Costco - is it worth it for the average family?

Redbedhead

We are a 2 adult family and we find it saves us money. Although I am on as a secondary card holder so it only costs us £12 per year.

We get our tyres from there and as I am a high mileage driver I think the savings we make on those alone pays for the membership.

The other things we buy regularly and store/freeze are washing power, washing up liquid, bounce and also chicken and mince. I don't tend to find sauces etc worth it for us as I only ever buy those in the supermarket when they are on bogof and that tends to work out cheaper.

Jerryc_3

The quality of the stuff is the attraction of Costco, rather than the money saving oportunities, although there are bulk-buy opportunities on things like washing powder.

I'm in Wakefield too so if you want to have a look at Costco in Leeds, PM me and I could meet you and your hubby there sometime.

anniestar

I feel that it is very worthwhile being a member. We more than recoup our membership fee in savings. Milk is £ 1.25 for 6ltrs as opposed to £ 1.63(?) at the ASDA that is right next door. Single cream is also very, very cheap. My DH has got some excellent shirts( they dont have them all the time sadly though) and chinos. As DH is 6' 4" he is a big fan of the longer lenths they offer. Loo paper is also mega cheap, kitchen rolls as well. A very good selection of books and as some of the OP's have said the birthday cakes are wonderful.But for me the very best thing about COSTCO is their mince pies:j in store from 1st Sep:j :j :j to 31st Dec

BT

Last year got a day pass and had a look around Costco as my TV had broke down so was looking at buying a new one (got it repaired in the end). I found Costco to be similar to Makro in terms of prices for general goods – Supermarkets can be cheaper. What I did notice was Costco had a very limited range of goods compared to Makro. On TV’s Costco did sell more higher end stuff then Makro, but Makro has a much larger range. Clothing was also very limited in Costco.

The best deals with Makro are in the Makro Mail brochure they publish fortnightly (go the their web site and have a look at the online copy). It appears it’s a similar deal with Costco and there Passport brochure – Can anybody tell me whether this is on the web somewhere?.

As most people have said, join Cosco/Makro if you have space to bulk buy. You will save money, specially from the item in Passport/Makro Mail.

I have recently heard that Costco’s no quibble return policy is now limited to only three years – Can anybody please comment whether this is true/false as I’m once again looking at buying a TV (large 42” LCD). John Lewis give you 5 years warranty – I wonder if they will price match Costco.

Infiltrator_2

Our regular Costco items are bottled water (works out about 10p for 500ml bottle) Pepsi, toilet rolls, kitchen roll, fresh bread. All the above are cheapest at Costco - I reckon we get our membership back on the water alone..
Buying any electrical item is good because of the 'lifetime' gaurantee.
Cafe's also cheap and the cooked chickens are huge compared to other supermarkets.

p.s. Costco 'lifetime' guarantee means it's how long they believe the item should last through normal use - I've never heard of anyone having a replacement refused.

p.p.s. if you're price matching a TV in John Lewis there's much cheaper than Costco - look on the AV Forum, there's threads devoted to PM'ing at John Lewis. I bought a 42 Panny plasma a month ago, JL price was £1,198 and they evetually sold it to me for £879:)

Redbedhead

Is there a new passport out at the moment? I couldn't find any in store yesterday and I think our old one is now out of date? Anyone got one and can tell me what is in there?

beastman

Infiltrator wrote: »

p.s. Costco 'lifetime' guarantee means it's how long they believe the item should last through normal use - I've never heard of anyone having a replacement refused.

p.p.s. if you're price matching a TV in John Lewis there's much cheaper than Costco - look on the AV Forum, there's threads devoted to PM'ing at John Lewis. I bought a 42 Panny plasma a month ago, JL price was £1,198 and they evetually sold it to me for £879:)

Does anyone know the latest costco TV deals?

poodlehorse

I rejoined Costco last month after a break of a couple of years and was told they no longer send out voucher books but there were loads on the table at the front door (once you pass the guys who check your card). Shame as I live a wee bit away now and I don't know whether it is worth going until I get there.

feival

Yes I agree. It would be great if we had a thread for the passport deals. Problem for me is that I hardly go so would not be a good source. I was there last week and it was all for bottled drinks which was of no interest to me. The only rule I have is that in early September they issue the Xmas book and there also seems to be a summer book. However it seems common that they have one off sheets with vouchers but I can' predict when they are about though.

aberdeen

i shall check out the costco passport deals tomorrow dont have an up to date book, but the new deals are usually at the door