179 replies to this topic

[JLS]

Who cares about the ipod thing. So purchase an ipod at sams or costco... I did. Although I had to return it because it wasn't the color my wife wanted and I don't believe they get all the colors at those places (wanted a green 16gb) so I had to purchase it else where. $130-$140 between sams and costco is pretty much the same prices on amazon. Some are $131 or something and some colors are $137. Either-way... its not my point. I never said that costco doesn't sell some electronics at competive pricing and is current models. My point is that "most" of it that are at screaming deals such as the tvs etc are not the same models so be careful price matching. Also be aware of discontinued products etc.

I don't know how you aren't getting my point with the imac thing. Bottom line... THERE WAS NO INDICATION THAT THE IMACS WERE DISCONTINUED MODELS. And Costco got them BECAUSE they were discontinued models. BECAUSE costco purchases DISCONTINUED MODELS to sell at a cheaper rate. The whole point is... beware of what you purchase there at cheaper prices because they might be Discontinued models. Discontinued is more then "last years" models. I would purchase last years models with a smile on my face at a cheaper rate. Discontinued models are something that will no-longer be in existence for a strong reason for the most part.

Regardless, purchase what you want. Many people purchase electronics from Costco and Sams with no issues. Thats not the point. The point is merely to be "aware" of what your buying or price matching. It may not be what you think it is and may be disguised pretty well.

[Bill Z]

You make out that the return policy at costco was years and they switched it because of people returning items after years of use and wanting to purchase a new model. Thats a silly idea to switch a policy from "years" to only "90" days for that reason. There must be other logic in there... Besides, I don't remember it ever being years for cash back.

Costco used to have a "no questions asked" return policy. They have changed it and I'm sure they changed it because there are those who would basically rip them off because of their generous return policy. I ain't going to hunt for it, but a good search on this forum, you would find a post referring to someone returning their outdoor yard furniture after 3 years of use and weathering because now he wanted to upgrade to newer, bigger & better patio furniture. Costco gave him a full refund. So I'm confident they did make a significant change to their return policy and it would be to prevent further ripoffs by those that take unfair advantage of their policies. I know my recent camera purchase had the limited return policy sticker on it, something my previous electronic products never had.

[bunny]

Costco/Sams have a cheaper price for similar or identical items because:

- They dont have a huge advertising budget
- They dont employ "home theater experts"
- They dont offer much in the way of choice, selection or purchasing assistance
- Limited inventory, reduced need to 'clear' old product
- Much lower shrink loss
- Lower incidence of bad or stolen checks/credit cards
- Limited retail channel competitive issues due to unique models sold
- Lower display expenses...its a warehouse with some shelves in it

etc.

[JLS]

Well, thats a reason they can somewhat offer lower prices for everything due to low overhead but thats still not why such a big difference in tv's.

Talking with Sharp again they helped me to realize how I can prove my point with speciality made tv's for costco at lower component prices etc. Lets go to their website and take a peek at two products. The first one here is a sharp aquos 65 inch widescreen tv that is advertised on Costco's website for $3,400:

LC-C6554U
http://www.sharpusa....58,2098,00.html
(notice no price on sharps website for this item)

Do a zip code search for a store on the left side of the screen. Surprise, suprise... only costco sells it! You cannot purchase this from anywhere else including sharp.

Now, sharp only makes 2 other models of the 65 inch aquas that are high end special editions for magnolia etc.

There is only one other version of the 65 inch aquos and thats the "true" aquos that best buy and the sell for $3,999.99 as well as sharps website themselves with the price listed. Do a search on stores for this item but this time... no Costco.

LC-65D64U
http://www.sharpusa....58,1930,00.html

Now, the specs read the same on both products so you might try to argue that they are the same product but just named differently for costco and sold in bulk to them... but thankfully sharp helped me out with this and if you look at the picture, you will see that the stand on the proper aquos is black and the costco made on is silver

Cheaper LCD, made for costco with cheaper components and sold at a cheaper rate. This is not the same situation for every tv there including sharp but its a darn good example and thanks to sharp for helping me point this out so that people hopefully stop thinking I'm crazy.

Model #'s are important because people like my dad just see Aquos 65 inch widescreen tv with the same specs. But when you do a bit of research into model numbers you will sometimes find out something shocking. Costco isn't selling the tv for $500 cheaper then everyone else and having a different "model number for whatever reason but the same specs". Everyone else isn't "expensive" they are just selling at the proper price for the tv.

Thanks, its been a lovely chat.

[headshrink]

And the moral of the story is, as always, "Caveat emptor!"


On a side note, there was a blurb in my marketing text in college about the generous exchange policy at Nordstom's..... apparently someone once successfully exchanged a tire there! I wouldn't even bother to repeat it if it wasn't in the text, but I wonder if their policy remains so generous...

[bunny]

Now, the specs read the same on both products so you might try to argue that they are the same product but just named differently for costco and sold in bulk to them... but thankfully sharp helped me out with this and if you look at the picture, you will see that the stand on the proper aquos is black and the costco made on is silver

Cheaper LCD, made for costco with cheaper components and sold at a cheaper rate. This is not the same situation for every tv there including sharp but its a darn good example and thanks to sharp for helping me point this out so that people hopefully stop thinking I'm crazy.

Not sure how you made the jump from the stand being a different color to cheaper components, because the two sets are identical except for the stand color. Well, I am sure how it happened, you've already got your mind made up that Costco sells a cheaper product than you can buy at retail.

The specifications, lcd and components are exactly the same between the 65D64U and the C6554U, and while the product sku is made specifically for costco, the performance, capabilities and reliability would be the same.

The non-costco version sells for $3999 regular price at Bestbuy, but is on sale this week for $3399. $3499 every day at Costco.

So it appears that when there isnt a sale on, Costco is selling the identical set (except for the stand color) as Bestbuy for $500 cheaper and with a 90 day return and 2 year warranty vs 30 days and 1 year at Bestbuy.

It is the lower end Aquos model, and is priced accordingly. The "better" 65" Aquos is almost $6k but is on sale at Bestbuy for $5799 this week.

Sharp does this because if they sold their tv's with the same model numbers for $500 less at Costco than at Bestbuy, nobody would buy them at Bestbuy. Conversely, Sharp would like to sell to Costco customers, but knows the price needs to be better and coupled with Costco's lower overhead, they can get it done. But the model # and stand color change to make it appear to be a different, perhaps "cheaper" product to a customer without the right information.

[bunny]

Costco used to have a "no questions asked" return policy. They have changed it and I'm sure they changed it because there are those who would basically rip them off because of their generous return policy.

You're correct. There were a good number of people who would bring back 2-3 year old televisions and computers and return them and buy a new model. Many bragged about not having to pay for a new computer or television for 10 years courtesy of Costco.

When this was a limited situation in terms of number of customers, Costco simply refunded their money for the product and their membership and blacklisted them. But once the word got out they had too many customers trying to do it, so they had to change the policy.

I guess coffee makers was also a big return item. People would buy one and then every year they'd swap it for a new one so they didnt have to clean the old one.

I used the return policy past 30 days twice in over ten years. Once I bought my wife a nice watch and it stopped running after a year. I tried to look up the company and figure out how to get the watch to to them to fix it, but they didnt have a web site or listing where I could get an RMA and an address to send it to, and had two local watch repairmen try to fix it with no luck. They took it back with no trouble, although it had to be signed off on by the store manager so it took a few minutes. I also bought a set of their pans and all the coating came off the outside about 10 months later, and they took them back in exchange for a new set which are performing much better.

[JLS]

No bunny, your wrong. Everything I stated was from the 2nd tier supervisor directly at Sharp. The products are made with the same specs but cheaper components to sell AT Costco at a cheaper price. They are the ones who showed me this on their website. My mind is madeup not because I'm hard headed but because this info is directly from the manufacturer. Costco does not sell the normal version of that tv at Costco for $3,499. They don't sell that version at all. How the heck can you say that the components are the exact same except the stand so its the same exact tv. If the stand is different then don't you think other components could be different too? Especially when the manufacturer says they are?

The model # is different because its a different tv. If they changed it JUST for Coscto then ALL their sharp model #'s would be changed for Costco but thats not the case.

Either-way, it wouldn't matter if I drove and took pictures with the CEO of Sharp and the plants building these things.... your still not going to believe me so... agree to disagree. But for the record, I have no reason to lie about this whatsoever and I'm the ONLY person here that has actually called and spent and hour on the phone getting to the right people to ask about this so... believe what you will.

[eVader]

Not saying you are right or wrong but 2nd tier sup is a person that has worked the call center 6-12 months longer than the first CSR. How do we know they aren't blowing smoke up ...?

Bunny has a valid point too both in why Costco\Sams can sell for less (in most cases) with the key one being sheer volume. I don't believe products sold at Costco are of lesser quality than other big box stores. Certainly they use special packaging with additional components (extra handset, remote, charger etc) or bundle with games, videos or whatever. I have a hard time understanding the Sharp case and if true, would never buy one knowing this.

[granto]

More on why liquidations are not sales.

from LA Times: Price is not right for many shoppers at Circuit City closeout sale

http://www.latimes.c...0,2708883.story

[granto]

No bunny, your wrong. Everything I stated was from the 2nd tier supervisor directly at Sharp. The products are made with the same specs but cheaper components to sell AT Costco at a cheaper price. They are the ones who showed me this on their website. My mind is madeup not because I'm hard headed but because this info is directly from the manufacturer. Costco does not sell the normal version of that tv at Costco for $3,499. They don't sell that version at all. How the heck can you say that the components are the exact same except the stand so its the same exact tv. If the stand is different then don't you think other components could be different too? Especially when the manufacturer says they are?

The model # is different because its a different tv. If they changed it JUST for Coscto then ALL their sharp model #'s would be changed for Costco but thats not the case.

As people have correctly stated, you are incorrect. The stand is the only difference. The reason for the different model #s is to appease the retailers that do not want to directly compete with the wholesale clubs. In the case of Costco, their customer value policy of selling high quality merchandise would forbid them from even doing this if a buyer and manufacturer wanted to. Also, you might want to do some research on high-tech production lines, it is very difficult to swap out more than cosmetics on a production line.

[Ram_it!]

Wow, we have managed to turn a Circuit City going out of business thread into a Costco flame war. Sorry for this interuption, please continue.

[Bill Z]

Not saying you are right or wrong but 2nd tier sup is a person that has worked the call center 6-12 months longer than the first CSR. How do we know they aren't blowing smoke up ...?

and getting you to buy the more expensive one that they get more money for as well.


I've worked in manufacturing electronics most of my adult life, and the material management requirements to support JLS's position would further increase the manufacturing costs and make the whole idea a loss, not a profit. And for something like a large LCD screen TV, if sharp was to bother with having too different qualities of LCD screens, it would be more like the this one is 1080i vs that one is 480i and the delta in costs wouldn't be a mere $500, but more like a 2X

[eVader]

Wow, we have managed to turn a Circuit City going out of business thread into a Costco flame war. Sorry for this interuption, please continue.

True but have you ever seen a thread stay on topic beyond 1 or 2 pages?

[robert@lockdown]

FWIW

Being a new Costco vendor I was told that Costco does not intend to make a lot on the mark up of product, the sheer volume of sales takes care of that. Most of their money is made by the membership dues. We pay those dues to have the ability to obtain product at good prices. Model numbers may vary to identify the originating retailer.

I can tell you that they are most likely breaking even on our cases but do not mind as it is a service that is being provided to the members that pay there yearly dues.