I'm looking at signing up to Costco next month, and was wondering how many OzBargainers go and what their experiences are like. How often do you go? I was thinking I'd need to go at least 6 times a year for it to be worthwhile, and would probably try for a monthly visit. My nearest store is about 20 minutes away.
Mwa! Love you too, Willy!
you can pay your membership fee and if you aren't happy you can refund straight away that way you get to see if it will be worthwhile for you.
That's what i did i live 2 hours away from the nearest so i just wanted a look to see what it was like.
You could have just got a visitor pass.
where can i get a visitor pass?
go during the week, and at the door ask for a visitors pass.
You can't buy from memory, only look.
didn't know you could they said the only way was to purchase a membership.
you can refund ANY time in the 12 months.
I go and spend between $300 - $700 per visit (family of 6). I tend to go in waves, once a fortnight for 2 months and then not again for a couple of months. It is easy to buy things you don't really need because they are cheap. There are a couple of things I don't like about Costco; you can't rely on items to be there next time you go, even things they regularly carry, it's not like Woollies; I really dislike having to pay to get in the door, crowds on weekends and peak times mean getting around is very difficult. I really like their own brand products, Kirkland, especially their washing liquid, their roast chickens are a steal and huge.
My suggestion would be to go and join and have a good look around, from what I am told if it is not your thing they will refund your fee
What's the best stuff that you buy apart from the washing liquid and chicken?
The stuff I regularly buy: Mixed nuts, both salted and unsalted, come in a plastic jar so easier to keep than other supermarkets. free range eggs, 18 for about the price of 12 elsewhere. Kirkland paper towel, huge rolls and really strong, plus the tear off squares a little smaller so less wastage. Kirkland toilet paper. Coffee takeaway cups and lids (my hubby uses one every day). Kirkland garbage bags, super strong and large. Bagels, cheaper than in store and nicer IMO. Salads in 1kg tubs, same as sold in salad shops, great at Xmas although got to watch the use by dates. Muffins in 12 pack, huge and $8, croissants in 12 pack. Birthday cakes are very large and about $25, I love the cheesecake and choc mud. Persian fetta about half the price of elsewhere. Meat, only a bit cheaper but great especially the whole tenderloin. twiggy sticks, eye bacon, streaky bacon, yoghurt in 1kg tubs, rice pudding, old bay seasoning, pepper grinder with whole peppercorns, Himalayan rock salt in grinder. Great party items, cups plates, etc, I haven't bought them but they look to be very good quality for the price. Their clothes are well made and cheap, especially the mens business shirts. Other grocery items can be on sale and well priced however I find you can generally buy on sale in Coles or woolies so I rarely buy. The only thing I don't buy because I don't think the quality is there is fruit and veg, with the exception of the salad mesclun mix.
I used to buy nuts. It started off at $24 and they continued to increase prices and it is nearly $10 more now. So I stopped. I think they introduce products at a very attractive price and start increasing the prices, once people habitually buy products.
Their fuel prices had a margin of 15 cents per litre discount compared to other fuel stations and now it is around 8 cents.
I use to pay $12 or something in US Costco for that same nuts. In Oz they use to sell $18 then they keep increase the price(not sure coz of exchange value)
Ordered the choc mud for my b'day a couple of years ago. Was disappointed. I think the one we got was a little overcooked around the outside so it was harder with a badish taste. Hopefully they're not all like that. Haven't bought one again since but I do love my mud cakes…
Their fresh cookies (Kirkland brand) are good. Tried once.
Is washing liquid cheaper and better than OMO or Radiant at 50% price promo which you frequently get in Cooles or Woolies? Just wondering, never tried. No sarcasm here. :)
I haven't priced it out however I would say probably not however what I love about the Kirkland brand is that I can put it on a shelf and it has a tap. The liquid itself is clear and not super thick like, say, cold power or Dynamo. I have a front loader and there is no residue left in the soap dispenser like there is with thicker brands. I can't say as I recall using OMO liquid, Radiant I have used however I find the fragrance a bit too strong. If it helps I was at Costco yesterday and Dynamo (or was it Cold Power, not sure, a blue bottle anyhow) was on sale making it much cheaper per wash than the Kirkland brand and I still bought the Kirkland.
If all you want to do is look around, I'm pretty sure they'll let you in without getting a membership - you just won't be able to buy anything.
i read somewhere (here or whirlpool maybe) that they wont, you have to be a member even to enter and look around.
You show card to enter at door and also when you pay. You can just tell the door people you want to have a look and it's fine (since you can't buy anything anyway). I've seen people do it many times.
@fruxo: you have to fill in some stupid form and the line is huge.
what sort of business wont let you in to look at their stuff…thats the opposite of advertising.
@Calam05:
Not sure what the point of filling in any paper would be, it's not like you have to show your card at any other point (as long as you don't buy anything). I'm not saying you are wrong, but I've certainly never seen anyone do any paperwork, they've just asked to have a look and the staff explains that it's fine and just makes sure they know they can't buy anything.
@fruxo: at the door when they were checking everyones cards they asked if i was a member, i told them no ive never been here before, just wanted to have a look. They said i have to fill in a form for a guest pass
This was costco north lakes btw (north brisbane)
@Calam05:
That's ridiculous and would piss me off too. I guess it depends on the staff though as North Lakes is my store as well.
@fruxo: Just ask someone with a membership walking in if you can tag along with them, I'm sure they wont mind.
Yeah they have this crazy idea that if they spend their advertising budget on better quality products and lower prices, word of mouth will advertise for them.
Seems to be working.
door people will turn you away, get a visitors pass for a look around, but they only these on the week days, no weekend.
Correct, you can visit and look around weekdays when its not too busy but no chance they'll let you in on a weekend when its packed..
The policy at Lidcombe used to be the opposite: you could visit on Saturday without a pass, otherwise you had to be a member to get in.
And the original reason is the prices. Not sure if it's still this way, but suppliers in the US used to give much better prices to vendors who promised only to sell wholesale to members. So Costco was created as a members-only club.
They should make more Costcos in inner Sydney (East)
Yes I wish there's a Costco that's 20 minutes away from Sydney East / South East. Been spending a fortune there.
Yeah it is quite ridiculous. Nearest costco from Bondi Junction is 24km away! They should only one in St Peters or Alexandria, surely they can only an industrial size shop there.
What's even more ridiculous is that sometimes it's faster to go down M5 to go to Costco in Casula from Bondi Junction, than to the Costco in Auburn…
@scotty: Good to know. you must be really enjoying the deals and savings at costco to travel so far! respect!
@scotty: How does Casula compare to Auburn in terms of store size, stock, checking out queue and crowds?
I like Costco for the American products (Kirkland, Hersheys, Ghiradhelli, etc), but the local products are not very competetively priced. The local product retail prices are cheaper than shelf prices at other stores by ariound 10-15%, except when other stores decide to have a sale and slash prices.
Cafe food and in house cheesecakes etc are good and well priced if you like American style fast food (which I do). Obviously can't eat this all the time or too often.
If membership was cheap or you have a large family or run a small business, it is worthwhile, otherwise renew your membership only when you need to stock up (as I do). You can renew as you check out. Consider splitting membership with someone else. You will get 2 cards per membership with photo id each allowing 2 people in at any time. Card can be used in any Costco store worldwide.
@IMFrugl: I find the one in Casula easier to get to and less busy. Having petrol bowsers is a bonus. I don't know if it's an illusion or not, but it also seems bigger than Auburn.
@kevlarman: Thanks! I'll have to check it out.
I imagine it would be bigger as the Auburn store would have been their testing ground to test the local market. I find it too congested most of the time so I was hoping Casula would be bigger.
I like Casula but i noticed Auburn have more chinese products (may be lot of chinese people in that area).I usually go to Casula one after work on weekdays and you find hardly people out there and its good for me to get out quickly .
Your nearest Costco is 20 mins away? LUCKY!
Mine is like 40-60mins. More like 60mins.
I used to go but haven't for ages.
Experience
- Fine? No issues.
- Customer service was great.
Visiting Frequency
- 4 x per year? I tended to buy in bulk so as to not need to return again for a while.
Purchases
Though I know you didn't ask
- goji berries 1kg
- dark chocolate goji berries
- that is all I can think of. I bought the frozen fish once and it was gross.
- The fruit occasionally - avocado and eggs.
I bought bulk chocolate once for a Halloween party.
40 - 60 minutes? That's nothing.
Try living in Perth. My nearest Costco is about 27 hours away.
Topper strikes again!
You're really not missing much apart from the novelty.
The only thing I found cheaper was goji berries. Everything else was identically priced to supermarkets.
It does offer junk food at the cafe like you can't believe - $1 "fresh" hot dogs etc….
The closest Costco here is approximately an hour and a half away drive. We probably go about as many times a year as you used to do.
The only problem is the lack of money in your wallet when you've finished shopping since we buy a lot due to our limited trips. :D
You live in a state that has Costco? LUCKY!
what do you think you are missing out on? for any good US products you can always buy from usafoods.com.au
I love their megasize pizza and bread rolls. But I'm not a member, my cousin is and I just ask or tag along next time they go there
It's generally a fun experience, just not on a weekend. And the pizza is so large that the box could be used as a temporary shelter (for really small people). I once saw a guy pick one up and you chouls have seen the look on his face…he looked so proud, like he'd hunted a beast big enough for his whole village, or something. And the hotdogs are made of pork. Massive sign saying so. The sign was overtly large, like they were trying to make a point, since Costco in Sydney's Auburn. Ahhh… America: they do everything BIG. It's also fun to see diamond rings and 5kg tubs of yoghurt in the same store.
I use to go. It's cheap but at the same time expensive.
I'll explain…
Just say I want to buy some toothbrushs, say 4 for the family. But i can't buy 4 toothbrushs can I? No, i have to buy 12, that's great as i get 3 sets of toothbrushs, but i have to spend $25 on toothbrushs, so the up front costs are high. If you have big family it is more worth it.
P. S the Tabasco sauce is super cheap though.
We're pretty good for upfront large cost = long term savings. We're using cloth nappies at the moment with a 6 month old!! $500 upfront, save up to $2500 long term!
$2500!!!
Are you planning to not toilet train until he's 7?
You'll probably need less than $500 if you toilet train at 18 months like most people, and that's for a premium nappy brand (Huggies).
Choice online estimate that each child uses approximately 8,000 nappies before they are toilet trained, six nappies a day over two and a half years. To get a sense of how much disposable nappies will cost you per child you can multiply 8,000 by the cost of your brand of disposable nappies. So for example, if each nappy costs 75 cents, the estimated cost of nappies for one child would be .75 x 8,000 = $6,000.
$500 is far too less unless your only changing nappies for poops.
Huggies nappies are on average 40 cents each depending on the size. I'd estimate about a little over $2000 on disposable nappies for 18months. But I rather pay that than wash cloth nappies…
@julzihead: Also the average child begins potty training at 18 months and is fully trained at around 30 months.
q
@Putnum:
as a new born, a baby may use that amount of nappies a day,
a 1 year old or even 18 month old would not use that many…
on sale a woollies at the moment new born nappies, 108 jumbo pack for $25 (HUGGIES), that s4.3 cents each..
I would spend less time reading choice and spend more time on looking at what you are actually spending on
Good on you for using cloth nappies and doing your bit for the environment.
I buy 100 disposable nappies for $20 or thereabouts using sales, Discounted gift cards, bulk etc.
6 x 365 x 2.5 = 5500.
So I'm gonna be spending $1100 on nappies!!!! I really should look into cloth nappies with disposable biodegradable inserts.
Depends what you like, they stock a lot of stuff which is unavailable elsewhere, or much better quality, or much better value, e.g.:
But there's plenty of stuff there that's not so amazing and/or sometimes cheaper at supermarkets (when on special).
We go about 7-10 times a year (family with young kids) and make our membership fee back in 1 or 2 trips.
A lot of corn syrup. Food containing corn syrup from the usa.
I've been once and a lot of the stuff is Australian!
I'm an ex-member & been there dozens of times.
Some things are Australian but mostly imported. Take their range of sauces: big bottles of bad bills Texan style barbecue or whatever full of corn sugar around the aisle from the massive bucketload of poppycock corn sugar popcorn and imported pretzels straight from 'murica!
if you're only 20mins drive from costco, i definitely think it worth joining it. i have to drive at least 25mins to reach my nearest costco in Docklands. Yet, most of the time i have it all planned before going, i always know what gotta buy from there. I.E Milo (only once a year i've seen Coles/Woolsworth doing special that is lower price than Costco's regular price) , cheese sticks for the kids, sausages, some grains, nappies, cooking oil, so on so forth..the list may go on until tomorrow..anyway, i think you know what i was trying to tell you. :) but..why next month??? you can do it next week…or after, or another after.. or, ok, that's a month.
next week is next month! haha, we have it planned to go there on the 7th. I'm appreciating all the replies, it seems 20 minutes isn't actually that far!
They've stuffed the parking at Costco Docklands now. You could easily spend 2+ hours in Costco if you factor in the time taken to find a suitable car park, making your way into the store, taking a good stroll through all the aisles, waiting for brainless numpties at the checkout with 7 credit cards in their bags but ABSOLUTELY NO CLUE how to use any of them with a simple EFTPOS machine, grabbing a bite to eat, making your way to the car park, unloading your trolley, returning your trolley, going back to your car and then navigating out of the car park.
Do all of this at Costco Docklands in any more than 2 hours and you'll be turkey-slapped with a $75 parking charge.
Yeah, nah.
Parked there for 2 hours 12 minutes, can confirm said turkey slap.
I asked about the 2hr limit and mentioned how you could easily spend over 2hrs there if you stopped for a bite to eat in the food court as well.
Their reply:
Basic parking is now limited to two hours, however there will be a grace period of up to 30 minutes to ensure that you are able to enjoy your shopping. Over and above that time, the fee is $75 to ensure ample parking is available to our members.
The up to covers their arse I guess.
Emailed them re this as was quite disappointed with this. This is what I got back
"We do understand that it may take our members a longer amount of time to complete shopping, than the 2 hours specified by CarePark. In this circumstance, when shopping is completed please present your receipt that reflects an excess of 2 hour visit to a supervisor (who wear the red vests) at Front End - near the registers; or visit the Membership counter and we will kindly give you a voucher that you can scan at the boom gates, to exit the car park without having to pay the CarePark let out fee."
I live 5 mins away and drive past constantly.
I got my membership refunded as I had no use for it. If you have a large household and bulk buying works or have lots of parties should be good. I shop for only 2 and found I preferred a greater variety of brands and flavors at Coles.
I think Costco is also probably only cheaper if you're not a savvy shopper.
It really doesnt save you much money it all. If you 'must' have name brands then its about the same cost as regular coles specials.
I got a membership as a gift, it expired but I still constantly use it to go and get dirt cheap amazing pizza from the cafe.
You use an expired membership? wouldn't it flag at the checkout?
I only use it to get in the store. They dont check it at the cafe.
So you can still get in and buy stuff in-store??
Oh you live in Melbourne.
I was gonna say at the Auburn Sydney one the cafe is outside. That's why I was confused reading the sequence of comments..
They tempt you into buying in bulk so you end up spending much more than normal.
I'd like to sign up just to see what imported goods they have and try the free samples, but $60 member fee is hard to justify.
You can cancel the membership before the full year and get a refund. So any curious bargainers may as well check it out.
You are the most confused person I have ever had the pleasure of reading about.
"They tempt you into buying in bulk so you end up spending much more than normal."
vs
"I'd like to sign up just to see what imported goods they have"
So which is it? If you've never been how do you know they try to tempt you to buy in bulk?
"60 member fee is hard to justify."
vs
"You can cancel the membership before the full year and get a refund. So any curious bargainers may as well check it out."
Which is it? Is it hard to justify or if you're curious you might as well check it out?
Both
I kinda go there once in awhile (once a month, it really depends?) for the meat and non-perishables (possibly electronics as well).
I know that people have said this already, but it's not that cheap after counting in the fact that you have to buy in bulk. Specials from Woolies, Coles, Aldi and others might come out cheaper as well. Though, I kinda find Costco to be worth it even with a very small household (mine), after counting in petrol and everything.
So I'd kinda recommend trying them out, if you don't like them, get refund on the membership.
yep, the parking at docklands is completely flogged - can take an hour to get out
Not if you go early.
I am a very savvy shopper and go there every few weeks. Some things are definitely more expensive than at the supermarket but many are much cheaper. I am very disciplined about what I buy though because it is easy to get roped in to buying things you don't need. I buy the same things most of the time. Frozen berries, Jalna yoghurt, free range eggs, lactose free milk,Philadelphia cream cheese, the meat is delicious, laundry powder, paper for the printer, batteries, Calvin Klein business shirts for around $30 which are excellent quality, socks and underwear for the boys. Now that it is winter in Melbourne, I buy the segments wool long sleeve shirts which I wear under everything, I have one in every color and they cost around $20. In the past, I have bought a North face jacket for my son, under $200 and tyres for my car. My car uses 95 petrol which they don't sell but I find the price of the 98 petrol there is the same or less than the 95 elsewhere even when using the supermarket dockets.
If you go during the week, it has been quite empty at Moorabbin lately. When I used to go at docklands, I would go at night when there are no crowds but no tastings either.
The Costco in Liverpool NSW has a petrol station and the their petrol prices alone ensures you get your money back. They are constantly 10-15 cents cheaper than surrounding petrol stations so I can easily save on a full tank of petrol.
Yeah i was hoping my nearest has petrol but no such luck @ ringwood.
ooooh you'd love Costco Moorabbin's cheap fuel… so affordable even the chromers are onto it.
How much cheaper is it? I was thinking of joining Moorabbin.
On Monday, fuel elsewhere was being flogged at around 115c/L. Last night some bumper that to 134c/L.
Costco has been at 105.6c/L for the whole week.
Do they have a diesel pump?
Survey says…
Yes.
They sure do. To give you some indication of diesel prices in the surrounding pumps:
Caltex Woolworths - 116.9
Caltex Crossroads - 117.9
7 Eleven - 116.9
Costco - 106.7
That is actually pretty cool. Didn't know Costco do petrol too.
From a different perspective to all the comments above - I have ordered loads of party platters of sushi, sandwiches, wraps, cakes, cheeses, smoked salmon etc for a special family birthday in a couple of weeks. We had quotes from caterers and the cheapest for finger food was $25ph - a total of around $650.
I am getting all my stuff for $300 - made fresh that day - all I have to do is pick it up - so I recommend Costco for that alone.
Their meat looks fantastic too. Beautifully presented and well packed.
Not necessarily cheaper, but better value - for example, short loin lamb chops $18kilo, BUT the fat tail bits have been cut off so more meat per kilo compared to Coles, Aldi.
What grows on you over time is how consistent they are with quality. They are selective about what they stock. I find myself trusting them more the more stuff I try from there.
I've read articles saying Costco actually has higher standards for their produce and so on - they fail a lot of the big brands in the US and refuse to stock them, because of safety and quality issues (e.g.: e.coli testing for beef).
Their meat and fish are fantastic. Fresher than I can get at the Markets and available every day!! Wish I joined earlier!
I'm a Costco member - go once every five or six weeks. I buy:
At Ringwood Costco, you can buy a coffin if you happen to need one….
Who Here Goes to Costco?