Costco - worth the hype?
 

Hi guys

Wondering if there are any Costco shoppers here? We are thinking of joining the Halifax Costco, but the annual membership is around $50 from memory.

Is it actually worth it? Is stuff actually cheaper there??

Re: Costco - worth the hype?
 

I don't know about Halifax, but I was a member of Costco in New York and yes, it is will worth the membership fee if you buy in bulk. Their meats and fish were especially good and well priced as were the frozen products. If you wear glasses, buy prescription meds, need large appliances, then those things along make it worthwhile, IMHO. Their refund policy can't be beat. It all depends on your needs and buying habits.

Re: Costco - worth the hype?
 

I've never been but there has been the occasional thread and from the examples given it's always seemed to me that observational shopping (paying attention to flyers and having an awareness of how often great offers come around) coupled with a selection of the rival supermarkets convenient to home, work and other activities, works out cheaper.

You know, do your main shopping at one store but if half a dozen items are half the cost that week in a different store and you can drop by on your way home from work or combine it with another appointment, then do so. Huge savings can be made if you're able to do that.

People do believe they get their Costco membership fee back several times over and it's recommended for prescriptions - but no membership needed for that.

Re: Costco - worth the hype?
 

I have been a Costco member for over 20 years. For me yes it is well worth the membership. I have just received a cheque from Costco which covers my Exec. Membership fee many times. Also if you are not happy they will refund your membership.

You cannot beat Costco’s refund policy. Return goods anytime, no questions asked. Apart from electronics, which have a 3 months return policy, but Costco also give you an extra 1 year guarantee.

Re: Costco - worth the hype?
 

Yes.

Re: Costco - worth the hype?
 

Re: Costco - worth the hype?
 

Re: Costco - worth the hype?
 

I am pretty sure the 3 x Costcos where I live have installed something that when you walk through the main entrance it turns most people into shopping zombies and removes any common sense or etiquette associated with shopping.

They are all laid out pretty much the same as you walk in the photo processing is just off to the right and along with the optical section. The entrance forces you to either go down this lane or you can veer left where all the on sale stuff is and slightly to the right are the big screen TV's and other electronics. the entrance can be sometimes a bottle neck as shoppers wait for their other halves/family members or stop to inspect the coupons they are given at the entrance. Of course they all have to park their carts in such a way as you can't get past and are taken aback if you ask them to move their cart as you cant get past and you have rudely interrupted them reading about the $4 off the spring rolls.

The aisles are fairly big so think of them as a road and perhaps walk down them as you would drive a car ie on the right. Do not zig zag like the bloody moron who drives the car into and out of lanes without signalling or checking if its safe to do so.
Yes I understand the ketchup might be on the left hand side but couldn't you grab it on the way back down the aisle. Those extra steps aren't gonna kill you. Don't park the cart at an angle in the middle of the aisle so others can't get past especially if you are shopping in another aisle and you abandoned your cart. Have a plan and check all aisles out rather than just a few and then when at the checkout you don't need to send one of your kids to find the ketchup.

Heres a hint the 75" TV will not fit in a regular cart so look at getting one of the flat orange coloured ones that don't have sides on them. When waiting in line at the check outs have the membership card in your hand ready along with your debit/mastercard rather than searching for it in the black hole you call a handbag when you reach the checkout. No they don't accept VISA at the Canadian Costco;s.

Other than that Have A Nice Day.

Re: Costco - worth the hype?
 

We've never been, but we have friends who swear they are cheaper and that they get good deals.

At the same time we have other friends who don't think Costco is worth the membership fee for them, but are quite happy to go along with a friend every 3 or 4 months and pick up bulk dry goods like toilet paper, paper towels, etc. One of those friends loves Costco's hot dogs, and will go with her friend just so she can buy a hot dog with trimmings at the cook-out stall.

Like Bristol, we think we get better deals by using the flyers ...... what's the point of saving money on buying something that you would not ordinarily buy just because it's on sale a Costco that week????

Re: Costco - worth the hype?
 

:lol:

Rants R U lately!

Re: Costco - worth the hype?
 

My Cost-co membership is linked to the UK, I got it just because my mother wanted it - for some reason there, you have to be in a certain profession to get a membership, which at the time I was and she wasnt.

I didn't think much of UK Cost-Co and would only go to the Milton Keynes one, once in every couple of months. Prices were expensive and not good value compared to Tesco, Asda etc.

Fast forward to now and I am so pleased I have it. It is still linked to the UK so that my mother can use but if she didn't, I would transfer m membership here so I can purchase stuff on their online website and have my partner added to my account.

Cheese is much more better value in Cost-co than any other grocery store, I can buy eggs in bulk and I love their rotisserie chickens. Their produce (spinach, fruit etc.) is usually pretty good although I do sometimes go to Superstore for this.

I am probably in there once a week and when I go to the USA, I go into their Cost-co's as well.

Worth the $50 a year (although I pay about £45 for my card and my mothers)

Re: Costco - worth the hype?
 

Ive seen people many times using these cheques to pay for their purchases. Is that with the membership or with the credit card thats linked to Cost-co?

Re: Costco - worth the hype?
 

It’s with the membership, plus if you have a Costco credit card you will receive an additional cheque from the CC company.

I used my cheque for approx $50 purchase, I was given cash for the remainder of the cheque’s value. :thumbsup:

Re: Costco - worth the hype?
 

If your budget per month is high enough then yes it's worth it in my view.

If you have a small monthly budget not really worth it as you end up with so few items when on a limited budget.

Re: Costco - worth the hype?
 

I guess it depends on your circumstances.

Almost every Aussie here in Seattle (because obviously every single one is in the FB group I joined ;) ) said it's the place to go, so last week when we wanted to see TVs before buying we went and joined up. It was useful in that we saw the TVs and got some advice but we don't have a car and knew it wouldn't fit in an Uber, and delivery was estimated at 7-10 days, so we came home and ordered one on Amazon - had it within 2. We did buy a stick vac but prices were comparable to Amazon so I'm not sure we justified the membership, and we're hardly likely to shop there for food when everything is packaged to feed a small army. And TBH most of it not stuff we eat.

So for us no, definitely not worth the hype.

Re: Costco - worth the hype?
 

I hate the place. It's hell.

Re: Costco - worth the hype?
 

Especially the Burnaby on Brighton Ave and the one in Richmond, insane level busy, and the Burnaby one parking lot is way too small.

Re: Costco - worth the hype?
 

We had one for a while but then OH decided it wasn't worth the savings for the membership cost and didn't want to renew. Our cheque never covered the membership fee. Many food items tend to be bulk size - much larger than you find in a regular supermarket. I liked a few food items there. For a large family it would definitely be worth it. I remember at work a lot of people would go there for lunch - a bit of a greasy spoon I thought.

Re: Costco - worth the hype?
 

It's worth it for the Kirkland Golden Margarita alone. Costco recently had Kirkland Margarita on sale at $6.95 for a 1.75L bottle. Had to fit the roof rack as I could not get any more in the car boot.

Re: Costco - worth the hype?
 

Sid ........... that wouldn't apply in Canada. Most grocery stores are not allowed to sell liquor like they do in the US

Re: Costco - worth the hype?
 

Regarding the OP's question .................. my daughter and her husband live in Metro Halifax, love getting cheaper deals, but have never joined Cosco as they said it didn't work for them.

Re: Costco - worth the hype?
 

Even more reason to join then. Make a cross-border trip with a Transit van and fill up similar to people who go cross-channel from UK to France. Or do Canada Customs frown on this?

I imagine Costco US stores recognize Canadian Costco membership cards. I have used a UK Costco membership card in the US in the past.

Re: Costco - worth the hype?
 

Re: Costco - worth the hype?
 

Do they sell Makrut Lime Leaves?

(other thread joke) :rofl:

Re: Costco - worth the hype?
 

The ones in Quebec sell beer and wine and cider. Beer is very cheap but it is usually swill or the type I buy for when it is my turn to buy beer for my footie team post game beer and then add a few that I would want to drink. The Costco in Gatineau sells beer in 60 packs.

We buy things like bread, bagels, chicken thighs, cheese, coffee cream, bananas, toilet paper, cleaning products, ice cream, tea bags, Dijon mustard, deodorant, toothpaste, olive oil, printer cartridges, batteries, salmon, socks, underwear, jeans, printer paper, ski lift tickets, car rentals. etc.

Re: Costco - worth the hype?
 

Re: Costco - worth the hype?
 

Re: Costco - worth the hype?
 

That's the law but individual officers may be more relaxed. I always declare the booze and usually get waved through. If they do charge the taxes the price is sill a bit less than the liquor store; it's a bother to go in and pay but not a disaster.

Re: Costco - worth the hype?
 

worth it for the speed and efficiency of the checkout staff if nothing else in my opinion.
there might be long line ups but they wizz through them
staff are friendly and cheerful as well as competent. The staff is my local sobeys rarely hit one out of three of those.

Meat is excellent. Paper products exceptional value. Not always huge savings if you are a couple as most quantities are simply too big, nut still worth it imo

Re: Costco - worth the hype?
 

For quickness I leave quite a bit of my goods (unless it’s a small item) in the shopping cart, with the bar code facing upwards.This way they can hand scan the items quicker.

Re: Costco - worth the hype?
 

yep this,
I've even seen the staff do this for you while the person in front of you is finishing up.
while i can't say i enjoy the endless roaming the aisles experience, the checkout process is super efficient

Re: Costco - worth the hype?
 

At the inception for an IT project I said that we would be under the gun, we'd have to go at the work like we were the Costco check out people. No one understood "under the gun", that's too ethnic, but everyone caught the Costco reference.

Re: Costco - worth the hype?
 

They usually walk along the queue and process the goods in the cart at Christmas, when they are very busy. That’s where I got the idea from.

Re: Costco - worth the hype?
 

Do it.
The only bad thing about Costco is that you always leave with more stuff than you went in for.

Re: Costco - worth the hype?
 

Re: Costco - worth the hype?
 

ugh.
The wine area looked okay and the fruit and veg section, but everything else? Reminds me of a horrible Kwiksave I went in once.

Re: Costco - worth the hype?
 

Yeah that downside to Costco is traversing through a warehouse that is just concrete and exposed metal shelving, not really a nice aesthetic.

Re: Costco - worth the hype?
 

It sells ordinary stuff for ordinary people in a functional setting, it's not pretending to be Fortnum's. It's not a good shop if you're poor and not interesting if you're rich. It's a place for people who have a car and a freezer and storage space who know they'll work their way through 50 bog rolls and 24 paper towels and 3 chickens and 2 gallons of Pinesol and who don't want to bother with going shopping often for such routine items.

The market is a different experience, it's aesthetically pleasing and sells gourmet stuff. Horses for courses, innit? I don't want three pints of caviar sold to me in 20 seconds from a metal shelf at a knock down price but that works ideally for three pints of mayonnaise.

Re: Costco - worth the hype?
 

Believe me the architect got paid once.

Totally agree with dbd's assessment of Costco.

On another website forum I participate in related to architecture/land development/real estate/city building etc Costco is often dismissed by the 'elites' who find it a depressing place to shop. They prefer to pay high prices as shop assistants fawn over them and stroke their egos. When I want to buy a lifetime supply of feta or 5 kg of Nutella I know the Kirkland boutique will serve my needs and I won't be judged for going there.

Other than the ice cream in a cone, to me the rest of the food is pretty awful...but I think they keep at the prices from 20 + years ago.

Re: Costco - worth the hype?
 

Wasn't trying to say Costco is a bad store because of the warehouse-look, but it is an undeniable aspect of shopping there. I'm happy to accept it to save money on diapers and other things, as are many others.

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/british...36027bf807.jpg