Costco ?

[eldrick]

some advice please

this shopping outlet has come to limey & have started sending out membership applications

they charge a membership fee, but i'd assume you'd recoup this on discounted goods ?

my questions to posters here who obviously have experience of it :

- is it worth joining up ?

- do they charge a membership fee in america ?

- any drawbacks to their shopping experience ?

[Double R Bar]

Yes, they do charge for a membership. You can definitely make it up in the savings you'll get if you shop there. Some drawbacks are long checkout lines and lots of their products come in bulk. That can be a problem for food items that need refrigeration. If you have the room for storage, it can work very well.

One thing you might like is that they carry many different products. For example, you can buy televisions, food items, paper products, toys, clothing, etc. They do change their products, so one week you might find televisions and the next week they are gone. I think it is worth the membership.

[JRM]

Costco is really only worth it in the long run if you're consistently buying products in bulk (e.g. if you have kids, a large family, etc...). I'm not sure the savings will be offset by the membership otherwise. At least that's been my experience. We tag along with our parent-friends if we need specific items, but otherwise it wouldn't be worth it for us to go on our own.

[SQUACKEE]

For a large middle income family its a godsend. For a childless wine drinking british tracknut doctor....not so much.

[bad hammy]

We only shop there about twice a year, mostly buying bulk dry goods items that we store in the garage. With only two in the hammy household any perishable food item is wasted in the sizes they sell. Pretty good booze prices too . . .

[Cooter Brown]

Good alcohol prices, good pharmacy prices (for the US anyway), good electronics prices. Great return policy...they'll pretty much take anything back in any condition at anytime...though I think they know put limits on PCs, digital cameras, etc.

[Daisy]

For a large middle income family its a godsend. For a childless wine drinking british tracknut doctor....not so much.

That sums it up. Great for diapers. We're not renewing this year as those days are behind us But the tantrum threes and teenage years are still ahead. :?

[Halfmiler2]

For a large middle income family its a godsend. For a childless wine drinking british tracknut doctor....not so much.

Actually, the wine column in last Saturday's edition of the Wall Street Journal had an article about Costco saying it probably sells more wine than anybody else in the USA. It said that while Sam's Club (the rival warehouse chain owned by Wal Mart) sells mostly low-end wine, Costco sells high, middle, and low-end bottles.

[SQUACKEE]

The Cosco i live near has no booze, suming bout a zoning thingy. :x :cry:

[marknhj]

I've bought my last three pairs of glasses at Costco, at about half the price I'm used to paying. The Costco's here have great booze prices and an excellent selection of wines. One challenge is that the prices seem so cheap I tend to leave with a selection of items I had no intention of buying. If you have a partner with shopaholic tendencies I'd recommend avoiding it at all costs! Also, because of the bulk sizes, you may leave with five years supply of ketchup...

[guru]

Comparison shopping on one particular item, an HDTV I'm looking at, but waiting until the wacky season when they'll practically GIVE it to me. Costco doesn't do so well compared to Walmart.

Sony 46" Class Bravia Full HD 1080p LCD HDTV w/ Digital Tuner, KDL-46S4100

Costco - 1399.99(will ship free)

Walmart - 1331.54(available local)

[gm]

Ah yes, guru, but Costco actually PAYS its employees...

[Conor Dary]

Besides the great deal on glasses that markhj alluded to, I also buy my Sapphire Gin there for about 30 per cent lower than the local liquor store.

[26mi235]

I joined Sam's Club for one year but it was not really worth it. I shop at Woodman's for food, and Sam's Club is not much of a savings and can even be more, plus the size of items is not always convenient. The selection is also not as good and, from a single observation, the milk turns over more slowly so that there is less time between the date of purchase and the expiration date. Wines (and liqueur) also seem more expensive at Sam's Club than at Woodman's, although taxes etc probably narrow the differential in this category.

[Jack Slocombe]

Do not forget the really big tub of peanut butter. Ah, life is good.

Booze prices are really good just about the same as at Bev Mo.