Originally Posted By: Hootbro
Wal-Mart does not do "loss leaders". It either makes money or it is gone. Everything in Wal-Mart has to earn it's keep on the shelf
I'm not so sure. I've worked in retail for a lot of years, and I know that bulk buying power can work amazing results. It cannot, however, work miracles. I suppose it's possible, but I have reasons to believe otherwise, particularly because their regular prices get spanked by even small parts stores and their quart discounts are never as deep as the much more logistically friendly larger bottles and nowhere near as cheap as sales at small parts stores, leading me to believe WM is subsidizing their sales with their regular prices, and their jug sales with their quart prices. I could very easily be mistaken, however.
In any event, however, my point still stands. Motor oil doesn't have the markup of a lot of retail products we see out there. Rolex watches are the classic example. Real or genuine, they're small and easy to transport and have large markup.
Originally Posted By: SilverC6
Normal mark up at the jewelry store is about 40%....
But you can buy Rolexes all day in New York City for $50 each.
Yep, that was my point. For someone to sell a counterfeit 5 quart jug of PYB, it would have to be at less than half of Walmart's best recent price of $11.88. And people would be suspicious, like they would of the $50 Rolex. If a $50 Rolex keeps good time, I could live with it, even if it's a bit tacky. If the counterfeit oil is not actually able to meet SN/GF-5 standards, I wouldn't go near it.
