How Wal-Mart works

FAOL Community Sound Off
1

In case you didn’t know, when you return an item for the “nice, kind” people at Wal-Mart, it isn’t Wal-Mart taking it back. It’s no skin off their hide and no $$ out of their pocket, except for paying the person at the counter and the physical moving of the product.

The SUPPLIER eats this product. Their agreement with Wal-Mart stipulates this. Wal-Mart works everything to their advantage(as I guess they should, but…). When you hear them say THEY will take it back it is not Wal-Mart issuing you a refund, it’s the supplier that ultimately gets tagged with supplying Wal-Mart with another item to replace the one returned or being compensated for it.

I’d love to see some stats on the number of businesses that go out of business for their involvement with Wal-Mart. Sure, they have the choice as to do it or not, but believe me they are strong-armed by Wal-Mart.

Just something to think about when you return an item to them.

2

I half agree with you on Walmart’s strong-arm approach, but I have no problem with returns going back to the original supplier. If an item was faulty, it was the supplier who more than likely is responsible. I bought it from Walmart, so Walmart takes it back. Walmart bought it from X, so X takes it back. Responsibility finds it’s proper place.

It’s much better than those places that sell you a piece of junk and then tell you that you need to pack it up yourself and send it to China, on your dime, for repairs.

3

We sell to Walmart. Lately some of our sales to Walmart have dropped. Mainly because we have raised our prices to cover lost product from shrink. We do see a trend that Walmart may be buying more from us. Interestingly we sell a live, perishable product with limited shelf life. We are also liable for any returned or unsold items but this is normal for our product. Another interesting fact is our product is produced locally and does not ship well so retailers need to purchase from local producers. Walmart started buying from other local producers with lower pricing but has now started to return to us. It is a quality issue. Ours is better. Sometimes the right ideals do win out.

4

Glad things are working out for you with Wally World.

I left a ‘deal’ with Wal-MArt because they didn’t live up to their end of things. Interestingly no one has replaced this service and their whole department is pretty much closed. They should have been a little nicer, they’d be selling a lot more of their product if they were just nice about things. Was a very strange situation indeed. Very poor communication on their part and when they did they tried to strong-arm the situation. I just walked out and left them high and dry.

The joke post about the ‘blind employee’ and a conversation with another supplier about Wal-Mart recently is what prompted this thread.

Strange organization.

5

Walmart takes everything back, even if the problem was caused by the customer. Plus they nickel and dime distributors over everything. Ruger is stopping sales through Walmart because of this.

Jim

6

And that is the beauty of free market capitalism.

7

If you guys think Wal-Mart is tough on it’s business partners just be thankful you are not in the motor fuels industry. I mean any part of it from well to refinery to retail sales. If you think Wal-Mart can strong arm, and they do, then try going into business with one of our major oil companies. I did just exactly that for the better part of twenty years and it nearly cost me dearly.

By the way, the local merchants in my hometown fought the “new” Wal-Mart being built in town tooth and nail. Why there were all of these horror stories about them putting the locals out of business all over America. Why all of those reports about Wal-Mart working with the local retailers were just lies started by Wal-Mart to woo the ignorant unwashed public masses over to Wal-Mart’s low prices through massive bulk purchasing and exclusive contracts.

Turns out that the Locals were, perish the thought, wrong about Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart went to incredible lengths to not sell the specialized products of the local retailes and built the store in a location that would cause the majority of their customers to drive past said local shops. The locals have enjoyed a big boom from the local Wal-Mart. Now Wal-Mart is moving out of town to build a Super Center and the very same retailers that were doing everything they could to keep them out are mad at them for leaving. Wal-Mart is moving out of the borough limits because there is not enough land within the limits for the new store.

Know what? That’s business in a capitalist free market. Sometimes it isn’t fair but we could be socialist and then the feds will tell you how to run your business and take your profits “for the good of the people”. Sorry, but even if it means my own ruin I will take the free capitalist system everytime. If we cannot accept the risk of loosing our business and finding ways to keep our business competitve then we should never have gotten into business in the first place.

Just my 2 cents worth.

8

Amen brother!!

BTW - Wal*Mart is expanding and plans to create something like 22,000 new jobs. (“Yea, but they’re crummy low paying jobs with no benefits and no union”)…

…Just like the jobs at the local fly shop and hundreds of other places y’all shop at but don’t complain about…:rolleyes:

I really don’t get why so many people have a problem with a retailer that helps you stretch your dollar. What is so wrong about saving money? Today I was in Wal*Mart and I found out I JUST paid $1.50 more for Sci Anglers Line Dressing at the fly shop and I spent $1 more on deodorant at the supermarket.

It won’t happen again…

If y’all feel so compelled to spend more than you have to, for whatever reason makes you feel good, just send me your shopping list and I’ll be happy to buy the stuff at Wal* Mart and charge you more.

As for me, I want MY heard earned money to go as far as it can in ANY economy.

:wink:

9

Glad you can save a buck fifty on line dressing. Keep shopping at Walmart instead of your fly shop until the shop is gone. Then the next time you need 30# backing for that trip planned for the next day try getting it at Walmart. I have nothing against Walmart. We sell to them but I rarely buy there if at all. I think I have been into the local Walmart 3 times in the 7 or 8 years they have been here. Don’t think I bought anything. Not my type of store, to crowded, to impersonal, but to each their own. I buy my specialty goods from local shops when I can for the very reason I want them to succeed so I can get the stuff I need when I need it. Also the people that run these specialty shops are my friends and neighbors. Another reason I want them to succeed. Not saying their isn’t room for the big guys and the little guys both. I just prefer to shop at a store where I know the guy behind the counter and he knows me. Might cost me a bit more money but to me money isn’t all as important as friends and neighbors. The hardware store I shop at is locally owned and not Mega Home Has Everything Wharehouse (both mega stores are here) and they know who I am. Same with the local lumber yard. My grocery store is locally owned and I never have seen any of thier ads on TV. They know also who I am and I was once on a race team with the manager. It all costs me a bit more I guess and I could go on but it is the community thing again. To me it is important.

10

I have never had to return an item to Wal-Mart. And as long as they can provide products at good prices, I will continue to shop there. If you don’t like the place, then don’t shop there.

And IMO, if an item is defective, the manufacturer ought to be the one who “eats it”, since they made the thing in the first place.

11

Are you sure the real reason of this thread isn’t a deal gone south?

I doubt anyone here knows exactly what Walmart stipulates in all of their contracts. Furthermore, no one is strongarmed into a legal contract. If a wholesaler agrees to accept returned products for whatever reasons, they can build that dollar figure into their product cost.

The implication that all customer returns are packed up and sent to the wholesaler/distributor is simply not true. You’ve likely seen an employee meandering around the store with a cart full of miscellaneous products; those items are customer returns and whatelse (gobacks, spitbacks, etc) that need to be remerchandised. Besides, the real loss is shrink in the form of employee theft, screwed up paperwork, and to a lesser degree shoplifting. Resellable customer returns are not a shrink item.

If anyone thinks wholesalers in contract with Walmart are the only suppliers that accept store-initiated returns from retailers, think again. Walmart would be far from alone in this. This is a common practice by large retailers on a variety of products, especially where margins are tight. Clothing is a product that is frequently not accepted as a store-initiated return (outside of defects), but the typically large markups offset this.

I have read that Walmart’s strategies have made it tough on some suppliers and have been properly or improperly described as manipulative at times. I also understand that this is not recent news, and any would-be supplier has the means to do the research and decide if such a business relationship would be unhealthy for itself. Failing to negotiate a favorable contract, miscalculating the bottom line, and not fostering a company vision are the real reasons for the woes of the suppliers. It’s Business 101.

You’ll rarely see me at a Walmart, though. I’d say I’ve spent less than $50 there in the last several years. It’s not that I have anything personal against Walmart, it’s just not my idea of an enjoyable shopping experience. Other than picking up a few items I couldn’t locate elsewhere, I’ve received no personal joy from shopping there and buy my other goods from other sources. Among the items purchased at Walmart were single-edge razor blades, brushable Loctite, and clear Devcon epoxy, all fly tying items. Does anyone here have a local fly shop that sells these items? Nobody?

12

Really? Everything? For any reason?

Or maybe Ruger raised their prices due to increased firearms demand, and Walmart chose not to buy at the new price.

How come Ruger wasn’t strongarmed into selling to Walmart? What’s so different about Ruger? Ruger still has distribution through many retail channels, that’s why. Proof that some suppliers are capable of making sound business decisions in the favor of the company’s future.

13

Amen right back at ya!:wink:

14

DG I’m glad that you haven’t had to return anything to Walmart, for a while I wouldn’t throw away a receipt due to the fact that I took back about a third of what I bought there. It has gotten better.

I’m sure not all stores do this but I know for a fact that some walmarts put returns that people bring back for cause, IE bad merchandise back on the floor and resell it. Ive had it happen where I bought and returned again something that was obviously used, I also have read in the paper of incidents where people purchased used items.

Walmart used to advertise that the majority of the Items sold there were made in the USA, not anymore now they just sell. I did hear on the news today that they are making an effort to keep the upper middle class consumer that is now shopping in there store due to the tough times. they are doing this by making there stores more open and inviting. They recently remodeled my local walmart and I applaud there effort the store is now much nicer to shop it.

My thoughts on walmart is I wish I could shop elsewhere but I can’t afford to at this time.

Eric

15

The biggest problem I have with Wal-Mart, is that it’s so big and spread out, that at my age and physical condition, I’m worn out when I get everything I need, and I’m too proud to get on one of the little buggies. I guess it’ll happen one day.

16

I’d order it on line because the fly shop would probably be out of stock anyway…:stuck_out_tongue:

We don’t have any local independent fly shops any more. They all went out of business, not because of WalMart, Bass Pro, Cabela’s, or L.L. Bean, but because they NEVER had anything in stock, ignored the Internet, were reluctant to special order anything and generally ran their businesses in the ground. Another possible reason the local fly shops suffered is because of a general reluctance to offer anything other than high and overpriced tackle items; totally ignoring the entry level customer that wasn’t prepared to drop a over a grand to get started in this wonderfully cheap sport of ours. :rolleyes: Yesterday in WalMart I saw something you’ll never see in a local fly shop, $30 wading shoes and $60 breathable waders. While I know they don’t stack up to Simms, I do know that not everybody has $500 to spend on keeping dry.

IMHO, all of the aforementioned big box stores have done a much greater service for the fly-fisherman, while attracting new folks to the sport. The selection is extensive and more affordable, the shopping is more convenient, the prices are better where they can be and the staff is friendly & knowledgeable. I can live without the free coffee, conversation and the black lab curled up by the pot belly stove when I can save 20% or more. It’s the same no-frills business model we’ve grown accustomed to, accompanied by a cost savings we have grown to expect.

Besides, some my friends & neighbors earn their living there and the community gets a HUGH amount of tax revenue from them.

If you’re lucky enough to have great local merchants who you want to do business with, that’s great. As for for me, I’m not interested in subsidizing anybody but myself. I play by the same set of rules with everything when it comes to saving money. I won’t buy gas from Goober on the corner when the Shell another block away is $.15 a gallon cheaper nor will I go to Mr. Foley’s grocery store for an order when I can save 30% at Kroger. The same goes for everything else. How many of you skip the Grand Slam at Denny’s so you can eat the same amount for $10 more at the Mayberry Diner? Do you eat regularly at Morelli’s when you know you could save $50 if you went to Applebee’s?

If not, why not? Are you only interested in saving fly shops or is it a dollars versus pennies thing; nickles & dimes, no big deal, chump change? The other day I took a half full jug of “chump change” to the bank. Maybe it represented all of those “nickels and dimes” I’ve saved over the years at Wal*Mart. After it was counted, it came out to be $1100 bucks!!

$1100 bucks is hard to ignore…

…it’s almost enough money to get fully outfitted at my local fly shop…:wink:

EOR

17

Bamboozle: I agree with much of what you wrote. All of the fly shops in my general vicinity are high end. I try to help them by buying small items such as hooks, fly boxes, tying materials, etc. I will not pay their high end prices for waders, boots, rods and reels. An example, I buy Hodgman chest waders for about $100 and I can get a solid 4 or 5 years out of them and I fish 50 to 75 days a year in all types of weather all year around. Why would I pay an exhorbitant price for the fashionable brands? This is a discussion that won’t be resolved because we all buy what we can afford. In my world there’s not a hamburger worth $10 nor a fly rod worth a $1000. They may charge those prices, but they just ain’t worth those prices. Just one man’s opnion.

18

The blame may be a bit misdirected there.

MAYBE, Wal*Mart put back stuff that the RETURN-EES told them was OK!

I could buy light bulbs, use them for 999 hours of their rated 1000 hour life, put them back in the box and tell Wal*Mart I bought the wrong size. Do you ever wonder how a product can end up on the shelf missing parts? Is it so inconceivable that it could have been a return where somebody decided to liberate an extra set of rubber feet for their new coffee maker? How hard would it be to buy a new DT fly line, use it once, twice, or for a seson; reverse it, respool it and take it back to the fly shop as new/unused; pretty unethical huh?

While it’s a slightly different analogy, how ethical is it to buy a new fly rod, use it for a few years but NEVER send in the warranty card and then sell it with “blank warranty card” so your resale value stays high and the new owner can have a used rod which will be treated as new?

The bottom line is; the good merchants take the customer at their word when they return or exchange an item. In the name of good service the retailer takes the items back even though they know it is extremely unlikely all of the stuff returned is unused and undamaged. Unfortunately they don’t have the time, manpower or budget to check & test every return.

If you get screwed with “used goods” and your conscious is clear, look with a skeptical eye at some of those folks in the return line.

That’s where most of the blame lies.

19

You eat at Denny’s!? Oh My God! That explains most everything you wrote. LOL

20

As a complete newbie to the sport I’ll add my agreement to this one. I started fishing a year ago on a whim and ignored fly fishing because the one time I wandered into a fly shop I was completely dismissed when I asked about a budget setup to start with. I held the idea that flyfishing was a rich man’s sport for elitists until I walked into the little “fly shop” in a BassPro while killing some time and the guy still talked to me when I started looking at < $100 rods.

I can’t speak to the impact of losing local shops on the people who want the high-end stuff but I have to agree that some lower priced gear and less attitude has enticed me into trying flyfishing and I would think there is room for both the specialty shops and the discounters if the shops play it right.

This phenomenon is happening across the world on many hobbies and sports. I don’t think the answer is to get people to spend more for the same products and service just to keep the local shops open but rather for the shops to provide different options and better service for the additional money. An example is a shop I recently found that offered me a couple hours casting instruction on their pool with a rod purchase of any amount which is something the BassPro guys couldn’t offer. Catering to newbies may be one place they can shine. If you want to run a specialty shop you may just need to be special about the way you do it…

-Craig
Deltona, FL