Aibu to wonder what’s the big deal about Costco

[MyCakeFellOnTheGrass]

Apart from the big cake I can’t see the point really if you’re just a person and not a business.

How many ordinary people even have storage space for bucket sized washing up liquid etc.

It’s not just the bulk buying though. It’s about quality brands at decent prices. Not to mention the in-store opticians, car tyre centres, fish counter, in-store bakery, cafe.... And that’s just for starters.

YABVVVVVVU

I love Costco and I go once or twice a month as I am about 15 minutes away from my nearest store.

We don't have a huge amount of storage space, so only buy a a few store cupboard items in bulk. Where it saves us money is that it stops us needing to do mid week top ups.

@XiCi It hasn't been £22 for about 15 years!

Their personal guarantee on electrical items is amazing. Our tv button broke, rang Costco, they sorted out someone coming out, after job is done, Costco ring to make sure you are happy with the service you received. Tv was out of manufacturer's warranty, but not Costco's.

Costco is on the way home from work for Dh so we have shopped there for years. The way to do it is research supermarket costs and take out the Costco American Express cashback credit card which we only use in Costco. Plus we also get cashback by being a premium member.

Washing powder works out at 10p a wash compared to 17p in supermarket.
Milk, a 4 pint is sold as a 2 pack for around £1.70, so cheaper than 99p for 4 pint deals in supermarket.
Toilet roll/kitchen roll/tissues - cheaper
Wraps and bread - cheaper on actual brand comparison
Smoked cheese - cheaper and again brand comparision
Philadelphia is ridiculously cheaper
babybel cheese
normal cheddar

Any big packs of fresh stuff you have to learn how to deal with, so 6 pack peppers (red and yellow) cheaper than supermarket, but you chop it up and roast it with red onions, courgettes and tomatoes and freeze it in portions. Lovely with salmon -also from Costco.

All their meat, fish, chicken is just better quality. We do have a larder freezer though so we portion it and freeze it. And I have a pantry for tinned tomatoes etc that come in large packs. But we knew we would need room for Costco stuff before we bought this house

@Emotionallydestroyed as I said before I renewed last week!! Have just checked on their website to make sure I'm not going mad and trade membership is indeed £22.
It's the individual membership that's £33.

It does save money one some things but I must admit you do need to have storage space. Both in the fridge and outside of it.

Is there a way you can join without being a business?

My family all have the storage space so it's useful.

I really like their huge salads and sausages and sushi. The booze prices can be good as can the frozen fish

The foil

Definitely the foil! It’s amazing.

The pizza's nice...

I've never been. I must be the only person this side of the Thames who doesn't qualify for membership ;)

From my experience, any money you save on bulk buying will be spent on the giant muffins.

However, I would say that the price is similar to supermarket stuff but the quality is usually far better. E.g. 25 or 30p for a Tin of chopped tomatoes and they are just like the fancy 50p/tin ones in the supermarkets. You have to buy a whole tray though.

Petrol is cheap there too

I love Costco! We moved away from a town that had one but we still make the 40 minute trip to go. The fuel is cheaper, the food is great quality and there's some great deals there.

I always stock up on the toilet paper, kitchen roll, dishwasher rinse aid, tabs and cleaner, laundry tabs, bin bags, I love their ready meals- the chicken and chorizo rice is amazing. Their cakes are brilliant and great value, particularly the sheet cakes.

Although I qualify for membership I've never actually been asked to prove it!

We just store everything in our utility room/garage, our freezer is rammed right now with all of the meat I bought to freeze, giant prawns, and chips!

Love ours but it doesn't have petrol

@bobstersmum There's a list of professions on their website to qualify for membership.

I didn't renew my membership this year when I realised an 80 mile round trip wasn't worth it for a £13 cake 😂😂

I never have enough space that store stuff to make the discounts worth it.

Some of their cakes are nice but their animal welfare standards don’t seem to be very good so, no matter how nice pies and salads might be, I wouldn’t be wanting to buy those sorts of products.

Thank you sloth, I did work for nhs before having my children, if I can find my id card would I be able to join or is that fraud?

Having to be of a certain profession to shop there seems a bit elitist.

Seems you can only save money if you earn a decent amount to start with.

But many people eligible for Costco aren't high earners.

You qualify if you work for the NHS, Post Office, Civil Service, Education, Local Government etc, many of whom will be on somewhere between NMW and £20k pa.

Many self employed people don't earn very much and they qualify. DP has had trade membership in the past and he does labour only freelance stuff - his average earnings are about £18-20k pa.

Yes, you can join as an individual member, or trade members can add extra people to their membership.

We love Costco and go every couple of months.

Staples for us include:
Washing powder
Toilet rolls,
Kitchen roll
Razors
Bottled water
Shaving foam
Books - always very well priced

Sometimes you are buying branded goods at the same price as own brand goods. Also, it’s tempting to buy extras.

We love it.

Lol the military are entitled and the starting salary used to be £13,000 8 years ago (obviously this will have risen slightly with inflation but assuming not more than £16/17k for recruits?) so hardly elitist...although I don't quite get the need for it to be down to occupation, they're quite lax in my experience.