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Costco is overhyped

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Whats a good deal there probably varies by location. Out by us cereal, paper products, meat, cheese, condiments, crackers and granola bars are much cheaper per ounce than our local stores. There are some pretty good fringe benefits as well. Car rentals are often very cheap and include free cancellation and additional drivers. Cruise pricing can be very competitive with them usually offering the same sales as the major lines but will add a costco cash card as an extra bonus. (They have some other services like insurance and flooring but I haven't found any of those to be a good deal yet)
 
OK, the fact that you split the cost of a membership means you're very price conscious- Costco is not for you.

Costco's niche is they sell unique, higher-end products at a discount. If you want bargains and cheap bulk products, you'll want Sam's Club.
 
I hated walking out of BJs every time with only a handful of boxes of frozen food or snacks and no less than $150 lighter. That's all I really found for me and it's just not worth the cost. I don't know how Costco would be any different.

I think the $10 bag of frozen meatballs is the only item I really miss. I bet that's not $10 anymore?
 
Iron Woode said:
I still have my Costco membership.

They used to have these amazing frankfurters by Shopy's (it's a Canadian thing). They were 1/4lb all beef hot dogs that were worth the membership alone. 2 Packs together for $12. Now they are no longer available. 🙁

I still buy other things from time to time when I need them.
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That's one of the bad parts of Costco. You find something you like, buy it regularly for two years and then bam it's gone. Now I have to drive 12 miles away to another Costco to get my Jamaican beef turnovers.
 
s0me0nesmind1 said:
There are some items though (For example, I like Monster Energy) - the 24 packs are cheaper to buy on fucking Amazon and have them shipped to me than going to a Costco store... which is totally screwed up. How is it cheaper to ship an individual 24-pack to a residence than it is to send a huge pallet of 24-packs to a store?
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A seller looking to get a good recommendation score?
 
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Costco is only worth it in certain scenarios. But I see tons of people going there and buying things that actually aren't a savings at all, but they've convinced themselves of it just the same. Personally I haven't enjoyed the experience of going there, and the occasional item that has turned out to be a deal hasn't come anywhere near making up for the cost of membership, so I don't think I will bother renewing it anymore. For those people who buy quantities of specific items that actually are cheaper at Costco, it's worth it.

Back home in Quebec, they used to carry cheese curds. They weren't really any better of a deal than what Walmart offered, but I liked them. Here in Alberta, I haven't been able to find cheese curds in grocery stores or at Costo, a damn shame!

All in all, I think it can be worthwhile for some people, but not most. Every time someone has pointed out a specific item they felt was a deal at Costco, they were either being tricked by the size/quantity and don't know how to do math, or they just were too lazy or failed to properly search for similar items elsewhere. If you buy sufficient quantities of the few things that truly are a deal there though, go nuts!
 
purbeast0 said:
My favorite part about Costco are the people who will sit in their running cars for 30 minutes in the gas line to save $2.
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I never sit in a line to get gas at Costco, I stop on my way into work in the morning and pull right up to the pump.
 
While I mainly use Sam's Club (recently I signed up for Costco), the prices are fairly similar. The savings are not a ton typically if you find a deal at another place, but it is consistently low priced without needing a sale at other / multiple locations, which increases the convenience factor.

There are still items which are a clear winner, such as baby formula or maybe bottled water, but overall it's a convenience factor of having all the stuff you normally buy at equally lowest prices of shopping at multiple other locations. The baby formula alone pays for the membership at Costco.

The other bigger savings are the in-store brand of paper towels, facial tissue, etc... if you compare per-square / tissue, the prices are tough to beat.

The other major advantage is they will let you return just about anything, including the membership if you don't like it.
 
JTsyo said:
That's one of the bad parts of Costco. You find something you like, buy it regularly for two years and then bam it's gone. Now I have to drive 12 miles away to another Costco to get my Jamaican beef turnovers.
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you mean Jamaican patties? I love those things, especially the spicy ones.
 
If you're looking for the lowest price, you won't necessary find it at Costco. But they do sell quality products at fair prices.

I was going to cancel my Costco membership for Sam's Club but there are couple items I can only find at Costco like USDA Prime brisket, boneless beef short ribs, and pork ribs tips that I can't find at Sam's Club. Sam's Club has better spare ribs and the quality of the Black Angus beef have improved to a point where some BBQ guys now prefer Sam's Club steaks over Costco. I don't like that Costco blade tenderizes their steaks. Now I stick to buying primal cuts in cryovac at Costco so I can avoid the issue.
 
Herr Kutz said:
Just signed up for costco since I could split the cost with someone and I was very underwhelmed with the prices. Most items were around the same price or more expensive than the grocery I frequent, except you have to purchase a larger quantity at Costco. One outlier was milk which is significantly cheaper, but I'm not sure going about 2 miles out of my way to save just on milk is worth it. I didn't see much if any savings on the meat I frequently buy although I guess I didn't check the ground turkey. I'm pretty sure this overhyped reputation Costco enjoys is just another part of the fake news liberal media. I'll give it another couple visits before I decide whether to cancel or not.
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Considering Costco will let perspective new members wander the store before signing up I would say you are the fool for not concluding before moving forward and signing up.
 
OutHouse said:
cheap meat, cheap premium gas. OP is blind.
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I agree. Costco beats the grocer prices on just about everything.

Meat, milk, bananas, cereal, bread, fruit (but you have to buy a ton and it may go bad), Mac n Cheese, muffins, and chocolate chip cookies. Gotta get those cookies.
 
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