[Robbb]

Originally Posted by huge-pigeons

The OP doesn’t understand inflation nor the true cost of running a business. In 3 years, everything is way up in cost. The cost to hire people with no experience or the cost to hire people for a menial job, is way up, the cost of water, electricity, insurance, and rent, have gone up. It’s not greed, it’s the current situation.
The people that really feel it are people on a fixed income.

Over the past 3 years the CPI has gone up app, 20%.

[jimbomaybe]

Originally Posted by golfing eagles

And that worker is responsible for doing his one little job, while the CEO is responsible for tens of thousands of jobs and billions of dollars. Yeah, sure, there shouldn't be a disparity in pay

A disparity in pay is easy to see, a disparity in ability and knowledge is often very difficult to determine, the CEO can and does make the difference between the success and failure of a business, to be sure stockholders and board of directors can be fooled but a huge amount pivots on the person at the top making difficult decisions

[OrangeBlossomBaby]

Originally Posted by dougjb

All too often now, a business, when questioned about why their prices have gone up, will claim it is because help is getting more expensive. That is a convenient rubrick that just does not hold water.

In the past, businesses would claim they increased prices or decided not to provide a particular service because of the lawyers, or because of insurance. Again, that was and is nonsense.

We live in a free enterprise society. Businesses must adjust their prices and services accordingly. No excuse is necessary for me!

Simply put, since we live in a free enterprise society, I am also free just to walk away from doing business with a business whose services or prices no longer align with my interests. If others follow me and the business fails, I really do not feel anything. To my mind, it is simply that the affected business was unable to manage their business plan appropriately.

There is always another car wash. There is always another business that meets my needs.

I've introduced the hose to a bucket, and it turns out they got along great. So now I have a happy family of hose, bucket, soap, sponge, and several rags and dry towels. The black sheep of the family is a spray bottle with mostly water, a half cup of vinegar, and a few drops of dawn dish detergent. That's for the acrylic windows on the golf cart.

[jimbomaybe]

Originally Posted by OrangeBlossomBaby

I've introduced the hose to a bucket, and it turns out they got along great. So now I have a happy family of hose, bucket, soap, sponge, and several rags and dry towels. The black sheep of the family is a spray bottle with mostly water, a half cup of vinegar, and a few drops of dawn dish detergent. That's for the acrylic windows on the golf cart.

Good for you ,do it yourself and do it right,, or at least make it easy to find the culprit

[Pugchief]

Originally Posted by bowlingal

businesses are taking advantage.....ALL businesses. covid, supply chain issues, ( all now 4 years old), minimum wage increases, all contribute to the inflation, high prices we are now in. Everyone is still using these excuses....4 YEARS LATER!

The increase in costs that inflation over the last 4 years has caused have not magically been wiped out. Almost no one is gouging, but that's what "they" want you to believe, bc it sounds better than "sorry, but boy oh boy did we screw up the economy with our poor decisions." LOL

[Pugchief]

Originally Posted by Ptmcbriz

They became greedy when everyone else was being greedy. People will pay for it. Unemployment at record lows. Inflation has come way down since 4-5 years ago when Covid hit. Then it was supply chain problems. Now it’s greed because people have been paying the prices so why lower their prices? Only competition will lower prices on any given thing.

Again, business's costs have NOT gone down. They continue to go up at a fast pace. "They" want you to blame "evil greedy corporations", bc they don't want to take the blame.

[Pugchief]

Originally Posted by Keefelane66

If you watch or listen to before The bell or Bloomberg Business its been reported on earning calls its blatant overcharging especially super markets nation wide.

That's what "they" want you to believe, but it's not true. See above

[Velvet]

Originally Posted by Rich42

Inflation has been raging beyond the typical norms for the last three years. It is significantly affecting virtually all Americans. While businesses need to increase prices to cover legitimate rising costs, too many are just taking advantage of the upward spiral in prices to gouge the consumer. I encountered the epitome of this trend in The Villages yesterday. I have patronized the “Village Car Wash” in the La Plaza Grande shopping center in Spanish Springs for over 10 years. Admittedly I had not been there in quite some time with covid and all, and the last time I was there was a couple of years ago. At that time the price of the cheapest basic car wash (they call it Bronze) was $14.95. Of interest, also note the prices of the various levels of service were prominently posted when you entered their property. To just digress for a moment, I pass their location several times a week and had been noticing the normal long waiting line of cars—regardless of time of year or time of day—has been absent. The place has always appeared to be a gold mine! Well, not so for the last few months. I don’t know exactly when they raised their prices, but the basic Bronze wash (again the cheapest option) was $34! I only found this out when I went inside to pay because their prices were no longer publicly posted. That is an increase from the relatively recent price of 127%!!! No way have their costs gone up anywhere near that. I now understand why there are no longer any lines of people waiting to get their cars washed, and I will certainly no longer be a customer. That is pure greed that should not be supported by the community.

Leave car out on driveway when it rains then towel off and you got in 10 minutes your “Bronze” service. I would not do this if the car was caked in mud, of course. Throw towel into washing machine. Another 10 minutes of Polish on a sponge cloth and you also have the car protected against lovebugs. I considered it as my exercise for the day…lol.

[Battlebasset]

There are things I pay people to do, because of the skill, tools, or time needed. Then there are things I can do myself.

Car washing is one of those things. I suppose if I wanted to make it easier, I could go to one of the wand carwash places, and put $5 in and spray it off. But $34 plus tip? Or even $20 plus tip. Nope.

[Velvet]

Originally Posted by retiredguy123

I have a different take on this topic. A business has the right to charge whatever they want for their product or service. That is capitalism. Price gouging only occurs when a business is taking advantage of people as a result of a special situation where the customer has no other choice but to pay an excessively high price for an essential product. Washing a car is not a special situation where price gouging applies. If you don't want to pay $34 for a car wash, then go somewhere else. But, it is not price gouging. The business has no obligation to charge based on their costs.

This is true, a business can charge any price they want. They just have to make sure that people are willing to pay it too. Supply and demand. The supply doesn’t matter if there is no demand.

[Velvet]

Originally Posted by OrangeBlossomBaby

Your mistake was getting all your groceries from Publix.

Most of what you got, you -probably- could've gotten at Walmart for much less. You can even get ground chuck cheaper by a couple dollars per pound at Fresh Market, if you go on Tuesdays.

You probably love their customer service, you enjoy knowing that an employee will walk your shopping cart to your car and load up the trunk for you. You probably like the layout, the lighting, their color scheme, and all the other psychological boosts you get from shopping there. They also have fresh-ish fish (it's not THAT fresh, it's just "not frozen") and they grind and cut their own beef on site. They also have excellent ice cream.

But you're paying a premium for all of that. I price it out regularly, because I'm on a budget. Other than things that I /can't/ get at Walmart, such as freshly ground beef or non-frozen fish, or really excellent subs - Walmart saves me anywhere between 20-60% of my grocery costs.

I shop at Publix when I need specialty stuff, like the Schweid's prime burgers or a sub, or bourbon salmon.

Yes, I could not believe that the same soy milk, for example, was twice the price at Publix than at the next door Walmart. My shopping at Publix has decreased logrithmically in a short amount of time. It’s just called getting value for your money.

[Velvet]

Originally Posted by Topspinmo

You pay for convenience at Publix. Some times not worth trouble to drive to Walmart. Then there ones that refuse to shop at Walmart. Good less people in my road…

My Walmart is pretty well next door to my Publix. And now we are getting a Costco . I like Publix, I just mostly stopped shopping there.

[retiredguy123]

Originally Posted by Velvet

My Walmart is pretty well next door to my Publix. And now we are getting a Costco . I like Publix, I just mostly stopped shopping there.

I tried to use Walmart to save $4 on roasted chickens. Then, I found out that at least half of the time I went to Walmart, they didn't have any chickens. Product availability was seriously lacking at Walmart, and the checkout line was ridiculous. Now, I do most of my grocery shopping at Publix, but I can afford it. I do take advantage of the Publix BOGOs that come out on Saturday. You can almost always get half price on ice cream, coffee, cheese, and other products. I buy a lot of non-perishable products from Amazon. Paper towels, toilet paper, shampoo, soap, batteries, beverages, cleaning products, napkins, vitamins, medicine, etc. Cheaper and more convenient.

By the way, I just received 14 bars of Dove bar soap from Amazon that I ordered yesterday. $1.15 per bar. The Walmart price was $1.50 per bar.

[Rainger99]

I was in a bakery two years and took this photograph. It explains why prices have gone up. And for those who claim that inflation is down since then, that is wrong. Inflation has not gone down. Prices just aren't going up as fast as they were back then.

[Bill14564]

Originally Posted by Rainger99

I was in a bakery two years and took this photograph. It explains why prices have gone up. And for those who claim that inflation is down since then, that is wrong. Inflation has not gone down. Prices just aren't going up as fast as they were back then.

Isn’t that the definition of inflation having gone down? If inflation had remained the same then prices would have continued to go up as fast as they were back then.