Costco

steveouk

Is Costco worth it? We don't spend that much on food shopping in general but from looking around today there are a few things I could buy that would mean we would not need to buy in the weekly shop.


My wife says she just likes to buy what we need when we need it. But there are some things that we use a fair amount of that are cheaper in bulk.


She is fussy about meat and I can imagine she may wonder about the quality of the meat from there but her favourite wine was there today and when I worked it out per bottle it seemed to equate to £4.77 - that's very good for a bottle that would normally be £6-8.

dlusman

I have never understood their business model. Would love to give them a shot , but I dont qualify for membership.

What possible business benefit can their be for them to restrict their customer base,Membership criteria appears to be fairly random ?

googler

dlusman wrote: »

I have never understood their business model. Would love to give them a shot , but I dont qualify for membership.

What possible business benefit can their be for them to restrict their customer base, Membership criteria appears to be fairly random ?

Their business model is to pile it high and sell it cheap, primarily to smaller businesses and retailers, who will buy (say) 10 cases of Coke, or 20 packs of Steak Mince, as opposed to householders who will buy one of each.

sinizterguy

There are some genuine bargains and I always get my value from my membership.

dlusman

googler wrote: »

Their business model is to pile it high and sell it cheap, primarily to smaller businesses and retailers, who will buy (say) 10 cases of Coke, or 20 packs of Steak Mince, as opposed to householders who will buy one of each.

yes - but they have membership open to some (seemingly random) individuals who work in specific areas or have spccific qualifications. Doesnt make any sense to me that they allow these people to shop there , but not me ?
I am just as likely to buy 10 cases of coke ( and would buy if the cost was worth it ) as a qualified accountant or architect or someone who works at the post office.

kittykat500

I know you can accompany someone who has a Costco card but still pay on your own debit card at the checkout, so if you know a member, you could go with them and check the store out.

At a push, I suppose you could even hang around the outside and ask a member if they'd let you accompany them - if you really wanted to!

browneyedbazzi

There are some things that are very good value at Costco - but not everything is, so you still need to keep an eye on prices elsewhere.

I think their meat is exceptionally good quality - certainly better than most supermarkets and often the same price or a little less (every once in a while they have a great meat offer that makes it really cheap).

As for why they operate the model they do with restricting membership - I think like many things, excluding some adds to the cachet and encourages those who are included to go and to spend.

jon81uk

If you want to take a look round, ask at the membership counter and if you are interested you might be able to get a visitor pass to look (but you would need to take membership to buy).

The meat is well priced and good quality, we just bought 2.25kg of Steak mince for about £14 and it is very good quality. Some things work out cheap but you have to get big quantities, such as 500ml bottles of Pepsi, toilet roll etc. Other things like Kellogs cereal you only need to get two large boxes.
Buying what is on offer often works out best (see offers here http://warehouses.costco.co.uk/offers/) but occasionally products that are on offer at Asda but not on offer at Costco work out cheaper at Asda, so keep an eye on unit prices.
Books are often similar prices to The Works and can be even cheaper for new books.

Is the membership restriction something to do with UK law maybe on how you can restrict things?

steveouk

Well I did get a visitor pass and have a look. The meat is a good idea but I think when you don't have a chest freezer and my other half always wants extra lean mince etc I will leave it for now.

jon81uk

I don't find the mince very fatty, I think it is comparable to the 5% fat steak mince in supermarkets, we don't have a chest freezer but go to Costco every three weeks (when the offers change) and manage with our freezer space. Although currently it is full of bacon, as this was on offer a few weeks ago, 12 packs (each 8 rashers) for £8.98, so we have about 7 packs in freezer still!

But it sounds like Costco maybe isn't for you, I'm just replying if anyone else is interested :-)

redmalc

We have been a member for a number of years now and find them very good on food and their five year warranty on Electrical items is a bonus.
A few months ago our Air fryer broke so we went to Costco to replace it,the cashier asked us are these any good we replied i hope its better than the previous one which blew up after eighteen months ago,she enquired did you get it from here,we replied yes but we have lost the receipt,no problem she checked back on our purchasing history and there it was,well this one is free then she replied
Very Good Customer services