Great ‘What to Buy at Costco & Makro’ Hunt

ferf1223

for the record, I did go to Costco again earlier this week and they had reinstated the vouchers at the tills for the operators to use...this wasn't the case when I went earlier this month and as I said before, one of the till operators said you would have to have the voucher.

Maybe it's because I'm American so coupons are a lot bigger there - but normally no coupon, no coupon price applies.

Also, just to add to the original topic, bought some strawberries at Costco this week and while they looked lovely, they tasted like artificial strawberry flavouring...very, very odd...think we will stick with Sainsburys for strawberries.

And on electricals, anytime we've looked at Costco for a particular electrical item the prices couldn't compete with internet retailers - and the internet retailers deliver, usually for free for larger items...which is a big help if you don't have a car large enough or the physical strength to load an unload a big item at least.

DebtHater

ferf1223 wrote: »

for the record, I did go to Costco again earlier this week and they had reinstated the vouchers at the tills for the operators to use...this wasn't the case when I went earlier this month and as I said before, one of the till operators said you would have to have the voucher.

I can confirm this - Costco till operators are scanning the vouchers as they scan the item through the till. However, if you leave your book at home you can always go to the service desk and they will hand you over a voucher book freely
Either way, you dont need the voucher to get the discount, which is very good service IMO

The vouchers give you an even better deal on the boxes of Daz washing powder.

Deal of the day for me was definately the cans of coke with a voucher - compare the shelf price with that at Tesco and see the mega £ difference

Also, Whiska's cat food pouches, 48 for £9 (no vouchers on this product though), Tesco are doing an offer at the moment, 24 for £10, you do the math :)

happi_2

Does anyone know if Costco have any new vouchers running from today?

Cheers

Danyúl_II

24 cans of Iron Bru for 5 quid!

shaz-ann

Not so much a special deal but our local branch (Oldham) currently have a few good clothing offers - was very tempted by the 100% cashmere jumpers which were less than £40 each.

They've also got some gorgeous egyptian cotton bath sheets for about £20 for a bundle of two - not cheap I know, but the quality is great - lovely and fluffy and they wash really well.

pid_2

I joined Costco UK in 2005 or so and was a member for three years.

Tyres were why I joined - the michelin's recomended for my car were 70% of the price elsewhere, and the membership card easily cost paid for itself on a set of four,

A car battery was good value as well.

But my experience was that catfood (whiskas pouches), cans of coke etc were not much different (sometimes more expensive) than the regular offers at the local big supermarkets. As costco was not on my doorstep that made it less attractive.

But if you were happy to buy in bulk (and I stock up on supermarket offers that way anyway) it was useful.

There's a restricted selection of brands (often only one or two) - and these
are more restrictive than a supermarket. But if you buy mainly premium brands (and who does these days except Asda comparison shoppers) there is value.

Their own Kirkland brand was OK - but supermarkets offer a bigger range.

Other stuff we bought - big boxes of chocolate bars and sweets for kids parties, some catering packs for same, a large (500g) pot of humous at Xmas. But those real bulk-buys aside there did not seem to be so many savings as I had hoped.

Books always looked expensive compared to online or Waterstones etc, and I would not buy DVD or CD's anywhere but online.

The colleague who introduced me had said that their video and audio equipment is a little more than you can find online. This might still be attractive (as I think CostCo offer a good guarantee - as long as you are still a member) - but I did not have cause to use it.

PixiePie

pid wrote: »

Books always looked expensive compared to online or Waterstones etc,

The books are a complete and utter bargain! Loads off the cover price, which is what Waterstones sell them for obviously, with the latest hardbacks on offer - Amazon sometimes have things cheaper, but I always have so much hassle buying from Amazon it's untrue including really badly damaged items. And they have a large section of hot off the press hardbacks as well as the Language courses, children's books, cookery books, and so on so really current, not old stock things.

Costco do a selection of magazines as well now (all sorts of titles, some US titles as well) that are either 10% or 20% off, so if you like your mags that's a little extra help there on the monthly spend

Spikey_2

why is costco trade only?

patchwork_cat

It isn't - there is a list of other professions that can get membership.

Pinzy

Membership requirements - if you're passing by one pop in, ask where the customer service area is (usually by the 'out' door), and they'll have a MASSIVE sign stating the requirements for non-trade membership.

Though with Costco the 'terms of membership' are very loose!

My membership is from working at DHL, which isn't a 'required' industry.
A friend of mine recently got membership just from a Costco stand in our local shopping centre - he works for a temp agency and doesn't even vaguely fit into any of the criterior! He didn't tell them any porkies, they just found a way! When his missus was talking about it at work the accountant was most put out! :rotfl:

My main shops are for the food essentials. Fresh meat is about the same price as supermarkets but the quality is far superior. John West Tuna for less than Tesco own brand.

My personal 'what to buy at Costco bargain' is the sliced ham:
All the supermarkets do sliced ham for around £2 for 400g. It's reformed, about 70% ham and 30% other, and what we're all used to.
Or, they do "premium" which is around £2.50 for 5ish slices - this is around 95% ham if you're lucky.
Costco is around £5 for 800g - 100% ham! Straight off the bone baby! And comparing the flavour to the Co-op "premium" we had recently is literally the difference between chalk and cheese. (Costco being the delicious cheese )

Never bother buying DVDs/CDs from there, and the sweets/crisps don't seem any better than a supermarket special.

Now I just need to justify it to my ever increasing guilt about the food miles...