Edo

I am wondering what is the huge fuss about Costco that it is always so full of shoppers buying trollies after trollies full of groceries every day. Recently I got a membership after almost a year long deliberation on if I should do it or not, but having shopped at Walmart and Superstore all my life I just did not find anything special about Costco, especially in terms of the prices. It is not 'cheaper' at all IMO. Another down side is that they sell everything in bulky packs which are way too much than a normal sized family needs over a week or so. And you cannot buy perishable stuff more than you need at a given time cuz it will go bad on you and kill the whole purpose of shopping altogether. This particular store that I went to was quite short of options too. Something that a normal supermarket will have in six different brands Costo hardly had it in two on its shelves.

So yeah, why do people shop at Costco? Is it their quality that pulls people towards ti? Is it the convenience? ....Or is it just an illusion?

dbd33

I like Costco. I find it convenient to buy toilet paper annually, we have a couple of freezers and can deal with large packages of meat. When I've checked the prices they were, at least, competitive. The firm is an outstanding employer and that's a consideration for me. If you don't like Costco then to another shop.

I personally diskike Petro-Canada because they've removed the pump catches and so, in order to clean the car windows while the pump is pumping, I have to jam the pump with my wallet. That's a bother. I deal with it by not going to Petro-Canada.

You didn't know that because my not liking Petro-Canada is such a lame topic for a thread that I haven't made one.

Edo

Good for you but we the BEs know that your standards are quite hard for everyone else to live by.

Although I must add that sometimes your posts can be quite helpful when you want to be nice

scrubbedexpat091

I find Costco membership most useful if one can go to the US and shop there.

We let our membership expire, didn't go often enough, small monthly food/household budget means only getting a couple items at Costco vs a couple weeks at a normal store.

thistlehollyberry

Costco - love it. Prescriptions are less than $4.00 versus $10.00 at Walmart or $13 at the local pharmacy. Their prices are much lower than the competition, especially with their coupons - there is a reason that the store is jammed.

Davita

I noticed on last visit to Vancouver that they will not automatically accept the card if the owner isn't in the store.
As now visiting from overseas, and having let our own card expire, that is a downer.
I was refused as the card wasn't mine, but it would have been accepted if the owner was in the store. When a lady behind me in the line said I could use her card..it was also refused...I begged.."What is the difference between this lady offering or if my friend had been in the store?" confused reply made no sense...
I should have objected, but didn't want to fuss, so thanked the lady and apologized for the hold-up...and volunteered to return the produce.

bats

I found that although some things were cheaper such as loo roll, coffee, kitchen roll, I was sucked in to buying stuff I didn't really need. Now we're on a lower income it's better to spend cash only and buy things weekly.
For prescriptions we were getting the cat's meds at Costco but the village pharmacy sort of pricematched and taking in to account the cost of gas and time involved then it was worth using them.

( Not sure if that all makes sense they seen very clumsy sentences)

beckiwoo

Cheese and spinach and strewberries - love it.

I also get a large bottle of laundry detergent that lasts me months and months and months.

My card is from the UK as my mum also uses a secondary card over there but I've never had any issues using it at the Vancouver cost-co - they just ask me if I'm visiting.

Zoe Bell

Like any store.cheaper for some things. Not for others.
Meat selection and price is worth the membership alone IMO.

Despite the sometimes long queues. I find the checkout staff incredibly efficient and quick. Unlike our local supermarket which seems to delight on having as few checkouts open as possible

BristolUK

I suspect that's not universal across Canada. It's been a few years since I collected a prescription from Walmart but the last time I did so it was because their generic price for the drug itself was cheaper, not the dispensing fee.

Shoppers Drug Mart's fee, here, doesn't appear to be a fixed rate so sometimes it may be lower than an alternative and other times higher. It seems to depend on the cost of the drug. They also "pay" the co-payment for those on the provincial drug programs and charge seniors less too. The pharmacy at Superstore does something similar.
Something disputed by many. Could be the convenience...people certainly argue that bulk purchases are worth it but maybe other stuff less so.

We're four so we may use bog paper at a rate quicker than other households. We have no difficulty buying good quality stuff for under $9 for the 50/60 roll equivalent packs at whichever store has that price.

There seems no doubt they have the best price for the better cheddars.
We get the ones that do around 100 loads for about $8.

Have you not heard of their sanctions for such deceit? It involves half an hour in the stocks and rotten fruit in the car park.

beckiwoo

I think I can live with it lol

scrubbedexpat091

Seems to be around $4.50 here in BC, but still about 50% lower then London Drugs.

No doubt if we had to pay dispensing fees we would go to Costco, looking at the prescriptions picked up last night dispensing fees alone were almost $40 dollars.

Luckily dispensing fees are fully covered so nothing out of pocket.

cheers

They are well paid.
They somehow time them on their check out time for each customer.

BristolUK

Do the checkout staff do the same as other supermarkets where they leave something at the front of your shopping (selecting stuff behind to price read) preventing the belt moving further stuff near the front so that more shopping can't be added too quickly for them in the space created?

Danny B

If you have School age kids at home, you cannot beat Costco for value. Food, clothes, School supplies, printer ink, wiper blades, engine oil...I could go on and on. The best thing is, if you get one of their Capital One mastercards you get money back on top of the Costco money back.

Only drawback is you need to store stuff for a few months before you can use it. For example, Christmas Trees come out in September, Winter jackets in August, canoes and camping gear in March.

For brand name Winter tires, I could not find a place locally that could match the quote from Costco.