Is costco worth it?

[antelopevalley]

I am considering buying a membership for Costco. I normally shop in Lidl or Aldi. With the membership fee, will I really save enough money to make this worthwhile?

I'm beginning to think it's one of those things where your feel like it's a bargain because of the marketing and 'display'. I'm annoyed at being told I'd get a refund on the difference when it's a voucher to spend.

I really like some of their products, but no, I don't find it cheaper.

I generally find it a lot more expensive because it's all branded stuff whilst I buy own brand stuff normally.

It's £30 for a membership and we were never going so I left it lapse.

If you have storage space at home to buy in bulk, and are clever with what you buy, then it could possibly be worth it, but otherwise I'd say not.

I do love their Kirkland brand though, some great stuff. Just not cheap.

I’m not a big fan to be honest. I don’t bulk buy due to lack of funds and space. I do go a couple of times a year with a friend and will buy the odd few things but I’m not overly fussed.

I went a couple of weeks ago with a friend. Some of what I bought, on comparison with Tesco wasn’t that much cheaper. The local costco to us is 45 minutes ago so factoring in petrol it wasn’t worth it for some items. That said, DS loves the big trays of muffins and they freeze brilliantly.

I also bought big bottles of sauce and spices which were much cheaper. Also bought Colgate toothpaste and dove shower gel and these were really good prices compared to tesco and boots so definitely worth the trip for these items alone.

I am going to go back in December for more non perishable items. I also liked the look of their fresh ready meals. There was Mac and cheese and curry. I like food like this for the days between Christmas and new year.

I've just checked the receipt . On £130 we earned £2 something toward the annual reward (which is actually a 9 month reward because after that it goes toward the next year so you have to renew to benefit). I feel a bit scammed tbh. Paid and extra £35 because I felt under pressure to upgrade and I was told if I didn't make more than £35 in savings I'd get that back. But wasn't told as a voucher for Costco.

I find Costco expensive and although I have membership, I don't go there to save money or get bargains.

In fact I've never come out of Costco having spent less than £500. In my defence, we bulk buy meat there and my DH likes the clothes.

The quality is good and some of the products are truly excellent. I consider it a treat. Sad that I am.

As others have said, if there is a fuel station and you need petrol, you make back the saving on fuel alone. We split our membership with my parents (who live with my brother and family) so we fill up 4 cars between us there

In terms of goods, if you’re a big house, it’s worth buying in bulk. Quality in general is good. Likewise for if you have storage space but you have to know your prices. We aren’t brand loyal so they don’t always come up cheaper when comparing for unbranded items and I’ve noticed some huge price rises recently (particularly for regular items which always used to be cheaper at Costco)

Should also note their customer service and warranty is unbeatable, especially for electrical items

We go to Costco about once a month and think it good value. We bulk buy tins, pasta, flour, rice, pet food, toiletries, etc but they also sell alcohol, clothes, homeware etc.

Recently we bought a couple of brilliant adjustable bedside lamps with 9 light levels and a phone charging pad, and some oven and freezer proof glass storage containers with lids. Really good quality too.

And as a pp has mentioned, the petrol is cheap.

I think it depends on how close you live to one and if you have plenty of storage space. We have 2 fridges and 2 freezers and lots of outbuildings so definitely worth it for us.

It's always worth bringing a shopping receipt with sizes and costs at wherever you normally shop. Not everyone is this diligent, but it's sensible to do the maths on how much something usually costs and the scale-up price.

I agree it is always worth checking each time you shop and you don't even need to bring a receipt - phone apps do this for you now. You can find out the current price at every supermarket on your phone and compare like for like

My nearest one with fuel is thurrock and once all the tolls are introduced on the tunnels it won't be worth it - shame they don't have more fuel stations

Nothing beats their fruit, veg and meat/fish on quality. We love it but live in a tiny house and mange with our bulk purchases! Plus their petrol is the cheapest in the area. Also, I love stopping by for a cheap lunch- their jacket potatoes are delicious and only £1.50
(Might have gone up to £2 but I've not checked)!

We love it! 2 adults & 2 growing teens. Mostly but dishwashing tablets, laundry powder (usually persil), loo roll, baked beans & the bake at home petit pains.
We'll buy meat & fish there, but always check where it's from. Tend not to buy the pork as it's always from America.
Agree with PP though, you need to be disciplined 😂. Good prices for some non food items too.
Wish ours had a petrol station

I go about 4 times a year to shop and more frequently for petrol
My shopping list is:-
Kenco smooth 750g
Big tub of marmite
Big pot of Skippy peanut butter
Bulk pack of tinned chopped tomatoes
AA batteries.
Coastal cheddar
At Christmas we buy cheese, nuts etc

I used to get Branston beans but they haven’t stocked them the last two times I’ve been. I will get gas bottle refills there in future but that’s an infrequent purchase. I used to get dishwasher tablets, toilet rolls and laundry pods but I’ve moved over to Amazon subscribe and save for them. Occasionally we buy meat, frozen chips, etc

I think I get the cost of membership back but I’m not sure I’m saving money.

I like it for Christmas gifts and the wrapping paper, but I can’t say I get much benefit during the year. The deals are certainly not as good as you think.

Don’t think we have one near us, so unlikely to go… but I am surprised to see so many posts saying food is good quality. I’ve eaten Costco cake a couple of times when visiting relatives… I thought it was the most disgusting, cheap, synthetic cake I’ve ever eaten - had to leave the room and spit it out last time! 🤮

@Washyourfaceinmysink - I have never tried those cakes but have seen others say they are not great. The other foods are good though. We go for their meat. Except pork as someone said as it’s imported from the US.

You do need to keep an eye on prices as it’s not always cheapest.

DH still thinks it’s worth it for us - he’s an accountant so keeps an eye on it!

Our nearest one doesn’t have fuel unfortunately.

We’re members and it saves us a fortune, but we’re a big family so the big pack sizes work well for us. DH also does a lot of driving miles so the fuel savings are massive.

Meat, cheese, tins, cereal, drinks (soft, alcoholic and diluting), crisps, washing liquid, dishwasher tables, toilet rolls and toiletries are our staples.

It’s also great for a quick, cheap lunch of pizza or jacket spud if we’re out and about.

I think Costco can be good value for larger households.

For smaller families (eg 2-3 people) I feel the large format of Costco products is generally too much especially for perishables.

The other thing to watch out for with Costco is their in-store merchandising strategies that are designed to make shoppers buy more than they intended to (eg regularly moving items around to different areas of the shop forcing you to scour all the the aisle and shelves to find what you're looking for, and deliberately leaving items out of stock for prolonged periods so that when they're back in stock you feel the need to buy extra). But as long as you're conscious of all that, it can be great.

People used to bring the cakes into work when it was a birthday or something. The ones I tried were absolutely dreadful, the overwhelming flavour was just sugar. I like sweet things but I like flavour other than sugar! And very artificially flavoured; not my cup of tea at all. They were also the only cakes that never went instantly - very telling when the contents of the school staffroom table was usually swept instantly at the first break/lunch!