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Original poster

Costco membership - worth it?

25 replies

AvocadosBeforeMortgages · 25/08/2018 22:10

Never been inside before but I'm soon going to be living near a branch. I've had a look online and the selection seems really strange - I searched for tomatoes and came up with tomato gin and some overpriced tomato ketchup. I was expecting to find tinned tomatoes and pasta sauce, amongst other things. Is everything that's in store also online?

I'm single so buying in vast quantities is never going to make sense, but I was planning on putting some extra food by if Brexit continues down its current no-deal trajectory.

Also - does anyone know how strict they are with the membership eligibility? I work FT for a national charity, which isn't on the list, but I have an old work ID card from when I did work in an eligible industry that I could dig out if necessary.

OP posts:

SavoyCabbage · 25/08/2018 22:13

The cheap petrol is a plus point.

My dh worked out that we save the membership on toilet paper alone.

Buggerlugs123 · 25/08/2018 22:15

We save on petrol and buy meat in bulk and freeze it-we save loads

hmmwhatatodo · 25/08/2018 22:17

Not in my opinion. Overpriced, some strange stuff. Cakes, biscuits, pastries full of random ingredients and mostlyball oversized. Can’t understand how it saves money.

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Ivalueloyaltyaboveallelse · 25/08/2018 22:19

Definitely worth it like others have said. I always go to get their water, toilet rolls, cereal and dishwasher tablets. Lots of other good deals also.

EmeraldVillage · 25/08/2018 22:19

I got a membership a few months ago and I am a bit disappointed tbh. I think it has its uses if you do large events such as a church fete and need to buy foot and drink but for one person unless you have a lot of storage space it isn’t worth it. I won’t be renewing.

Most of what you can get in store is not online.

KitKatCHA · 25/08/2018 22:19

The meat is well worth it. Everything I've tried is far superior to supermarket equivalent and around the same price or sightly less.

EmeraldVillage · 25/08/2018 22:21

If I had a chest freezer in a garage and lots of space then it would be better

Grasslands · 25/08/2018 22:29

mainly the items they sell are things with shelf life. so if you have shelf (freezer) space it is a good deal.
i live close to mine and shop weekly.
i believe they offer a visitor type membership so you could go try it out before paying the annual fee?

DrMadelineMaxwell · 25/08/2018 22:34

I'm not sure.

I bit the bullet and renewed my membership this week as we've not been in ages.

Wished I'd looked inside first (except you can't) as everything seemed more expensive than it used to be, to the point that it's cheaper to get stuff in from the supermarkets.

NWQM · 25/08/2018 22:40

We find it saves money for instance on the suncream we use. It’s the one we’d buy anyone. Trouble can be that they only have a limited range of one item and many of the things are expensive options - so if you want that particular hover it’s cheaper there but you can get cheaper hovers. Depends whether they stock the brands you want. Also you to avoid the Aldi middle aisle syndrome. Any savings can be wiped out by that air fryer you never knew you needed to fill you saw it. Great at Christmas. I can usually do most of mine in one shop and get bargains.

Lazypoolday · 25/08/2018 23:17

Its worth it for the toilet paper alone IMO. I also get dishwasher tablets, laundry detergent, ketchup, mayo, canned soft drinks,babybels and meat for freezing. I'm in the US and just got glasses there for a quarter of the price of an opticians, not sure if they do that in the UK though

KenDoddsDadsDog · 25/08/2018 23:26

I have one close to work . Save on petrol , washing powder, pet food etc. Also means I don’t need to buy them for ages. The meat is very good but depends how long it would take you to work through a big pack.

Mum2jenny · 25/08/2018 23:28

Unless you live near one, I don't see the advantage

PattiStanger · 25/08/2018 23:33

The petrol at my local one is no cheaper than the supermarkets. I'm not sure I save money but it is convenient to be able to buy some things in bulk

BlackandGold · 25/08/2018 23:34

Their meat is excellent quality; we buy a pack then split it up and freeze it. Same with the salmon. Buy the blocks of cheddar, which are also good value, tissues, dishwasher stuff etc.
But I don't see that it would work very well for a single person. Do you know anyone with membership who would let you visit with them so you can see if it would be worth it for you?

Sierra259 · 25/08/2018 23:34

We mainly use it for toilet and kitchen roll, baby wipes and some food (olive oil, pesto, ketchup etc work out much cheaper). Diswasher tablets and cleaning products too. Nappies have also been good but both DC are out of them now. The meat is great quality and value for money and it's also great for buying booze/cakes in bulk for parties/Christmas. I would say if you have cupboard and freezer space to store stuff then it's worth it.

Longdistance · 25/08/2018 23:37

Maybe 10 years ago, but not so much now.

When I first joined 12 years or so ago, it was well worth it. I continued in for a few years, and haven’t been in about 3 years as it doesn’t seem worth it.

donajimena · 25/08/2018 23:39

I used to find the bottled water good value but now I'm doing my best to cut out plastic it seems a bit pointless going.

unicornchaser · 26/08/2018 00:08

Like a few others I get the toilet roll, kitchen roll, washing powder, fabric softener and cleaning stuff from there.
But also often things like pancake mix, oils,spices and cupboard staples.
Some of the more 'random' stuff can be good to try for a change too and the membership isn't really that much for the year.

Not sure about the membership criteria though, I did have to show work id for it..... so as long as your old work Id doesn't show old dates then I would take it with me!

PoshPenny · 26/08/2018 00:18

I think it's no cheaper than anywhere else. We do get partner discount in Waitrose though so we are very fortunate I do like their aisles of random stuff and their ready meals. I'm not sure it's worth us renewing our membership.

Whusp · 26/08/2018 00:28

Honestly, these days, it's not worth it as far as saving money goes. You can get it at equal prices at Aldi/Lidl etc. Especially when you fork out 30-odd quid for membership upfront as well.

Dinosauratemydaffodils · 26/08/2018 00:34

I'm not sure we save anything however I like the random stuff plus we buy all the bulk items, meat, tinned items, cleaning stuff, baby wipes, nappies etc. It's also great for Christmas, as they do some lovely big boxes of biscuits and chocolates.

We do have a large utility room, 2 freezers one of which is a giant chest freezer and a big kitchen though.

llangennith · 26/08/2018 00:44

Membership is cheap so give it a go. I live alone so don't buy bulk but the things I go for are detergent, toilet rolls, bottled water, and I look to see what's on 'special'. I'm not an impulsive shopper so it's worth it for me.

aperolspritzplease · 26/08/2018 00:58

Only if you have massive storage space. I live in a Victorian terrace and can't store 68 toilet rolls and 20kg of washing powder.

Still love a look around though!

BakedBeans47 · 26/08/2018 01:03

I haven’t renewed my membership, I don’t really have space to bulk buy and store stuff and a lot of stuff I don’t find much cheaper than the supermarket. I do love a wee Costco trip though

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