MegaSack DRAW - This year's winner is user - rgwb
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Theres one near the Supermarket, what do I need to' (i.e. is it 'worth' it????). It always seems like one of those places thats not open to the likes of you and me/public?
I think anyone can join but there is a membership fee.
IMO its worth borrowing someones card if you have a party to buy for etc but you wouldn't want to do your weekly shop there.
Some good deals on electricals as well apparently.
I still have a large bottle of Fairy Liquid on my shelf left over from the great pre-wedding Costco visit of '95.
Haven't been back. I need some more shelves first.
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anyone can join
Not entirely true but the membership criteria are so lax that it might as well be, e.g. you seem to be able to join if you're a member of the AA so try telling them you're a member of Singletrack Forum - that may work.
Whether it's worth it depends on you; lots of electrical and clothing bargains etc but it mainly it sells household goods in large quantities or packs so you need (a) space to store stuff and (b) a sufficient appetite to eat things before they go off. Before we joined we went and had a look round the store and I was hooked as soon as I saw the boats for sale; Mrs R was enticed by the cheap catfood.
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I'm not a Costco member, although keep meaning to join up. Can't remember what the annual membership is for personal use, but it wasn't a lot last time I bothered to look (and then never followed up by joining. again).
Have been a few times with a mate who shops there a lot. Always seems to be a lot of good deals on electrical items. There always seemed to be a whole load of random stuff they'd got hold of too, and sold on a "when it's gone it's gone basis", so if you drop in regularly you may come across stuff you need at a good price buy may never see on sale again.
For most other things, you're saving money by buying in bulk.
Work colleague also found them cheapest for getting new tyres fitted to his car. I didn't realise they did tyres, but apparently whichever branch he uses does.
Cheese, good for cheese, if you like cheese.
We borrow our neighbours card once a year, just before xmas, bulk buy cat food, household cleaning stuff, xmas tat for pressies, stock up on cheese, loads of good deals on cheese, if you like cheese, you will love the deals they do 😉
Did I mention the cheese......
We're members. As Rio says, if you have storage space for the bulk-buy bargains then it is a great place. Ideal for stuff that doesn't go off (bog roll, massive bottles of fabric softener etc).
Ours also seems to do very decent quality meat that is considerably more "butcher" than "supermarket".
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Good for wine, bulk food and home stuff (the cakes are amazing) and a really odd selection of bargains.
Otherwise, Amazon(*other websites are available) can be cheaper.
We went to look for a smallish flat screen tv. It was cheaper in Costco than any other shop we'd been in but was still £50 cheaper on Amazon.
My dad stocks up at Christmas. I get massive tubs of chocolate coated raisins and bombay mix.
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Binners can I get condoms there? I get through an epic amount with my customers
Good meat. Beer specials are more expensive than normal price.
Oh yeah, and they are great for cheese.
We're members and certainly get our moneys worth from them!
Cheapest place around to buy Nappies + baby wipes (you get through quite a lot, even with only one child still in them!)
As others have said, cheese and meat is great quality and value.
Cakes are really good if you are having a party.
Tools etc are often good value for money but its pot-luck what they have in stock.
Zacs future.......
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If a little out of date food doesn't bother you, try these guys...
http://www.approvedfood.co.uk/
I was a little suspicious at first but a great service.
I bought 200 creme eggs (I know), an outer of kaffir lime and chili stir fry sauce (12 packets) and an outer of red curry paste (12 packets) and it cost me £21.77 delivered - £20 for creme eggs, £1.76 for stir fry sauce and 1p (yes 1p) for the red curry paste.
All been tried and I am still standing.
I've got a Makro card through work - similar concept - echo what they all said up there. Be aware that the prices are GENERALLY cheaper than a supermarket, there are times when specific supermarket promotions (BOGOFF's etc) will still beat the cash+carry's, so it's worth shopping around.
The meat is very good quality and excellent value, though you end up buying much larger quantities. Beer's better value than Tesco, even when they have a deal on.
I'm a member and go every 3 months or so, i load my van full of stuff. As said bog roll, fabric conditioner, bin bags are ace.
I love to buy catering style stuff, tins of tuna the size of a small planet ❗
Also when you go you never know what they'll have in stock, as a lot of stuff is seasonal, it's random.
Also great party food, huge pizzas and sandwiches on trays.
No stunning bargains, but never far off the money. Generally good quality stuff, especially the food. Good returns policy for electrical stuff etc. Easy to spend too much on shiny things......
No stunning bargains
Not entirely true as there are sometimes some cracking deals - but overall there's def a saving to be made. Meat and cheese are particularly good and wine can sometimes be proper cheap too if there's a special on.
if you can join as a trade member it's much better as you can go int the morning when it's quieter and you get free coffee and muffins.
For electricals they're brilliant as they give you a 5 year warranty as standard and their returns policy is second to none - they actually gave me my money back for a plasma that went pop last month even though the warranty had run out nearly two years before (they 'only' did a 3 year warranty when I bought it).
On top of this there's a 90 day returns policy so you can buy that massive TV that the wife thinks is too big and if you begrudgingly agree with her after 89 days you can take it back and get all you money back no questions asked..... brilliant.
Apart from the paying bit I always enjoy a Costco trip 🙂
Just watch out for your first few visits when you end up buying almost everything you see!
Use to be a member, some stuff is cheap but you need to buy bulk. It took me 3 years to get through one of the dishwasher tablet deals they had. I let my membership go a couple of years ago as was Ok but not really worth it. The electrical goods are rarely cheaper than elsewhere but again they may do a silly offer.
Their meat comes from Scotch Beef who M&S use and some butchers so yes their steak is pretty good.
Ah yes, forgot about the meat. You need a big freezer as well.
You need a big freezer as well.
This. We buy big packs of chicken and mince then split them into multiple bags of the amount we'd normally use for a meal.
Remember when you were about 4 and went to the supermarket with mum, and everything seemed MASSIVE?
Like that, but you're a grown up...
The electrical goods are rarely cheaper than elsewhere
I'm not sure you can include TV's in this statement as I've found them to be as cheap as anyone else but with the added warranty/returns bonus.
Are they any good for cheese?
I'm not sure you can include TV's in this statement as I've found them to be as cheap as anyone else but with the added warranty/returns bonus.
Not cheaper then, yes I forgot about the 5 year warranty but John Lewis do that and often Richer Sounds. Worth watching their flyers for bargains though.
Meat is good , even more so when on passport offer. And no visit is complete without pizza slice or two,chicken bake, and hotdawg, washed down with loads of diet coke, got to think of the waistline
Do they do cheese?
Yeah they do your run of the meal cheese you can buy in any supermarket so yes it's ok but no not as good as proper independent cheese shop. Oh and it's about the size of a cartwheel so you best like it.
Apparently, they do cheese.
But I never saw any when we used to go as I was too busy eating cheese.
I forgot about the 5 year warranty but John Lewis do that and often Richer Sounds.
I think RS charge for the 5 year warranty - anyhoo I'd MUCH rather deal with Costco if there was a return to be made.
..try telling them you're a member of Singletrack Forum - that may work...
LOL! Thing is, it probably would.
The thing people seemed to have missed is that on Saturdays, they tend to embellish the CostCo experience with free food sampling trolleys/people dotted around the store. This combined stroll / free food combo is great for a Saturday morning hangover.
Edit: Warning, sometimes includes wine & spirits.
Oh, and massive tubs of Haribo for £3.
handy if you or mrs can go with a ccouple of mates with similar wants, so buy and split the large packs
NHS staff can join (so can a few others)
I think RS charge for the 5 year warranty - anyhoo I'd MUCH rather deal with Costco if there was a return to be made.
They do but do offers where they chuck it in. Have heard Costco never quibble but I've never had to take anything back.
I bought 200 creme eggs (I know)
Did you do that on purpose or was it a typo? 🙂 My dad has started to do his grocery shopping online recently. The first delivery included 168 fishcakes and 60 kilos of birdseed. Luckily the fishcakes are quite nice, but he's going to take a little more time to review the order next time.
To make this slightly bike related, they're about to start selling the Mekk Poggio 2 carbon road bike for £803...
We had a membership but found that the savings made shopping for just two of us didn't really justify the cost of the membership. If you've a big family or can club together with a couple of friends then I reckon it'd be worthwhile but for us it wasn't worth it.
One thing I used to find was id get home having spent £100 odd on stuff bought in bulk, but only bought 6 or 7 food items.
Remember once having smoked salmon and cream cheese bagels for nigh on every meal as it needed eating!
Its way too easy to go in there and spend an awful lot of money on stuff you don't need.
As others have said in general stuff is cheaper, however it is worth having a good idea of what stuff costs before you go in, meat is good value as are cakes etc.
Avoid the big pizza trays though, they are not that good, loads of dough for the amount of toppings.
Binners can I get condoms there? I get through an epic amount with my customers
You can't make a statement like this without explaining more
Oh, and massive tubs of Haribo for £3.
Where is this Costco of which you speak ?
Binners can I get condoms there? I get through an epic amount with my customersYou can't make a statement like this without explaining more
Hora is a children's entertainer - he uses them for balloon modelling
Why does he not use balloons ?
Why does he not use balloons ?
he's asthmatic
Not sure if anyone has mentioned but their meat is top quality too
[s]on Saturdays[/s] every day they tend to embellish the CostCo experience with free food sampling
FTFY.
the savings made shopping for just two of us didn't really justify the cost of the membership
Unless you're Homer Simpson this is pretty much correct. Five in our family so it's worthwhile.
As above - the meat is great quality.
Whats its really worth doing at Costco is waiting for the offers then stocking up
180 bog rolls has kept us going for bloody ages.
take a photo id card and get a visitor pass. you can't buy with the pass , but you can look around to see if you like it.
you can join as a member of the public, ie. not a trade, it just means you can't go in, before 12 noon, with a trade card you can go in anytime from 9am , and take 2 guests with you. there is complimentary tea, coffee, and muffins etc. greeting you inside the entrance.
considering its only about 20 odd quid a year, its well worth it.
i've had a trade card for a couple of years, and its bril.
eg. 5L container of domestos bleach £3.50.
5L container of wonder wheels, the alloy wheel cleaner, £5.50. its over £7 in halfords for a litle bottle.
the commisary (food court) is excellent. if you are having friends over for drinky pooh's, you can get and 18" freshly baked, piping hot pepperoni pizza for £7.99.
can you tell i love costco yet?
I think it's about £20 a year for a personal membership. Will say on their website I'm sure.
Been a member for years as Dad gives me his second card. Also been a Makro member for longer but don't go there since Costco was build in Avonmouth. The Makro has had a huge overhaul here and is better but still stuff seems cheaper and I don't like the meat there.
In contrast Costco stuff is generally very good quality and stuff you would choose to buy eg they sell Dualit toasters, Miele vacuum cleaners, Mobil 1 oil, Bosch Silver bar batteries etc
The meat and food at Costco is fantastic. They have a butchers in store but always buy the British meat not the American stuff. The pork chops are amazing - huge and moist and tasty. The bread and cakes etc are also very cheap and good quality - get a roll of baguettes for the price of a single pack in the supermarket. Oh and the blackpudding is a must. All the food is stuff you get served in restaurants too.
Some of the stuff can be bought cheaper on special offer in supermarkets but when they have their special offers they won't be beaten. We buy the 5l bottles of Fairy clothes washing detergent which costs less than a 1l bottle in the supermarket.
They do have some random stuff though and I don't think the TVs are reasonable. Laptops are though and you will spend a lot more than you intended to.
Oh and the Pizza is great and only £1.65 a slice.
I bought 200 creme eggs (I know)
Did you do that on purpose or was it a typo? My dad has started to do his grocery shopping online recently. The first delivery included 168 fishcakes and 60 kilos of birdseed. Luckily the fishcakes are quite nice, but he's going to take a little more time to review the order next time.
On purpose 🙂 my wife loves them and they'll be gone soon enough. You have to spend £20 to get free postage, it was my first purchase and I knew I could rely on creme eggs being okay.
Lol at 60kg of bird seed though!
The worst one I ever did was eight 1kg bags of apples rather than eight apples.
Current offers:
Lol at 60kg of bird seed though!The worst one I ever did was eight 1kg bags of apples rather than eight apples.
not sure how the bird seed thing happened, but with the fish cakes he wanted to order two packs of 4 fish cakes, then realised they were a two for price of one offer, so only needed to order one. He thought he'd deleted the '2' and replaced it with a '1' but instead he'd order 21 eight-packs
Costco is unbelievable. The meat is fantastic and the kiosk is great too.
The chicken bakes are to die for usually followed up with a berry sundae.
Booze is quite cheap too. Well worth 20 quid per year.
The warranty is exellent i returned portable tv after 3 years and a camera after a couple of years both faulty full refund given the cafe is ace to chilly jacket £1.50 tey had gortex merrels for forty odd quid last month the tools are good as well
Funniest thread I've read in a while
Personal membership (not trade) is £25, with a free 2nd card for your partner
Just remember they don't take credit cards on non trade accounts and if it's a debit card has to be same name as on the membership card so only the member can pay for bulk family/friends purchases
Never found it that cheap for most day to day things once you add the VAT, unless you are buying in massive quantities
Meat is good quality though, and toys at Christmas, opticians is very good, and cheapish glasses/contacts, not bad for tyres either (Michelin with nitrogen fill)
Not renewed my membership since they stopped selling their own brand nappies (identical to but less than half price of Huggies) that was main thing we used to buy
I still use the card to get access to the cafe part though
Chicken bakes and pizza, Nom Nom
Know your subject!
Things can be exceptionally worth while sometimes, but you need to know how much things are normally.Sometimes they just charge the same as 'normal' shops. Take a calculator. If you're not careful you can get a bit carried away!
If you can store things ok in bulk it's fab, but a lot of people just don't have the space at home.
i love the place, especially when you get the money off coupons through the door 😀