I find it hard to believe that they don't profit on their products at least a bit. Certainly there are some they don't get a profit on, but it wasn't like I was in there just buying a cheap tv and walking out... I was buying regular stuff.
> I find it hard to believe that they don’t profit on their products at least a bit.
Basically, they don’t. Over recent years, membership fees have accounted for, from what I can find, a low of 80% to a high of 110% of their net income, usually sitting right around 100%, and that’s not an accident, its their well-documented deliberate business model.
Selling stuff covers the costs associated with being able to sell the stuff, membership fees are what provides profit.
