I don't know where you live but the Walmart near me is a disaster. It'd be worth a (small) increase in price to not have to deal with it.

Bah! Could have used this 2 years ago as a student with no car. It was a ten minute walk from my place to the bus stop, and there was never enough time to make separate trips for groceries and TP.

It used to be a bitch to juggle those.

Towards the end though, we ordered a megapack from Amazon.

Nobody has to go to walmart

@rdm: Mine is totally disgusting too. I go to Target, but sometimes it is hard to get out of the house. The completely free shipping thing is pretty amazing. I haven't purchased anything yet, but if I don't have to pay Tax because I live in WA state and they hail from Milwaukee, all the better.

The Costco "Kirkland" brand toilet paper is pretty cheap, and meets both of my tests for TP: Durability and Softness.

@rdm: Yep. I've had enough of the dirty diapers left in carts and the associates constantly yelling at each other in spanish over the PA. The final straw was that they 'refreshed' the store with the new look and layout, and took out the self-checkouts. Now you have no choice but to wait 10+ minutes in line, because they still never have enough registers open.

@Chrissy Cronk: I've noticed the very crowded Wal-mart near me is almost always running on a "skeleton crew" of employees. Seriously, I can NEVER find help when I need it. The only location that seems to be staffed consistently is the customer service desk.

@aftercancer: I'm a nobody. My wife won't even suggest that abomination anymore.

@TVGenius: Do what I do. I have all the phone numbers for the local Wal-Marts in my phone, and when stuck in line, call the store, ask to speak to the manager, and complain about the line I'm waiting on. Then I threaten to call corporate if they don't hurry the first time.

On their website ALICE does not offer any method to cancel or delete your account. and so far they have no responded to any emails regarding this. They have only a few hundred products, nearly nothing I would order, but I can't seem to get out of their clutches.

unwilling to create an account just to see their prices.

Alice.com sounds like a cool idea in its infancy. I hope it takes off. They should offer big bags of dog food. I'd love to have someone deliver a big bag of dog food to my house a couple times a month. I HATE lifting those things into my cart, into my car, and from the car to the house.

@winshape: yep, and if you don't like it or it breaks in use, their no hassle 100% customer satisfaction guarantee refunds your money!

simply bring in the soiled paper in a sealed bag and they will gladly process your return!

it's hard to beat Wal Mart for diaper prices... by the way, I've had great success with the Kirkland brand diapers!

@aftercancer: their employees kinda have to. which sucks because i cringe and feel dirty when i drive past one all the time.

i bet the employees are all dead inside, look at a boun...er, greeter in the eyes next time. dead inside, guaranteed.

Hmm it was kind of hit or miss on the prices of items. Target store brand was still cheaper on many things and a few brand name items I checked were also cheaper at Target by about 25-50 cents.
If they even matched the price of the like item at Target I would be all over this and telling everyone I know. Shopping where I live absolutely stinks, we have too few stores for the population of the area. Even if I could reduce how many items I am buying in the store it would be a help.

If they start to price match on Alice.com I think they have a winner.

This would definitely work for a car-less new yorker like myself who can't be bothered to schlep out to the outerborough Targets to stock up on supplies.

I have that same shirt (in the picture), except the paper on mine goes over, rather than under. Clearly mine is superior.

@robdew2: or products.

@dangerp: Seriously! Everyone knows the paper is supposed to go over.

@robdew2: Worthless site

Alice had the brands I liked/use, coupons already clipped that I was going to use at the store, and offered them cheaper than the store (and definitely cheaper than my quick alternative of drugstore.com). I don't drive, so carrying some of these items is a pain... I think Alice just found a new customer as long as they offer more items in the future and keep prices down.

Now I need someone to deliver ice cream so it doesn't melt completely in my 15 minute walk from the store to home.

Amazon.com and you're done. I guess this site is OK for single items, but if you're paying retail you might as well pick up this stuff when you're buying food.

@razremytuxbuddy: Shipping is free on Alice -- it wouldn't seem to be a great business move to offer heavy items

@morlo: Assuming you remember. Alice as reminders on things to reorder

@aftercancer: @MostlyHarmless: @MostlyHarmless: @aftercancer:

You're right - nobody has to go to Wal-Mart. But I chose to go there. And no, I'm not a Wal-Mart employee. I live on Long Island and I've visited 3 Wal-Marts here. One was everything I feared it would be from reading the comments on Consumerist. One was nice - not great, but nice. The third, the one closest to me actually - is fantastic! Always well-stocked, filled with helpful employees who know their sections well and can even help you out in other areas if need be, and a pharmacy that has fought more than one battle on my behalf with various insurance companies. In fact, the pharmacy at this particular Wal-Mart has gone above and beyond for me on several occasions, including saving me money. I shop there by choice.

I've been to good Targets and bad Targets, good Borders and bad Borders. It's a shame that the commenters here have had such bad experiences at one Wal-Mart to not give another location a try. I did, and boy have I been glad!

@Taliskan: Bring a small cooler?

@Hoss:

Yup. I can't imagine they could absorb the cost of a 40-pound bag of dog food plus packaging.

Oh please dear sweet jebus you didn't just resurrect that nasty, supremely annoying and cloyingly clueless contraction "e-tailer", did you?

Please Phil, I beg you, I plead with you, I beseech you: Do not ever utter that word again, whether in pen or aloud. The world will be a better place.

Mr. Villarreal, you really should question your patronage of Walmart*. I feel they are truly dedicated to turning the U.S. into a third world country. They would turn their stores into free trade zones and pay 10 year old kids from third world countries $0.05 a day and lock them in the store room at night if it was legal. Even after two years of efforts to increase health care coverage they still have the highest percentage of workers on indigent health care in every state that has studied it.

@AllToAll,ByMyMustard!_GitEmSteveDave: ...seriously?

@jgodsey: You still have the option to change your contact email.

@kduhtoe: Yup. Why should I wait around in a store with 20 registers+self check out lanes, out of which the self check out is shut down, there's three cashiers open, one of which is express only, and one is the only one you can purchase cigarettes. And there will be at least 7-10 people on each line. There is NO way Wal-Mart only has three people trained to use registers working at any time. So I call to get better service and to let them know there is a record that I called and complained, so it better get resolved.

@jfielder23: Hmm, yeah, I will have to buy one of those this summer. :)

I did some research over lunch by going back through recent Target receipts.

The only items that were cheaper on Alice than Target were toilet paper in 24 packs, paper towels in 8 packs, regular Colgate toothpaste, 7th Generation laundry soap and Suave products.

I could see potentially ordering just those items from them. But right now I would probably wait since the site seems to have some glitches. I would want some sort of assurances I won't end up in some spammed, unable to unsubscribe hell before I buy something.

I keep getting distracted by the image on the home page. That's either one huge deodorant dispenser and shampoo bottle or a tiny bottle of Tide.

(Yeah, yeah, I know, image manipulation, but still, it keeps distracting me.)

My university town has had this for a few years now, obviously a different company. They charge a dollar for a delivery fee and are only in town, however, they also deliver *within an hour* from 1100 to 2300. Not fast enough for toilet paper, but fast enough for milk, bread, shampoo... I <3 delivery groceries, though I notice they jack the prices up on OTC meds. Pretty keen of them to realise that if I'm buying medicine off a website, perhaps it's because I'm too sick to leave my flat, and I'd be willing to shell out a little more.

They explain on the website there that instead of overhead costs of paying for parking lots, trolleys, pretty shelves, etc, they have delivery -- and for most things, their prices are way better than the campus stores and surprisingly near to walmart. I guess paying more per item at Alice covers the free delivery.

1) The toilet paper roll in the image is facing the wrong way. Everyone knows that toilet paper that rolls over, instead of under, is far superior.

2) I wonder if they are attempting to model this after Diapers.com, which has been a pretty successful model that I've heard praises for within the Private Equity world (I've talked to the people who have invested capital in Diapers.com, and have reported that it has been quite the successful venture for them). Diapers.com basically sells convenience (diapers delivered to your door, at good prices, with free shipping*). But they use the *free shipping (over $40, I think) to get you to purchase other items (like toys or other supplies) to get to that $40 threshold, and that's where they make their money -- not on the diapers.

I cannot believe you guys posted this! What exactly is the big deal about this company? I have no idea.

amazon /has/ toilet paper already! with free shipping! for cheaper!

Alice is great for those of us who want cheaper without stepping foot in Wal-Mart but who don't have the space to buy by the case either. It will be very helpful now that my mom has been diagnosed with cancer - fewer trip to the store. Also, they fill order immediately. I ordered Monday night and it's being delivered tomorrow. By the way, Amazon.com is NOT cheaper PER ITEM on most things that I order.

I also hate having to sign up just to see the site/prices, etc.

So I just created a fake account using 10 minute mail.

[10minutemail.com]

@Taliskan: Buy one of those insulated cool bags they sell. Friend of mine has a few when they go shopping; they can buy frozen items and take their time getting home.

@TheDude06: You have to pay for Prime with Amazon and their packaging of items favors bulk shopping. I'd love to buy my groceries on Amazon but plenty of items come in gigantic multi-packs that would take me forever to go through.

@winshape: I've also been really happy with their TP, though the prices for their paper goods seem to be creeping up.

This reeks of Value America's business model. Drop-shipping trivial consumer staples is not exactly a business model guaranteed for success.

SirWired

I can't read the Alice site past the use of "runout" (as in "can't runout to...") as a single word. Darn my obsessive grammarphilia!

For example, I want to buy a box of dog treats. I have to buy TWELVE of them from Amazon for $43.

@Hoss: I agree. But still, I'm going to wish for it.

I live in Nevada where certain household foods and goods are Sales Tax Exempt. Before making my first purchase through Alice.com I noticed Sales Tax was being assesed on all items, even the Tax Exempt items. I notified Alice.com's Customer Service department and received this response:

"We currently charge tax on all items but are investigating a way to make the system smarter on specific food related tax laws by jurisdiction."

Kind regards,
Alice Support Team"

Until Alice.com can calculate Sales Tax properly and not over collect, I will not be using their service.