Home Depot too. When you call Weber about a part for a grill, the first question they ask is if you bought it at HD or not.
It also makes it easier for them to reject price matches, the part numbers won't match another major vendor.
Amazon. Legit manufacturers and sellers. Are there two+ versions of "soft" products?
- Thread starter Pablo
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Home Depot too. When you call Weber about a part for a grill, the first question they ask is if you bought it at HD or not.
It also makes it easier for them to reject price matches, the part numbers won't match another major vendor.
I’m bound to notice it with soap more than Shampoo. Dove liquid soap just as an example. All labels exactly the same. Sometimes the volume in the container will vary 14 v 16 oz maybe- the smell, the apparent viscosity, the color the feel and action very different- if that is batch difference wow. If they changed formula- it is possible but 3 repeats side by side over a couple years, HmmMeh. Shampoo is shampoo.
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I wish. Not even a kid one. Can't you see from my avatar how hairy I am ?!?
I was in charge of everything with a plug in the company. Mostly dozens and dozens of ladies working on Macs, expecting a 600mb file opened on the network two weeks ago to stick. And that was 20 years ago.
A customer of mine was in the business of making electric candles. He came up with a novel idea and it caught on. HD approached him and asked him to make a batch for them. It had to be to a certain price point they said. They didn't care what he had to do internally so as long as it looked the same.
BTW I quit buying Special Buy items from HD. Every time I bought one it turned out long term to be inferior quality.
BTW I quit buying Special Buy items from HD. Every time I bought one it turned out long term to be inferior quality.
Yes, this is big among big box retailers. Same product with a twist so you cant price match.
Perfect example.
We are buying our daughter a new refrigerator for the house she just bought. LG side by side.
Home Depot is on sale big time against Lowes also on sale. SAME refrigerator HOWEVER with a slight difference.
Loews is $100 more than Home Depot and the Home Depot one has two ice makers to the Lowes one icemaker. Completely unnoticeable unless you noticed the Lowes only had one. Makes the HP deal better.
Also buying a direct from Sony (most likely), however Best Buy, Walmart and Amazon are selling the same sale price and same model number. No difference as far as I can tell.
Sony 65 Inch 4K Ultra HD TV X90L
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My first step is never buy supplements from Amazon which I already decided awhile ago
or CVS brand I made the CVS mistake ordered through at the time last years Aetna plan. The label on the multi vitamin bottle doest match up with the online version list *LOL* The bottle I have doesnt mention the extra minerals that the online ad says *LOL* I was like what the heck! Never again. Didnt return just mixed them in with others that I have.
I also notice recently that name brand Centrum 50+ for woman has more minerals (like Iron) than the generics. I do buy generics if the label shows the same and only lately have seen some differences in what I was looking for, my wife was Iron in this case. In my case a respectable amount of Magnesium which Walmart equate does and I think some of the major brands but not all. I was surprised at the recent Centrum Discovery for my wife though.
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It all depends on whether you trust the brand. They could start with something very high quality, get a lot of good reviews, and then cut corner and sell you something completely different. This happens to a lot of Chinese brands out there when people say they order 1 year apart and get something completely different with the same packaging.
I'd buy shampoo at Costco, but the 5 gallon pail doesn't fit on the shelf in the shower.
Ummm, "volume". Walmart has more than double the sales revenue of Target + Kroger + and add'l retailers combined !
Why would they do that to their "name" or reputation ? Some people might only buy a product from Amazon, it's poor quality, and they leave bad reviews, bad mouth it to people online, and so on.
Unsure- but the Amazon products are just good enough but they are different
Compare the SKUs between the versions sold on Amazon vs other retailers. Anyone that suggests the same SKU is secretly a different item is a fool. Just think about that from the manufacturer's side.
So how exactly do you account for the difference?
I will say I have not actually compared SKU's - I bet they are different SKU's so point taken- because the container sizes and shapes are different, . The point is the product name and labeling and ingredient list are exactly the same.
Companies sometimes do odd things, from a consumer perspective. Here's a silly example: wife buys these sink strainers, sinkshrooms or tubshrooms I think the company is called. She buys the kitchen type from Amazon. They have a rubber stem that fails, the Amazon reviews reflect this. You cannot buy these hollow stem units on Amazon, but you can buy them directly from Tubshroom. These replacement stems are a different more durable rubber than the Amazon version. Now I realize this could be a inventory clearing issue or a local assembler supplier decision, etc, but it's been this way for a year or two. Tubshroom seems to have made a business decision to continue with the cheapie stems in the assembled product.
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Anyone who thinks the SKUs will be 100% identical is a fool.
They'll be identical to a point, then carry some minor differences which the manufacturer can excuse by any BS under the Sun - retailer specific, batch specific, rebate specific, etc, etc. Then they can make any change they want.
It could be also absolutely benign, like - in cosmetics - a soap or shampoo being adjusted for local water properties or whatever. Or local distributor having requested a change.
Have that thing land om Amazon and end in a different potato belt, and differences can pop.
How do they track or trace issues, if any come up ? Sure, there can be manufacturing variances or some variation across batches but their specs will also allow some variation. Batch "a" and batch "b" can be slightly different, but if they're within spec, they're good to go.
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I think it's been forever and a day, that the Ariens one buys at a garden center store, is not the same, as an Ariens purchased at The Home Depot. imho the allure of the big box stores is easy financing. If the price were the same, or the products the same, why not buy it at a garden center store? I just did a 20 lb propane fill for $7.50 at the Ace on Saturday. Love to see The Home Depot come close.
p.s. not sure what changed, but I watched the meter and the kid put 4.7 gal in. Also true fall 2024. A couple years ago I weighed at home and it was only 17 lbs net, and then I googled and that was common practice to short change the customer. I never complained since it's only at the time $9.
When I was looking for a new walk-behind mower, I had pretty much settled on a Honda. Home Depot sells them as does the local farm equipment dealer in our town (their primary business is being a John Deere dealer). They were $100 higher for the same model and I asked them about that. They said it's simple - Home Depot sells 100x the number they sell (this dealer does have ~6-8 locations). I asked him about the internet claim that the ones at HD are cheaper versions and he said 1) they are the exact same and 2) why would Honda ruin their reputation ? He also pointed out that they are an authorized repair facility for Honda and smiled when he told me that I buy from them and need repair or maintenance, they will prioritize their customers over HD customers.
Speaking of mowers, either HD or Lowes sells JD zero-turns but they sell, let's just call them the "100-series". This dealer doesn't sell those - they start with the next better level. This way they don't have to compete on price on like products and can emphasize they sell the mid-grade or premium-grade models while the big-box sells the "low end". On the other hand, they probably don't get that many customers that compare prices and models since they're "a farm place".
Exactly why I said soft products. Those differences you point out SHOULD BE clear to consumers, and JD playing the name.When I was looking for a new walk-behind mower, I had pretty much settled on a Honda. Home Depot sells them as does the local farm equipment dealer in our town (their primary business is being a John Deere dealer). They were $100 higher for the same model and I asked them about that. They said it's simple - Home Depot sells 100x the number they sell (this dealer does have ~6-8 locations). I asked him about the internet claim that the ones at HD are cheaper versions and he said 1) they are the exact same and 2) why would Honda ruin their reputation ? He also pointed out that they are an authorized repair facility for Honda and smiled when he told me that I buy from them and need repair or maintenance, they will prioritize their customers over HD customers.
Speaking of mowers, either HD or Lowes sells JD zero-turns but they sell, let's just call them the "100-series". This dealer doesn't sell those - they start with the next better level. This way they don't have to compete on price on like products and can emphasize they sell the mid-grade or premium-grade models while the big-box sells the "low end". On the other hand, they probably don't get that many customers that compare prices and models since they're "a farm place".
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If the models are identical, I agree, well, they're the same. I purchased my Honda mower from The Home Depot. I wore a ski mask so no one would recognize me and on the way home I picked up a "Prairie Lawn and Garden of Edina" sticker to put on it so everyone would know I pay top dollar for the best stuff, and the places with the most expertise. j/kWhen I was looking for a new walk-behind mower, I had pretty much settled on a Honda. Home Depot sells them as does the local farm equipment dealer in our town (their primary business is being a John Deere dealer). They were $100 higher for the same model and I asked them about that. They said it's simple - Home Depot sells 100x the number they sell (this dealer does have ~6-8 locations). I asked him about the internet claim that the ones at HD are cheaper versions and he said 1) they are the exact same and 2) why would Honda ruin their reputation ? He also pointed out that they are an authorized repair facility for Honda and smiled when he told me that I buy from them and need repair or maintenance, they will prioritize their customers over HD customers.
Speaking of mowers, either HD or Lowes sells JD zero-turns but they sell, let's just call them the "100-series". This dealer doesn't sell those - they start with the next better level. This way they don't have to compete on price on like products and can emphasize they sell the mid-grade or premium-grade models while the big-box sells the "low end". On the other hand, they probably don't get that many customers that compare prices and models since they're "a farm place".
There are multiple lines so I would think, and I don't know from experience, never will since it doesn't snow any longer, that big box has classic and deluxe. I wouldn't think they carry platinum and professional. They might, times may have changed. I'll look this fall and winter for the heck of it.