Using Costco for household shopping - Anyone else got experience of this?

MRB

Hi guys,

The Tescos I use sits right next door to a Costco, and as I fall into the Individual Membership category, I went and had a browse round to see what it was like. Also did a bit of a price comparison against Tescos.

Even with VAT added on at the end, Costco still worked out cheaper than Tescos on things like:

Diet coke
Tropicana
Tuna
Oatso Simple
Crunchy Nut
Tresme shampoo / conditioner

and most importantly for me:

Fusion razorblades

The thing that's stopping me from signing up though, is that quite frankly, the rest of the store is full of rubbish, with very few brand names and lots of temptations where you could end up spending more simply by buying stuff you don't need or want.

So I'm trying to figure out if I can make my money back on the Membership card.

I generally suspect that as Costco allows select Public Membership that its prices wont be quite as good as business-only places like Makro or Bookers, but from what I hear, Makro is taking a bit of a swan-dive right now.

Anyone else a member of these organisations, any experiences, and any honest reflections saying; "I did buy stuff I would never have normally bought, and didn't actually save any money because of this."

Thanks!

Darren_G

MRB wrote: »

The thing that's stopping me from signing up though, is that quite frankly, the rest of the store is full of rubbish, with very few brand names and lots of temptations where you could end up spending more simply by buying stuff you don't need or want.

Simple calculation - work out what you are likely to buy in a year - add on the membership fee and see how much better off you are.

I get the cost of my membership back in the savings made on just milk and loo roll. I did try their 'executive membership' for a year but decided to revert to standard individual membership.

The quality of meat is much better than any supermarket offering

Free range eggs are cheaper than the supermarkets, as are the fruit and vegetables

Most of the own brand (Kirkland) is produced by big brand suppliers. Some of the other stuff you branded as 'rubbish' is probably American brands not usually seen here, as they import a lot from the USA.

Give them a try - you can always cancel after a year, and if teh Tesco next door is one you visit regularly, there would be no additional travel time or expense

MRB

I was referring more to 'rubbish' as in, the utterly random stuff they sell such as garden furniture and other big items that just look like they've been brought in on impulse.

I suppose no harm in trying. Might as well do it today.

Woo.

mum26

What is random about garden furniture? lol! The big items in the centre bit of the stores are generally seasonal or sometimes promotional (sometimes there will be a range of bedroom furniture, Brita had a big stand there one year, it'll be packed with christmas things before too long).

The meat is excellent at Costco, supermarket finest ranges upwards in terms of quality and taste imo.

The kirkland own brand items are generally excellent as is the foil and clingfilm there, a box of foil lasts us 5 months or so and there are 8 of us here, including 7 who have packed lunches most days, it is brilliant quality compared to the trash in supermarkets that splits etc. Gradually try things out and see what you think.

Have a look at https://www.addictedtocostco.com for various products reviews.

moneypooh

We don't actually live close to our Cotsco (about 25 miles) so we only shop when we are in the area. However, some products can save you the membership in one trip.
The meat is excellent quality, nowhere can you get the thick lamb steaks at the same price (well not in my area).
We have bought items we didn't plan on getting but were what we were looking for at the time. We bought a Regatta winter coat for my son at half the price we would have paid for any brand winter coat, so massive bargain.
Some toiletries have even better savings when they have 30% offers etc.. MY DD uses vaseline skin lotion and this was 1/3 of the price we had paid before.

We also saved on tyres for my DD's car recently. My OH trawled the internet for the best value and Costco was bar far the better value for Michelin tyres too.

I couldn't do a weeks shop there but we do make a trip once a month or so (when in the area) for the items that are cheaper and stock up on them. We have saved so much because we aren't tricked into getting the things we don't need.

talulahbeige_2

Go armed with a specific shpping list and dont deviate unless you see a bargain on something that you usually buy.
I'm going toinght for:-
Salmon (Amazing quality and ceaper than Tesco even wen its on offer at half price)
Pasta shapes - so much ncer than suermarket own brands and only costs the same pric
Chicken thighs - better than supermarket quality and only around £5 for 16
Loo roll - just a bargain.

Buffy_the_Vampire_Bat

Mr Buffy and I are complete Costco converts after joining earlier this year. We use the Milton Keynes branch, a 45 minute journey from home. When we first joined we thought we would only be going every 3 months or so, but have actually found ourselves visiting more often for various reasons - mainly because we have been on several journeys recently that have taken us through Milton Keynes, so it would be rude not to pop in for a few bits

With Costo and Lidl we have pretty much have our main grocery/household shopping covered, although I still buy some of my toiletries in Morrisons as I love one of their skin care ranges and their 'Original Source' style raspberry shower gel.

We now use Costco for the following:

Chicken breasts - really good value and not tiddly little breasts either

Boneless chicken thighs - again great value

Lamb steaks - as moneypooh says, the lamb steaks are great

Smoked haddock fillets

Cod fillets - lovely and chunky

Big tubs of olives

Big tubs of hummous

Bags of 6 peppers - not necessarily the cheapest, but these tend to be pretty massive - ideal for stuffing

Bags of smoked mackerel fillets - again really good value

12 limes for £1.99

Pepsi Max - both cans and bottles - don't drink a huge amount so a multi pack of either lasts us a long time.

Thatcher's Cider multi pack - 8x 500ml bottles for something like £8.39 including VAT - a couple of months ago it was on offer at £6 something so we grabbed a couple of packs to stash in the shed

Badger Ales multipack - 16x 500ml - normally about £20/£21, but sometimes on offer at about £16/£17. Most of the supermarket 4 bottle for £5 are now more like 4 for £6, so even the full price of the multipack normally beats the supermarkets

Toilet roll - got a year's supply stashed in the loft thanks to Costco - think it is Triple Velvet and we got it on offer at about £10/£11 for 40 rolls (Sorry, currently typing this on my lunch break at work, so doing everything from memory, so cannot remember precise prices!)

Massive bags of bird seed - think it's about 12kg for £6 something. Yes I know this isn't something we buy for us, but thought I would include it for anyone else who buys bird feed

Original Source shower gel - Mr Buffy stocked up when there was an offer along the lines of 12 bottles for £11/£12

Costco has been cheapest for Pimm's so far this year (apart from Morrisons selling it for £10 while I was on holiday in May this year and missed it :mad:;))

Big bottle of Tabasco sauce (and I mean a big bottle) £4.79

Big 1 litre bottle of Nandos Hot Peri Peri sauce £6.99 - this normally works out cheaper than the supermarkets selling the smaller bottles, but you a) have to really love the sauce to get through a litre of it, and b) need to keep an eye on the supermarket prices in case of offers

Big tub of Geeta's mango chutney £3 something

We also bought new tyres there - they had a recent offer of 20% off when you bought 4 tyres, and you didn't have to have them all (if any of them) fitted there and then. You can then take the tyres back to have them fitted later and if you do it within six months you don't have to pay again for fitting. As two of our tyres weren't quite ready to be replaced we had two new ones fitted and brought two home with us (which are currently stashed under the bed in the spare bedroom much to my Dad's amusement) I cannot fault the service we had, and I was quite happy with £260 for 4 Michelin HP Primacy tyres.

On the same trip that we bought the tyres we also bought a Silent Night memory foam mattress on special offer (car was a bit full on the way back from Milton Keynes ) It's a great mattress and we're really pleased with it. In fact my Dad tried it out and was so impressed that he sent us back to get one for him

A few people have recommended the sausages to me - think they are River Side? River Way? Apparently Tesco stocks sausages from the same supplier, but the Costco ones have got more meat in? I bought some of the Italian ones last time we were in Costco - we are having the first batch of them for dinner tonight, so cannot comment on the quality of those until later

I will be giving the salmon fillet a go sometime - haven't done so yet as had a load of whoopsied salmon fillets from Morrisons in the freezer. Think they stock two different salmon fillets - one Alaskan, one Scottish?

The stuff in the bakery section looks really lovely and good value, but I am trying to be good so tend to avoid that section (my good intentions usually tend to falter a little in the booze section and a bottle of gin or Malibu or Pimm's hops into the trolley )

HTH

Buffy_the_Vampire_Bat

Oops, sorry for the mini essay everyone!

Darren_G

Yes the riverway sausages are a different recipe to the Tesco version - more pork (all shoulder cuts) and less spice

Forgot to mention the tyre bay in my earlier post - saved over £20 on two low profile tyres for the wife's car the other week.

Have had the smoked salmon from costco and it was delicious. Also tried both fresh and frozen sea bass, which I used to buy direct from a travelling fishmonger and couldn't notice any difference in quality.

MysteryMe

MRB wrote: »

I was referring more to 'rubbish' as in, the utterly random stuff they sell such as garden furniture and other big items that just look like they've been brought in on impulse.

I suppose no harm in trying. Might as well do it today.

Woo.

These items are not "rubbish" nor are they random. They are part of normal costco stock lines and seasonal. You will find Xmas "rubbish" being stocked soon.

catz1ct

This a bit of a random question but if I'm a card holder can I bring a friend or parent with me who doesn't have a card?? It's just that my nearest costco is close to my parents and I'm sure they would like to come and have a look round with me.