Apparently Costco set higher standards for things like bacterial contamination (zero tolerance with whole batch being rejected) in salads etc than other supermarkets (walmart was mentioned specifically) which tend just to follow legal limits.

That might be true but I couldn't imagine buying salads at Walmart. It's a store I avoid at all costs!

I've just been looking over their website and the rewards system is 2% up to a maximum of $750 per year.

With qualifying membership @ $110 that is indeed, several times the cost of membership.

It's just that if $750 is 2% then the qualifying spend in a year is $37500.

Or over $3000 a month.

Even getting three times the fee back - $330 - involves an annual spend of $16500 or nearly $1400 a month.

I suppose gas needs to be bought there to get to this level of spending.

I popped in when getting gas- my son loves the powdered mash from there, and it comes in a carton with a dozen or so sachets so it is handy.

Didn't get owt else though. It's just not tuned for my shopping needs- which are small scale (kids with their mum the majority of the time) and eclectic - I typically shop off-brand.

Having said that they had a site jacket with zip out liner that was really nice, for $80, and some good work trousers cheap too. If I had to buy my own PPE I'd be a regular.

In the uk, while of course one has t obe selective, they have some unbeatable bargains, and some american stuff you cant easily get elsewhere. Certainly their signature brand claims seem approximately true. Their pricing algorythms arent the same as the uk sellers, some big stuff is definitely a lot cheaper bought from costco, but not everything.

Now I know why we have the same car we had 6 years ago, haven't been on an overseas holiday for 15 years, don't have a TV and can't afford to eat out

Or commercial shopping - Costco is 25-35% cheaper than getting deliveries from Sysco or GFS. Spending $10,000+ per month for our cafe is easily done, so the savings can be significant and buying in bulk is the sensible option.

Strip loin for Friday steak day at the Serb Club come from Costco.

Given the $3000 a month max for the max discount I assume you have it covered by multiple cards

Of course. It's just good business sense.

I don't see the point of their Mastercard other than that it combines the points card into one.

It doubles as a pretty good credit card that you can use for non Costco transactions.


Get 3% on restaurant purchases, 2% on gas purchases and up to 1% on all other purchases

No annual fee

We joined Costco again as there are some select items I like to buy there.

Yesterday we went for bath soap (works out to 62 cents per bar, same brand at Wal-Mart is 98 cents per bar) deodorant 5 pack (works out to 2.49 per each, vs 3.97 at Wal-Mart per each) and razors which worked out to about $1 per razor vs 1.99 per razor at Wal-Mart.

Items wife wanted but didn't make sense to buy at Costco:

Tide detergent. The packages are bigger, and you get more at once, but the per pod price worked out to be 0.24 per pod, vs 0.17 per pod on amazon.

Toilet paper cheaper per roll on amazon.

Mouth wash cheaper per ML on amazon.

Shave gel cheaper on Amazon.

Dishwasher detergent worked out to 0.22/pod at Costco and 0.15/pod on Amazon.

Their own brand washing pods are great, as are the dishwasher ones...

Yeah. The Kirkland brand stuff is usually big name brands rebadged.
I know I'm lucky to be in a position where I can afford to do this but I'd shop there just for the convenience factor of having efficient checkout staff who are quick, know what they are doing and are happy to help you.