Costco or no?

[billymach4]

FWIW I posted months back that the financial wizards of the internet are predicting this year COSTCO will be increasing membership fees. Apparently we are due for an increase at point in their cycle.

Maybe not. https://www.axios.com/2022/05/26/costco-membership-cost-2022

 

[dioxide45]

After a few years on TUG, I know that many of you are faithful Costco members and shoppers. Also, at least one of you worked at and retired from there (looking at you DaveNV). We were members for a year or 2 probably about 20 years ago when they opened a store near us in Birmingham. We found that we just didn’t shop there enough to justify the membership, so we let it lapse. Now, we are in St. Augustine and a new Costco is opening in August about a mile from our house. We are looking again to see if we should get a membership and, if so, which one. I think we’ll buy most of our gas there, although there is a Buc-ee’s across the street. They are usually about $.10/gal cheaper than anyone else around so it will be interesting to see how they compare to Costco. We won’t buy too many things in bulk because we don’t have storage space for it. So, should we or shouldn't we? What say you, fellow Tuggers?

I suspect when the Costco opens, Buc-ee's will start to compete on price. So you may find their price close to Costco's anyway.

 

[DaveNV]

I wish Costco didn't have quite so generous a return policy. It irks me if I visit Costco during the week after the Superbowl and see a line of people all returning big-screen televisions.

Yeah, we all know what these moochers did -- scored a "free" TV so they could impress people at their superbowl party.

I have also seen people return what looked like a year's worth of dead alkaline batteries and worn-out tools. I don't know if that means I lived in an area with awful people, or if awful people gravitate to the generous return policy.

There are only a few dozen items I'll purchase at Costco. But those few dozen items makes the membership card worth it.

Since there is no way I'd ever spend $6,000 in a year at Costco, I don't bother with the executive membership. I'd never recoup the money.

Your experience is not unusual. People return some crazy stuff, just because they "can."

It does often seem bad, to the point that some warehouses won't take back certain items anymore. (In Hawaii, it was things like snorkeling gear, beach chairs, coolers, most outdoor stuff tourists would try to return at the end of their vacation.) The refund abusers are noted, as the cardholder's shopping history is documented, and checked when they present for a refund. They might get away with returning a Superbowl TV one year, but not likely the next. One part of the refund cashier's job is to check when the item was purchased, (or even IF the item was purchased on that card.) Whether to give a refund is at the discretion of the refund cashier. Costco empowers refund cashiers with a lot of judgmental leeway, and the management will usually back up the refund cashier if they decide a member should not get a refund on that item. One reason Costco started a 90-day refund policy on electronics was because abusers would buy a computer, wait till a better/fancier model came out, then return the old one so they could buy the new one. It became a huge loss, so they stopped doing it.

As to the Executive membership cost: You're already spending $60 for a Gold Star membership, so set that money aside. It doesn't really count. The $60 difference between Gold Star and Executive is what you'd want your purchases to cover. So you'd only need to spend $3000 a year to cover that second $60. If you wanted the membership to be totally free, yes, that's where the $6000 would come into play. But when you account for the 2% rebate you'd get as an Executive, that second $60 gets chipped away as you buy more. So your spending wouldn't need to be all that much, really.

Dave

 

[DaveNV]

One reason Costco has such a generous refund policy is because it's a membership warehouse. They want to treat members better than strangers on the street. They figure that chances are very good that if you are treated fairly and get a refund on this item, you'll turn around and go into the warehouse and spend that refund money, and likely more, on new stuff. It's a lot like how casinos work - the winnings you get are soon put back into the machines. Kind of smart, really.

Also, the cost of returns are factored into the purchase volumes on everything Costco offers. They know a certain percentage, let's say 10%, of those items sold will be returned. So the price Costco pays their vendors includes the overhead for returns and sales losses on 10% of that purchased amount. In the end, it's a bit of a wash to the vendor, because Costco tends to buy and sell in such huge quantities, the 10% losses are amortized out in the sales volume. Costco wins. The Vendor wins. The Member wins.

Dave

 

[ScoopKona]

If you wanted the membership to be totally free, yes, that's where the $6000 would come into play. But when you account for the 2% rebate you'd get as an Executive, that second $60 gets chipped away as you buy more. So your spending wouldn't need to be all that much, really.

I look at the $60 as a sunk cost. One liter of Kirkland Canadian maple syrup and I have already saved half of the cost of the card. Two liters and it's an essentially free card compared to paying island prices for real maple syrup. It is also the only way I'm getting real Parmesan cheese on the island. (I've tried French wine a couple times and it just doesn't work out -- two sea voyages and a long overland voyage and the bottle shock is unrecoverable.)

Even if gasoline counted toward the $6K, I'll never get anywhere near that in a year. But I WILL save far more than $60. For people who buy everything at Costco, I'm sure that works out great. But I'm really picky about what I buy -- I have Oscar Wilde tastes.

 

[DaveNV]

I look at the $60 as a sunk cost. One liter of Kirkland Canadian maple syrup and I have already saved half of the cost of the card. Two liters and it's an essentially free card compared to paying island prices for real maple syrup. It is also the only way I'm getting real Parmesan cheese on the island. (I've tried French wine a couple times and it just doesn't work out -- two sea voyages and a long overland voyage and the bottle shock is unrecoverable.)

Even if gasoline counted toward the $6K, I'll never get anywhere near that in a year. But I WILL save far more than $60. For people who buy everything at Costco, I'm sure that works out great. But I'm really picky about what I buy -- I have Oscar Wilde tastes.

I get you, and understand why you do what you do. I just meant the membership money may not be as absolute as it seems. Just for fun, one day while you're in Costco, swing by Membership and ask them to run your shopping history, to tell you how much you've spent in the warehouse this year. It may surprise you, and might help you reevaluate whether Executive is truly not worth it.

Dave

 

[Sandy VDH]

Getting the No cost Costco credit card gets you 4% Cash Back on the first 7K you spend on gas. That is $280 if you spend that much. And this is gas purchased anywhere at not just costco.

 

[ScoopKona]

swing by Membership and ask them to run your shopping history, to tell you how much you've spent in the warehouse this year.

I'm a math nerd. I've already calculated what I spend and what I'd get back. For me, it's not worth it. I typically buy only big bags of flour (cheap), cheese (expensive but infrequently purchased), salmon if it's wild-caught and doesn't smell like anything at all, and a few minor pantry items (such as canned sardines in oil for making Caesar dressing, maple syrup, Taiwanese sausage and a few other things). I typically drive less than 50 miles per week, so the gasoline isn't as big a deal for me as for most. (Although if it didn't cost a dollar every time I turn the key on my monster truck, I'd likely drive more.)

My mother in law manages to spend triple on the mainland what I spend in Hawaii. She has an executive card, naturally.

 

[MOXJO7282]

Perhaps for just two a Costco membership might not bring the value if you can't take advantage of the larger sizes but i still find many great values beyond volume discounts they offer. Electronics and clothing are a few items to name that I find are always cheaper at Costco. Also Costco travel offers some great value.

 

[nomoretslt]

I’d say give it a chance, especially since it’s so close to your home. We dropped our Sams Club membership because we were not real happy.....our Sams in NJ had closed abruptly with no warning years ago...I loved shopping there, only 25 minutes away. When we moved, we rejoined....but it was not the same. The Costco is right down the street from Sams so we joined. Our last trip was disappointing. My husband does most of the shopping and knows the prices of everything from week to week. Publix and Food Lion are only a few minutes from our house. Nearly everything we were interested in could be had cheaper locally. Eggs, watermelon, other fruit. Meats too. However, their Parmesan arregiano is still low. We aren’t in the market for tires. I may need hearing aid replacements soon though (my originals were from Sams a long time ago). Also it’s about an hour away. 50 miles. Each way. That’s 4 gallons of gas for round trip. If the cruise industry ever drops their testing and vaccine requirements I’d like to book a cruise through them.
@Rolltydr you are kind of close to Port Canaveral....you should check out the cruises. We really miss cruising.

 

[Arb]

We use Costco for our eyeglasses, hearing aids, wine (10% discount for 6 bottles) and fake Baileys, booking cruises and rental cars, gas...
Recently, I found knee-length shorts for $9.99 at a Vermont Costco. Their fully cooked turkey breast is a bargain compared to buying it at a deli dept.-just slice it and freeze in small packets for sandwiches. Their tuna is a great buy and 8 cans of that doesn't take up a lot of pantry space. Their salmon can easily be divided into 3 meals and frozen. Their pizza is pretty tasty and only $2 per slice. I also buy both Kirkland and Kerrygold butter and freeze that.
We signed up for the Costco Visa citicard with no annual fee but beaucoup bucks back on our anniversary date.

Ditto! It's just the two of us, but we have no problem getting $700+ back each year from our gas and so many other things such as the items you've mentioned! We have the executive membership and we use their credit card too.

 

[Rolltydr]

@Rolltydr you are kind of close to Port Canaveral....you should check out the cruises. We really miss cruising.

Thanks for the info. While I believe I would love a cruise, I don’t believe my wife would. She is afraid of the water and never learned to swim. She doesn’t even like crossing long bridges. She has mentioned trying an Alaskan cruise at times in the past but it never got further than that. But, we’ll see. I never thought she would agree to move to Florida either, but she did. So, never say never.

 

[kwelty]

I also will need to replace my MacBook Air. Do they have better prices than Apple or does Apple require them to stick with their MSRP?

Some of the Macbook Airs are on sale with $100 off. I ordered one of the cheaper ones yesterday for $849.

 

[stmartinfan]

i visit Costco weekly because it’s very close. Use the gas station of course but have a list of regular purchases:
Kirkland Sauvignon Blanc and a case of my favorite beer.
Butter..freeze the extra pounds
Paper towels and t. Paper..Kirkland brand is very good for the price
Berries..good price and always fresher than my local grocery stores
Roast chicken...have a variety of recipes that use the shredded meat, so always get 2 meals or more from 1 chicken
Lamb Chops..great quality and good price
Clothing items like polo shirts, T shirts, jeans, jackets, etc.—always fun to see what's newly available.
OTC drugs, like generic Claritin and others

Also use their rental cars.

Yes, the optical department accepts insurance. There are independent optometrists within Costco. You can check with them to see if they accept your insurance. I do not believe you need a Costco membership to use them.

The optical department at our store said that someone who isn’t a member can order glasses, but a member has to pay for them. Also, some insurance companies will reimburse for glasses purchases and don't require you to use a participating dispenser.

 

[jehb2]

My MIL loves almond milk. She buys it from Whole Foods. The exact same Almond milk is much cheaper at Costco. I calculated the savings alone (from the difference in price) pays for her Costco membership. Her break even point is 3 months.

Costco is my primary grocery store. What I can’t get at Costco I buy at the local grocery store (HEB).

 

[mchct]

Since our kids moved out, we don't shop at Costco or Sam's as often (used to be at least once a week) and buy more daily grocery store items (veggies, fruits, perishables) at Aldi or Grocery Outlet. But we still like to shop (or look!) at Costco for tires, electronics, clothes, pet stuff, and all the other interesting items they might be selling.

Also like to get their hot dog combo or ice cream from the food court too and the rotisserie chicken is great for several meals and will freeze the extra chicken for another meal and boil the bones to make a stock for soup or curry later. And we've got three Costco stores within 5 miles of us! And they are usually crowded. And we like to shop at Costco/Sam's when we're in Hawaii and the Japan Costco stores and food courts!

And as everyone says, Costco is great with customer service and returns. They took back a year and a half old Samsung refrigerator that we bought from them that started having problems and wouldn't keep anything cold and Samsung customer service was useless. Called Costco to ask and the rep said that was a ridiculously short amount of time for a refrigerator to fail and to bring it back to the store and they would take care of us and give us a refund. No hassles.

I think we've been members since maybe 1984 when we saw the Norwalk, CA location opened and boyfriend (now husband) saw the store and remembered seeing the Price Club store in San Diego (the original Sol Price store location) where he was working at some nearby hospitals at that time. Back then, they required some type of affiliation with credit unions or certain companies to join and I was working for Lockheed at that time, so I think that's how we qualified for Price Club membership. And there were no retail scanners so they had two employees, one to pull the item from your cart and read off the number to the cashier and put it into the second cart. With all the new tech now, you can look up your in store or on line Costco receipts on your account on their website.

We don't buy as much gasoline now because we use the EV car more, but Costco does have the cheapest ($5.68 as of now for Orange County, CA) gas in the area when we do have to drive the other car. Also have their Citi Visa and have the Executive membership and spend enough to justify or make up the extra cost.

Watch for the Groupon deals on new Costco (or Sam's Club) memberships too. I think the last Groupon Costco deal is now expired but if you were planning on buying something over $250, they were giving a $40 off. https://www.groupon.com/deals/n-cos...ubs_group=afl&PID=1225267&cjdata=MXxOfDB8WXww

 

[Rolltydr]

i visit Costco weekly because it’s very close. Use the gas station of course but have a list of regular purchases:
Kirkland Sauvignon Blanc and a case of my favorite beer.
Butter..freeze the extra pounds
Paper towels and t. Paper..Kirkland brand is very good for the price
Berries..good price and always fresher than my local grocery stores
Roast chicken...have a variety of recipes that use the shredded meat, so always get 2 meals or more from 1 chicken
Lamb Chops..great quality and good price
Clothing items like polo shirts, T shirts, jeans, jackets, etc.—always fun to see what's newly available.
OTC drugs, like generic Claritin and others

Also use their rental cars.



The optical department at our store said that someone who isn’t a member can order glasses, but a member has to pay for them. Also, some insurance companies will reimburse for glasses purchases and don't require you to use a participating dispenser.

I’m a bourbon drinker so I’m hoping this one sells liquor. I understand that not all of them do. Is that correct?

 

[geist1223]

I’m a bourbon drinker so I’m hoping this one sells liquor. I understand that not all of them do. Is that correct?

It depends on the State Laws. Oregon does not. But when we travel through Nevada or California we always swing by Costco for hard Liqour.

 

[amycurl]

It’s based on state laws. We always pop into Costcos in SC and FL because they do sell liquor. I don’t see why the one near you wouldn’t.


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[Rolltydr]

It’s based on state laws. We always pop into Costcos in SC and FL because they do sell liquor. I don’t see why the one near you wouldn’t.


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Yes, I’m in Florida so they should. Thanks.

 

[marmite]

I like their seasonal goods. Landscape lighting, Christmas lights, wreaths & greenery, bulbs, plants, planters, pergolas.

A trip to Hawaii wouldn't be complete without at least one trip to Costco. Souvenirs, local chocolates, Hawaii Cookie Company products, really unique snack food and Hawaiian liquor. I always buy my Koloa Rum and POG there. Their in-house bakery has really good sweet rolls.

 

[Superchief]

i visit Costco weekly because it’s very close. Use the gas station of course but have a list of regular purchases:
Kirkland Sauvignon Blanc and a case of my favorite beer.
Butter..freeze the extra pounds
Paper towels and t. Paper..Kirkland brand is very good for the price
Berries..good price and always fresher than my local grocery stores
Roast chicken...have a variety of recipes that use the shredded meat, so always get 2 meals or more from 1 chicken
Lamb Chops..great quality and good price
Clothing items like polo shirts, T shirts, jeans, jackets, etc.—always fun to see what's newly available.
OTC drugs, like generic Claritin and others

Also use their rental cars.



The optical department at our store said that someone who isn’t a member can order glasses, but a member has to pay for them. Also, some insurance companies will reimburse for glasses purchases and don't require you to use a participating dispenser.

We also shop at Costco weekly because there is one fairly close and we don't like Kroger, who has a monopoly in the Cincinnati area. Our primary sources of groceries are Cotco, Fresh Thyme, local butcher shop, Jungle Jim's, and Meijer (although Meijer prices seem to have increased more than others. I have increased my meat purchases at Costco because our butcher shop prices have increased twice as much as Costco. Wine and beer prices in Ohio are controlled and can't be discounted. However, we get a 10% discount for 6 bottles and the Kirkland private label wines are often a good value and are pretty good. (Cabernet (9.99 for 1.5 ltr and a decent Malbec for $7). One thing I don't like at Costco is that many items are organic and/or non GMO, so you are paying for Marketing hype. (I worked in agriculture for several years and know that organic and non-GMO add no value to food, and GMO's actually add to quality and are better for the environment). Gas is usually .20-.30 less than other stations in the area, but this can vary by city.

As others have mentioned, quality and prices are typically better for most things but there are definitely exceptions and prices vary. Some items are in larger sizes, but others are similar to grocery. Produce is typically in slightly larger fixed quantities, but not too much for a typically family to consume in 1-2 weeks.
These are the items I typically buy weekly:

• Produce: bananas, berries, spinach, seasonal items (Produce availability and value is definitely lower this year, similar to other places). Organic items are usually substantially more expensive, and prices vary a lot by season. We really like the pre-packaged spinach salad when it is available. Great for timeshare stays.
• Dairy: Milk (1 gal), eggs(24)
• Meat: Pork chops, port tenderloin, lamb chops (all great quality and value, we freeze what we won't use immediately), chicken breasts. We occasionally buy the NY strip steaks and pork ribs if they look good and priced right, Be careful with beef because there is often one bad (fatty) steak in each pack.
• Prepared meals: Salmon diablo, meatloaf, stuffed peppers, penne pasta with Italian sausage), Watch for $2-3 specials
• Coffee : Kirkland whole bean (it's actually Starbuck's House Blend) price recently increased to $14.99 of 2.5 lb. There are also several other options that are good
• Bread : Kirkland whole wheat (2 24 oz pillow loaves) Excellent hearty 100% whole wheat)
• Frozen fruit and vegetables (green beans, mixed vegetables, blueberries)
• Vitamins and OTC drugs (watch for specials)
• Paper products: paper towels and toilet paper, Kirkland or Bounty/Charmin if on special
• Tuna, olive oil, canned salmon

Costco has monthly specials that are typically excellent value, so many of my other purchases depend on the specials.
Some of the best values are on larger items. I just bought a refrigerator for our garage for $700, which included delivery and hauling away old refrigerator. There are often great sales for appliances and electronics. As others mentioned, eyeglasses, rental car, and tires are also less expensive than other places.

The Costco near us is changing to the Business center format late this year because a new store is opening about 20 miles away. I will no longer shop weekly and will likely have to find alternatives for many of our purchases and buy more things online.

 

[SmithOp]

Another long term Costco Executive member with the Visa Card, the rebate easily covers my membership price every year. Can't beat the $5 rot. chicken and $6.99 Kirkland Malbec 92 rated. We may be the only ones that do not like the pizza, prefer Round Table with extra sauce, Costco pizza tastes too bland.

I definitely have some favorites and have developed a route through the warehouse that gets me in and out quickly, I go at door opening on a weekday.

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[PrairieGirl]

In addition to everything else mentioned above, the prices on major appliances INCLUDE delivery, set up and haul away of the old ones. So while the list price might be the same as Best Buy or The Home Depot, your overall savings are still substantial. Plus the rebate if you are Executive. For us, this was a serious savings when we built our cabin up at the lake - over 6 hours away from anywhere, to pay for delivery would be crazy expensive.

Plus, when we spent 2 weeks on the Big Island, I was shocked that the local Costco seemed to have prices no different (or not much higher) than Phoenix (yay!) given that everything else was substantially more expensive. The savings on the stuff we picked up there for several meals in our unit (and breakfast every day) liquor and gas for the rental car easily paid for our annual membership fee!

 

[Limace]

The generic Claritin pays for my membership by itself-I take it daily and a years worth of pills are about $12 (vs about a buck a pill
In other stores). In addition to the above, we always buy their Tillamook extra sharp cheddar-about $5 cheaper for 2 pounds than in other stores (though they haven’t had my favorite vintage white cheddar lately). The soccer wagon-folding wagon-we got there was better quality and cheaper than ones we found elsewhere. We also buy and freeze their butter. Oh-and their steelhead is great quality and well priced-we typically are feeding at least six when we grill and easily finish a package of that.


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