Several years ago, when my wife and I were expecting our fourth child, she decided she wanted to buy a new nursing chair.
It was a reasonable purchase; we bought the chair she already had when we first found out we were going to be parents, and we used it for our first three children... so it had seen better days.
She found a chair she liked at Costco.
Then she found an identical chair at another retailer for $70 less.
She bought it from Costco anyway.
And while I'm normally quite frugal, I fully supported her decision to pay more.
Why?
Because Costco has one of the best return policies in the retail industry. If you don't like your purchase for whatever reason, you can bring it back for a full refund, no questions asked. And since they maintain a record of everything you purchase there, you don't even need your receipt.
We had experienced the full benefit of Costco's generous return policy before. When we bought our current home, we purchased all of our kitchen appliances from Costco. When our freezer arrived, we noticed a large dent in the front panel. I called Costco, and they arranged for the old freezer to be picked up and a new freezer to be delivered.
That new freezer also arrived with a large dent... so they quickly replaced that one too. (Thankfully, the third one they delivered was fine.)
You can buy anything at Costco almost completely risk-free, because you know if you don't like it, Costco will make it right.
And for us, that peace of mind is worth far more than $70.
Retailers usually don't have to compete on price if they can earn their customers' trust.
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