. The US has been screwing around with a women’s rights amendment to our Constitution for over 100 years and we still can’t get that done
To be fair to the US the 50 states basically act like they are different countries instead of different states.
never spend a cent you don’t have to
This is a pretty common ethos in The Netherlands among other countries, but there is a rising trend in purchasing power and people (with or without a rise in purchasing power) are making more informed decisions and realise that often the mom and pop store option is cheaper in the long run. Heck we had a store (the Jumbo) which used to not have discounts, but saw less people buying from them that they changed it so now they are offering discounts again.
I see it a lot in the retro gaming community. In NL, a country the is 240 times smaller than the US, we have a lot more options to buy our games from. Heck I can find American limited releases easier in The Netherlands than in the US.
the US the 50 states basically act like they are different countries instead of different states.
There’s a lot of back and forth on that - through the last 50+ years the US federal government has done a lot to unify and centralize control. Visible things like the highway and air traffic systems, civil rights, federal funding of education and other programs which means the states either comply with federal “guidance” or they lose that (significant) money while still paying the same taxes…
making more informed decisions and realise that often the mom and pop store option is cheaper in the long run.
Informed, long run decisions don’t seem to be a common practice in the US, especially in rural areas.
we had a store (the Jumbo) which used to not have discounts, but saw less people buying from them that they changed it so now they are offering discounts again.
In order for that to happen the Jumbo needs competition. In rural US areas that doesn’t usually exist. There are examples of rural Florida WalMarts charging over double for products in their rural stores as compared to their stores in the cities 50 miles away - where they have competition. So, rural people have a choice: drive 100 miles for 50% off their purchases, or save the travel expense and get it at the local store. Transparently showing their strategy: the bigger ticket items that would be worth the trip into the city to save the margin are much closer in pricing.
retro gaming community
GameStop died here not long ago. I never saw the appeal in the first place: high prices to buy, insultingly low prices to sell, and they didn’t really support older consoles/platforms - focusing always on the newer ones.
I see it a lot in the retro gaming community. In NL, a country the is 240 times smaller than the US, we have a lot more options to buy our games from. Heck I can find American limited releases easier in The Netherlands than in the US.
There’s a lot of back and forth on that - through the last 50+ years the US federal government has done a lot to unify and centralize control. Visible things like the highway and air traffic systems, civil rights, federal funding of education and other programs which means the states either comply with federal “guidance” or they lose that (significant) money while still paying the same taxes…
Informed, long run decisions don’t seem to be a common practice in the US, especially in rural areas.
In order for that to happen the Jumbo needs competition. In rural US areas that doesn’t usually exist. There are examples of rural Florida WalMarts charging over double for products in their rural stores as compared to their stores in the cities 50 miles away - where they have competition. So, rural people have a choice: drive 100 miles for 50% off their purchases, or save the travel expense and get it at the local store. Transparently showing their strategy: the bigger ticket items that would be worth the trip into the city to save the margin are much closer in pricing.
GameStop died here not long ago. I never saw the appeal in the first place: high prices to buy, insultingly low prices to sell, and they didn’t really support older consoles/platforms - focusing always on the newer ones.