My partner bought a membership recently and we're heading there this arvo to do some shopping. I'm not sure we're likely to save any money over shopping at Coles or Woolies but hopefully there is a bargain or two or some good stuff we can't get elsewhere. Is there anything that you would recommend or anything we should steer clear of? We're a household of 2 humans and a cat.
Plus one on the maple syrup and the Buttermilk Pancake mix is good too.
Can I add with the Spicy Buffalo Wings, Huge Pizza, and snacks outside (hot dog, drink, etc).
PSA that the ready made (bake-at-home) pizzas are horrific, and the food court ones I consider a delicious and succulent italian american meal.
What’s wrong with the pizzas?
They are shite. Like a good quality frozen pizza. I dont think the food court ones are any good either. Nasty
I always thought it was the same pizza? Feel like I need to try them again (or maybe not)
They look the same but they aren’t! The bake at home ones are vile. Food court ones are greasy, but delicious.
Maybe the hotdog at the end of it.
Other than that it's pretty limited.
Personally paying RRP for bulk items is not my cup of tea.
I feel Costco apart from the cheap fuel is overrated.
I agree
The warehouse decor gives the vibe of low cost but most stuff isn’t cheaper than other places esp when colesworth etc are on special
I’ve tried to like it but aside from the fuel and the odd roasted chicken it’s not that great
Its generally not cheaper than Coles/Woolies on special but they offer 'every day low prices' so you don't have to wait for things to go half price.
Where would you go for bulk items? SPC in Shepparton was awesome but I don't know where is similar in Melbourne.
Well
You could buy the same items in the same quantities at coles
You'd just clear them out of stock
There's an SPC shop in Bayswater.
For some reason, they don't charge delivery for their online store, despite having sometimes cheaper prices than brick and mortar.
And different stuff sometimes. They post items from NSW tho.
They do most of the time. It's just added into the price.
I've noticed their pods, golf gloves and other stuff are more expensive online then in store due to postage.
Yup. Generally the in store prices are cheaper. The difference can be if a product is being exited with an X.97 price.
Personally paying RRP for bulk items is not my cup of tea. I feel Costco apart from the cheap fuel is overrated.
It's natural to assume the big deal about Costco is just that it's supposed to be cheaper because you buy in bulk.
Nope. That's true but it's not even ten percent of it.
Costco is fundamentally different in philosophy and operation from Colesworths and even Aldi:
They won't replace a supermarket for everything, of course, but a monthly visit for the products that make sense for you, especially the stuff you just can't get elsewhere, you can get a lot more value than you membership fee, even without a big family.
Even a few minutes googling will explain it better than I can, here's a few about Kirkland:
https://www.mashed.com/738166/the-untold-truth-of-costcos-ki…
https://moneywise.com/life/lifestyle/the-big-brands-behind-c…
Exactly what people don't understand about Costco. The prices might be comparable to supermarkets but the quality is exceptional. The meat, the cheeses, the cleaning products, the Kirkland alcohol are all top shelf.
Im not sure of your definition of top shelf but unfortunately kirkland doesnt exact fill me with gourmet feelings
Wrong, it's all the same shit. Different labelling and packaging. It's all just your perceived value based on marketing and bias opinions.
Source - I've worked in multiple FMCG factories.
What's FMCG?
I don't think your experience in factories qualifies you to decide that all Costco products are "the same shit" as any other supplier. We are the ones buying and consuming the product, and we disagree with you.
@Meconium: I worked in QC so i know what "shit" goes into which products. You can always continue living in your fantasy and ignore the truth.
@mrvaluepack: It actually sounds like you do know what goes into what products, so my apologies for assuming you hadn’t tried them all personally - you’ve must have consumed them given you’re obviously completely full of “shit”.
Logged in just to upvote this. This is exactly why Costco are so good.
Reminds me of JB hi-fi. Put enough big yellow signs up about crazy prices and some will believe it, despite them being comparable to most other places that sell the same stuff.
That is why I Google stuff before I buy.
that's an Australian Costco thing.. if you visit a US store, you'll find a lot of different
Cheap fuel will become overrated very soon if not already…enter the EV revolution!
I'm hyped and hope my next car will be an FEV, but it'll be years and years before there are enough of them in Australia to make cheap fuel overrated.
There are already not enough for the tiny percentage of Australians who can afford 70 grand cars and are also into tech/environment/saving money enough to want one. Waiting lists are months long.
There's already quite a few Teslas on the road, in the next 6 months there will be a lot more as the backlog of deliveries get filled. $70k + for a Model 3 or Model Y is actually very good value…especially compared to the Euro brands.
BYD Atto 3 comes in at $45k
some good stuff we can't get elsewhere.
408 pack of toilet rolls and a coffin should be on the top of your list
Can't forget the Costco coffin
Then you can’t afford to die.
Are vast quantities of toilet rolls still a thing?
2KG cheese.
4L milk
100cm pizza
10kg four
Been to costco with friends 4 times and find that you need to have a large family or have a party or share the groceries to make it worth while and even then if you buy on special at ColesWorth or Aldi you will get most things cheaper and in more manageable sizes.
@AndyC1 Or be a fat American family
We shopped at Costco for a while. And then we got too fat. So we stopped shopping at Costco.
I'm about due for new tyres. Might be worth seeing if I can get a free barbeque to go with them.
Places like Bob Jane will price match Costco but add on $50 for alignment as Costco doesn't do it.
Honestly I'll probably end up some place like that because I need someone to help choose tyres and it seems like the Costco deal requires you to buy online.
@CatGrandma: Even if you have to buy online you could, probably, go chat to the people in the “car” area.
Most major tyre place like BobJane and Ajax etc will not price match Costco….. first hand experience!
$50 for an alignment is very good…usually more like $65 and up!
I bought tyres for my Triton a few weeks ago and Costco were not competitive on price. The local place up the road were only a bit more expensive than Bob Jane but much more convenient.
The Brookfarm Granola.
Yes, agree with this. SWMBO loves it.
The lamb loin chops are also a big favourite, as is the Skippy peanut butter.
Whole Barramundi is totally worth it (and COSTCO is closer to us than any reliable seafood outlet).
The Heinz baked beans are also decent (bigger can).
And they are hard to beat for price on Lurpak.
Meat. Mince in particular is often half the price of Colesworth. The rump is great too - nice thick pieces. They also do a massive boneless pork leg for I think $7/kg. You'll need a freezer and some ziplocks to break your purchases down because the packs are pretty big.
The mince is good but it’s 2-3kg and, at least at my local, it’s always short dated (ie use by the next day)
I think that's because they don't add preservatives to it. I break it up and put it in ziplock bags in the freezer.
You'd have to wonder what freshly made mince isn't short dated, and what supermarkets might be doing to ensure that longer shelf date
Ask your butcher what date they'd put on their mince and it would be 1 day
You should use it or freeze it, as mince isnt designed for long shelf life :)
Interesting
I never looked at it that way
I just assumed it was old mince bundled up
@parsimonious one: Nah, Costco and most butchers make mince on the day and sell it that day and have a use date of try following day (or maybe 2)
Butcher near me has a sign next to the mince saying stuff like no preservatives, use by tomorrow kind of messaging
@parsimonious one: fresh mince after a day goes a dark red colour, a butcher might chuck some of yesterdays into todays and it’s still safe to eat but the mincing process really gives the meat that ’fresh’ red colour. Costco wouldn’t have that problem or do that I assume as they shift so much of it
It's just due to modified atmosphere packaging at the big supermarkets. Costco just packs it on a tray with some gladwrap.
They actually use carbon monoxide in the gas blend for retail packed meats (same reason your cheeks turn red during CO poisoning) to give it that fresh red colour.
Myoglobin and hemoglobin are different colours when bound and unbound to oxygen. CO has a higher affinity for myglobin than oxygen.
All this is the same principle that those pulse oximeter lights work on. Also explains why the basic ones that are not multi-spectrum cannot detect CO poisoning.
The rump steaks at Costco are the best value meat around. Quality vs price is better than anything else I have seen. You can find better meat, but it will cost at least double.
Cheese, the quality of it is much better and you get decent sized chunks at a great price.
Their dumplings are great as well. Not cheap but far better than any other frozen dumplings I've ever had.
Agree. Their cheese selection is genuinely good and well priced. The UK Coastal Cheddar is just superb as is the Stilton.
Thanks for the suggestions.
+1 for the coastal. Amazing. Will have to try the Stilton.
Great isn't it - and not much more expensive than a block of 'Tasty' cheese from Colesworth.
The Stilton is excellent but so is the Stilton from Aldi.
Australia does a lot of good things - but cheese ain't one of them!
Brisket
Roasted chook, tray of eggs, fuel.
You can look at the catalogue online to see if anything you want is on special. The Mersey valley 3 pack is good value atm
Every time I ever got a roast chicken from Costco it was so undercooked or ridiculously fatty. It was really disappointing because they always looked fantastic
Your local is selling undercooked chicken? Wow you should probably tell them.
I did, a few times.. they didn’t really seem that interested in it, just gave me a refund and apologised.
After the first 3 chickens were undercooked I never bothered buying them again,
@sheebies: Costco roast chickens are brined then cooked, this is why they taste so great. Brining makes the meat near the bones slightly pink even though they are cooked properly. I expect your chicken was fine it just appeared pink to you.
@joose: Well that’s good to know but that wasn’t the case in this situation. They were hideously undercooked.
If they have the choc coated almonds they were (its been over a year since I found them last) excellent.
The smoked streaky bacon has been pretty good everytime we had it.
For me it's the closest place to buy good low and slow meat cuts as all specialist butchers are an hour drive from the CBD. If it weren't for that I don't think I'd be able to justify the membership fee.
Are you able to share how much pkg brisket and short ribs are? Do you find yourself trimming much off?
Last weekend it was around $12.5/kg for high quality brisket. Normally $16/kg
Bagels!! There's nowhere else I know of that sells bagels. The blueberry ones are soooo good. And the plain ones with poppy seeds. Cut in half and toasted with a bit of real butter is the most delicious breakfast. I would almost pay a membership just to be able to buy these bagels.
Coles and Woolies sell bagels but not fancy blueberry ones.
Coles and woolies bagels are poor compared to Costco. Even Aldi bagels are better than coles/woolworths
ALDI bagels are good - can confirm
The croissants are actually not tough and chewy there either.
Aldi bagels appear to be the same as the ones in Coles - same ingredients, same size, same dots on the bottom.
Coles and Woolies bagels just taste like bread rolls. They aren't real bagels
English muffins with a hole in the middle ;)
Bae-goals?
Both Coles & Woolworths sell "Abe's Bagels" which come in a blueberry variety.
I got the bagels. 2 packs for $10 so breakfast for the week is sorted.
Let me know if you like them. I forgot to add that I don't like the cinnamon/fruit ones. If you got those hopefully you like them!
oh man I hate you reminding me of this. I don't go to Costco anymore but the bagels were the one thing I made sure to grab every single time I went.
Anything you cannot get in a regular store, as often waiting for the sales at the big 2 will work out much cheaper.
The thing I do mis most is the big packs of American sliced cheese.
You can often find good bargains on bottles of wine if you're a drinker. Save around $5 per bottle vs Dan Murphys for wines in the $15-25 a bottle range.
I recently just catered a birthday party and for what we saved buying wine, soft drinks, mineral water at Cost Co, the yearly membership was already paid for.
Didn't get any wine this time but I have a gigantic bottle of vodka. Seems to be well reviewed so hopefully it's ok.
Kirkland French Vodka is every bit as good as Grey Goose or Belvedere at half price (plus 1.75l means it goes a long way).
A mate decants his Kirkland into a previously used Grey Goose bottle and says no one's ever been the wiser 😀.
We regularly get:
Kirkland Maple syrup
Pizzas
Kirkland dishwasher pods
Kirkland laundry pods
Kirkland Baby wipes (we don't even have a baby, they're just brilliant for cleaning spills and, well, everything)