Is Costco really that good a deal???

[momof5boys]

I have friends who swear by Costcos prices but at the same time they tell me they easily spend $200 in one trip and they go twice month at least. I understand that membership is about $40 a year as well. I'm not won over by the Costco craze...are you?

Most months our grocery total comes in at less than $400...

[Pinkypie]

Costco sells more than just groceries too though...

[Slaney]

If you have a Great Canadian Wholesale I find they are better. WAY bigger selection. Costco is ok but doesn't have a very big grocery selection. Costco seems better for meat & produce though. Or maybe I just imagine that because they seem cleaner.
We have a membership but I don't know why, we don't buy much there

[Purdee]

it depends. I don't have any kids - just me and my hubby so i don't need bulk items. Plus they go bad before we can eat them. We did have membership for 2 years only 'cause we had to get new tires and they were offering a good deal for members only so we had to get a membership. We only visited costco maybe 10 times a year. It is always busy and i don't feel like lining up to pay for a few items. So for us it is not worth it.

[Zonny]

I'm a big Costo fan. The meat is very high quality and reasonably priced, much of the produce is too. Clothing can also be a great deal. There's several threads on the subject, do a search and you'll find more examples of what's a good deal. The lines can be long, but it tends to go quickly IMO.

[Zonny]

Double post!

[Shwa Girl]

I have friends who swear by Costcos prices but at the same time they tell me they easily spend $200 in one trip and they go twice month at least. I understand that membership is about $40 a year as well. I'm not won over by the Costco craze...are you?

Most months our grocery total comes in at less than $400...

Some SCs are won over.
Some aren't.

http://forum.smartcanucks.ca/233371-...costco-canada/

[aemi]

I shop around but Costco is not really working with saving money.

[Zonny]

For me, chicken drumsticks and thighs are nearly as cheap as sale in the grocery store, certainly less than regular price in grocery stores, but somewhat better quality. Steak costs a bit more, but 10x better than what I find at Sobeys and Superstore here, I don't buy it anywhere else. Cheese isn't as cheap as sale + coupons, but better than regular price for sure.

I haven't done all the math, but the quality we get at Costco for many products is much higher, plus their return policy rocks.

A factor for us is, we are car-free. Costco isn't that far on public transit, so that's a factor too. The time I spend going farther to get a deal sometimes isn't worth it (but sometimes it is!).

[WhistlerChick]

I too love Costco, have you seen so many gifts at Christmas? I love all of their different things that other stores just don't have.

[newbiesaver]

Yes yes YES! The secret is to not buy EVERYTHING at Costco but know what is a good deal there......do your match when it comes to amount of product vs. price.

I've found Costco is competitive to other grocery store's regular prices but during sales, they may be cheaper. However, there are other items that other stores just cannot beat.

For example, 3 x 88ml Neutrogena sunscreen @ $19.99 = $6.66 each. Regular price at a Shopper's I checked was $16.99. Sometimes goes on sale down to $8.99 on steep sale.

Another example is Off! Deep Woods spray 3 x 230g + a bonus bottle (I think about 170-200g) @ $19.99. These retail approx. $11 EACH!!

Goldfish Crackers - 1.36k (3 packs) on sale $8.39 - $2 = $6.39. Regular price for 180g is $3.50-4 and goes on sale for lowest I've seen - $1.88. The sale price at Costco is less than half the lowest sale price I've seen in grocery stores.

Also, I just realized that deodorant is really cheap there, too! Regular price is approx. $2.50 for Dove and Degree (women's) which is a good sale elsewhere but not greatest. However, men's I've had a hard time getting good deals on and it's approx. $2.50 each there, too. Except I noticed their sizes were bigger!

And Jetdry. Holy moly this stuff is cheap here! On sale it's about $9 and that's good for 300+ washes. The one that's for 190 or so washes was a same price (give or take a few cents) at cdn.

So again, just know your unit values on these products and you will see that some items are INCREDIBLE deals while others are just so so . But one thing I'm sure of....I've never seen anything really overpriced at Costco.

This year we got regular membership but I think next year we will get the premier one.

[sweetmomma]

I agree with the above posters you have to know your prices. I don't have a membership but go with others who do when I can. We have young children and tend to stock up on items that meet the needs of our family like: baby wipes, training pants, dill pickles, meat, chips, goldfish, clothing.

They have some Carters sleepers on for $7.99. If I bought these regular price in a store that carries this brand I would easily pay $3 or more. I also saw some excellent deals on kids snowsuits which were $66.99. Seemed to be good quality. Wish I had found one in my lil guys size but happy I found some sleepwear for my boys.

Somethings are not a good deal though imo. For example I saw Irish Spring Bar soap. 20 pk cost $10.99. As a couponer for about $0.99 I can get a 6pk. So for 24 bars of soap it will cost me less than $5 for a bit more soap.

[charsmom]

I dont think you are saving any money by shopping there. I shop there occaisionally, but know I am not going to be getting any deals. True, the meat seems like excellent quality, but it is pretty expensive. I think u get what u pay for.

[KrazE]

There are a number of items that are exceptionally priced at Costco - Zantac is the big one for us.

Regular priced for the box of 50ct is $23.99, at Costco it's a box of 95ct for $24.99 - the savings for that alone is over $200 per year when using the regular prices which more than pays for the membership.

Cases of Yop are cheap - lower priced per unit than you can even get in the store on a sale.

The meats are incredible, there just aren't enough words for the quality & price. Last week I picked up a massive inside round roast for under $20 and it took 4 days to get through the leftovers.

'Bagel bites' are sold there from another company & called 'Pizzarettes' or something like that, and they are $11.99 for a box of 72. Even when No Frills has dollar days & puts the boxes down to $1 per, you would still spend more to get the same number of bagel bites; when Costco puts them on sale for $9.99 it's impossible to beat the price that I've seen anywhere unless the store gives them to you for free lol

[marstec]

Membership is $55 for the basic and $110 for the executive...it's not really that much in the long run. The quality and warranty is second to none, but if you are the type of person to only think about the "bottom line", then it won't be as important for you to pay more for the better quality.