How Walmart makes it's money-unfair Business practices

[Frimost]

As every Star Wars fan knows today was the release date for Episode II The Attack of The Clones. We (Walmart) were planning on selling it at $15.95 for the DVD. Lo and Behold The Toy's 'R' Us store down the street came out with a doosey, a sale on both the VHS AND DVD of Star Wars for only $9.99!

So, instead of following the American way, of fair business opractices brought on by health competition-Walmart, the multi-zillion dollar giant decides NOT to comp. (bring down the store price to match the competition) and instead sends an associate on the clock over there dressed as customers to buy out Toys 'R' US's ENTIRE stock of Star Wars DVD's and VHS tapes, bring them back to our Walmart store, and repackage and reprice them as though they are ours and procede to sell them to the customer (who is none the wiser) at the higher price of $15.95!!!!!

I know this because I work there.

 

[LukkyKnight]

You can find Monet pieces at WalMart? Whoa.

 

[Grvdigger]

so you are saying that a memo went out to all walmarts to do this....or was this just the practice of ONE manager. thinking it is the last

 

[Monazwx]

Damn Walmart!!!
And I only had ten dollars too.

 

[Olivianna]

Woh. This is groundbreaking intel. They said they never would believe that WalMart or any other large corporation would engage in unfair business practices (regarding the customer) - finally here is proof! I still don't believe it!

 

[Aquila]

Damn Walmart!!!
And I only had ten dollars too.

JESUS FUCKING CHRIST
Nice av.

 

[freakygirl]

I won't buy.. DVD's or CD's at WalMart..

 

[Aquila]

best buy is where I buy DVDs. they actually have a selection.

 

[Monazwx]

Originally posted by Aquila
Nice av.

 

[Aquila]

can you just keep posting some more? thanks.

 

[Frimost]

???

I don't know whether other stores did it or not, all I know is our store did it, any other Walmart store in the nearby vicinity of the Toys 'R' US sale PROBABLY did as well.

 

[LordOfDarkness]

I won't buy.. DVD's or CD's at WalMart..

me too.

 

[Sex & Diamonds]

This does not surprise me.


(coming from another one that marches in the big blue army)

 

[Shiner]

I don't know if thats illegel but it is certainly unethical.

 

[PhxPlay4n6]

What makes this an unfair business practice? If anything, it's stupidity on the part of Wal-Mart....they pay **retail** price for inventory they would normally buy from the distributor at cost, Toys'R'Us gets the full retail asking price for each unit, and the distributor gets the original cost price from Toys'R'Us.

It would be an unfair business practice if Wal-Mart pressured the distributor to give them a promotional cost lower than that of Toys'R'Us because of a perceived inequity in the market for the movie. That's not the case here...

If I was the regional/district manager, I'd have a manager's head on plate right about now...

 

[paganangel]

i must confess...

it's pretty slick. i mean toy r us gets a fair shake. the anti trust laws are there, after all, more to protect other businesses than customers. plus, the customers who were at toys are us early got the same deal walmart did.

 

[Problem Child]

What makes this an unfair business practice? If anything, it's stupidity on the part of Wal-Mart....they pay **retail** price for inventory they would normally buy from the distributor at cost, Toys'R'Us gets the full retail asking price for each unit, and the distributor gets the original cost price from Toys'R'Us.

It would be an unfair business practice if Wal-Mart pressured the distributor to give them a promotional cost lower than that of Toys'R'Us because of a perceived inequity in the market for the movie. That's not the case here...

If I was the regional/district manager, I'd have a manager's head on plate right about now...

The difference is that if WAl-MART had allowed Toys R Us to keep selling at 9.99 than they would have lost a lot of sales to them.

Now Wal-Mart gets ALL the sales, even though they are making less margin on the units they bought from Toys R us. They are making a lot of money off their own units and reselling the stuff they bought from Toys R usand making less money, but the main thing is they control the entire market, at least locally we must assume.

I wouldn't call that too dumb.

 

[Grvdigger]

Don't you think the ppl at toys'R'Us would have thought it a bit strange that one person would come in and buy EVERY video and dvd and raised an eyebrow....specailly if they still had on that ever attractive blue smock

 

[Cheyenne]

The smarter store would have advertised the sale and labeled it as "no sales to dealers." Or something like that.

Smart merchandising isn't unfair business practice. I'm still surprised there was no fine print to prevent Walmart from being able to clean out Toys-r-us.

 

[PhxPlay4n6]

The difference is that if WAl-MART had allowed Toys R Us to keep selling at 9.99 than they would have lost a lot of sales to them.

Now Wal-Mart gets ALL the sales, even though they are making less margin on the units they bought from Toys R us. They are making a lot of money off their own units and reselling the stuff they bought from Toys R usand making less money, but the main thing is they control the entire market, at least locally we must assume.

I wouldn't call that too dumb.

Toys'R'Us didn't lose any sales....Wal-Mart bought their entire stock on hand...if you want to argue that flow into the store that would have bought other items is lost, that's different...maybe, maybe not...no way to tell if there might be a heightened interest in action figures or other Star Wars merchandise Toys'R'Us is selling because of the release of the movie.

I just don't see this as an unfair business practice against Toys'R'Us, it's unethical and unwise to resell like this, but it's not unfair to Toys'R'Us...they received the retail price from Wal-Mart. I would say it's more unfair to consumers because they don't have an opportunity to take advantage of Toys'R'Us pricing, and that's where they'll get in trouble...and why it's a bad management decision.

 

[Frimost]

They sent more than one person, in street cloths, and they did so after crunching the numbers and finding they would LOSE more money by lowering their own prices to match Toys ' R' US's LIMITED stock of videos and DVD's. They figured it would be chaeper to take the initial hit and make it up in the 50% higher cost that we were selling it at, and people that go in the buy ONE thing rarely go out the store with JUST that item...And they can use this to say, sure other stores are sometimes cheaper, but they never have it in stock *HINT, HINT*..While we at Walmart ALWAYS have what you are looking for on the shelf (not mentioning that the other stores don't have it on the shelf because WE are the ones that bought them all out to took away from their customer base hence lowering customer loyalty to that store).

 

[Grvdigger]

Yep for those reasons exactly I like shopping at Wal-Mart

 

[Frimost]

That's what is is all about, FUCK the big coporate chain stores and giant department stores. Its about the customers not getting there fair shake at getting the video at $10! THAT is why we break-up monopolies, why we have fair business principals, competition is SUPPOPSED to lower prices to the benifit of the general public. We have rules so business can't gouge consumers, this is in the same vein of thinking.

 

[paganangel]

look man, i won't go to home depot (fucking bastards) but nothing's going to happen until i get an army behind me. it's the lazy consumer culter's fault. i mean fer chrissakes this is all starting over a fantasy movie. bue we hafta have it. and we've gotta get everything we want all at once. and fast. and we need the huge fucking selection. can't shop around. now now now.

 

[Puddles The Wonder Poodle]

That's what is is all about, FUCK the big coporate chain stores and giant department stores. Its about the customers not getting there fair shake at getting the video at $10! THAT is why we break-up monopolies, why we have fair business principals, competition is SUPPOPSED to lower prices to the benifit of the general public. We have rules so business can't gouge consumers, this is in the same vein of thinking.

Wait slick, even from my dog house on the porch, Toys R Us looks like a big chain store.