Thinking to join Costco now, it's close to 1hr drive for us but hopefully worth the trips (including fuel refill).
What things do you usually buy in bulk/stock from Costco and how much is it? I see some folks get kitchen paper towels, frozen berries etc.
Thanks for sharing the info.
nope, that's one and half trip :P I goto work after shopping.
Nope, not worth it.
Get an ABN, sign up for business Costco membership and profit?
Business membership costs even more than personal one.
Nope, same price these days.
It's the same cost.
It used to be $5 more, but they recently raised the price of individual membership. I think business still has some perks, like an extra card.
@AustriaBargain: Business membership is used to be $5 less than regular membership. $55 vs $60.
So when you redeem a free membership gift card for a business membership, they refund $5.
Now same price $65.
Why need ABN? Better discount on business costco membership?
I have an ABN and I don't need a membership cause it's not worth it for me to go to Costco.
But when I was looking at their website for business membership, it's only I think 5 dollars extra (when I searched last year) for business but you get business discounts. Don't know how much.
From the website:
"Our Business membership was designed with business owners in mind—we want to help you keep your costs low and make it convenient for you and your employees to shop."
From sources around the net, apparently the discount can range from 5% to 10% depending on the product. But I don't know if there's an actual overall discount at the final checkout. It's quite vague. Maybe need to ask an in-store rep.
Business membership used to be $5 less, but now it's the same. It allows you to have a second card for someone else in the business, whereas normal membership is restricted to the same household /address.
When I had it overseas it allowed me to bulk buy paracetamol and tobacco in quantities that would otherwise be illegal. I have business membership in Australia and so far it hasn't given me any discounts at all except for the membership fee.
How does a business membership allow you to save more?
it saves you money when you get the business to pay for it.
Don't tell the business that lol
TP for sure!
Cookies and muffins are good as well.
Muffins are cheap ($8.99 for two packs of six muffins each) but they are not of Premium quality.
IYKYK
Well you can always ask for a refund of membership if after your visits they are not worthied.
not worth it tbh
I save around $40p/m just by fuel :)
i just helicopter on 7/11
Yeah but I dont have time for helicopter rides lol
@cloudy: It is between my work and home :)
Hence fuel saving is good, but for other goods, not everything is cheap/economical, but there are some items with massive price differences, so it's always good to shop around.
What is helicopter on 7/11? I understand the fuel lock feature
It is convenient if you have the pantry/freezer space. It may not be cheaper than buying elsewhere for most things, but it sure is convenient having a 50 box of ice creams instead of 10 5x boxes from Coles.
Some things are cheaper though, like eggs, giant muffins, giant roast chickens.
And the Kirkland paper towels are just better quality.
I went to Costco once as a guest and just about every shopper looked like they lived on ice cream. All those fatties were enough deterrent to stop me from signing up.
Hurts cause its true :-(
the $25 massive cheesecakes and delicious muffins in trays of twelve were why i stopped going.
My local is about an hour away and we joined last year but haven't signed up again. Not really worth the membership, things aren't really that cheap there.
The old JB Hifi illusion of cheapness. Say crazy prices often enough and some will believe.
Christmas food trays - pastries etc. The bulk sizes are for large groups. Do you have a friend who is a member? You might be able to tag along and have a look at the stock.
They online deliver alot of items. You may not even need to go there for some stuff.
Note most of the stuff online, if sold as well in the store, is about $10 more money to cover the cost of delivery. Thus if you need a lot and the warehouse sell it, it's better to go to one.
Their roasted chook, and other loss leader items yes, their Kirkland branded stuff are pretty good.
Otherwise no, have spoken to a lot of colleagues who goes there and it's more a matter of convenience. If you just want a slightly better price whenever you want it then maybe. But if you do any sort of planning and look up grocery store deals/offers and stock up when a 50% happens then not even close.
If you have one near you it's a different story, but they're few and far in between. As someone else said if you've a free bit of time pay them a visit and see for yourself, Costco will refund you the membership price at any time before renewal no questions asked. I signed up and went twice (including the initial time) in 11months and they gave me a refund instantly.
I doubt they are actually losing money on the roast chickens. One very slow moving heavyset guy can operate the giant rotisserie alone and pump out a lot of chickens per hour, and only needing to give it a few minutes at at time, walking to the back room to do other stuff most of the time.
Costco could charge more per chicken, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's sold at a loss. And they might not sell as many if they charged more. Meat chickens are ready for slaughter in 1-2 months, before they start laying eggs, so doesn't take a lot of feed to fatten them up.
One very slow moving heavyset guy can operate the giant rotisserie alone
I'm pretty sure it is mechanised.
lol. I mean the guy that slides the chickens onto the machine. Not that Costco have a fat guy stand there cranking it by hand to rotate it. He comes out and slides the chickens between the prong things, holds dozens of chickens. He comes back a bit later and puts them onto the trays and then onto the warmer. It's a very simple operation. I'm sure their method of plucking, cleaning, and brining the chickens is very efficient too.
Thinking to join Costco now, it's close to 1hr drive for us but hopefully worth the trips (including fuel refill).
If you go mid week during the quiet times, you can get a 'guest' pass, that allows you to have a look around the store and see for yourself what is on offer. You can't buy though (can in the food court through).
What things do you usually buy in bulk/stock from Costco and how much is it? I see some folks get kitchen paper towels, frozen berries etc.
My Costco is about 10 mins away and even then I struggle to buy a lot of items as its far bulky for me to store. Like who needs 5 bottles of spray and wipe? Sure I saved 30c a bottle, but I have to store 4 bottles now for months on end.
Mince is $10/kg and its good mince, but its in 5kg lots now. Used to be 3kg lots, then moved to 4kg and now 5kg. So you need to store/freeze it in most cases and its just getting a bit too big for me to bother with.
Booze is normally not bad, but again its odd sizes to everywhere else, so you have to work out if the 1l bottle is worth it or not.
The frozen section is good, lots of different random but tasty items. Same deal, normally big bags of product. So you need the freezer space to store them.
Cheap roast chickens… So that is a plus!
Cash outlay of shopping at Costco is much higher. A large number of products are also of discretionary nature.. so, like special types of potato chips.. sure they're nice but its $17 bag of 1kg. In my family of 2 adults and 2 kids, we can't open a bag and consume it whole or even within the time it takes to go off. Things like cleaning products, are often cheaper at Aldi or at ColesWorth when on half price special. We have a membership because we ordered catering a couple of times, and that was worth it. Also if you're not disciplined you can end up with a lot of junk.
Honestly the stuff is better quality than you get a woolworths (kirkland stuff and meat) but it is not cheaper. I've found that it is about 10-20% cheaper than woolies/coles at full price, which is ordinary when you can get 50% off most things regularly. The exceptions to this are eggs, milk, roast chooks, beef mince, fuel and a few more that are cheaper than elsewhere. You can easily save the membership rate just from fuel if it's convenient.
My local Costco is just 10mins around the corner so very convenient.
We go maybe once a week or slightly less - but we always get out fuel there and I'd say membership was worth it just for the petrol.
Some items are good value, some not so great. Like all grocery shopping you need to compare with the other options and consider whether you need a bulk size.
Been a Costco member for sometime now. Last 18 months, they have jacked up the prices enough to make it less appealing now.
Kirkland toilet paper in particular not worth it now
they have jacked up the prices enough to make it less appealing now.
Everywhere has jacked up the prices….. Coles/Woolies too.
I see some folks get kitchen paper towels, frozen berries etc
Do you eat frozen berries? If not, then you're deluding yourself about value.
FYI. The US frozen bbs are $9.50/kg. It's a similar price for Creative Gourmet on special from Chile and you get incentives of up to 25% with Coles where it's been on special a few times this year and you can use gift cards for further savings.
Questions to help you:
Costco sell a lot of brands for cheaper than the highs of supermarkets, but usually higher than the supermarket lows (they have high-low cycles).
Or as per first question you ask yourself when 4WD-ing.
"Do I need to go there?"
Nobody, can know the answer to that other than OP.
Bad shopping experience
Ridiculus crowds
Feels like you are in a detention center
Lovely pizza
'centre'
'ridiculous'
OP meant to write 'Ridikkulus'. His boggart is a crowd of immigrants.
,,, it did look similar to the mexican border detention centres.
Yeah I feel everyone is in a rush. Also everyone has a trolley and feels like your dodging and weaving to move
Lovely pizza
The pizza is ok, but not sure I would say 'lovely'.
The trick with Costco is to never go on a weekend. Horrible experience. I visit on Monday nights and it's so easy.
Might be worth it as a trial with mates and family .Do a co-op shop. You could renew if it was worth it after the trial
'family.'
'trial.'
Wow, a pedant who also sucks at punctuation. What are the odds?
I'm not really sure.
But I'm thinking around about the same as the odds of you dropping a meaningful, or humorous, comment
just join, shop, refund your membership.
they have no issue with refunding it in full, but don't let you re-join for six months iirc.
i actually didn't join with this intent but realised after about three months I wasn't using it. so I did one last shop and refunded the membership.
When they ask you if you want to renew when your membership expires in a month, say NO! You can always renew when you next checkout (if its 2 months after the expiry then the counter starts from the renewal date and not the expiry date).
it needs to be after 3 months, if you renew within 3 months of expiry it will start from the original date.
Oh weird. Costco AU FAQ says its two.
Memberships renewed more than two months after expiration will be extended for 12 months from the renewal date.
You are better off bulk from Amazon for non-perishables. It will cheaper and it's delivered to your door. They do have some cool stuff that you can't get from regular retail stores though.
If I could order the stuff I get at Costco from Amazon, I would.
I really think Costco's strategy is not about beating Colesworth at the bottom end of the market. I just don't know if there is enough profit there. If you are going to Costco to get your run-of-the-mill Colesworth stuff cheaper then you'll probably be disappointed. Costco is about getting your higher end grocery stuff (think fancy cheese, organic X, better quality Y) at cheaper prices. If you like to buy organic flaxseed, marinated Goat Cheese or Italian 00 flour, stuff like that, Costco will be right up your alley.
If you have the pantry space and freezer space, you can save a lot of money by shopping at Costco.
organic flaxseed
What about wholemeal flour? What's the point of eating a little organic flaxseed and a lot of normal wheat?
I'm just giving examples of stuff off the top of my head. I'm not going into dietary plans.
It is pretty simple
Costco membership in Australia = $5.50 per month insurance to guarantee you are paying within the bottom 5% cheapest price for fuel at any given time within your state
This business model is obviously problematic as the % of EV vehicles increases which is why Colesworth are concerned what Costco HQ has in store for Costco Australia
MY GF has a costco membership. she mainly uses it for buying for her family that live rural WA (who then freeze things) …
eg. 5kg+ of Mince meat … something you can't really do at a normal grocery store.
IMO - for people who live local - you're probably not going to save much money.
for people who live rural - there may be some benefit.
EG. I did a cost analysis awhile back on TP … compared to my local IGA (when on TP on sale at IGA mind you).
When you work out cost per sheet/roll/etc - Costco worked out to only saving roughly 6cents per roll (also being costco = bigger rolls, they don't always fit on the average toilet roll holder - until you have used some of it).
Costco chickens are also alittle different - cooked in brine - which is an aquired taste … all good if you are going to use chicken in a cooking recipe (as then taste is masked) … but certainly in a chicken sandwich, something hard to get used to.
I do like their oversize twisties/chips packets +++ someone else commented about their eggs (which I agree).
Yet to buy electrical goods or other offerings from costco … we've mainly just used it for general things that you'd find at a normal grocery store.
They no longer brine their chickens in sydney at least. I used to pick one up everytime but its a no go for me now, maybe if I were making a chicken salad of some sorts
I do a wet brine on most of the chicken I cook. Dry (just salt) at the very least. If your family is used to "dry" chicken, sorry. If your family are professional chicken cooks then lucky you, im jelly but I find wet brine has more forgiveness, 5-10 deg overcooked? Still good!
VIC doesn't do the brine anymore either, haven't for a few years now. The chickens are half decent now. I never used to buy the old brine ones, horried chicken full of jelly goop. So yeah, give me a dirty dried out chicken any day it seems.
Ooh - that might be interesting.
I found the brined chickens hard to take - but they were so cheap.
Might need to give them another try and hope they've stopped brining in WA too.
yeah some random stuff… have to have a "large lifestyle". So big freezer, big tv that you upgrade, suv etc for fuel saving. Think some other people may be large families and small restaurants. Don't think it works out cheaper, just more convenient. they have some cheap things to lure people in, 30pk dinner rolls for example….
that reminds me of our last visit to costco …
an asian lady easily had 15-20 BBQ chickens in her trolley … so probably shopping for a small business.
You would be crazy to drive one hour just to get groceries. I totally get it if Costco was significantly cheaper than other Supermarkets but with them being in the same group as the other greedy supermarkets I don't see any logic in you going to costco.
i like their yakiniku beef and pork, great for K bbq or hot pot.
I pass it on the way home from work, don't usually take a special trip there as it's 50km round trip.
Regularly buy eggs, milk, potatoes, one of the specialty loaves, 1.7kg mayo (Hellmans rebranded as 'bestfoods'), giant Skippy peanut butter, 2min noodles, boxes of mini chocolate and Red Rock chips or Pringles for kids lunch boxes, 2kg bag of grated cheese and 84 pack sliced cheese. Occasionally take home a whole pizza on the way out which comfortably feeds 5 +dog. I would get fuel if I didn't have a EV. Giant vodka and gin ($99 for 1.75L) is good too.
And I just got new glasses there, of which the savings paid for about 10 years membership.
Things I would buy if I needed because they're cheaper - Philadelphia, Lurpak, bucket of Greek yoghurt, bucket of hummus, paneer, 00 flour, moccona, noodle bowls.
Things that are NOT cheaper - frozen veg/chips/chicken products, basic block cheeses, nuts, some fruit, toiletries, vitamins.
From our experience only items on special are really at an special (low) price to grant bulk buying.
That said, buying other non-bulk items make it "seductive" to shop. Like getting Hellman's mayonnaise, Skippy peanut butter, Maple syrup, croissants (a bit gigantic but tasty), muffins, french brad rolls (precooked ones). And fuel before leaving.
Dont, it's a trap.
From a Costco veteran on Costco detox
Our family save so much with our costco membership. We recently upgraded to an executive membership and receive 2% back plus other specials. Family of 2 adults 2 kids and live 30 mins away though I do pass by once a week for work.
We go every 2-3 weeks plus i fill up with petrol weekly and save at least $20. just on the petrol. Recently bought a huge squishmallow and saved $50.
Go on a week night after work to escape the crowds. We make a night of it and get a huge pizza on the way out.
We save money buying things in bulk as we dont have to run to the shops too often. Many items are top quality so prices are definitely great if you compare properly. The meat is excellent, we love the mince and lamb chops. The steak off cuts for cheap are also excellent. Huge sausages are a fave. Very fresh seafood.
We spoil ourselves with some frozen goods inc. Big calamari rings, sweet and sour barramundi, waffle chips, apple pie spring rolls.
I could go on and on. My family love costco lol
Thanks for your contribution Mr, Mrs or Ms Costco CEO.
At the moment Costco's petrol is 1.7c cheaper than my nearest servo, and 1.2c more expensive than the one a couple of km down the road. Ignoring the cheaper one down the road, I would need to buy over 1000L of fuel to save $20.
Maybe the difference is more extreme in other states or something, but $20/week seems unlikely.
Think it's only a WA thing (as Galati is involved) … but in terms of purely saving $$$ …
Spudshed == better than Costco.
The average family will find better deals there +++ not having to pay any yearly membership costs.
yeah, also price rises have affected them. Guessing they were better pre covid but have had to adapt.
I'd say in general it's a bit cheaper but not heaps. Not worth the 1 hour drive.
Costco isn't good because it's cheaper, it's good because it's high quality + slightly cheaper. Fuel is a huge win though.
Costco is an addiction. I am a Costcoholic.
If you travel overseas it's worth it.
Been to the US and was able to go in and save on electronics and local snacks to bring back.
Already made back the membership cost in savings despite only visiting warehouses outside of my home country.
their fuel is cheaper there too but it needs to go through debit card (mastercard credit cards dont work at their bowser) or it needs to be with visa and maybe amex
Only worth it if you live close to one, and if you use a bit of fuel.
Fuel is sometimes 50c/L cheaper than my local Coles/Shell.
90 day change of mind on electronics means you can try out things like earbuds or headphones without worrying if they will be a good fit or sound good.
You can save a lot on Apple gear but generally only base models sold.
you could sign up and for any reason before the year ends u can cancel your membership and get ur money back, if you do up going i would double check the prices sometimes ii find it cheaper to buy from Coles or woolies depends on what you after Aswell the brand Kirkland have a pretty good prices.
Costco isn't cheaper and I find some products like tuna are lower grades compared to Coles or Woolworths. At Costco you will find yourself buying a bigger amounts usually at the same prices as other supermarkets.
I personally find better products at other supermarkets and even cheaper with weekly discounts and I don't need to buy huge amounts and clog my fridge.
But you can always try Costco with Costco gift cards where it permits you to enter the heavenly store. Just ask a friend or family who has Costco membership to get you a $25 gift card.
It's ok if you're passing by, but I wouldn't drive an hour specifically. I tried it for a year and there are some really good buys, but not really worth it unless you have a large family.
Lunchbox snacks, vitamins, Kirkland flushable wipes are cheap but as others mentioned, I didn't renew and just use Amazon with price watchers.
Worth every cents
The only problem is too crowd and your shopping experience won't be good if you go on peak hours.
Not worth it for the vast majority of people imo. You have to outlay hundreds of dollars upfront to possibly save a few bucks in the long run (assuming you end up using everything you buy), not to mention storing absurd amounts of product until you need it. Better off spending the cash on an Amazon prime membership and exploiting using subscribe and saves, and just doing your regular shopping at Aldi.
Not worth it for me. I've been an analyst for supermarkets:
On paper aldi is the cheapest per item
only if you have space like a chest freezer
Worth it for the lemon meringue cheesecake and the croissants - (3min in airfryer). Meat/fresh food is better quality than colesworthaldi.
Costco lets you refund the membership free in full if you're dissatisfied apparently so you could give it a go and test the waters. I like their dinner buns and gold kiwis among other things.
In all the threads I've seen about Costco, the best items seem to be a roast chicken and pizza slices. Hardly worth the journey and crowds. What are you saving on the chicken, 3 bucks?
Or stick two extra freezers in your house, which kind of offsets the perceived savings.
As for fuel, I got it cheaper than the current nearest Costco price two nights ago. Use the price comparison app or 7/11, you don't need Costco.
…thats hopefully a return trip or?