I was sitting here reading other posts and thought to myself I wonder how much The Dollar Tree and $.99 pay for the items that we pay $1.00 for. When I am having happy $1 fever I go to the Dollar Tree and get all of the seasonal items. The best time is Christmas and Summer. At Christmas you can buy everyone in the family a gift and still have change, and in the summer you can get all the kids water play toys and party supplies for little or nothing. You can even buy food and snacks for the kids when money is tight I watched the documentary of the couple that owns Everything $.99 and they started out doing garage sales and figured out they were on to something. Genius idea! So if we are payin $.99 or $1.00, how much do you think they are paying. Are we being ripped off even at $1.00 should it be called the .50 cents store.
Well, I don't think they'd make much of a profit if they changed everything to 50 cents. But they probably get these items for anywhere from 10 cents to 25 cents. What I wonder is how anyone on Amazon can make money selling books for a penny! Can someone explain that one to me?
I have wondered the same thing. I love Dollar Tree for party supplies and school posters and teaching decor. I know most of their items, though, are not made to last too long, so I am sure the items can't cost too much to make. I might lose my infatuation with DT if I we to find out they made a $0.90 profit on all the items I purchase.
I don't think we're being "ripped off," no. After all, they pay for the stock.... but they also have to pay for their electricity, building rent, all the staff from cashiers and stockers to managers and janitors, etc. And somehow they have to still make a profit on top of that. The reason they can get the stuff so cheap is because they buy it in such huge quantities, too.
The stores buy in very large bulk at less than we pay, otherwise they would be out of business. I am fine with paying $1.00 for an item, that would cost possibly $3.00 somewhere else. I hope they stay around for a long time.
It's volume that gets them the best prices. They can buy in huge quantities at a time, because they have a big network of stores to supply. And all the stores are busy all day, every day, so they move the stock quickly. Also, I've noticed they sell a lot of short dated food, which they'll get for the lowest price, given their buying power. I really don't care what they pay, because the range of stuff you can buy at half normal price or even less is staggering. All I care about is the amount of money they're saving me, not the amount they're making.
Thank you for the replies. Buying in bulk is the way to go for Dollar Trees and the everyday person. After writing this post I started searching online for items that can be bought in bulk. I realized that buying items such as diapers,wipes,toilet paper,and laundry soap in bulk will save me tons of money each month. I placed a small order for diapers from over seas. If the quality is good then I will post the link for vendors.
I'm sure the store owners are making good money especially since they pay cheap and everyone's struggling trying to cut corners and shop cheap these days. That couple you mentioned that use garage sales to sell their cheap items have a good idea. It doesn't bother me because in the end I'm still saving money at the 99 cents store as opposed to shopping at a big retail chain.
I'm sure they are making good money. They should be isn't that why they went into business? And I'm ok with that! I hope they make as much money as they can, so they stay in business. Bottom line, compared to other store prices they save me money. That's what I care about, saving me money!
I have never thought about how much they pay for items, but I like the fact that everything is one dollar. I buy most of my household items from Dollar Tree and other 99 cents stores.
Those book sellers make profit on the shipping charges. They also probably pay next to nothing for the books they sell. The public library has some great books that would do well on Amazon for only 25 cents. I was thinking of selling on Amazon, but I don't want to spend time at the Post Office.
True. It doesn't really cost $4.00 to mail a book. They probably get the $1.10 book rate at the post office and pocket whatever's left over. I don't blame them for trying to make a buck. I just don't think it's necessary to pretend to charge a penny. I wouldn't be mad if they sold the book at the real price.
They sell a lot and have many stores with plenty of customers. Making probably about 10-15 cent profit on every sale after paying their workers and the bills. I'm sure they get paid to advertise some things too. They do add up you know
Like what many above have mentioned, I do believe that how these value shops survive selling their goods at such low prices is simply because the amount they pay for their stock is much lower than their retail price of a dollar, possibly in the range of 20 to 40 cents at most. They are able to achieve this due to a few factors such as importing their goods directly from factories manufacturing them as opposed to getting them through a local dealer, buying in huge quantities at a time and buying stock that is closer to their date of expiration. They are able to cope with stock of such volume and quality simply because the movement of their goods to their huge network of shops is rapid and by regularly purchasing goods from the manufacturers in bulk, they are sure to enjoy even larger savings and all these measures equate to profits for them. Deducting wages and operations cost, I'm sure the owners of these shops would still be enjoying a big fat bank account.
I love the Dollar Tree, but hate most of the other dollar stores. This one has the best stuff and the best quality. I love when they get yarns and overruns of hard cover books.
Never thought of it before but your question sounds like something I would have thought and wondered about, too. I have to agree with Jessi, even though they get items for really cheap, they do have overhead to deal with.
They probably do pay a small amount but then again they do buy items in bulk. However if they sold items any cheaper they wouldn't make a profit off of what they sell.
I don't think we are being ripped off they have to make their profit and after all a dollar isn't bad at all
I finally made it to my local Dollar Tree. It definitely lived up to the hype. It's been years since I walked into a dollar store where everything literally cost $1. I had a blast and found some useful stuff. I'd definitely go again.
They buy in huge bulk and in order for them to make money, they have to sell high quantity of products.
