Price gouging on Ft Myers beach

[Florida Paradise]

Same as renting winter vs. summer... "in season" vs. "out season"... I price my "winter' rental MUCH higher than the rest of the months. I don't think this is gouging... but necessary to make the entire investment year a success.
Just my insight to Walmart... I don't hate it becasue of the people who go there or the people who work there... but the people (executives) who raped all the "mom & pop" grocery stores...paint sotes...auto stores... appliance store... pharmacies...etc... If we could get rid of all these HUGE "box" stores, maybe we could get back to being business owners who can "cut it" and turn a profit in this world.

Originally Posted by Billythepokerkid

I hate having to agree with Equal, but I must on this. Just because people choose to shop at Walmart to save a few bucks on the exact same thing they have at Publix DOES NOT make them any less of a person. If your ego is so high that you would rather pay premium prices for the exact some product rather than go to Walmart, then the problem is solely on you and not the employees, executives, or customers of Walmart. I too go to Walmart, rather often actually and I do not consider it dirty, I have not encounter employees that didn't speak English, and they wear the same clothes as just about every other store I have been to in my life. Yes there are some things I prefer not to buy there, produce mostly, but to verbally degrade people for shopping there is ridiculous, especially with the state of our economy.

Now back to the original topic, as Kim said, it is not price gouging. People are charging a price for a service or a product. It is not a necessity for you to go to the beach, it isn't like they hiked up the price of gas, milk, or water 300% overnight, it is beach parking, it's a luxury. They obviously feel their product is worth more than the other 10 parking lots on the beach, it is your choice where you park. The funny part about it is, you obviously paid it at least once, so you must have felt a day at the beach was worth at least $15.

[Izmack]

It would be great if vendors around here would make accommodations for FL residents at least - maybe locals wouldn't find season such a drag if that was to happen. Say, 10% of the parking spaces set aside for FL residents, or a 10% discount on food in the restaurants. Maybe even our own driving lane.

About Walmart:

100% agree with you, Florida Paradise. Not sure you can blame Walmart anymore - they just started the trend. Some folks do not have a choice and others don't want to see just how bad Walmart the corporation is. Walmart is so big, they actually control what is made is the world. Most is made in China. This was a great show that exposed Walmart's practices:

Watch The Full Program Online | Is Wal-Mart Good For America? | FRONTLINE | PBS


BUT, since then, one can same the same about Target, Lowes, Home Depot and Apple, too. Try to find anything in Target that is made in the US. Why are stores like Pier 1 and World Market so popular? Exactly - I can get goods made in China at a fraction of the price.

The more this keeps happening, the more people will be forced to purchase in stores like this and the more people will be forced to work in them for minimum wage.

Originally Posted by Florida Paradise

Same as renting winter vs. summer... "in season" vs. "out season"... I price my "winter' rental MUCH higher than the rest of the months. I don't think this is gouging... but necessary to make the entire investment year a success.
Just my insight to Walmart... I don't hate it becasue of the people who go there or the people who work there... but the people (executives) who raped all the "mom & pop" grocery stores...paint sotes...auto stores... appliance store... pharmacies...etc... If we could get rid of all these HUGE "box" stores, maybe we could get back to being business owners who can "cut it" and turn a profit in this world.

[Samiamnh]

Same here.....well said Equal and I,also agree with you for a change

[hiknapster]

Walmart didn't start the trend of manufacturers moving their operations overseas. That began in the 60s. However, Walmart began leaning on companies to make their products cheaper, cheaper, cheaper and would blackball companies that would eventually be forced to manufacture out of the US.

The other thing that really gets my ire is how they would come into a community, price out the mom and pops, and then when all of the competition was gone they would jack up their prices. To this day you have to keep an eyeball on their prices. Last year they started losing business, mostly to the dollar stores but to other places as well, such as Target, Costco. They finally did a corporate-wide reduction of prices. In the past year I have been forced to shop there and the prices have been the lowest, something I haven't seen in years. But when I can, I go elsewhere.

But I am not naive enough to think that Walmart is doing a service to me. They are not. If they cause manufacturing jobs to be lost and the workers to be displaced to their store where they are paid minimum with poor benefits, the more power to them, or so they think. They are not nice people. Anytime you see "Walmart" contributing to a community, read the fine print. It is the employees that are doing that, often pressured by management, while their workers qualify for food stamps.

Regarding prices during season, it is has been that way for several decades, now. That's why the locals like it when the tourists and snowbirds go home. The heat is pretty awful to some but the prices, traffic and lines go down.