Great ‘What to Buy at Costco & Makro’ Hunt 3 April 2009 at 11:03AM edited 28 April 2009 at 6:54PM in Shop but don't drop 1.9K replies 770.1K views

becca54

does anyone have a costco leaflet that could tell me when piz buin all day is on offer?
lost mine and when i went to costco they didnt have any left!!

euterpe13

I shop at Makro about once a month - their meat section is good ( I buy large packs, cut & freeze), although only special offers are cheaper than supermarkets - also salads, fish and dairy produce.
Wine & booze is more expensive than Lidl or Morrisons, detergents and household a bit cheaper.
However, electricals are a good buy - I bought a Vax carpet washer 40% lower than in shops and got a Vax turbo hoover for free - worked out at about £50 each, including VAT!
One thing to remember at Makro : all food items are 0% VAT and you pay the price you see on the shelf - all other items add 15% VAT at till.

cs94njw

Cream profiteroles - £3.90 for 60 (I think 60, or 90). Gorgeous!

Roll of good quality bin bags - last about a year. £7 or £8 or something.

Kitchen foil and cling film - is about £10 and again lasts about a year.

Chocolate fudge cakes, and in fact any of their cakes there, about £6-£11 and taste amazing!

Wrapping paper is a real deal.

Can buy a pack of 6 x Colgate Total toothpaste. Don't know if it's a good deal or not

Bought from the tyre place before, and yep that's really good.

Ice cream sundaes from the cafe tastes really good, and is about £1.

Also, there are free refills on soft drinks!:beer:

feijoa

Costco own-brand dry cat food (Kirkland) is excellent buy - our cats actually prefer it to various supermarket own brands. The big tubs of Marmite are great value - sadly, Costco has now stopped stocking the same sized tubs of Bovril - or they have at the Gateshead branch anyway.
Also good value are the large bottles of Tabasco sauce, worcester sauce and Nando sauces. Yum! And large pots of peppercorns - both whole and ground. Oh - and the large pots of fajita seasoning mix and blackened cajun seasoning mix - if you like that sort of thing! And we do!
For non-food items though - you do have to remember to factor in the added cost of VAT - easy to forget this if in a hurry.

isofa

So you can get a day pass just to go and look (without the ability to purchase)? We'd like to have a good look first at Costco, because it's not local and we want to see just want you can get! Is the pass free? What do you have to take with you to get a day pass?

[Someone mentioned earlier tyres from costco are all "balanced", which doesn't make sense if they don't offer a fitting service... once they are fitted to a wheel rim then the wheel needs balancing to ensure it spins smoothly, the tyre can't be balanced on it's own then fitted at a later date, it doesn't work like that...]

KathrynJulie

I have a trade membership - well worth the money for what I save on both ingredients for my business and the household stuff that I buy. I go about once every 2 months as it is a forty mile round trip. Always go with a list of what you want - don't get sidetracked!!! Know what the prices are in the supermarket as branded things are cheaper, but more expensive if you usually have supermarket own branded stuff. I save loads of money on Persil non bio liquid and Lenor. You do need space to store stuff though!

newleaf

cs94njw wrote: »

Roll of good quality bin bags - last about a year. £7 or £8 or something.

I'd forgotten about those - yes, their tie handle bin liners are excellent quality, no splitting sacks, and a roll seems to last forever. :T
Also remembered that the large tins of both instant & ground coffee are usually a good buy - I get sent with the tea money from work to stock up!

pads1966

Tinned tomatoes and the fresh fish is brill - I have been a member for several years and buy all my meat and fish from Costco bag it freeze it-
Bagels to die for
Pitta Bread
Danish
Washing powder really good value as discussed earlier

Good for speacial occasions gifts and cakes I buy their BIG muffins and make a muffin spier with a candle in each looks great when lit

still have Makro card but never go anymore

patchwork_cat

Someone mentioned boxed books - these are usually identical to the book people, but not always as cheap, so check that out before buying any books from Costco - anyone know the current price of Actifry there, please?

newleaf

isofa wrote: »

So you can get a day pass just to go and look (without the ability to purchase)? We'd like to have a good look first at Costco, because it's not local and we want to see just want you can get! Is the pass free? What do you have to take with you to get a day pass?

[Someone mentioned earlier tyres from costco are all "balanced", which doesn't make sense if they don't offer a fitting service... once they are fitted to a wheel rim then the wheel needs balancing to ensure it spins smoothly, the tyre can't be balanced on it's own then fitted at a later date, it doesn't work like that...]

A day pass is free, just go to the registration counter and ask for one. Say you are considering joining and want a look round first. I had taken my payslip & utility bill because I knew I would be joining (had to go through the motions of 'just looking' to satisfy Mr newleaf :rolleyes:) but they didn't ask to see them until I returned to the counter shortly afterwards to sign up.
Interestingly, Mr newleaf hates shopping, but he likes going to Costco....

Also, they do Fit the tyres, but they don't do repairs. They only sell new ones.