to ask you about Costco?

[Persimmons123]

I live in London, there is one not too far but definitely not close by, I keep thinking that I should get a membership, but I do not want to if it's not worth it. I looked at the website and I have one of the professions mentioned, so the membership should not be a problem. I have other supermarkets and independent shops close by, I sometimes buy food on Amazon, so it's not like it's that or nothing. I also like buying organic food or food that I know come from countries where animal welfare is of a high standard and fruit/veggie might have some vitamins and minerals left in it. I have a standard-sized family, so it's not that I need to buy 15 bottles of washing up liquid at a time.

And yet I can't get it out of my head! Please help me choose by telling me what you buy there. Thank you!

The membership is something like £10 for a year - it's not like you're needing to weigh up a mortgage for it!

Worth it just to wander about and gaze at all the massive packs of stuff.

However I find it generally more expensive than a regular supermarket. Unless you can claim the VAT back on the stuff you buy it won't really save you any money

Well no it's £40, so I'd rather not throw them away.

Interesting that it's not cheaper than other supermarkets.

It's worth the £40 membership just for the cheese aisle

£10? We renewed at £45 for some reason. The gold card.

Oh well. We got memberships available through my work last year and it was £10. Lapsed a few months ago and I've not bothered to renew

Even 10 years ago it wasn't £10.

I get it through work and go every few months to stock up on toilet rolls, kitchen roll. The bin bags and kitchen foil is amazing quality and last for years. We get our birthday cakes, some Xmas gifts and some frozen food from there. The fuel is also the cheapest around.

It’s fine. We shop there quite a lot but bulk buying is the thing that saves you money. I have the space for big bags of sugar and plenty of tins of tomato etc so it works for us.

Wine and spirits are good, if you drink. The meat is mixed - very little / no organic but good quality red meat much cheaper than the supermarket. The chicken is grotesquely oversized so I never buy but the fish is great - good frozen and fresh. Same for the cheese and other stuff you would get in the supermarket like butter, frozen foods etc. The packets tend to be much bigger, so you end up spending way more than the supermarket but it lasts ages.

Clothing can be good for basics - Levi’s, kids’ costumes / PJs etc - and the book selection, particularly for kids, is really good. I saw the complete HP there for about £30. They do lots of toys which are usually a little cheaper than Amazon / Argos deals.

They do great plants, too, but you never know what they’ll have.

If you need a big ticket item like a tv / laptop / watch / jewellery it’s hard to beat. Car tyres are cheap so if you need to replace yours, you might save the £40 immediately.

I have executive membership because an item I needed was £100 off for exec members and it comes with cash back of 3 or 4% so you end up saving that on all the list prices.

I would try it for a year and see - it’s worth it for me, but I also live close enough to one to go regularly.

I use it at least once a month, sometimes only for petrol.

I buy their salmon, arrabiata pasta sauce, chicken nuggets for the kids, peanut butter, sometimes butcher meat, cakes for parties. Sometimes more sometimes less - less than £2 for a hotdog and drink. Family like the pizza too.

Oh and I'm oct I bought their washing tabs and dishwasher tabs - still got loads left.

Think it was 2 x 60 of the washing tabs for like £15 and the dishwasher tabs around £12 for 115.

Its fun to visit, as long as you time it right as they get absolutely rammed, they have some really cool stuff but don't expect to save any money by shopping there.

Just do it. You can cancel membership and get a refund if you think it's rubbish. But I'm sure you won't. A trip to Costco is an exciting day out for me!

It's good for bulk-buying long life things. The fresh food is good but most is too large in quantity to get though for a small family unless you're into batch cooking and filling the freezer.

It's good for catering parties/ social gatherings.

I like not having to constantly keep up with buying pasta/ beans/ washing powder/ tinned tomatoes etc and keeps the weekly shopping down.

We've had some good miscellaneous things there too.

I've been a member for years. You get a variety of things there you don't get in other places. I don't think it's cheap particularly but the meat is good quality so when we go we stock up on that.

For me the cheap petrol pays for the membership for me. But not all stores have the fuel station.

Doesn't sound like you need it for the fuel which is what I mainly go for as I pay petrol prices for diesel.

That said and like a lot of places, they have some absolute steals and things not worth it. DS is obsessed with a specific type of noodle which is 80p a pack in Asda but you can get a box of 40 for about £15 at Costco. Their mouthwash is also a bargain and their bakery is fab if you're off to a party or similar. I've also got great deals on cat food although you do need storage.

If I was you, I'd give it a whirl!

Every time I go in Costo I spend a couple of hundred quid. You do save if you buy in bulk. Also fuel up their every week it's great.

We go once a month.. it's worth it even for the day out.
Electric items so worth it ... the food is always top quality.. much better than any supermarket.
I share with my family the bigger bulk bags or meat..
Always something great for every season..

The freshly made meals and cakes are great. And if you're having a party or something you can buy huge trays of sandwiches/ wraps.

Generally go once a quarter. It helps if you have somewhere to store bulk items - we have some racks and sealed plastic boxes in the garage for this sort of thing- would really like a big chest freezer in there too as some of the meat packs are too big, but it is still worth it. Generally we get:

Cat food, loo roll, kitchen paper, cleaning stuff, dishwasher tablets, san pellegrino fizzy water, fruit & veg (but only the smaller packs), their big pack of butter chicken (which is really), bulgogi beef, batteries, bagels, dried pasta, and there’s usually something interesting that we didn’t really need. Some people like their big pizzas, but I’ve never got on with them.

The Costco in Japan has awesome trays of sushi, but sadly the UK version looks a bit nasty.

I have a Revolut for our tea/coffee fond at work, so I go then to get the big packs or Yorkshire tea and jars of Douwe Egberts.

Also get loo and kitchen roll for home. DH likes the big packs of falafels that I separate and freeze, along with the salt and pepper belly strips. If I'm knackered then get one of the huge ready meals like a curry.

I pay extra for ds to have a card as well, so he pops in for pizza, sushi and cakes.

I absolutely love it! It’s a lifestyle choice lol

we’ve just bought a hot wheels set for DS8 and saved £40 in one purchase! (It had a further reduction)

For twenty yrs people have said it’s not cheaper. I would say it’s improved of quality of life for the around same spend as a regular supper market as the quality of some items is just so good and we also love American brands like Hershey chocolate sauce 😋.

Firstly, if food provenance is important to you, I don't think you'll find it's a priority at Costco. Secondly, Costco is OK if you want to buy things in bulk - like your example of 15 bottles of washing up liquid. It's certainly not a "cheap" alternative and a lot of things are pretty expensive. It's just that they stock things that you won't necessarily see elsewhere. But they don't rotate the food stock much so it's pretty much the same old things all the time (except at Christmas) and the novelty soon wears off. It's undoubtedly a bit of an experience to visit though as they sell exclusive (and very expensive) jewellery, massive inflatable things for kids and showers with TV's built in. From what you've described however, I wouldn't think it would be much use to you really.

We really like it (appreciate it isn't for everyone!) we've had to get used to the mentality of buying larger quantities. Their own brand (Kirkland) is pretty solid and often works out cheaper than other leading brands. Sometimes you do pay a little more, but we notice a difference in quality i.e. That it's better.

Another big win for us personally is the samples, but for the surprising reason that it's got our kids (4 and 7) much more adventurous with food as they don't mind trying new things when it comes in the costco white cup of glory. Sometimes it feels like the membership is worth it for that alone!

I suppose also a factor for us is that our nearest Costco is a 15 minute drive away so really not arduous for us to pop to.

Sorry and to answer your question our standard purchases tend to be washing machine detergent, bread (cheaper in costco than supermarkets), cheese, occasionally alcohol and other bits and bobs. They do offer organic produce.

It's just dawned on me that they used to allow prospective new members to go inside once with a guest pass before signing up- might be worth exploring this as then you'll know if it's for you OP? Also any existing member can take two guests in with them so you could see if anyone you know already has membership and tag along?

I don't think it would be worth it for you. I last did a price comparison in 2022 with Asda so things work out the same for us, some cheaper, some more expensive but better quality.

If you can find someone with a card or youtube has a lot of people showcasing their shopping it might be better to see before investing in a membership card.

Bulk items means you have to have somewhere to store it. Tinned tomatoes are a 12 pack, tuna is either 6 or 8, bacon is also 6 x 250g packs. I have a larder freezer so portion and freeze. Bin bags are a roll of 90. I also have a massive pantry.

Their guarantee on electrical goods is 5 years and the last tv we had from them had the switch die just after 2 years, they came out and repaired it then checked what we thought of the company they used for the repair.

We are executive members on a 2% cash back, we get petrol from there and shop every 3 weeks or so and the 2% cash back pays for our membership. We have been members for about 15 years.