Whats the big deal about Costco?

[Chris142]

Went there today. Paid the Ransom to be allowed to enter the store. Went to the oil isle. Grabbed a case of Chevron Supreme.$35.99 sounded pretty good for a case of 12.

Then headed over to the meat.I added up the price. Sure I can buy a huge amount of tri-tip but why spend so much? Might as well buy the same amount @ the grocery store by buying 2 packs and be $14 cheaper!

Looked for Pretzels. Finally had to ask. I was told they are with the chips and if I dont see them they are out. Must be out cause I spent 20 minutes looking for them on the chip isle.

Rolled my cart with it's case of oil to the checkstand.

Expected to pay about $40. At the checkstand I was hit with an "oil fee" of $.90 per qt!

This brought my total up to $50.53 for a case of oil. Didn't sound like a good deal to me so I put it back.

So whats the big deal? Yes you can buy huge quantities of stuff there but the prices are not that good if you get out a calculater. Can buy the same amount for less at the Grocery store.

 

[sicko]

Depends on the items, most of what I buy at Costco cost less than at grocery stores. Also, if you buy oil from Costco, you should wait for when they have it on sale. It's basically on sale either every other month, or once a quarter. When it's on sale, I think it'll take another $10 off.

This is the first I've heard of an "oil fee" is that a California thing?

 

[John_K]

I know people who just love Costco and I don't get it. By the time you pay to get in it's no deal.

John

 

[Lyman]

We buy certain items there. Other stuff we buy elsewhere. Oil I buy at Walmart.

 

[Chris142]

Originally Posted By: sicko
Depends on the items, most of what I buy at Costco cost less than at grocery stores. Also, if you buy oil from Costco, you should wait for when they have it on sale. It's basically on sale either every other month, or once a quarter. When it's on sale, I think it'll take another $10 off.

This is the first I've heard of an "oil fee" is that a California thing?
I dont get charged an oil fee @ walmart or Napa.

 

[Lyman]

One thing I saved hundreds of dollars on at Costco was my glasses. I don't think you can get them much cheaper anywhere else.

 

[jacky]

we dont have one anywhere near me, but i heard good things about it
we have sams club but it is no cheaper than walmart

 

[Evanson]

Costco works for us. We actually use it primarily for the groceries.

Their prices on organic are great. Some items we won't buy because the quantity is just too much. But there are many things you can get through eg Apples (an apple a day), cheeses, wild caught salmon which I can also smoke, chicken which comes in multipacks so you can freeze some and use some immediately, big packs of leafy greens.

We do half our grocery shopping from them now. It became enough spending to switch to executive membership and the rebate from that now pays the entire membership.

And as mentioned, eyewear is a fantastic buy.

Overall I think we are getting higher quality (especially groceries) for a lower price and the membership doesn't factor into it.

And the return policy is great.

 

[Dyusik]

I dont get a charge of this kind. This must be a California thing. M1 @ 4.66/qt is a decent deal. 2.79 /qt for chevron is just as good.

 

[OneEyeJack]

Costco works for me. If you don't like there stores and their system don't go.

Gasoline alone is worth the price of admission.

 

[NHGUY]

Any place that charges $40-50 a year for a "membership" better give the stuff away.They certainly don't (neither does B Js or Sams).I gave up on warehouse stores a long time ago.Who needs cases of product that will go bad or never get fully consumed.

 

[cjcride]

Up here the biggest gripe is the crowds. You would think they were giving stuff away free.
We go rarely to avoid the headache.
Might not renew the membership.

 

[simple_gifts]

Apparently Costco is a great place to work if you work in that industry.

 

[Evanson]

Yep. It's nice to be able to give business to a company that treats it's employees well.

 

[morepwr]

I dont have a membership but have gone there with friends and really didnt see the appeal. I simply would not go enough to justify the cost of being "allowed" to shop there.

 

[fdcg27]

Costco, along with other "membership" retailers is a classic example of the old maxim that you can fool some of the people all of the time.
If you know how to shop, you can beat Costco or Sam's Club pricing on anything, especially since you can load up when items are on sale at any retailer, which you have to be willing to do if you shop Costco or Sam's anyway.
If you really need to buy certain things in quantity on a regular basis, you can also deal directly with a distributor and bypass retailers and their mark-ups entirely.

 

[KD0AXS]

My MIL has a Costco membership and she loves the place. The wife and I will go with her occasionally, but I don't think we'll ever buy a membership. Some things there seem like a decent deal, but others are just as expensive as they would be anywhere else.

 

[Evanson]

You can pay your MIL for Costco gift cards. You can then go without having to buy membership.

 

[rjundi]

Not my cup of tea either.

I do not like having excess of anything on hand. Just shop for what I need and restock as needed. I don't like frozen anything nor freezing meat(nasty!).

 

[zzyzzx]

Costco is a good place to buy a mattress. When I need one I find someone with a membership and visit the store with them and just take a bunch of cash. Other than that, I don't know how they stay in business.