exactly to your feet.
Already in pre-production, I should expect it to come out in a year or two...have to imagine that Nike or Adidas will want a piece of this market as well, so I wouldn't be surprised if they start installing these shoes in sports stores soon enough.
It's coming!
I don't doubt this will happen at some point, but the timelines are always shaky. Things that you think should happen quickly, don't. Things that you see as distant specks on the horizon suddenly rush into being.
Those who are into downhill skiing will recall that some ski boots were offered as far back as the early to mid 70s that involved going to the ski shop, fitting your feet into molds, and having the boots custom fitted with injected foam. Somehow it never took off. From what I'm told, those Dr Scholl's custom fitting devices they have in drugstores aren't getting the attention they were thought to draw. Those companies offering phone-based apps for custom-tailored clothing are getting attention, but aren't making money yet.
Somewhere, someone is going to come up with the right mix of features, convenience and price. When that happens, all heck will break loose, For now, a bunch of interesting false starts and tentative explorations...
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I just had one of those "why are local stores failing?" experiences. I needed to renovate a Grohe shower fixture in a hurry. Very German, exotic, and expensive, but eventually even these need new parts. None of the local plumbing supply outfits stock the parts, and quoted 1-2 weeks delivery, so I got on the interwebs, found what I needed for half the "retail" price from a seller on Amazon, it was shipped express overnight for about $5.00, and I was back in business the next day. I did try to buy locally, but couldn't.
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On the other hand . . .
We shopped for a new natural-gas cooktop for Gail's kitchen, on line. None of the big box stores had them in stock. On line, Sears offered the best delivery time -- two weeks -- so they got the order. A week later they notified us that delivery was still two weeks away, so we cancelled the order. I called around and found the next model up -- $150 more than what we had paid Sears -- as a floor model in a locally-owned appliance store in Montrose, an hour away. Gail drove over and we had it same day.
NG line goes in tomorrow.
ITsec: The real story of the custom-foam ski boot is pretty funny. Here: https://books.google.com/books?id=b1gEAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PA36&ots=9vNDgiZDTr&dq=ski%20boots%20foam%20liman&pg=PA36#v=onepage&q=ski%20boots%20foam%20liman&f=false (https://books.google.com/books?id=b1gEAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PA36&ots=9vNDgiZDTr&dq=ski%20boots%20foam%20liman&pg=PA36#v=onepage&q=ski%20boots%20foam%20liman&f=false)
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Millennials:
Wut? People go to stores? It's so annoying to have to talk to someone you don't even know.
Gen Xers: Wish I had enough money to buy some stuff.
Rightward leaning Boomers (and trying to channel a little George Carlin tone):
Why should I go to a store that doesn't have just what I want when I want it? I earned my right to have what I want because (pick one or more: I/my father/my uncle) (pick one or more: fought for this country/paid taxes/sing the national anthem at ballgames)! Supporting businesses who have jobs in the community? Sounds socialist. Let the free market decide. Jobs? Who needs jobs? Let people find their level and earn what their skills let them earn. People who aren't as skilled? Screw em. If they knew they'd be hungry if they didn't work, they'd work. Can't afford to live there on minimum wage? Let them live together/why did they have kids anyway? I didn't tell them to have kids! Let the poor slobs work somewhere else, out of state, out of the country, I don't care so long as they are out of my sight. I just want my thing at the lowest price, right now. Delivered by frickin' drone, I don't care. Just gimme my thing and get off my lawn.
Leftward leaning Boomers (as if at a yoga/meditation group somewhere with crystals and good energy):
Why go to the corporate local instrument of oppression? It's inconvenient for me and my money goes to Wall Street. I'd just LOVE to shop at a progressive local store like they have over in that other place, so long as the prices are low and they aren't taking advantage of me. Amazon is so corporate but I went to greenamerica.org and found all sorts of places where I can shop for just what I (precious I) want and deserve and can do so with a clean conscience.
Shop Keepers: GOING OUT OF BUSINESS SALE
(Dusty: Happy to take this down if it's just too whatever)
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Millennials:
Wut? People go to stores? It's so annoying to have to talk to someone you don't even know.
Gen Xers: Wish I had enough money to buy some stuff.
Rightward leaning Boomers (and trying to channel a little George Carlin tone):
Why should I go to a store that doesn't have just what I want when I want it? I earned my right to have what I want because (pick one or more: I/my father/my uncle) (pick one or more: fought for this country/paid taxes/sing the national anthem at ballgames)! Supporting businesses who have jobs in the community? Sounds socialist. Let the free market decide. Jobs? Who needs jobs? Let people find their level and earn what their skills let them earn. People who aren't as skilled? Screw em. If they knew they'd be hungry if they didn't work, they'd work. Can't afford to live there on minimum wage? Let them live together/why did they have kids anyway? I didn't tell them to have kids! Let the poor slobs work somewhere else, out of state, out of the country, I don't care so long as they are out of my sight. I just want my thing at the lowest price, right now. Delivered by frickin' drone, I don't care. Just gimme my thing and get off my lawn.
Leftward leaning Boomers (as if at a yoga/meditation group somewhere with crystals and good energy):
Why go to the corporate local instrument of oppression? It's inconvenient for me and my money goes to Wall Street. I'd just LOVE to shop at a progressive local store like they have over in that other place, so long as the prices are low and they aren't taking advantage of me. Amazon is so corporate but I went to greenamerica.org and found all sorts of places where I can shop for just what I (precious I) want and deserve and can do so with a clean conscience.
Shop Keepers: GOING OUT OF BUSINESS SALE
(Dusty: Happy to take this down if it's just too whatever)
Dang, Nic...you paint with a wide brush!
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Dang, Nic...you paint with a wide brush!
With love for all (no sarcasm intended).
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With all this electronically custom fitting I wonder if it will take off in the geriatric stuff like enema syringes and catheters.
Just send them a picture from your computer and they send you the custom fitted product.
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Now look at it from the point of view of an entrepreneur who wants to set up a small business. Pay rent at a local strip mall and spend a lot on advertising to a relatively small local market plus internet sales -- or just start with internet sales using your garage as the initial warehouse and rely on google words, ebay and amazon for advertising.
Amazon got started selling books. Within about 18 months, nearly every used book store in the nation went dark -- that is, the inventory went into a garage warehouse to be marketed via amazon. Dealers no longer had to pay rent, and they could now buy and sell on a world market.
When I left New York for Truckee I loaded about 2000 lb of books onto the moving van. That growing library followed me to Vashon, Boulder and now to Paonia -- the cartons now total about 2700 lb. A long-term project will be to open the cartons one at a time and catalog and shelve what comes out. Once cataloged and retrievable, the books can be sold through amazon. Seems easier than parting out old motorcycles. Less greasy, more dusty, easier packing.
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With all this electronically custom fitting I wonder if it will take off in the geriatric stuff like enema syringes and catheters.
Just send them a picture from your computer and they send you the custom fitted product.
Eeewwwwwww!
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Amazon got started selling books. Within about 18 months, nearly every used book store in the nation went dark -- that is, the inventory went into a garage warehouse to be marketed via amazon.
Not all! We have two nice, old fashioned used book stores here, both have been here for 30+ years, and both of them are going strong. I take a box of books to them every few months, and they give me store credit for about half of what I paid. They stay full of people and full of books; there's still a certain charm in being able to leaf through old books and find something that you didn't even know you wanted, hence wouldn't be able to order on-line ....
Lannis
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Not too far in the future, you'll go into a store, stand in a machine and a 3D Printer will build a set of custom shoes contoured exactly to your feet.
It's coming!
Just what the world needs. Laser-fitted Crocs.
:shocked:
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Millennials:
Wut? People go to stores? It's so annoying to have to talk to someone you don't even know.
Gen Xers: Wish I had enough money to buy some stuff.
Rightward leaning Boomers (and trying to channel a little George Carlin tone):
Why should I go to a store that doesn't have just what I want when I want it? I earned my right to have what I want because (pick one or more: I/my father/my uncle) (pick one or more: fought for this country/paid taxes/sing the national anthem at ballgames)! Supporting businesses who have jobs in the community? Sounds socialist. Let the free market decide. Jobs? Who needs jobs? Let people find their level and earn what their skills let them earn. People who aren't as skilled? Screw em. If they knew they'd be hungry if they didn't work, they'd work. Can't afford to live there on minimum wage? Let them live together/why did they have kids anyway? I didn't tell them to have kids! Let the poor slobs work somewhere else, out of state, out of the country, I don't care so long as they are out of my sight. I just want my thing at the lowest price, right now. Delivered by frickin' drone, I don't care. Just gimme my thing and get off my lawn.
Leftward leaning Boomers (as if at a yoga/meditation group somewhere with crystals and good energy):
Why go to the corporate local instrument of oppression? It's inconvenient for me and my money goes to Wall Street. I'd just LOVE to shop at a progressive local store like they have over in that other place, so long as the prices are low and they aren't taking advantage of me. Amazon is so corporate but I went to greenamerica.org and found all sorts of places where I can shop for just what I (precious I) want and deserve and can do so with a clean conscience.
Shop Keepers: GOING OUT OF BUSINESS SALE
(Dusty: Happy to take this down if it's just too whatever)
nailed it !!! LOL !!!
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Right, Lannis, I do still see used book shops with thousands of mostly paperback titles. They buy stuff more or less indiscriminately and keystone it. Great places to visit for vacation reading. I should have specified that the academic/antiquarian/fine book dealers went online -- places where book collectors used to hang out and haggle. You could find eight or ten of these stores within walking distance of most college campuses. I scored a lot of really nice books, cheap, when the Boulder book dealers closed their brick-and-mortar stores -- stocked up on aviation, sailing, motorcycling classics and reference books.
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I haven't read books(had to) since I left college in `71. Since then it's been mostly MC magazines. :tongue:
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And maybe we're all suckers.
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2017/05/how-online-shopping-makes-suckers-of-us-all/521448/ (https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2017/05/how-online-shopping-makes-suckers-of-us-all/521448/)
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And maybe we're all suckers.
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2017/05/how-online-shopping-makes-suckers-of-us-all/521448/ (https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2017/05/how-online-shopping-makes-suckers-of-us-all/521448/)
I read it, and I don't think they've got the right title on that article.
As always, no "thinking" person, who is actually seeking the best deal (quality v. price), and who knows what they can afford to pay, and who roughly understands the market, is going to get "suckered" by the consumer-monitoring and realtime price-adjustment techniques mentioned in the article.
The example of the guy who got fooled by Overstock into paying $450 for what was supposedly a $1000 item, and then found he could get it at WalMart for $250 - now THAT'S the kind of guy who will get fooled, but that's never changed, Internet or not. That's just a company taking advantage of someone who wants "a deal" but doesn't know what he's buying.
Far as I can tell, the real-time price adjustments based on consumer behavior that are described in the article are working in MY favor!
Lannis
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Needed a part that Home Depot has on line. Ordered it in as I've done before many times. I go to pick it up and taped to my invoice is a candybar and a note from the manager thanking me for my business. Nice touch! :thumb:
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I think almost all states do not allow burning garbage in barrels.
N.C. for sure does not allow it and will fine you for it but I still notice a lot of folks out in the county have them.
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I think almost all states do not allow burning garbage in barrels.
N.C. for sure does not allow it and will fine you for it but I still notice a lot of folks out in the county have them.
What we burn is all paper products, nothing else. It's likely no more harmful to the environment than a wood-burning heating device. This not always the case with my neighbors who think plastics of all sorts should be burnt as well. :sad:
"Garbage" goes on the compost pile or bins.
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What we burn is all paper products, nothing else. It's likely no more harmful to the environment than a wood-burning heating device. This not always the case with my neighbors who think plastics of all sorts should be burnt as well. :sad:
"Garbage" goes on the compost pile or bins.
You can always smell garbage with cans and plastic when it is burning. It sure is not like paper or wood. I had a neighbor up the hill who would burn around dusk (thank goodness it wasn't to often). Being down hill the air would sink as it cooled it brought the smell with it. If I had my windows open or stepped outside in warmer weather it was a god awful smell.
I burn a lot of our paper in our Jotel stove in the winter. Get a good fire going and it burns well in my high efficiency stove.
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Amazon has been "dropping the ball" of late for me. March 1st I ordered a pair of K&N air filters and a package of 12 Knorr rice side meals (a flavor that I can't find anywhere local). Two weeks go by, neither has shipped. I cancel the order for the filters and buy them for the same cost locally (Advance Auto). The rice sides still haven't shipped! Call just now to find out WTF is the hold-up. "Oh, we somehow missed that order and apologize". Now it's backordered and they *think* it would ship sometime the end of May! Told then just to cancel that too. :angry: They did give me a $20 credit towards a future order.
Amazon strikes again! I don't have "Prime" (I don't order enough to make it worth my while and even when I had it for a trial period, orders still arrived slowly). Yesterday I order two parts for my Jetta - "4 in stock", "Order in the next 5 hrs., xx mins. and choose 1 day shipping and it'll arrive tomorrow". Both of which turn out to be totally false. None in stock the customer service rep. tells me. Since the parts were so inexpensive, I chose 1 day shipping, hoping to have them today. Not happening of course. All I get is "sorry for the inconvenience". :angry:
Ordered from Advance Auto (again!) and should have them Monday afternoon. Cost less as well.
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We burn paper, unpainted/untreated wood, cardboard/pasteboard, and landscape trimmings. Anything remotely edible (except citrus and avocados) goes to the chickens. Metal gets sold to the scrapyard and plastic/glass gets recycled. We just can't see putting all that stuff into a landfill...but we live in a rural area.
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You never know about Amazon. Sometimes, it really *is* the best deal, especially if you consider driving somewhere. Uhh, sometimes, it's not. Just the same, I needed a refill for my Cross pen. I know.. why would you use a pen that needs refills when you can probably find a free (Guzzi content) pen laying somewhere? :smiley:
At any rate, I *like* my Cross pen, and Amazon has a refill for 6 bux and change on Prime. The local Office Depot has them for $2.99. <shrug> Gave me an excuse to ride the AeroLario into town. Talked to an old ex Harley (guessing) dude that had crashed and didn't have a bike any more, but really liked them Guzzis. Wouldn't have had that experience if I'd just have punched the "buy it now." :smiley:
Bought a couple. Maybe a lifetime supply. :wink:
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Speaking of Amazon Prime ... even though I place an Amazon order every week or so, I don't see where "Prime" is going to help me any. Almost everything I order is "Free Shipping", sometimes by combining orders the right way, and even when it says "Standard Shipping - 5 to 8 Day Delivery" as the free option, I almost always receive it in two or three days anyhow.
Matter of fact, EVERY time I've tried some "Club" or "Discount" or "Member" offer, it's turned out to be a loser for me, ever since the days of the old "Record Clubs". I've tried:
1. Sportsmans Guide "club" membership - never paid off.
2. "Apply for our Credit Card and get 25% off this order ..." Those deals are almost impossible to cancel and the fees and interest are horrific.
3. Barnes and Noble "club" membership - never pays off.
4. "Sam's Club" - What, PAY to even come in the front door of a discount store? We tried it when I was first "out of work" in 2006, and it was a loser.
When someone wants you to "pay for the privilege of shopping" in their store or on their site, I feel like it's never in YOUR best interest - and so I've found over the years.
It's a marketing technique that may appeal to some, and might pay off for someone with different habits than me, but never again ...
Lannis
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I'm easy to amaze, still.
I'm working on an old 4 hp pressure-washer with a Tecumseh engine, trying to bring it back from years of neglect (my neglect, if you MUST know).
Good spark, and it has a float-type butterfly-valve carb, but the carb is completely shot - float needle seat broken, main jet seal just a piece of gum, everything clogged up. No rebuild kit available.
Found out why - checked on Amazon, and a complete new carburetor is .... $13.98. For everything, castings, float bowl, float mechanism, jets, gaskets, linkages .... And free shipping.
Just don't see how they do it. Volume I suppose ....
Lannis
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Just don't see how they do it. Volume I suppose ....
You got it... they lose money on each carb they sell, but they make it up in volume.
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Last month the electronic ignition module on one of my Lawn-Boys stopped working. The one I paid a premium price for at the Lawn-Boy dealer. The one that was Made in Germany by PVL. The reason I bought it was I figured it would last longer than the cheap aftermarket ones. Nope. :angry: So, this time around, I ordered one off of Amazon for $35 less.
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Speaking of Amazon Prime ... even though I place an Amazon order every week or so, I don't see where "Prime" is going to help me any.
Amazon Prime works for us because other than the "Free Shipping" we use the streaming media services......movie s and music. My wife also finds good deals on audio books through prime.......at lease she tells me she does. :evil: :azn: :boozing:
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You got it... they lose money on each carb they sell, but they make it up in volume.
:thumb:
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No business put another out of business.
Their customers did it.