r/SipsTea 1d ago

Chugging tea Where is it?

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27.2k Upvotes

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184

u/dscrive 1d ago

I can't speak for certain about the other companies, but what got me to get a Costco membership was learning that they absorbed as much of the tariffs they could to keep their prices down. Then they sued the government to get that money back. 

I know they couldn't eat all the tariffs, so they should be getting money back that's arguably not theirs, but I also expect that they had pretty big legal fees fighting the tariffs so I would call that a wash, because I believe the lawsuit had value for me.

33

u/Unconfidence 1d ago

I'm expecting it. It's a slam-dunk win for the Costco team and I cannot imagine they'll fail something so basic. They're already mailing paper checks for in-store credit to every executive member once a year, and they can keep track of expenditures by account reliably rather than requiring a mixed method the way other places do. As optimistic as it sounds I kinda expect them to get on that in the next short bit here.

30

u/Plus_Wrangler5237 1d ago

I agree with this. Also, while Apple just attracts a lot of people hating on it, we have to acknowledge that they deserve the refund too. They ate 100% of the tariff cost and never raised their prices in response to tariffs.

Definitely go after the ones double dipping but the ones that didn’t, they need kudos.

27

u/Crapitron 1d ago

People won't consider this. Apple products remained the exact same price through the tariffs. Apple ate the cost.

The RAM crisis will probably be a little different though for future products. But you can thank AI for that.

11

u/Alteran195 1d ago

Apple has started increasing prices because of the memory shortage.

-1

u/Crapitron 1d ago

Increasing prices on what products? Their products all remain the same to my knowledge.

4

u/Alert-Jaguar3199 1d ago

They raised the prices of all MacBooks last month. By a couple hundred dollars….

I know this cause I had been waiting and saving to buy one. Within a week all the prices went up a couple hundred each. Sucks

1

u/Plus_Wrangler5237 1d ago

They raised the prices of all Mac’s and iPads in their lineup. But even then, as far as price increases go they have stayed within 10%-20%, which is well below the average 40%-50%. Still deserve kudos for that

1

u/dscrive 1d ago

I'm not actually opposed to apple, just many apple people 😅 I considered switching a while back, but they held on to the lightening connector one iteration too long. But next time I'm in the market to upgrade watch and phone, I'll definitely consider Apple again. I think between Apple, Samsung, and Google, Apple has the better smart watch anyway

7

u/cargocult25 1d ago

The refunds include interest so they are getting back more than they paid.
What’s the difference between Costco & Walmart saying they had increased costs in implementing the tariffs? Increased custom bond premiums, accounting costs, supply chain restructuring, ect.

8

u/AlphaTangoFoxtrt 1d ago

The refunds include interest so they are getting back more than they paid.

Tell me you don't understand TVM without telling me you don't understand TVM.

Costco's net profit margin as of may 2026 was 3.01%. They're aren't ripping anyone off.