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toxicnerve
Original Poster
5,253 posts
46 months
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Just a quickie guys,
Is a Costco membership worth the effort? I popped in there the other day on a guest pass to have a poke around and found that some stuff was considerably cheaper that the supermarkets but other stuff was on par (particularly if supermarkets had an offer on or a BOGOF etc).
So overall, in your collective experience, is it worth the bother?
I'm leaning towards "yes" simply so I can buy things for myself/family in bulk and share it around but how do you guys find it?
Any info/opinions/experiences welcome.
Thanks,
tn.
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doogz
18,667 posts
56 months
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Yes, it rocks.
If only for buckets of Maoams and fillet steak.
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NiceCupOfTea
21,932 posts
120 months
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I joined in order to buy a trolley jack!
It's not really on my way anyway, but have been back for a look around with my wife and there are some bargains to be had, but be careful as some of the stuff is not particularly cheap.
The meat looks very high quality.
You can get a visitor's pass so you can have a good look around but not buy anything.
I would imagine it would be very easy to become a member and then never go!
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TinyCappo
1,386 posts
22 months
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Yes the Pizza alone at the end of the checkout make costco worth it..... Pretty good for tyres too. There are some amazing seasonal bargains to be had too...
Never just pop in for one thing Go with a full list otherwise you go in for one thing and come out with £300 of stuff you dont really need and tons of other stuff too like 4kg of mozzarella sticks and a catering pack of mini desserts.
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CarTimeNow
589 posts
35 months
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we definitely get our moneys worth, the meat is far superior to supermarkets, and with careful planning and use of mysupermarket you can work out your costs versus the supermarkets,
on average we save about £250 a year so more than covers petrol and membership
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TinyCappo
1,386 posts
22 months
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Then you will wander through one day and come across things like this for about £300  along with swimming pools bigger than your backgarden/house.
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Tyrewrecker
6,419 posts
23 months
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Yes, IMO. It's worth it even if I don't buy much as the food quality is excellent as is price in cafe. Also, you get less scum bags there and big parking spaces.
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ali_kat
22,439 posts
90 months
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sday12
4,189 posts
80 months
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Yes, if you want you house to be full to the rafters and resemble a warehouse, so you can tell everyone your dishwasher tablets were 50% cheaper.
If you want to buy things that you will never use because they were a bargain.
If you want to drop £200 every time you drive past one.
If you want to shop with people you won't like.
If you enjoy paying to get in a shop.
If you want to buy tyres that even at the sale price, are more than you can bargain your local Indy to.
If you want to buy stuff, use it, and return it for a full refund 11 months later. (WTF?)
If you want to pretend you are a member of a special club, open only to traders.
Fill yer boots.
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browno
271 posts
103 months
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This far in and no-one's even mentioned the Chicken Bakes?  oh, yeah - and the cheap Mobil 1 (£28ish for 5l IIRC, Halfords are £50ish).
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mybrainhurts
71,597 posts
124 months
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BorkFactor
4,864 posts
27 months
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Yes, I think it is! It has saved us a vast amount of money this year - things like 10kg of onions for £3 (might not be 10kg, but it is a bloody big bag) and cheap alcohol make all the difference. Lovely filter coffee is very cheap as well. They do tyres too - 4 Michelin Primacys fitted and balanced on my car for £260. Cafe is excellent - the pizza is incredible, coffee is good, and very cheap. Our closest one is in Aberdeen which is fine for me, but my Dad worked out that the savings he makes on a few bottles of Macallan compared to Tesco prices pays for the fuel to and from Inverness. Do it! 
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Hackney
1,722 posts
77 months
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I used to have Costco as a customer so got signed up that way.
Definitely worth joining if you can.
When I was a member I had an S2000 and regularly came home with it full of stuff.
The range isn't as good as a Tesco for example, but what they do have is bulk packs cheaper than Tesco / Asda etc.
And whatever you think of the other customers - I never had an issue with them - buying in bulk means you don't have to deal with them as often.
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mattdaniels
5,107 posts
151 months
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If you're not an impulse buyer it's worth it IMO. As you've spotted - some things are cheaper than supermarkets some are not. You have to be clued up on the supermarket offers when you're in there so that you can make a fair comparison.
If you do decide it's worth it for you, consider getting a British Airways Amex card, and paying for your Costco shopping on Amex and joining the Costco exec scheme. The BA companion voucher is one of the best deals out there, and with some regular large shopping in Costco together with other spend you will quickly accrue a lot of points/savings not to mention the companion voucher itself.
If, on the other hand, you are an impulse buyer, forget it. You will turn your house into a corner shop quicker than you can say "I only popped in for some dishwasher tabs and I seem to have spent 300 quid".
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Mastodon2
5,724 posts
34 months
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I'm not a member at the moment (should probably get that sorted) but some of the stuff is really good. Totally agree with the need to be careful what you get - I'd sign up for the chance to shop for the imported foods, American crisps and what not, rather than the potential to save money by bulk buying Coca Cola. Where you make a saving one item, you spend a load more than you planned on 5KG drums of nuts and multipack exotic ales!
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Meeja
7,989 posts
117 months
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Sacks of baking potatoes for about 1/3 of supermarket prices, and they are excellent. As has been said, the meat is excellent quality. We bulk buy chicken breasts and break the pack up into sets of four and then freeze them. The big gammon hams and superb. The AV stuff such as big TVs are very overpriced, but the returns policy is excellent. Years ago I bought a NAVMAN sat nav from Costco, eleven months later the price of a Tom Tom had dropped through the floor. I returned my NAVMAN to Costco, who refunded without batting an eyelid. I bought a tomtom elsewhere and pocketed the difference  Oh and the chicken bakes are awesome.... 
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wilfandrowlf
143 posts
81 months
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Yes.....
Got 4 Michelin tyres for the daily for the price of budgets at the local "S**t fit"
The fresh salmon is good value and as lots of people mention,the meat is excellent too.
Beware of impulse buys though! I'm sure a great deal of their business is achieved by the "ooh look at this...... I'v always fancied one if those" factor!
Enjoy
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BS75
1,477 posts
35 months
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mattdaniels said: If, on the other hand, you are an impulse buyer, forget it. You will turn your house into a corner shop quicker than you can say "I only popped in for some dishwasher tabs and I seem to have spent 300 quid". Bang on, it's all about having a bit of restraint. If you stick to what you'd normally get in a supermarket and you're clued up about the prices you pay outside, you can save a fortune. But if you go wild buying cool stuff just because it's there and OMG look at the price, you waste what you save (and probably more  ) Similarly if you don't know what things cost elsewhere you won't recognise bargains OR the things that are expensive as hell. You've got to be smart about it, then it is totally worth it. Oh, and it helps to have some storage space for bulk buys....since I moved to a 1 bedroom flat I've had to use my mum's garage as a bog roll and tuna storage warehouse 
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Tyrewrecker
6,419 posts
23 months
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Also, don't be fooled by the prices they display, when I last went it they were excluding vat so it soon changes!
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TinyCappo
1,386 posts
22 months
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They have never included VAT on their pricing....
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