Rethinking Wally World

Learn to quote properly. Think of it as learning a new skill...:-)

Actually, I have many skills. But its not just me I worry about. Can we all be Scientists, Doctors, Inventors, Etc?

You might be in trouble yet. Since it is impossible for everyone to be Scientists, Doctors, etc, etc, how do you expect them to afford what you have to offer. After all the jobs and money go overseas.

2 options ,support US OR CHINA

"2 options ,support US OR CHINA"

As we work our way towards "The New World Order" this will no longer be an option.

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Marriage is like a hot bath, after you've been in it awhile, It's not so Hot.

Comfortablynumb, explain to me how I can stop paying income tax and still obey the law of the land?

I would LOVE to stop paying income taxes. Not just because of China. It also annoys me to pay for public schools which we don't use, the NEA, and abortions for low-income women.

But I have to pay income taxes. So far the government is not forcing me to shop at Walmart. Some people have such simple minds; all or nothing. Well, I can't control what others do but I can still control how I spend the money we bring home.

I know that muslim nations also persecute Christians. I do not knowingly buy from them, either.

Herb: I have no obligation to provide income for the 'Chinese slaves' or any man on earth. I do have an obligation to not add to the oppression of fellow Christians.

I know, its nearly impossible to find made-in-America stuff, that is affordable. It takes up alot of time to shop the way we do.

Mostly, we do without! We also frequently buy used items, too. The money has already been paid for these used clothes, tools, furniture...we can't help that. But since they're just headed for a landfill if not for people like us, we use 'em.

Before and during the civil war, some northerners quit buying or wearing cotton to protest slavery. They quit wearing lace because it was made by little children in sweatshops. Instead, they spun flax and wool, and crocheted lace if they wanted it.

I'm just doing the same thing. I'm not trying to force it on anybody, just offering another reason to not shop at Walmart!

Amy

This story provides a pretty good example of what happens with Walmart.

http://content.gannettonline.com/gns/jobs/index.html

"Never mind that Wal-Mart is a major reason Schumacher no longer has a $12-per-hour job at Huffy Corp.’s bicycle plant. Five years ago, Wal-Mart pressured Huffy to lower the cost of its bikes, so Huffy closed its Celina plant. Schumacher’s job and the job her husband held at Huffy eventually ended up in China"


Ever stare at the water in the toilet when you flush it? It goes round and round in smaller circles before it disappears!

In the last Wal_Mart thread someone asked the question about WM employees salaries and benefits in Europe. Does anyone know the answer?

Seems Germany knows how to handle Wal-Mart........

"Last year the German Cartel office threatened to fine Wal-Mart if it didn't change its pricing tactics. According to government reports, Wal-Mart was breaking the fair competition laws by selling products at dumping prices, far below cost, and thereby posed a risk to smaller competitors. Wal-Mart was forced to increase prices for milk, butter and several other staple products to a level compatible to other retailers."

Also..............

"Making matters even worse, Wal-Mart is struggling with difficult labor relations at several of its German locations. Earlier in the year the commerce trade union wrote a letter to the Arkansas headquarters demanding that the company either join the German employer's association or sign a collective wage agreement. Wal-Mart did neither. "

Found at..............

http://www.dw-world.de/english/0,336...318142,00.html

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Marriage is like a hot bath, after you've been in it awhile, It's not so Hot.

My parents recently (6 months ago) splurged and bought Maytag washer & dryer. The washer does not spin out well, and didn't from the get-go. (My twelve year old cheapy Kenmore does a better job.) Finally Maytag sent someone after numerous complaints and the guy said that is as good as it gets, and also replaced some belt he said was worn out (they use these like once or twice a week compared to my 10-12 loads a week) Anyway, he said that Maytag did not make this washer or dryer (implying it was not as good.) My mom asked how she would know that, and he said that she could have called Maytag and they would have told her. She asked how are people supposed to know to ask this question? The price is the same as for the "real" Maytag and it has the Maytag name. Maybe other manufacturers do this same thing. I wanted to let people know - so maybe they will call the manufacturer and make sure before they buy. I don't think that things made now last as long - my Hotpoint dryer is very old (like from the 70's or earlier - the manual has a picture of a June Cleaver type person using the dryer) and we have replaced coils and belts a couple times in twelve years and it just keeps going and going and going. Bet you won't find that in a new dryer.

BTW Mom is going to ask for her money back - she feels cheated and rightly so

I didnt quite mean that.. i meant where I live, I'm not aware of anyone who has a min wage job qualifies for welfare. PA is a rough place to get welfare anymore. If on papaer I am poverty stricken and STILL make too much to qualify, I'd like to know HOW wal mart gets its employees welfare and they work?
hell, i dont even qualify for food stamps... I make too much money without a stedy job. fill me in on how wal mart working class people get welfare, thats pretty interesting.. and irritating.

income tax is volontary. ytou have to do a lot of fighting to prove that obvious fact to the govnt, but lots of people have and are "tax exempt". There is no law that says you must pay income tax, the IRS cant quote it to you because the law doesnt exsist. I have some web pages somewhere that outline the whole thing clearly.. I'll find them and post them for you. it can be done.

Comfortablynumb, I'd sure appreciate it if you take the time to post those links!

After being laid off for 4 months, while we eat beans and wear duct-taped shoes, Mike finally got some work this week. (union electrician) It was 12 hour overnight shifts, an hour away, in an unheated shut-down steel mill. He grossed $2900 and net $2050. ouch. income, fed, fica, union dues.... :no:

http://www.beatirs.org/1.htm

thats a pretty good one... I'll find you more.
its not easy but you CAN do it... its not a scam. It may be a real hassle to get done but for a lifetime of tax amnesty? well worth the fight. good luck.
ps dont buy thisa sites "package" info.. i'll get it for you free elsewhere and post it. this site offers a lot of good info to start looking stuff up, but yeah.. they are selling something. read and learn on that site, just dont buy nuttin

http://thorin.adnc.com/~hank14/2Index.html

a very good free information site with a ton of very very useful links;

go to this site (a link to it is on the last one I posted) and read it from introduction to the last page. It will give you a headache so get a drink handy. it gives you the papers the form numbers and anything else you need to know.

http://users.erols.com/scambos/contents.htm

Very interesting how W-M is getting their butt kicked in Germany. Seems mostly because of the fact Germans don't want cheap prices on junk and they protect the workers wages and working conditions.

Does Wally World sell junk?

I heard (haven't confirmed it), a famous brand name Blue Jean maker pressured by Wally World to reduce their prices decided to come out with Signature xxx Blue Jean. They reduced the thickness & quality of the fabric to reduce the price.

It is utter HOG WASH to suggest or imply there is only ONE LEVEL of quality in a company's product line. (speaking as a former electrician)... Walk into Lowes and just look at the product lines they carry of electrical panels. Square D has 2, Cutler Hammer has 2, look at the ratings of the breakers if you can't tell the difference between aluminum buss bars and copper buss bars (aluminum buss bars have a nasty habit of BURNING - I've replaced MANY of them in apartments).

As far as hand tools go, the same applies, there is a commercial quality and a home quality - problem is, most of what you see now days is home quality, because people don't want to spend the extra $$$ for commercial quality tools.

For those of you farmers, how long do you think it will be before Wally World begins importing beef by the train load from some foreign country instead of buying USA. If the customers demand cheaper prices for food, then why not start importing cheaper food from outside the USA? Labor prices are lower, less goverment regulations, no restrictions on the use of DDT and other banned chemicals - it'd be just like Mexico where they fertilize our lettuce by dumping raw sewage over them. With the few USDA inspectors to monitor what's going on, and Wally World's legal muscle - forget trying to sue them if you suddenly get ill, miss work or become disabled - nobody held a "gun to your head and forced you to shop at Wally World".

The bottom line is getting bigger and bigger. We buy 6-8 gallons of milk at a time, since we have 7 kids. Sams had the cheapest prices, even though the milk didn't taste that great. A year ago, I could buy it @ Sams for $2.15 a gallon, Kroger was $2.55 - that adds up, even though it wasn't the quality I wanted. My last two trips to Sams in Roanoke VA, I brought home 8 gallons of sour milk. Milk does not sour in 1 hour, packed with frozen veggies in one of their freezer bags, I'm sorry. The price was curiously going up. I also notice the price of the cheap flour jumped in price seemingly overnight... same with sugar, cheeses - everything in the Roanoke Sams jumped in price. The Lynchburg Sams was also rising in prices rather rapidly, after being so stable for years. My monthly shopping trip of $483. was now about $552. Taking a trip to Wally World wasn't worth the trouble & expense unless I HAD to go to Lynchburg for some other reason.
I [I] really like [I/] Kroger cottage cheese & milk - it tastes pretty good... not the best, but better than anything else I've tried. The cheeses suck, to which we'll go direct to the factory in Arena, WI or places. Same with brats (Usingners & Klements).

Sams once catered to wholesale customers, the sizes / prices of the cans of food, types of materials sold clearly reflected the target customer. The packages are shrinking, the shopping carts are taking over the flat bed carts. Why is a wholesale club (doubt they refer to themselves as 'wholesale' anymore) selling "household quality" Washing machines, Dryers, stoves, mattresses, DVDs, Video tapes, TVs, Stereos, books, dog & cat food, etc., and single serving canned food? There's just a handful of commercial type products left in Sams (napkins, TP). Market driven... I suppose... cheap junk, like the Fathom Tornado Vacuum we bought for @ Wally World & didn't last 2 years.

People have suggested Wally World employs predatory practices, low-balling the competition in pricing to drive the competition out of business and then jacking up prices when they have a near monoply. Well, DUD! For those of you that are addicted to Wally World & Sams - if you were in business, wouldn't you do the same if you had the opportunity? Eliminate the competition and then charge as much as the market could bear? Screw everybody else mentality. "Let somebody else shop the mom & pop stores, I don't give a ####!" It begs the question - how well do you know your neighbors? Unfortunately for them, selfish people usually die alone in their poverty of self.

I can't understand how a real survivalist or homesteader or anti-establishment or anti-IRS type would willingly walk into a place that so closely resembles the 'enemy' and lay down their cash so willingly. :haha: Time to change the tin foil in the hat!

Bil

PS - I write this in much frustration, I need to keep my own costs under control, but I want a future for my own kids - besides working at Wally World.

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Bill

I don't think I ever suggested that all major manufacturers carry the exact same level of quality in all models. What I do say is that you buy a model 123a Black and Decker drill at Wallyworld, and go find the same model 123a drill at Lowe's, your neighborhood hardware store, or ANY store, the quality will be the same, no matter who is selling it. Wallyworld, probably more than any other retailer, will get their own models to promote at cheaper prices. They usually have fewer features - such as an iron with fewer settings, no water-view window, etc. But if they are made by a national brand, they are not necessarily junk made of crappy materials and parts as opposed to their other lines. NO manufacturer who has a good reputation wants to start building pure junk just to satisfy a retailer. And even wallyworld does not want a huge ratio of returned defective merchandise.

The brand name of jeans you are talking about is Levi's. Yes, they did announce in a press release that they are selling special label jeans through Wallyworld. And yes, they are more cheaply made. But you won't find those exact same labels in a high priced store, or anywhere else for that matter.

And if you don't want your child's future to be limited to working at wallyworld, make sure they get an education. Doesn't have to be college. The days are gone when good "jobs" come along to those who are essentially unskilled, or are educated in a field with little future.

"People have suggested Wally World employs predatory practices, low-balling the competition in pricing to drive the competition out of business and then jacking up prices when they have a near monoply. Well, DUD! For those of you that are addicted to Wally World & Sams - if you were in business, wouldn't you do the same if you had the opportunity?"

Actually you wouldn't do the same if you were in business, this is the reason that small business cannot compete with Wal-Mart.

We home school and believe apprenticeships with tech schools are the best way to go.

What effect is this going to have on the Levi's brand name? I guess they believe it's the way to go, but thanks for the warning, when we're looking for good work jeans, we'll skip Wally World. Steve, my point is the commercial quality tool production is becoming extinct. Sorry if my last post was a little muddled, nothing personal, it just made a good example. What looks like a good deal in the long run probably isn't. What does a guy do when he can't find a Sawsall that can't handle cutting 30 pipes? Buy another one? I've burnt up 2 of them, a red one and a blue one, both made in Japan, one even has an American label, made in Brookfield WI.

Our company used it's buying power to purchase a bunch of those big yellow cordless drills. One 4' drop and the case is cracked - junk. Several are now parts, bad triggers, burnt motors, stuck chucks. We could go on and on. We useto call it "Jap Junk", I guess you could call it, "fragil as china" now. Something's wrong with this picture.

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WASHINGTON — Laid-off factory worker Ruth Schumacher rises before the sun most days and earns $7 per hour tending the breakfast bar at a Holiday Inn in Celina, Ohio. ..........

“They’ve got real good bargains,” she said of Wal-Mart, echoing a generation of thrifty shoppers.

Never mind that Wal-Mart is a major reason Schumacher no longer has a $12-per-hour job at Huffy Corp.’s bicycle plant. Five years ago, Wal-Mart pressured Huffy to lower the cost of its bikes, so Huffy closed its Celina plant. Schumacher’s job and the job her husband held at Huffy eventually ended up in China.
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How can anybody read the above and not say, "Is she STUPID OR WHAT???" Maybe her husband is still assembling huffy bicycles - at Wally World, for $5 an hour.

Bill

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Bill

I didnt say the same model #'s were being used... I said an almost identical item was also being sold cheaper. sometimes the numbers are off by only a few, like model 123a1 and model 123a2. I know you have notice this. ones half the price with less aceessories but looks identical to the HI-Q one. just last night I stopped into wally and was looking at the air tools... an air rachet. one was in a larger box, in a plastic cage, one was in a smaller box with a plastic bag wrap. one was 39 bucks... one was 24. they looked exactly the same, but on very close inspection the numbers were different. I ask one of wallys professional elves what the deal was. he didnt know, it puzzled him also.
the pin on the air trigger on the cheaper one was plastic, the pin on the expensive one was steel, and the parts were just a wee but loose on the cheaper one where the higher priced one was tight and stiff.

i suspect its an industry dirty secret. I didnt buy either one, I'll go special order the pro grade one at the local mom and pop hardware store.
people dont look at stuff, to much hurry.