Mercado Central Purchases 40% Less

nikad

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As you might have heard, prices for groceries at Mercado Central, are on average 40% less than what you are paying at your local supermarkets - retail -. I wonder if any of you have been there to buy and what was your experience like?

Would you be willing to pay a fee or % to get items delivered to your door weekly? If so, how much would you be willing to pay for such service? - and yes, I am entertaining a business idea that could be mutually beneficial. ;)
 
Wholesale prices are always cheaper than retail- but thats because retailers actually do work for their money. They pay rent, utilities, and taxes, they pay gas and vehicle upkeep, they pay salaries and much more.
If you are saving 40% by buying wholesale, but then charging a "percentage" to drive, shop, sort, deliver, pay and collect, and so on, you are a retailer. Yes, you could do it cheaper than a store, since you wouldnt have rent, but it will still cost you something.
And its a lot of work taking orders each week, buying, sorting, and delivering, holding the bag when someone doesnt pay, and so on.
My guess is that, if you price too low, you wont do it for long, as you will find it too much work.
And if you price for what its worth, you wont be much cheaper than my neighborhood chino, which will sell me 1 liter of beer at ten at night.
convenience, to me, is worth a percentage too.

You can save 40% or more on most things in Argentina, if you are willing to go to the wholesaler, and buy in bulk. I just bought a whole bunch of underwear and shirts in Once, and, yes, I saved over 40% from the stores on Santa Fe for the same brand- but I had to buy quite a bit to get that discount. Worked for me, as I was buying for 4 people. But retail in BsAs works for a reason.
 
What about an Ant Sommers party for the boys as opposed to Ann Sommers for the ladeez.... :eek:
 
I'm a a virulent enemy of the Central Market whenever I see a TV note on the Mercado Central I get so upset... :mad:Less than 1 % of the BA, CABA populatiion shop there. It may be an aswer for large group of families. They present it as a pancea.


For one person it doesn't pay out at all even if you purchase for the entire week if you consider the cost of gas plus tolls and the aggravation of driving due to the piquetes and blockades you may encounter, and spend there hours. Add the parking fees.

40 % of my food bill less the expenses involved amounts to perhaps a few dollars . A round trip driving to Mercado Central amounts to $200 pesos in gas only per week....!! 20 kmts x $10 pesos per liter plus tolls etc. :eek:
 
200 pesos for 20 kms?

Mercado Central is the live evidence that supermarkets are ripping us off.
 
if anybody with car and living in San Telmo goes to the Mercado Central, pls let me know. I went there with line 8 but it took 2 hrs to get there.
Veggies and fruit are cheap, food too but as anywhere in Argentina the quality is poor and there's no much diversity
 
if anybody with car and living in San Telmo goes to the Mercado Central, pls let me know. I went there with line 8 but it took 2 hrs to get there.
Veggies and fruit are cheap, food too but as anywhere in Argentina the quality is poor and there's no much diversity
I would be interested in knowing what type of variety was there, was it different to supermarkets or veggie stores in the city?
 
I´ve been to mercado central several times. It's like any other huge wholesale market around the world. There is a large variety of produce, meat, fish, and even some supermarket items to purchase at between 20-40 percent less than in a major supermarket. Some days there are better offers than others. The times I went I helped a freind of mine who had a catering business and it definitely was worth going there for the large quantities of goods she purchased. Personally for myself or a even a small family I don't think the savings justify the distance, length of time it takes to travel, shop, packup and drive back to capital federal. It's also in a very unpleasant part of town.
 
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