Is Cosco really that cheap? Which SM is best?

jon81uk

pelirocco wrote: »

If it is you wonder where it is sourced

Costco's labelling is usually very clear, most beef seems to be British, mince is often scotch. Chicken is British and pork is often from the USA, but is far better quality than the Danish pork in most supermarkets.

Also the butchery at Costco has large glass Windows down the side so you can see them packing the meat in store. Although chicken is always pre-packed but I think many places do this due to the salmonella risks.

howardtog

Weve used Costco for years and find that they are at worst the same as supermarkets and usually better and their offers are substantially better.Only proviso is that some supermarket bogoffs and special deals may be better.
We dont have a Lidl or Aldi near us but always compare with Tesco Sbury and Waitrose.
Qualitywise their meat and bakery items are consistently excellent.Own brand Kirkland as good as any other brand and far better than supermarkets own.
Downside you need space to store bulk buys anda large family to eat them. Fortunately we have both.

browneyedbazzi

I find costco great for some things - not always because they are cheapest but because the quality is good.

As others have said, I think their meat is very good so will buy it (particularly when they have an offer) and divide packs up to freeze. Their rotisserie chickens are also very nice. Other stuff I regularly buy include toilet roll, kitchen roll, tinned tomatoes, jars of pasta sauce, pasta, vettee dine in rice (much cheaper than SM), par baked baguettes, new potatoes, cherry plum tomatoes, spices, soy sauce, icing sugar (I bake a lot),...there are quite a few other things I would buy if I had more storage at home, but space is limited!

I also get my contact lenses from the Costco opticians which works out £100 per year cheaper than my previous provider and the service is very good.

Oh, and I'll buy household stuff there if there's something I need that they have - usually they are similar in price to if you shop around elsewhere, but their returns policy is brilliant so I'd rather buy from Costco knowing that if anything goes wrong I'll get my money back without question.

Danjames90

I'm looking to bulk buy household cleaning products and toiletries, washing powder and fabric softener in particular. I guess I just need to be careful as the BOGOF offers from SM can be great and it's just a matter of taking advantage of the offer when it's on I guess.

browneyedbazzi

I haven't bought washing powder or fabric softener from them yet, but they have some good offers on in the next coupon book and I'm almost out so I think I'll be stocking up next week!

MysteryMe

And when you've finished shopping go into the cafe and have a tasty meal for less than couple of quid.

The only area I find Costco consistently pricey is with the fresh fruit and veg, but quality is always A1.

I've had Michelin tyres fitted and they are a great buy too, especially if you get them done on special offer.

pjaj

Yes I agree with most of the above.
Meat good and cheap (eg 1kg good quality sliced ham £6.99)
Fruit and veg good quality but no cheaper than supermarket.
Special offers - always much cheaper than anywhere else. For example Waitrose are currently running special offers for Persil S&M, Fairy fabric softener, Flora Proactive and pesto and are much cheaper than the other supermarkets for these - Costco are also running SOs on the first 3 and all 4 are even cheaper than WR.
New Bosch 70Ah battery for diesel Golf £68, cheapest on Ebay £75, usually around £100+ from garages.
Tyres £10-20 cheaper than anywhere else, free fitting, nitrogen fill, balancing and rotation if you are only buying a pair PLUS current special offer of between £10 & £100 shop voucher.
Dry goods (tins, jars, packets) nearly always cheaper.
They can only usually be beaten (other than fruit and veg) by supermarket SOs.
Downside - I live the far side of Oxford, my nearest Costco is in Reading.

artyclarty

I considered joining, but turns out that the nearest one is about 30 miles away from me. I usually just walk to the shop (have a tesco and lidl within a minute walk and an iceland and two greengrocers a short bus ride away), even for my weekly stuff with a granny trolley or two! So when adding up the numbers it just wasnt worth it when I had to add in 60 miles worth of fuel...

jamie07971

I rate Costco Kirkland Triple Satin toilet roll higher than the other brands they have on offer. More on the roll and better quality. It is never on special offer but I think it works out better value due to the amount on each roll.

redmalc

we have over the years used the majority of their own branded Kirkland products,they are very good.
The meat is very good Quality and in my opinion cheap for the quality they give