Write about the time this gets posted, a bunch of Men In Black from the CostCo cabal are getting into a bulletproof sedan and setting off for my house to have a little “chat” about the title of this post. Then they’ll tie me up and put me on display in the plastic pen used for the “Seafood Specials”. They’ll encourage the shoppers to throw their lunchtime samples of Mini-Taquitos and Popcorn Chicken at me, until I capitulate and renew my membership.
Ah, if only it were that simple. And entertaining.
I’m actually a sometimes fan of CostCo because it’s a nice way for normal people to buy dry goods, staples and other items in bulk or for cheap. And buying non-perishable items in bulk is a big part of the Cheaplander way. I still haven’t gotten used to calling it CostCo - ours was known as Price Club for many years. Whatever you call it, we’ve always bought things from them in bulk, such as toilet paper, paper towels, chicken stock, detergent, sports drinks, canned beans and tomatoes, and surprisingly - meat. I dunno about your area, but the meat from our CostCo is actually of a much higher quality than many grocery stores in the area, and a lot cheaper. And if you happen to own a restaurant or small biz, you can save a ton shopping there. Many CostCos also have gas stations, which saw a pretty brisk business when gas was above $4.
The only catch, of course, is that there’s a membership fee. At $50 a year for a “normal” Gold Star membership, I guess it costs less than the cellphone bill for one month. Still, lately I’ve been wondering if CostCo is really worth it. My complaints are thusly:
1. With basic membership, you aren’t allowed in until 11am.
2. The crowds seem to have gotten worse over the years.
3. Checkout is just as bad. The parking is even worse.
4. Overall prices, while still cheap for bulk, have gotten more expensive.
5. They discontinue or rotate certain products much too frequently.
I guess that’s not a long list, but I think my main concern is that I just don’t shop there as frequently. Beyond filling up gas where possible (it’s not THAT far from us, but I’d only fill up if I happen to drive by) and buying toilet paper, kleenex and paper towels in bulk, I haven’t really found that much need to visit there anymore. In fact, I find I don’t WANT to visit because of the people madness.
At $50, I guess it’s not so bad. I did a few back of the envelope calculations - assuming we fill up gas there every week (the savings on gas were usually 2 to 3 cents per gallon) and we buy just the usual paper goods and a few items when needed, the savings come out to just about $50-60 a year. So, basically we’re coming out even - and not really saving any money.
I don’t like those odds.
Add in the extra gas to drive there, and it doesn’t seem like such a great deal. Actually, Smart & Final is down the street, has some of the similar savings (though not near as much selection or saving opportunities) and is typically less crowded. AND they have no membership fee. I guess Walmart would function similarly for a lot of people too. Also, Target can have decent deals as well, though they don’t always sell things in bulk.
So, this year we’ve decided to take a pass on membership. We could always sign back up, I’m sure CostCo would be happy to have us. And also, my parents, who live 10 minutes away, have Executive membership. So if I really needed something (like a big screen TV, haha) I’d just tag along with them. CostCo has no problem ringing up separate bills - I’ve seen my parents ring up THREE separate bills on several occasions, just for their own purposes.
It remains to be seen if not having our own membership will be overly inconvenient. But for now, CostCo Goons, please pass us over - we might yet sign up again.
[Editor’s Note: Of COURSE there aren’t any such things as CostCo Goons - this is just a fantasy brought on by too many days of sickness and bronchitis. If you have an opinion on whether CostCo membership is really worth it, please leave a comment about it.]
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February 3rd, 2009 at 11:41 am
I agree with you. I’ve never had a membership there, but my sister has one, and I have gone with her a few times and this is what I find: 1). I always spend way much more had a gone to a different store and 2). I would buy things I didn’t need because it was huge!
I am a cheapskate at heart and I ususally run to 2-3 different grocery stores to get the most for my money. And, I don’t think you will miss not going there!
Although one good thing my sister got me once was this gigantic bag of chocolate chips which lasted me about 6 months! And, I make cookies all the time too!
*I noticed your thing about spam. Do you have akismet added to your site? It blocks 99% of spam!
February 3rd, 2009 at 4:35 pm
I think there are a few issues at play. The prices may be more or less competitive depending on where you live. In Tokyo, Costco is definitely cheaper than most markets especially for things like meat, fruit, and vegetables, but the shops are relatively hard to get to.
The other issue is quality of items for the price. I can get cheaper coffee than the Starbucks Espresso Roast I get at Costco, but I can’t get coffee I’m willing to drink for a cheaper price. Sometimes the Costco goods represent the tipping point between where quality degrades significantly if you pay less at a cheaper place and where the quality is not a high enough priority to pay more.
Prices have gone up at Costco, but they’ve gone up everywhere. Also, I know Costco treats its employees well and passes on profit to them in the form of health benefits, raises, and better working conditions (unlike Sam’s Club and Wal-Mart). I’m willing to pay them a little more than other big box places that may be slightly cheaper as a way of supporting their business model. Any company whose stock holders cry about too much profit being used to boost the employees’ conditions is one I’m going to go out of my way to support.
February 5th, 2009 at 8:20 am
@jennifer - very true, sometimes I end up coming home with boxes of frozen tamales and enchiladas that I know we don’t need and that aren’t particularly good for us. Re: Akismet, I know about it, have tried it previously, and just don’t really like it too much. At least I didn’t like the earlier version. I’m not sure why it has to catalog all the spam for you, it should just delete it and not even tell you. Also, there is still a lot of spam comments that leak through.
@orchid - funny you mention coffee - have you ever tried the CostCo brand pre-ground coffee in bulk (I think it’s Kirkland). It’s actually not half bad. But I agree, I’ve come to realize that I should be supporting the companies that treat workers better (and Walmart is on my crap-list for that). Actually, have recently become a huge fan of Fresh & Easy that opened near us, I just hope they are able to stay in business. They treat workers better, it’s convenient, and things are surprisingly cheap.
February 6th, 2009 at 3:32 pm
I think pre-ground coffee isn’t sold in Japan at their Costcos. The Japanese ones carry fewer of the American items in order to stock Japanese foods (like jumbo Calbee potato chips, which seem to be a big hit among my students who have gone to Costco). We’re pretty big fans of a lot of the Kirkland items (especially their cashews and tuna packed in water), but I think we’re seeing less Kirkland stuff here because brand names mean more to the Japanese market and it’s a store brand.
February 11th, 2009 at 7:34 pm
My husband’s grandmother put him on her membership, since you can have two cards with different names, so we didn’t have to pay the $50. I don’t know that it would be worth it too us if we did have to pay the fee. Costco has some good deals, but I find I can get a lot of things for the same or less at Aldi. Aldi wins as far as cheap food goes, unfortunatly they don’t have any stores in California, I only found out about them after I moved to the midwest.
February 11th, 2009 at 8:05 pm
@orchid - That would be really cool to pick up some of the Japanese foods in bulk. I have to go all the way to Marukai market about 25 miles away (where there’s a larger JA population) to get better deals
@holly - I’ve heard so many people talk about Aldi - I really wish they would open one over here, because I’d like to give it a try. I know nothing about the store - do they charge a membership? And how large are the stores?
February 12th, 2009 at 9:12 am
Aldi doesn’t charge a membership, and thier stores are about the size of a large 7-11. They carry one generic brand of everything, which is how they can have so many different things in such a small space. You want cheese, they have Happy Farms and that’s it. The small size speeds things up a great deal. We can be in and out in 20 minutes. They don’t give out free bags, you have to bring your own, pay 25 cents for a reusable one, or go without. If you want to use a cart, you put a quarter in, which you get back when you bring the cart back. They only take cash and debit/ATM, probably EBT/food stamps too, but I don’t get them so I don’t know for sure. No checks, no credit.
These things my sound negative, but they keep the prices down dramatically. My husband and I moved to Chicago from California, so obviously we didn’t take groceries from our old place to our new one. We went to Aldi and loaded our cart with everything we thought we might need. We had to replace everything we’d used up or given away before moving. Our total: $83. We’ve never spent that much since, usually it’s closer to $50, and we don’t even go every week. We do have to go to other stores though, because they don’t have everything. Aldi doesn’t have much of a produce department, so if I want fresh garlic or green onions, for example, I walk to the regular supermarket that’s literally next door to us. All things considered I think they’re fantastic.
February 12th, 2009 at 10:08 am
@holly - say, that sounds almost exactly like the new Fresh n Easy that we’ve been visiting. They mostly only have their own “brand” of produce and other items, the size is like what an old time grocery storey used to be, and there are no checkout clerks. There are just self-serve scanning machines, but they do take credit cards. You bag your own groceries. This helps keep the prices down. I’ve been really enjoying it so far - and similarly what you said, the Fresh n Easy produce doesn’t cover all bases. So for green onions, garlic, ginger, etc, I head on over to the Asian market near our house.
September 8th, 2009 at 12:46 pm
If you go just for the prices and bulk, no, its not worth it because their prices aren’t any better than anywhere else…but, if you go for the massive weekend free samples and the ultra cheap but excellent hotdog/polish/soda deal, then it might be.