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Do you assume that Walmart has the cheapest nonsale prices for common items?

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I've noticed that walmart will charge less than competitors on alot of things. Mostly groceries, and bathroom stuff. Clothes,electronics,and a few other things are marked up over competitors prices.
 
Originally posted by: ElFenix
Originally posted by: mugs
Originally posted by: lokiju
I save on average $40 per big grocery shopping trip (twice a month or so) compared with local grocery stores.
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Check out http://www.thegrocerygame.com, you'll probably save more.
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assuming you have pantry space and a deep freeze, yes. living in an apartment, not so much.
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Yeah, good point. I get a lot of my best deals on clearance items at Target, but again you need space to be able to stock up.

I have a couple year supply of shampoo, deodorant, etc.
 
There are some random outlet stores that offer prices as cheap as or cheaper than Wal-Mart here. However, their stock of items is somewhat erratic.
 
I don't assume it, I conclude it, based on my experiences at the local supermarket and WalMart. But the supermarket has better prices for sale items.
 
I got PS2 Yey toy games nib for $11 each
I got a new Cyberhome Upconverting DVD Player with HDMI compliete with everything for $35
Got My son a NITB Phillips 4GIG MP3 Player for $45 for christmas
Serval tv's vcr, dvd, players all cheap. You just got to hit the clearance and oipen box. And most of the stuff there if it is a return and doesnt work 100% will not get re-sold so I love the ones who dont show thoes isles. I just got done doing bith my boys birthdays and christmash shopping done going down the clearance Isle 😉

Just got to know how to shop. Back when I was younger I used tyto make mad killed deals from Best buy and circuitcity going up and down the isle looking for killer buys or mis priced items.
 
A lot of the times a do, other times I don't care to bother wondering and it is a matter of convenience. For example, I might drive to wal-mart for something that I could probably get from Family Dollar simply because I know for a fact that Wal-mart would carry the item. Also, Wal-mart is more expensive in our area on their meat than at the grocery stores, yet I buy it there because I'm buying my toilet paper, my toothbrushes, mouthwash and other necesseties there.
 
I don't know, because there are none around here.

When we stock up every couple months, we'll go to the commissary at Ft Lewis. I'm sure they pwn walmart at everything.
 
Originally posted by: Thraxen
Originally posted by: mugs
I don't assume anything about Walmart, because I don't shop at that hellhole.
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Looks like you assumed they are all hellholes.
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Looks like you assumed I was talking about stores other than the ones near me. 😉 They could build a solid gold Walmart in Bentonville, Arkansas, but I still wouldn't care how low their prices are because it's too far away for me to shop at. 😉

I've been to the one near me enough times to know that it's always a bad experience. So I don't care how low their prices are, I choose not to shop there.
 
I usually comparison shop. In general, most of the items that people buy frequently are cheaper at Wal-Mart. This helps them create the illusion that everything is cheaper there. From what I've observed, they make up for it (to a degree) on a lot of other items.

i.e.
paper towels - save 5 cents
toilet paper - save 5 cents
yadda
yadda
yadda - save 5 or 10 cents
one more item - pay $3 more.


As far as grocery shopping goes, it's hard to beat Aldi's for many of their items. Everything is a rebadged name brand. Allisolm mentioned cereal. Grocery Store: $3.59 Wal-Mart: $2.89 Aldi's: $1.69, but the box has a different brand name on it. Identical quality, made by the same manufacturer (Post or Kelloggs) Aldis lacks the variety though; I make up for that at the other stores in the area.
 
You can't assume that anyplace has lower prices all the time, but many times walmart has items priced like they were from another planet. Two recent items ...

Ford factory radio wiring harness adapter, most places $18, walmart $8 for Scosche branded.
Orville Redenbacher smartpop 97% fat free Kettle Corn, grocery stores $3.49, Walmart $2.50 (5x bags).

Its also the place I pick up my Mobil 1 in 5 qt jugs for about $19 which is maybe $8 less than most any other place.
 
haven't shopped at a walmart in a long time.

in college, it was the only store in town for most things, and especially since it was open 24/7, I spent a lot of time in there. but now, I don't think there's even a walmart in driving distance.

I don't really price check common items, though. if a store across the street happens to have toilet paper for $.30 cheaper than what I paid for it, I'm not going to lose sleep over it.
 
Originally posted by: uberman
Walmart has one item in each department which is heavily discounted. Other prices may be good or can be higher than other vendors in town. It was explained very well in a Frontline documentary. I think it's called, "Is Walmart good for America?" Netflix has it. It was credible and interesting.
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Did you verify this on your own, or just take their word for it? I'm guessing the latter.

I saw the same documentary. They specifically mentioned microwaves, so I went to Walmart and wrote down all the prices of the microwaves they carried. Then, I went to Best Buy, Home Depot, Target, Sears, and the PX. Guess what? Wal-mart was cheapest for every single model except for one that the PX had on sale (Price was actually equal but PX doesn't charge sales tax)

Still, I doubt anyone who already has their own stereotypes about Walmart will care about what I just wrote.
 
Wal Mart was great in Champaign, IL when I was in school because it was open 24-hours a day and I'd only go at 2am and stuff like that. It didn't have groceries, though. So when Meijer opened up down the road, I started going there instead.

The Super Wal-Mart near my mom's place in Florida is clean and bright, well maintained, well stocked, and the sales associates are friendly. I don't remember if it's 24-hours, but I don't mind going there at all. It's the same deal with my sister's place outside Phoenix.

My perception of the stores around Los Angeles (Oxnard, Torrance, Long Beach) is completely different. The Torrance store was built less than two years ago, and it was great for about four months. After that, things got run down, you couldn't find prices on stuff, the scanners were broken or missing, stuff laying in the aisles, not well stocked, and the sales associates seemed to develop more of an attitude like we were in the ghetto. The Long Beach and Oxnard stores were always a mess to begin with. They also all close at about 10-11PM, so I can't pull the 2am shopping like I did in college... although I think they close early in Los Angeles for safety (don't wanna get murdered at Wal Mart).

I'll point out that the Wal Mart in Woodland Hills isn't that bad, and the one in Cerritos is the best that I've been to in California. The one in Cerritos is also the only one around that still sells ammunitions (the Oxnard one does too, but no one ever staffs the friggen counter).


I check out a lot of Wal Marts, huh? I actually haven't been to one in over three months, but I'd go again if a decent one were built nearby.

My point is that not all Wal Marts are the same. Fine, if you object to their business practices, I assume that's the same at all their stores but not all the stores are alike across the country.
 
There are two Walmarts nearby. One is small, close; the other is giant but a little further. The prices between the two vary widely.

The smaller one doesn't have much in the grocery line. Grocery prices are okay, nothing special. The larger one has a full grocery. Some prices are really great - cereal, eggs come to mind. A lot of prices are higher than the local supermarket, such as frozen food, coffee, cold cuts. Stuff I actually buy. TP is cheaper in lg. packs - but even cheaper at the grocery since it's always on sale. TP is outrageously expensive in the small packages I actually buy - apartment living, no storage space.

I also buy a lot of sewing supplies & craft stuff. Not much comparison since the only competition is the really expensive specialty stores. But a lot of things are even more expensive at Walmart than at the expensive stores!! And, the cheap Wally stuff is way low quality.

Walmart has a lot of toys for cheap, and great clearance sales - I recently picked up about 50 toys for 50 bucks on clearance, for the local shelter. Legos, fisher price, etc, great stuff.

My teen son buys most of his clothes at Walmart, he's 6'2, 250 pounds, size 14WWW feet. Walmart has more clothes to fit him than anywhere else, including the Big Guy stores. His Walmart suit is good enough for anything he needs a suit for - funerals, etc.

Digital cameras were expensive. Anything I actually was interested in was out of stock.
 
WM has good prices on <based on my experience at my area> Campbell soups,school supplies, plastic toys for kids, auto battery, auto tires, auto light bulbs, They do have good prices on gasoline, even better than Sams Club.

They don't have good prices on meat, milk, OJ, motor oil, electronics <especially computer stuffs>,

They do price match if you bring the ads in and I like the fact that they open 24 hrs. The WMs around here are in the phase of remodeling big time.

I do agree with others about the types of shoppers at WM and the stores cleaniness. Target is much better in those areas but they are double the driving distance.
 
Originally posted by: b0mbrman
Originally posted by: uberman
Walmart has one item in each department which is heavily discounted. Other prices may be good or can be higher than other vendors in town. It was explained very well in a Frontline documentary. I think it's called, "Is Walmart good for America?" Netflix has it. It was credible and interesting.
Click to expand...

Did you verify this on your own, or just take their word for it? I'm guessing the latter.

I saw the same documentary. They specifically mentioned microwaves, so I went to Walmart and wrote down all the prices of the microwaves they carried. Then, I went to Best Buy, Home Depot, Target, Sears, and the PX. Guess what? Wal-mart was cheapest for every single model except for one that the PX had on sale (Price was actually equal but PX doesn't charge sales tax)

Still, I doubt anyone who already has their own stereotypes about Walmart will care about what I just wrote.
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I couldn't care less about Walmart being the cheapest, still won't shop there. I do find it amazing you had the time to price out half a dozen microwaves at a half dozen different stores. Good detective work, for what its worth.
 
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