(09-16-2018, 10:53 PM)DividendGarden Wrote: was on vacation last week but an order for MO went through. Bought below $60. Back in town today and I see it's up over $62. Nice!
(09-19-2018, 09:30 AM)crimsonghost747 Wrote:(09-19-2018, 04:03 AM)fenders53 Wrote: There was a very clear difference in quality and you knew you were missing out. Now it is hard to tell the difference in many products.
I will have to personally disagree with this one. It might just be personal taste or it could be the fact that we live on a different continent.
But I was a very heavy user of the cheap brands owned by the stores themselves. But ever since my financial situation improved dramatically, I've gone the other way. Now that I can afford to pay an extra euro for a better product, I do so very often. I still very much like to get value for my money even when grocery shopping but I've noticed that there is usually quite a difference in the quality of the product, whether we are talking about soap, toothpaste, snacks, juice or any other similar thing.
Everyone (myself included) considers me to be a cheap person and I still look at the exact price of every single item I buy. But more often than not I simply decide that the improvement in quality is worth the increased price, especially when we are talking about lower cost items.
What you are describing was very much the case in the US 30 years ago. We had generic grocery stores and most of what they sold was very clearly inferior. I shudder to remember the packaged goods like vegetables, condiments etc.
(I REALIZE THE FOLLOWING IS MY OPINION AND TASTE BUDS MATTER). Lets take salad dressing or sandwich condiments for example. I assume it is popular in Europe? Today if you walk into even a moderate sized grocery store you are likely to see something like this.
1. At least one well known name brand, probably two.
2. A specialty upscale brand that might be at least as expensive as the name brand.
3. A chain store house brand that is very close in quality to the name brand. 25% less expensive.
4. A deep discount brand you'll generally regret if you buy. 50% off or better.
#3 is eroding the name brands market share. The US companies and stock analysts will tell you the same. In some cases the name brands are manufacturing it but the margins are obviously lower if they do.
Same deal with some cleaning products. Pretty tough to tell the difference between Chlorox bleach and Wal-Mart bleach. It's the same chemical in a different package at a considerable discount.
There is a very clear difference in some products. Easy to find examples.
More on topic to GIS, house brand breakfast cereal is now much improved. It's the reason GIS is unable to raise prices substantially, even when they need to to raise revenues.