Dave
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"It's tough to make predictions, especially about the future." Yogi Berra
Posts: 4,091
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Post by Dave on Oct 15, 2020 2:02:22 GMT -8
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Dave
Member
"It's tough to make predictions, especially about the future." Yogi Berra
Posts: 4,091
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Post by Dave on Oct 15, 2020 2:10:21 GMT -8
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Dave
Member
"It's tough to make predictions, especially about the future." Yogi Berra
Posts: 4,091
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Post by Dave on Oct 15, 2020 2:14:10 GMT -8
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Dave
Member
"It's tough to make predictions, especially about the future." Yogi Berra
Posts: 4,091
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Post by Dave on Oct 15, 2020 2:17:56 GMT -8
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Post by aaplcrazie on Oct 15, 2020 8:20:32 GMT -8
Taiwanese iPhone 12 Pre-Orders Sold Out in 45 Minutes
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4aapl
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Post by 4aapl on Oct 15, 2020 9:21:37 GMT -8
It's interesting to see how different companies deal with things. I just watched the eBay CEO talking about how they have been moving forward on segments, like authenticating watches over a certain value, and their plan to do that on all "sneakers" over $100. At the same time, he mentioned the off-market stuff, like out of season or last year's style stuff. That makes perfect sense, especially with specific colors or sizes, where you want a big number of consumers to be able to pick the specific one they want. Being a former collegiate competitive runner, I got used to good Asics running shoes, and even moved up to the high end Kayano when the program footed half the bill and I got a discount. These days an injury flares up if I run seriously, so I don't, but I still pick an Asics over any others. Now with 2 of the kids up to adult sized shoes, and wanting them to last, it's nice to know where I can find a good quality shoe for a decent price. For a few years a trick was getting last year's color at the local chain sports store. They seemed to always have the $80 shoe for $40, if you looked at the old color up high above your head. With it's demise, in the last couple years we found that Burlington often had ones online, getting a $50-$80 shoe for $30. But Burlington has decided to go the other way. They, for whatever reason, decided to drop their online store, first during Covid lockdowns, but now apparently permanently. www.burlington.com/online-shoppingThis just seems the opposite of logic. Thinking of the Columbia outlet, looking over a clearance rack (that was one of the few things that was actually a deal), you'd come across things that looked nice but were the wrong size, or the wrong color. That's why all of this random stuff is put together on a rack in the back. Some of it is pretty cool, including certain pieces that were just one-off samples. But, how much traffic does that particular (Vacaville) store get? Sierra Trading Post seems to do it well, having a few stores that in a way are glorified warehouses. It's one thing for a fairly standard sized sleeping bag, but for something much more variable in it's fit based on company sizing, it's nice to be able to order a few but know that local returns are easy. Conversely, if I needed a tent today, I'd know I could go down there and get one. In most cases Apple doesn't have this problem, only selling a limited number of configurations. They do hit this with the rebuilt stuff, but by keeping that mainly on their website, they can broadcast it to a lot of customers. And the differences that do exist often aren't show stoppers, with a BTO system with double the ram being much less obscure than a 27/39 set of lined jeans. As I've said before, and yet have never seen elsewhere, Apple has some interesting things up its sleeve including times where it ships before you order it. Back 14-15 years ago, we had a few orders of standard builds where we would order something, and then get the Fedex notice that it had been picked up 12-24 hours earlier. They'd just add the final delivery address to it once it was already at the sorting facility. Apple's recent push of letting you know that a config you are ordering is available for pickup at your local store is great too, but now they are going a step further and being able to ship it from that store. Distributed warehousing using what they already have! Way to go Apple! But Burlington? Even with a decent collection of size 12 and 13 shoes in the local store, I'd rather you shipped me a few, especially as 12.5 fits just a touch better. And no, I don't want the size 15 yellow hi-tops. (OTOH, there is this tracking Amazon returns, and pointing to 30-40% returns from online purchases, vs less than 10% brick-and-mortor. www.cbc.ca/news/canada/marketplace-amazon-returns-1.5753714?utm_source=pocket-newtab I guess it depends on how you track it and look at it. We do buy some things, like the ski boots and kids shoes and clothes, online in multiple sizes so we can get the right fit and return the others, which would skew the numbers up. But in those cases the condition is perfect and they would be resold, especially since we are returning in person (so no chance it could get messes up in the mail). Living further from most big-box stores (30-45 minutes to Home Depot or Costco) we do sometimes buy a little more knowing we can return it. With Hope Depot you might need an extra pack of tiles, whether some are broken or the coloring isn't right or you make some bad cuts. With Costco, on so many items but especially on seasonal ones, you just never know if they will have it the next time you go. I'm sure there's a happy medium in there somewhere, and it varies based on the product. I had no idea the figures were so much higher for online sales. But even though some of our purchasing skews that number for us, none of our purchases from Amazon last night are expected to be returned unless they are broken)
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4aapl
Moderator
Posts: 3,622
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Post by 4aapl on Oct 15, 2020 10:06:48 GMT -8
Barron's has "Options Activity Indicates Big Investors Have Become More Cautious" www.barrons.com/articles/options-activity-indicates-big-investors-have-become-more-cautious-51602771983I imagine XOM didn't have the most options activity when it was the market cap leader, but that any of the other popular but yet not quite considered traditional big business type places, like AMZN, NFLX and possibly GOOG, would have lots of options trading for their size. I'm liking the iPhone sell-out news, though of course it can still be spun a variety of ways. "Obscure chip production affects iPhone supplies" "Apple misses on product mix" "Pandemic cuts off shipping deliveries" The more bearish are likely to just skip over it, but let's see what creative writing comes of it.
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Post by artman1033 on Oct 15, 2020 10:20:29 GMT -8
FWIW: I am simply amazed is doing SO WELL in this COVID-19. In the past, my visits to the showrooms were always POSITIVE! I looked forward to the visits. My last visit to the EDINA (Every Day I Need Attention) Southdale (the first enclosed shopping center in the world- 1956) store was the WORST
RETAIL EXPERIENCE
OF MY LIFE! Imagine if robots ran the store. more to follow............
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Post by duckpins on Oct 15, 2020 10:53:22 GMT -8
"Sierra Trading Post seems to do it well," They offered the best bargains for years with 40% off coupons. Corporate america swooped in and they are just TJmax or marshalls online. A real shame, like Zappos they were great for a while, then mother buys them back and suffocates them.
Asics gel kinses 5's are the best fitting and most comfortable walking jogging shoes I ever owned, I religiously bought the size 11's on eBay for a while and hoarded them. I can sell them now for twice what I paid at least. The Gel Quantum 360's are excellent as well. The new Gel Kinsei supermodel is not quite as comfortable as the 5 for me. But Asics was a great company. I noticed their clothes that are half price on their web site used to be a deal but now fit awkwardly. I had to scratch them off my buy list like Sierra TP.
But in those cases the condition is perfect and they would be resold, " In CA it is illegal to resell sold items as new, hence Apple's large collection of "open box" or "refurbished" items. Many companies ignore the law of course, especially eBay.
The Jordan tennis shoes on eBay are hilarious. There are about 7000 pairs for sale. I have a friend who sells them and he gets them "authenticated" so they are worth "more". Who authenticates the authenticators?
Online is taking over but eventually the states will figure it out and make them pay more tax to balance out the lost tax revenue from local stores.
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4aapl
Moderator
Posts: 3,622
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Post by 4aapl on Oct 15, 2020 11:10:45 GMT -8
Online is taking over but eventually the states will figure it out and make them pay more tax to balance out the lost tax revenue from local stores. The easy solution is to have all online sales going to out-of-state locations have a set sales tax, like 7%. There might still be a small discount compared to your hometown sales tax, but it would nearly level the playing field. In-state could choose to use a set rate or by jurisdiction, while in the handful of no-sales-tax states (ie Oregon) they could still have no sales tax for in state shipping. Yep, Sierra Trading Post changed a lot. One week you knew you were missing out if you didn't use a coupon worth at least 25% off, and then the coupons just stopped. But I remember back when they had a small dimension black and while catalog, and I think we ordered my wife's convertible sleeping bag from that. Times change. Some are temporary, like Winco shutting down nearly all of their bulk bins. Others are more permanent. The good businesses, like Apple, adapt. And sometimes they even lead the pack.
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