The Real Cost Of Wal-Mart

[Mayo]

Nothing For Nothing

Excerpt:

"At the big discount stores, most discounts are applied to everyday necessities like toothpaste and lettuce. Brand-name clothing and appliances may be no bargain at all. “Wal-Mart actually has higher than average prices on about one-third of the stock it carries,” Ruppel Shell writes. “On those items for which prices are lower, the average savings is 37 cents, with about one-third of items carrying a savings of no more than 2 cents."

[kimmer]

Don't even get me started on WallyWorld.   I have privately boycotted them since Sam died and the greedy %^&*(#$%^ kids took over. Their business practices turn my stomach and upset my BP.

[sandbox]

If it's not wal-mart its someone else.

We are a consumer society we seek the lowest prices or the easiest avenue of acquisition.

Industry seeks larger markets. America was saturated with consumer goods and most of the planet's population could not afford to purchase our products. The only option available was to create markets.

The markets are created, the question is: can we compete in the nightmare that we have create?

I think not.

As soon as we create a new technology the corporations will outsource the labor for profit. The winner of the contract will steal the new technology and sell it on ebay to the highest bidder.

I don't use wal-mart but I do use Sam's Club for domestic wholesale items. If the article included Sam's Club the discount would reflect a true value.

Of course you have to join and pay $25 out front but  if your truly an All American Consumer you can pay for that fee in one visit.

[beacher]

Actually, while I too choose to forego shopping at Wal-Mart, I place the blame for our problems on the damned politicians for doing away with the tariffs, back in the '70's, in order to reward their corporate friends for backing them in their run for office.  The tariffs were put in place to protect us from this specific problem, and in their greed, they chose to hang America out to dry.  When I was a kid, the statement that I used to hear was, "What's good for business is good for America!"  I haven't heard that for about 25 years. . . Not trying to start a political discussion; "I'm just sayin'. . . "

[Mayo]

Walmart To Pay Employees With Debit Cards

No more paychecks. And if they decline direct deposit to a bank account they will be paid via a debit card. "So what?" you may ask: The employees opting for debit cards will incur bank fees for accessing their funds.

[Xairbusdriver]

Just another reason I don't have/use debit cards. Why not just open a checking account? And, you think $2 is high to withdraw money, wait until you write a bad check! Of course, many of our high-school graduates have no idea how to balance a check book... We had a renter for over twenty years who, in the last ten always paid with a money order! And he was paying almost triple what the monthly note was! And that note had been paid off at most of that ten year period. I suppose it's my fault that he didn't buy a house, because all his money went to me and the money order store? I don't think so, he could have moved any time he wanted, if he could have found a better place at a lesser cost! I guess I'm saying I have little sympathy for those who continue to refuse to become educated in the simplest financial instruments and how to budget.

[Mayo]

Yep, let's start blaming those poor uneducated folks instead of Walmart...

[Xairbusdriver]

Nor should we blame those who refuse to take responsibility for their actions or lack of them. Blaming someone else for the consequences of your own actions is a futile and time wasting endeavor. In my humble opinion. YMMV.

Just today, I heard a fellow receive an award for helping his land of birth, Nepal. He arrived in New York in 1975 with $300. He is now an American citizen, owner of several businesses and first went back to Nepal in 1987 (I think) with several doctors and nurses to tend to the mass of health needs. Since then, he has built three hospitals and the organization is now world-wide and self-supporting. No, I simply don't accept that handing out money for doing nothing is a solution to the problems of being poor, uneducated, underpaid, etc. Nor does the Constitution even promise that handout. It is not a "right." 'Success,' no matter how it is defined, is not a gift, it is earned by talent or work or imagination and most of all, by desire and belief in ones capabilities no matter what current environment one finds oneself. That is what is promised by our Constitution; "the pursuit of happiness."

I dare say, Mr. Sam Walton did not let his poor condition during his childhood prevent him from succeeding. But some legislators have seen fit to identify a corporation as being a nearly human entity, with all the privileges accompanying same. Unfortunately, many corporations have vast amounts of power (money) to get what they want whether they deserve it or not. That, my friend, is the problem with Wal-Mart, AT&T, BP, Haliburton, GE...

[krissel]

What is not mentioned in the article is why anyone would not want to have the paycheck deposited into a bank account.

Any guesses?  

[sandbox]

How do think the Banks are paying the bailout loans back so quickly?

There is less money moving around so their opportunity to grab a piece has diminished. Let's make a deal….Corporate America….you scratch mine and I'll hide yours? We'll suck it out of the captured audience, the labor class, because the investor class is to smart to get caught up in our shenanigans.

Plastic is use to supplant paper, and we all know where the plastic grows. Your welcome Exxon/Mobile.

Eventually it's going to be bank credits, online payments, direct withdrawal in a cashless environment. If nothing else it's more sanitary. Just put a dollar bill under a microscope one day and see all the creepy boogers that have made their way to your pocket. If you saw where that $10 has been you'd never touch it.

70% of the bills in Florida have cocaine on them, H1N1 any1?

[Xairbusdriver]

It could be tough having a bank account if one were a migrant worker. Or if one had trouble maintaining a minimum balance. I'm sure there are even personal reasons. But 'bank' accounts do not have to be in a 'bank!' There are now credit unions for just about any category of citizen and some that don't even attempt to categorize anyone! We've not had a 'bank' account for over 40 years, don't intend to. All our income (except occasional refunds for expenses from some organizations) gets deposited directly and 85-90% of our bills are paid automatically. We do still use checks. And we each have a credit card, paid off (also automatically) at the end of the billing cycle. And, when all else fails, we have a 'hidden' cash stash! We do not have any Debit cards and I don't see the reason for them, unless one cannot get a reasonable rate CC. As far as I know, they do not have the main protections of a CC; stop payment ability/payment dispute access, fraud protection, etc. And, apparently many more fees/costs!

An aside:
A couple of years ago, the younger granddaughter saw Nana take some cash out of that 'stash.' "So that's where you hide your cash!" "That's correct, but no one really knows where it is. Can you keep the secret?" "Of course, you can trust me!" Not five minutes later, the older granddaughter come in announcing she knows where the cash stash is! The 10 year old just couldn't keep such a powerful secret to herself!

[krissel]

Jim, you do have a 'bank account' if you use checks or have something "deposited directly".  If it's with a credit union it would be acceptable in the WalMart case.

And never trust a child with a secret, ever.  In fact don't trust adults either.  

[Xairbusdriver]

That was sorta my point, one does not always need to bend to the demands of many 'banks.' There are alternatives, almost always (I never say always!) less expensive, more friendly and user-responsible. My real point, I suppose, is that there is no reason I can think of not to have these kinds of services, no matter how much or how little one has. And it is several hundred dollars a year cheaper than pay day check cashing "services" or even money orders!

Don't worry about your secrets, they are safe with me and all my friends!

[kimmer]

We used to "bank" with GoldenOne Credit Union, but changed to a local CU when we moved. GoldenOne still has an IRA that we can't move for another year, so we kept a savings acct open with them. Their old rule was you only needed a buck to keep your membership there. Recently they decided that the economy was hurting them and either you had to have direct deposit of your paycheck, or keep a minimum of $100 bucks in a savings acct -- otherwise they would start charging a monthly fee (don't remember how much it is). I was ticked since we are stuck for the time being. So we had to transfer $100 to them -- where it sits and earns NO INTEREST.

On the subject of those debit VISA cards ... Staples now uses them for all their rebates and the fine print states that you either use it entirely within 3 months or they start charging a fee. I much preferred the check I could cash.

Since I hate WM anyway, you can guess my opinion on this move.

[RNKIII]

Kim... you better move to Minnesota..... same as Oregon only a little colder and/or hotter, not as wet, no ocean or mountains.....well maybe not just the same... but they can't charge a fee on those cards and they can't expire... Minnesota law says so...



Bob K.   rnkiii