Walmart oil a cheaper version?

[Detroit_Doc]

I'm in an informal shooting club. 3 members bought 3 new handguns on the same day. All 3 had catostrophic failures on the same day. All 3 were shooting Winchester ammo purchased at walmart. The ammo was purchased from different stores at different times.

One of the handguns was a Kahr (an brand made in America). When the gun was returned they said that it failed in a "designed" manner to prevent injury to the shooter during an ammunition failure. They then asked the owner what kind of ammo he was shooting. When the owner told them it was standard Winchester ammo purchased at Walmart, the rep from Kahr told him that's what he figured. He said that Winchester outsources the manufacturing of ammo for walmart "overseas". He also said they see numerous problems with the "walmart ammo". Lastly he said both the company range and the local range have signs up prohibiting the use of winchester ammo purchased at walmart.

I know that walmart really pushes their suppliers to cut costs, but it blows my mind that two boxes of ammo that look identical, one from walmart and one from another retailer could be two completely different products.

That got me to start thinking about how cheap Penzoil Platinum is at Walmart. I have never seen anything other retailer come close to their $23/5 quart price. It makes me wonder if a "watered down" version of the oil.

 

[MG_Guy]

Wal-Mart has had trouble with various house-brand medications and inaccurate markings on insulin syringes. My opinion is that if you can't get it somewhere else then you don't need it.

 

[Johnny]

No, it is not. Shell only makes one grade of Platinum, or YB, or Rotella T, etc. The majors do not make a special version for Wal-Mart. The only thing special they do for Wal-Mart is make the 5-quart bottles.

 

[Detroit_Doc]

Having a different bottle for just one retailer implies there is a entirely different manufacturing line for that retailer. That implies it wouldn't be difficult to have a different additive package for that line or even a completely different oil formulation for that line.

Obviously it's being done for other products. I also recall hearing another story about a food product (pickles?), where the version at walmart, even though it looked identical to the packaging from other supermarkets, contained a lower grade of product to meet Walmart's required cost.

 

[aquariuscsm]

That also made me wonder why Walmart is the *only* place you can aquire Mobil 1 15W50 silver cap.

 

[peterdaniel]

do an OA on one from WalMart and one from a regular store.

 

[cp3]

That would be very interesting.

 

[sparkplug]

Not oil related but I'm on medication for high blood pressure.. at 23, horrible I know. But the medicine from [censored]-Hole gives me odd side effects as to CVS, Walgreens or Eckerd. I guess for $4 a bottle of pills you get some nice side effects too!

 

[jldcol]

I wonder is any comparison to say gasoline is of any use here. I live near a gas truck filling center and see all brands/names pull in and out and get essentially the same gas. Now the additives that get blended with it (maybe they are in the empty tank before they fill it) are different between brands, and are they way they distinguish themselves. If a small bottler/blender of motor oil buys the base oil on the market, they all get essentially the same thing and add whatever else they think is good to it. Then again the additive packs are made by only a few companys, and it's expensive to get those certified so I bet most efficent and cost effective to simply buy those allready tested, so most oils have really the same ingredients unless of the boutique type/high end stuff.

 

[Ausfahrt]

This probably has nothing to do with oil but when my wife was researching to buy a new sewing machine, she discovered that Singer sold a particular model at various retailers.
She discovered that the one at WAlMart had a a lower wattage motor that the same model at other stores.


This may or may not hold true with motor oil but it sure would be easy to put a lesser additive pack in batches made just for the 5 quart jugs.

I don't trust them.

 

[caveatipse]

Personally, I hate Wal-Mart, the destroyer of small-town America. I believe that the people who run Wal-Mart care only about greed and nothing else, and are willing to screw the consumer or do anything at any cost to make a buck. Moreover, their stores are filthy, their employees (not all I know, it is a generalization) know nothing about products and are lazy, and mots of what they sell is [censored]. I would not put it past them to be selling some really low-grade recycled oil in a bottle marked high-grade anything. Wal-Mart is low, very low.

 

[Nederlander75]

Mobil 1 has on their FAQ that their Walmart products are the same as non Walmart sold, no difference.

 

[jldcol]

Not to defend WM but I think to make a dollar they spend 98/99 cents, I guess that's economy of scale. Would you pay 300-500 dollars for a dvd player that costs 50 in WM to have it made in the USA? Would that 300-500 dvd player last the price difference? 6-10x as long? no it would not. I would say twice as long so instead of every 1-2 years of getting one at WM now get 2-4 years for the USA product. I could afford to buy once and hopefully not need the inevitably expensive repair. The consumers of America/the world decided that cheaper is better, at least to them right or wrongly.

 

[caveatipse]

Originally Posted By: jldcol
Not to defend WM but I think to make a dollar they spend 98/99 cents, I guess that's economy of scale. Would you pay 300-500 dollars for a dvd player that costs 50 in WM to have it made in the USA? Would that 300-500 dvd player last the price difference? 6-10x as long? no it would not. I would say twice as long so instead of every 1-2 years of getting one at WM now get 2-4 years for the USA product. I could afford to buy once and hopefully not need the inevitably expensive repair. The consumers of America/the world decided that cheaper is better, at least to them right or wrongly.


No you are right. I think I just have strong feelings about the philosophy of Wal-Mart. For what I call "big ticket items," like TVs or vacuum cleaners etc., I have to buy them from Wal-Mart or else Icould not afford them. But for anything else, I avoid Wal-Mart. I just do not like their strong-handed tactics against their suppliers, and what they have done to small businesses in America. Just my opinion though.

 

[JHZR2]

Take a look here:

http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=1356666&fpart=1

 

[JHZR2]

Originally Posted By: jldcol
Not to defend WM but I think to make a dollar they spend 98/99 cents, I guess that's economy of scale. Would you pay 300-500 dollars for a dvd player that costs 50 in WM to have it made in the USA? Would that 300-500 dvd player last the price difference? 6-10x as long? no it would not. I would say twice as long so instead of every 1-2 years of getting one at WM now get 2-4 years for the USA product. I could afford to buy once and hopefully not need the inevitably expensive repair. The consumers of America/the world decided that cheaper is better, at least to them right or wrongly.


Unfortunately I do not know that it works that way. Say what you want about companies making a profit, but for many, many items, the price difference between US-made and Chinese made goods is very small.

Pure profit? perhaps.

 

[SuperDave456]

I am pretty sure that it was Walmart, and their massive scale, that made oil companies start packaging their product in 5 quart jugs. Pretty much Walmart realized that the majority of ppl buy their oil 5 quarts at a time and Walmart TOLD the oil companies "Package it in jugs or we wont carry it." It saves space on their shelves as the bottles are taller, and it is easier to stock.

This is why you can go into Auto Zone and find bottles that say "Bring your used oil back to Walmart for Recycling". The bottling companies use the same lables regarless of the vendor.

Clothes washing detergent is the same way. Walmart TOLD THEM to make the extra concentrated versions in smaller bottles, that do the same number of laundry loads, to cut down on weight at the cost of shipping. Diesel is expensive when you are shipping to thousands of stores.

Having a heavily computerized and LARGE distribution center enables you to crunch numbers across many areas. This is where Walmart kills competitors. SCALE and the economy therein.

 

[tig1]

Originally Posted By: caveatipse
Personally, I hate Wal-Mart, the destroyer of small-town America. I believe that the people who run Wal-Mart care only about greed and nothing else, and are willing to screw the consumer or do anything at any cost to make a buck. Moreover, their stores are filthy, their employees (not all I know, it is a generalization) know nothing about products and are lazy, and mots of what they sell is [censored]. I would not put it past them to be selling some really low-grade recycled oil in a bottle marked high-grade anything. Wal-Mart is low, very low.






I under stand your feelings, but sometimes a small town WM actually brings business and customers into there town. Yes some small busness may not survive, but often new busness springs up. The nature of capitalism.

 

[RKBA]

Originally Posted By: caveatipse
Personally, I hate Wal-Mart, the destroyer of small-town America. I believe that the people who run Wal-Mart care only about greed and nothing else, and are willing to screw the consumer or do anything at any cost to make a buck. Moreover, their stores are filthy, their employees (not all I know, it is a generalization) know nothing about products and are lazy, and mots of what they sell is [censored]. I would not put it past them to be selling some really low-grade recycled oil in a bottle marked high-grade anything. Wal-Mart is low, very low.


I don't even know where to begin with this.

The so called "destroyer of small town America" is credited by several economists with holding inflation down at least a point or two all by itself. Typically a new Walmart store attracts thousands of applicants trying to fill several hundred positions. That's called job creation FWIW. Walmart has not become the world's #1 retailer by building stores in places where people don't shop in them.

If you don't like it, leverage your power as a consumer and shop elsewhere. Here's a little hint, nearly all retailers sell the same china made junk. Walmart just tends to sell it at a more acceptable price. So you can go elsewhere, but odds are good it's the same junk in a fancier box for more money.

Do you seriously believe that they have some nefarious recycled oil division that has the resources to improperly label Mobil 1 for some insignificant percentage of extra profit?

 

[chevrofreak]

Originally Posted By: Detroit_Doc

Having a different bottle for just one retailer implies there is a entirely different manufacturing line for that retailer.


No it doesn't. They usually use the same line, and do "runs" of certain sized, shaped, and labeled bottles using the same equipment.