Post #14454 by sykesix on the Berkshire Hathaway board

Stocks A to Z / Stocks B / Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A)

Unthreaded | Threaded | Whole Thread (12)

Post New | Post Reply | Report Post | Recommend It!

No. of Recommendations: 3

Another of the drivers for Costco's success is also that they force you to overbuy. (Applicable to only some Kirkland products).
I don't need a 3-pack of half-liter shampoo bottles or 10 pounds of meat. But that's what's in the store. And then I have to finish some of it (the meat, not necessarily the shampoo) because it's there at home and I already spent money on it. And the per-ounce (per-unit) price is the same as in the comparable store selling smaller packages. There is no saving (in general, except for Costco's smaller profit margin). They really do make up on volume what they lose on margin.

A while back, I bought some Costco plastic food wrap, which is sold in a two-pack. Just for fun, I dated the first one when I started using it--April 2024. It is still going strong, and the second one hasn't been opened yet. So yes, Costco sizes are no joke. But the price per square foot is literally an order of magnitude lower than sane-sized packages from my local Safeway or Wal-Mart. You just have to a buy an absurd number of square feet.

Post New | Post Reply | Report Post | Recommend It!

Print the post

Unthreaded | Threaded | Whole Thread (12)

Prev | Next

Announcements

Berkshire Hathaway FAQ

Contact Shrewd'm
Contact the developer of these message boards.

A community forum supporting civilized, and highly helpful, self-educating investors that come together for Shrewdness and merry spirits. These message boards closely follow the look and feel of the old message boards at boards.fool.com prior to the boards redirected to discussion.fool.com. Shrewd'm is not affiliated with the comprehensive and excellent investment website, The Motley Fool (TMF), in any way. The Shrewd commmunity here has owed, and continues to owe, gratitude to The Motley Fool for nurturing a culture of jovial irreverence towards Wall St, and that tradition will continue here.