Why is Costco so expensive?!

[MooFroo]

I know I probably am BU but went to Costco after ages, and it’s insanely expensive 😳

I was walking around and comparing the prices to Aldi, Lidl and B+M bargains where I normally shop and didn’t find anything cheaper! And because everything is larger sizes or multipacks, it costs even more!

The tills all had queues and lots of people with full trollies - what am I missing??

Is there a hack to Costco shopping for normal households and families or are people happy to pay more for convenience of bulk buying/larger packaging? I know their electrics etc have longer warranties and they have some cool random stuff, but I am talking about every day food, drink and household stuff like cleaning items and pet food.

thanks!

The enchiladas are so good, cottage pie too. I live next to an M&S and would say Costco ready meals are as good, if not better. Plus the bin bags and kitchen roll! Kids snacks in bulk and shelled pistachios… I don’t buy booze there yet though.

A couple of posters have mentioned bin bags, why do they need to be high quality? Don't you just put them in the inside bin then throw in the outside one when full? Or does everyone live in areas where they have to put the black bags at the road side?

I want mine to be the cheapest that are up to the job and couldnt bring myself to pay a lot for someone I'm literally going to throw away after a few days

I like mine to be good quality so they don’t split, that’s all.

I mean, just personal choice though. Not bothered what bin bags other people choose!

Just go in with a receipt of all the stuff you usually buy, multiply by the markup, and see if it works out better. Obviously factor in use-by dates as you don't want to buy 20 of something and only use 10.

I love the bin bags too, never break no matter how heavy and massive too. You could bury a body in them.

Apple products are cheaper than in the Apple Store. We go when we are doing parties as their meat and fish is excellent and I can bulk buying fruit, veg, snacks and drinks

Petrol, jeans and leggings and shirts - good quality and price, bread deals are good and for tinned goods. Great tomatoes and oil. I covet their massive olive trees but they are too expensive

Some are cheaper, so are not, some are much better quality, I find it worth it.

Agree. I can't really imagine the kind of life I'd be living where I'd be taking a drive to a big box warehouse store in order to get the best quality bin bags!

Trade is an hour early than general admission and has different pricing.

Well this is rubbish IMO , and I don’t pay for my membership my sister does . The petrol is at least 5 p per litre cheaper than my local Tesco ( which is the cheapest in my area) , their Kirkland Kitchen towels , toilet rolls and batteries are definitely big brand equivalent ( we use to be an Andrex loo roll family) . The smoked haddock and salmon fillets are much better quality than from any local supermarket and the rotisserie cooked chickens are excellent . We went yesterday and only spent about £180 , mainly on paper products , porridge ( on offer) , coffee , olive oil and bottles of water - which is ridiculously cheap for still and sparkling . We always price check whilst we go round . You can also get some excellent bargains on garden bits / toys , Lego in particular .

I go once a year as a guest of a friend who has a membership. Stock up on cleaning products both for house and self

Just this week I finished a box of dishwasher tablets that were bought a couple of years ago

I know that month I will spend a lot but if I split that across the year, I know I am getting branded products for the same or less than discounted brands

Plus there is also the extra treat that month of the brownies and cinnamon bites

My friend is also good at picking me up stuff. Just this week she has dropped off several bottles of Nando perinaise which DH goes through a lot of but we only buy if it’s on offer in Tesco

Well we’re all different! I’ve never gone just for bin bags, that would be fucking weird 😂, but while I’m there I buy bin bags. Just like I would at a supermarket.

The prices are no different for trade in the UK.

Oh when did it change? They were when I sometimes had to get bits for the restaurant I worked for.

We buy the cakes quite often for parties and gatherings (DH’s family is huge and we need a choc fudge, carrot cake and an apple pie for Christmas!).

I like the two bite brownies and cinnamon rolls, Costco is the only place we can buy the welches fruit snacks that are my eldests favourite snack - they come in boxes of 180. Generally we’re eating the Easter ones until summer, the summer ones until Christmas and the Christmas ones until Easter! But I take no notice of the use by dates on that kind of thing.

I also like the clothes. They sell 32 degrees gillets and Orvis leggings plus mondetta active stuff that I can’t buy any where else. I recently had some lovely DKNY denim shorts and my DH likes the Gerry brand stuff. One of my friends describes my style as ‘Costco chic’.

Someone up thread mentioned that it’s brand quality for Aldi prices and I think that’s bang on. We’re just selective about what we buy and as we live close by and my office is even closer calling in for petrol on the way home and picking up the odd pizza for work meetings (that I’m imbursed for) make it worth while.

Again, not at my local branches, everyone pays the same but I do realise that they may different policies in different places.

Quote didn't work, that was to @Simonjt

I love Costco. The Chocolate Panettone alone is worth the membership fee.

I also buy coffee beans, pickles, shampoo etc and have a never ending roll of clingfilm.

Had to stop buying the peanut butter filled pretzels for my Dh as they formed an unhealthy controlling relationship. 😁

Everything I have bought from there is top quality.

Has anyone used the non stick greaseproof paper and is it good?

My son had to double or even treble bag his bin bags. He lived in a 3rd floor flat, no lift, and the bin store was across the large car park. When he started living there, it was a constant problem of the bags splitting, sometimes before he even left his flat, which caused grease stains etc on the carpet in his flat (he had to carry through the lounge and hallway as the kitchen was the opposite end of the flat, and not by the entrance, and more often, on the stairs carpets. He didn't over-fill them, but simply by the movement through corridors, down stairs, across car park, they'd snag on something or something sharp would move around and cause a rip/tear. Different people have different circumstances. I use cheap bags which is fine for me because the kitchen bin is literally 5 feet from the back door and the kitchen floor is tiled, and the wheelie bin is right by the back door, so very little chance for them to be snagged or for sharp objects to tear them, and even if they did, a quick mop would clear up any spillage.

Certain things are cheaper than the supermarket and then other things are better quality for the price. You just have to study the prices and plan your shopping. My main gripe is that our local one has become too crowded and full of families treating it as a day trip.

I was taken to Costco as a guest and the stuff looked good. But membership is £42 per year!

I went yesterday and got a pair of Skechers trainers for £20 plus vat and a huge 750g jar of Bonne Maman strawberry conserve for £3.99. Bargains!

I've been a member for about 20 years, and not in that timeframe. They display the price without VAT as well as with (much smaller!). A business would be able to claim back the vat so maybe that's what you were thinking of?

Like others in most areas of my life price isn't my driving force, quality is, eg Costco white bin liners. If you want cheap shit, Costco isn't probably for you. The quality of their meat is high. We go every few months, and have done for over 30 years.