Costco any good?

[fireisdangerous]

Morning all,

I have the option to join Costco, is it any good as I have never been. Nearest one is about 35 mins away so not somewhere we would go that regularly. Or is it just a place to visit every other month to buy a lot of stuff in bulk? I remember someone who I worked with used to bring in these massive tray of pastries and muffins from there do they still do those?

Tony

 

[peterwalkley]

Yes they still do those, or at least my local one does. For us the main benefit is stuff like meat and fruit in bulk as well as the usuals like loo roll, kitchen roll, soft drinks etc. Bulk buys of beer, lager, wine seem common. I get some quite decent wines there. You save a lot on stuff like laundry detergents and other household cleaning products. The main thing you need is storage space at home - we've some big shelving in the garage. We go 3 or 4 times a month, but ours is 15 minutes away.

Membership is cheap, try it for a year and see if it works for you. It must be 10 years we've been members.

 

[swain90]

I signed up through work and I've been ~3 times in a year. I prefer JTF (it's free to sign up) and find it a little cheaper.

 

[Avenged7Fold]

If you throw a few BBQs or holiday gatherings it is worth a go i would say.

 

[fireisdangerous]

Thanks,

Will give it a try. Not big drinkers but if they have bulk buys of nappies, wipes and formula that would be handy as we have our 2nd child on the way at the end of august. Boring stuff like household stuff would be handy to get. Would force me to arrange the garage.

 

[phil-k]

I used to be a member a few years ago, but it wasn't worth the £20 a year fees just to buy their overpriced items, I don't think any of the so called trade outlets are cheap, but they do sell items in bulk lots and have a lot of different items than the supermarkets

 

[Yaayuh!]

We go once a quarter and overflow a trolley everytime. We have the space to bulk buy, so it's worth it for us. I've also taken advantage of some decent deals on electronics and seasonal stuff.

Also, Kirkland socks are great.

 

[lmfy2k]

was amazing years ago (price wise, not any more)

you need to do know your prices compared to Asda or Tesco etc so when you see an item you know instantly if its worth it.

ive not been in 14 months so didn't bother renewing my membership.

the hot food is good value , ie Pizza, Hot Dogs and Jacket Potatoes etc

best try go with a friend who is a member to have a look around

 

[Six6siX]

I do a big bulk buy every few months and it works out cheaper if you have the room to store things. But be careful as some things are definitely more expensive - especially if there are offers on at supermarkets etc.

The cakes are great and the hot food is pretty good.

Tyres (depending on size) are well priced and fuel tends to be the cheapest around too.

 

[booyaka]

It's ok but not as good as it used to be.

I used to stock up toliet rolls/kitchen roll, dishwasher tablets etc but find these days between Asda/Amazon etc - the deals are just as good.

 

[xyphic]

My parents are members, so we go with them sometimes. We buy and freeze meat in bulk -- while it's usually no cheaper than the stuff you get from the supermarket, it's much better quality. For example, a 2.4 kg pack of Angus minced beef comes to something like £25. We divide this into 6x 400g portions in Ziploc bags, flatten them out and then freeze. So it's still around £4 per 400g (similar to Tesco) but the meat has more flavour.

We also tend to buy things like kitchen roll and nappies from there. You can get those for the supermarket offer sort of price, so while it's no cheaper than the supermarket if you're willing to wait until there's an offer on, you know that you're always going to get reasonable prices at Costco. You'll find bigger packs and bottles than you would in the supermarket, and usually these are better value (e.g. at our local Costco you can buy 2 litres of Blue Dragon sweet chilli sauce for £4, which is something like 25% of the price you'd pay in the supermarket if you bought the smaller bottles).

So yeah, there are plenty of savings to be made but not everything they sell will be cheaper than the supermarket. As above, you can get a lot of this stuff from Amazon for similar prices, so if you're already paying a Prime subscription it might be worth looking there first.

 

[Deep]

I used to be a member a few years ago, but it wasn't worth the £20 a year fees just to buy their overpriced items, I don't think any of the so called trade outlets are cheap, but they do sell items in bulk lots and have a lot of different items than the supermarkets

Some Cash and Carrys are brilliant for their prices, but generally you pay a bit more for the convenience.
Costco can have some really good priced items as well.

We go once a quarter and overflow a trolley everytime. We have the space to bulk buy, so it's worth it for us. I've also taken advantage of some decent deals on electronics and seasonal stuff.

Also, Kirkland socks are great.

Kirkland socks > any others

 

[kaptainmarc]

I found I just bought items we didn't need.

however the hot counter pizza is the best ever created!

its decent if you throw BBQs or have a large family.

 

[balky12]

I like Costco. Think there meat is 2nd to none (bar the local butcher, however cheaper). Few runs a year for the bulk items, toilet/ Kitchen roll, shower gels, cleaning products.

Occasional bargain to have on a TV, BBQ, etc are just added bonuses...

Oh... and you got to pick up a tray of Krispy Kremes. Failing that the tray of about 40 cookies.

 

[Nasher]

They are good. I'd join if there was one a bit closer. They do everything there, even tyres.

 

[dl8860]

I always thought costco was meant to offer good prices. The benchmark I use for pricing is £6/kg for chicken breasts, on their website costco have them listed as £18/kg. Yes they are herb fed, but triple the price?

 

[Vanquish-Storm]

It is worth is just to use their petrol station.

 

[xyphic]

I always thought costco was meant to offer good prices. The benchmark I use for pricing is £6/kg for chicken breasts, on their website costco have them listed as £18/kg. Yes they are herb fed, but triple the price?

Last chicken breasts I bought from Costco cost £13.11 (minus £2 as they were on offer, so £11.11) and there were 10 of them in the pack.

 

[Oxide™]

Just to add they don't accept credit cards - always got me when paying and having to use my debit card (which I run lean as transfer to other accounts)

 

[chroniclard]

Its pretty decent if you have space to store a load of things. Also it saves on shopping trips when you have 10 bottles of bleach, 800 toilet rolls, 9 ton of washing powder all ready to go.

Also the trays of baked goods are epic. Usually buy a few trays and split them into small freezer portions.