Is Costco basically the offline version of Kogan?

cannedhams on 03/06/2014 - 01:24

Just went and saw the new Costco in Brisbane. Heaps of people lining up, heaps shopping. Had a look inside, was underwhelmed, and left.

The stuff there is slightly cheaper - you can get Huggies nappies for 0.40 rather than 0.46 for example. But not enough to justify the hassle of going there IMO.

I remember talking to taxi drivers and they would bang on about wow electronics or some other outlet that had "really good deals" and I think yeah whatever. I think Costco is the same thing - basically marginal bargains for bogans. The people who think they're being really sharp by ordering their phone off kogan and saving $20, or that think that anything cheaper than woolies or Coles asking price automatically qualifies as a "bargain".

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Comments

  • mskeggs on 03/06/2014 - 07:07
    +1

    A bit harsh to Costco considering Kogan's rep for service, but I think it is a reasonable analogy.

    Costco works for people who want to be sure they aren't getting ripped off, but can't be bothered shopping around (a very American sentiment, I reckon).

    They can be sure Costco has pretty good prices, all in one place.
    Professionals will be able to get a better deal almost every time.

    Although the $40 a case little creatures a couple of weeks ago was a pretty spectacular special!

    • HN Professional on 03/06/2014 - 13:24
      +1

      I approve of your word 'Professional' in this context…

  • timmypete on 03/06/2014 - 07:51
    +1

    Costco has some great specials if you know how to unit price and have a fair idea of the value of a range of goods. I suspect they make an absolute ton from people who don't understand this, or who naively assume that bigger equals cheaper and purchase blindly.

    OP - I've found their prices can differ from visit to visit. My biggest gripe is the lack of online pricing which means that you need to rely on OzB or visit semi regularly to know when things get cheaper (very clever tactic from Costco's perspective).

    You should also read this recently updated guide on Costco's stock tag coding by an American who used to resell their stuff as his profession. Not all of it is applicable to Australia but there is a lot of good info.

    Finally, while Costco and Kogan might cater to particular markets, the comparison between the two is a tad strained. Both grey market import for cheap prices, but Kogan sells a lot of crap too. Sure Costco sells unnecessary stuff and things in unnecessary quantities, but by and large they resell major brands and unlike Kogan I don't get the impression that their internal brands are cheap knockoffs sold at a substantially higher premium than if I'd bought them off eBay or Ali Baba directly.

  • scotty on 03/06/2014 - 10:04
    +1

    But not enough to justify the hassle of going there IMO.

    Would your perception change if you live in surrounding suburbs of Costco Brisbane? Not sure why Costco decided to build their warehouse in North Lakes rather than closer to CBD or in South Brisbane.

    • Malarkey on 03/06/2014 - 12:16

      North Lakes is booming at the moment, property and housing estates going up everywhere, pretty smart move if you ask me, they would purchased the land quiet cheap compared to closer to the CBD and within a few years they will have a large population of low to middle class families (Their target market) at their doorstep.

      Pretty smart move in my opinion, they will have customers from Redcliffe and Caboolture and other surrounding suburbs which are all low socio economic suburbs. Which I think is exactly what they are after.

      • scotty on 03/06/2014 - 13:16

        Thanks. Looks like I have a wrong understanding of Costco's market.

        • eug on 03/06/2014 - 13:59

          I think there's more than one market. Costco doesn't only cater to low-middle class families (realistically, can low-middle class families afford to buy and store in bulk?), they also cater to businesses and restaurants who buy in bulk, which is exactly what they specialise in. They'll definitely miss out a bit in that market.

          Their first branch in Melbourne was in Docklands which probably caters more to that market since there aren't a lot of low-middle class families there!

        • cannedhams on 05/06/2014 - 15:10

          I'd have to disagree there. Anyone who has worked in retail has experienced the "bulk bogans", who generally load up a shopping trolley whenever there is a special on Coke.

        • eug on 05/06/2014 - 15:12

          Not all bogans are low-middle class though.

    • cannedhams on 05/06/2014 - 15:29

      Perhaps. If I lived next door to Costco I would probably buy my fuel there, as the costs are significant.

      I suppose that there are limited places in Brisbane now to build an aircraft-hangar sized building. The Bunnings across the road is also massive, twice the size of a normal Bunnings by my reckoning. They may have been limited from that perspective. I am sure that they would have liked to build closer to the city if they could.

      To be honest, the limited Costco web site is pretty abysmal. I'm not going to hike all that way on the off chance that they have something good.

      I am all for the Colworths duopoly having a bit more competition, so good luck to them.

    • cloudy on 30/06/2014 - 15:48
      +1

      I know if i lived in docklands melbourne where Costco is, i wouldn't shop there still. Reason being no one that lives in a apartment would have the space or the need to buy in bulk.

      • eug on 30/06/2014 - 16:16

        What if you owned a café or restaurant or business in the CBD? Or lived in a house in Richmond or any neighbouring suburbs?

  • Archi on 03/06/2014 - 10:42

    at the end of the day, you have to know what your prices are and shop around.. Costco is just another alternative place to shop as is aldi, coles, woolworths or independent shops. you can be over charged at any shop if you don't know what you are buying. cant blame a retailer for an individuals ignorance or stupidity for buying things wrongly.

    my mum always says "shops never sell you the wrong thing. you only buy the wrong thing"

    you just need to make an assessment whether it is the right place for you to shop…

    • don't like the membership fee.. share it between another person.
    • join and purchase what you need and refund the membership
    • fatal on 03/06/2014 - 13:58

      "join and purchase what you need and refund the membership"

      If you do this, they generally ban you from making a new membership for 12 months.

      • Archi on 03/06/2014 - 15:31

        If you do this, they generally ban you from making a new membership for 12 months.<
        your point is…?

        get someone else to sign up and refund if you want make another purchase.

        personally I like Costco. $1.99 hot dog and a drink with free refills
        I have had a membership since it's been open here in Australia.

  • fatal on 03/06/2014 - 13:59
    +1

    Have you considered that people might not be going there only for the low prices?

    They have a lot of specialty goods and US brands which are hard to pick up elsewhere. Their prices on electronics are also pretty good and the return policy is hands down the best.

    • cannedhams on 06/06/2014 - 11:21

      For some reason american import products aren't floating my boat anymore. Only so many peanut butter cups you can eat before you realize that the chocolate is actually pretty second rate.

    • Archi on 01/07/2014 - 16:29

      hopefully some time in the future.. Costco here in Australia will offer products similar to those in America…

      if anyone that's been to an American Costco they will know how different it is over there. the variety of products and the low prices they have,

      MMmmm even the pizza is nicer and bigger over there…

      • Geewhizz on 03/07/2014 - 06:28

        MMmmm even the pizza is nicer and bigger over there…

        That wouldn't be hard. Went to Costco for the first time yesterday and the pizza was pretty crap. For $3 it's huge, but that means nothing if 90% of it is thrown away.

  • sm007h on 03/06/2014 - 14:01

    When Costco was setting up to open in Sydney, we heard of the low prices vendors were offering to Costco and how much stock they were going to take. It had quite a few IT retailers/resellers worried but the expected price blitz didn't eventuate.

    Has anyone notice any great prices for IT or CE products?

    • eug on 03/06/2014 - 14:50

      There have been good prices in the past for things like TVs. They don't get much exposure here though, since most of us aren't Costco members.

    • cannedhams on 06/06/2014 - 11:20

      I didn't.

  • Cheaplikethebird on 22/06/2014 - 22:42

    Everrrry so often they have deals that make it worthwhile. I bought my SONY 55" HX750 there for $1300 on sale when it was $1750 at JB for the same TV.

  • Mokr on 01/07/2014 - 10:35
    +1

    its really a day out for families, sort of like the ikea model except for supermarkets.

    families can go for a good 2 hours, look at a whole lot of stuff, buy crap, and get a hot dog and cheap snack on the way out, while doing the grocery. Better than the experience of going to coles,

    • scotty on 01/07/2014 - 12:07
      +2

      Hehe yes. They also have stalls for you to test out various food, and I usually feed my kids there :)

      • Archi on 01/07/2014 - 16:24

        normally they have the sample stations on weekends…

        but I was at the casula Costco on the weekend… ready to feed the family on sample food… but there weren't any… not even one so disappointed… so got the $1.99 hot dog and drink.

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