| Author | Message | ||
     Ignatius J Citizen Username: Ignatius_j Post Number: 390 Registered: 8-2003  |
Which do you prefer, Costco or BJ's? And do they really have better prices? I was in BJ's the other day and I saw a four pack of 2 Liter Coke for $4.40 which is no real bargain and you have to buy four of them. I also saw those Pine Logs for more than they are at Home Depot so I was wondering if they are actually any cheaper or you're just forced to buy everything in larger quantites? | ||
| sbenois Citizen Username: Sbenois Post Number: 13144 Registered: 10-2001  |
Costco. Costco warranty on all items = forever. If you're not satisfied because your ten year LCD has a dead pixel, (and you're a cheap bastard trying to take advantage) just whip out that receipt and bring it back for a full credit. You can buy a 42" plasma today for $2,000, watch it for 3 years and then return it for a full refund -which will probably buy you two at that time! BJs seems to have a better in store selection but Costco has more online. Their prices are pretty close. I've found that Sam's club is a little cheaper than both of the others. One little known tip: Costco marks down items on Mondays and Tuesdays. Marked down items have prices that end in a "7" like $19.97. These items are always sold below their cost. They're great buys. But if you want to buy food go to ShopRite. | ||
| Bobkat Supporter Username: Bobk Post Number: 7527 Registered: 5-2001 |
Costco rules!! When the kids were still at home we would stock up on paper goods, water, soda, etc. about once a month. Mrs. K felt the prices were worth the trip. There meats and fish are quite good, pretty much on the same level as Kings. We will buy a filet, cut it up and freeze it for when we really need a red meat fix. I think the way Costco makes there money is on impulse purchases. We rarely leave the joint without $100 plus (sometimes a lot more) in various electronics, tools, home items, etc. that we were not planning on buying. Sebonis, thanks for the Monday and Tuesday tip. Next time we are around during the week we will have to give it a try. Uhm, a 42' plasma TV for $2,000 with essentially a life time warranty. Heck even if it is only EDTV and not a well known name, well, uhm. Nah, I guess we will pass...for now anyway.  | ||
| Animalcrackers Citizen Username: Animalcrackers Post Number: 17 Registered: 1-2005 |
Costco's prices on milk, eggs, half-and-half, bread and some fruit and veg are about half what the grocery store charges (ex: milk at Pathmark last week was $4, next day at Costco it was 1.99). Same goes for trash bags and many cleaning supplies. Their house brands are often the same as the name brand (ex: Costco's detergent is Cascade). If you are planning to buy glasses or contacts, that's worth the annual fee right there. It's also a good place to buy large quantities of snacks -- say, for a bday party or scout troop. I bought 36 snack bars there for $8 -- Pathmark has 8 for $3.29. I don't really enjoy shopping there, but we use a lot of these supplies. I think it's worth it and I've crunched the #s several times. And I can't complain too much -- I bought a bathing suit there last week for $20. I'll be just as happy in it at the town pool as I would in one that cost 3X as much. | ||
| papayagirl Citizen Username: Papayagirl Post Number: 308 Registered: 6-2002  |
I think it's a mistake to assume that Costco (or BJs for that matter, which i don't belong to) will automatically be cheaper on everything they sell. When my family first started going years ago (when it was called Price Club), it was all about individuals being able to tap into the discounts that restaurants/businesses were getting by buying in bulk. These days, that's not necessarily the case, and you have to be cognizant of what items cost in regular stores before you take it for granted that buying 6 of them at costco will save you $. I can sometimes do better than costco on diapers at other places if i use a coupon. I recently priced out a camera and found that almost everywhere online (including B&H) had it for $100-200 cheaper than costco. But... i can get twice as much salmon at costco than i can at the fish market, for less $, and it's always been fresh. Same with romaine lettuce. I can get a bag of 6 perfect peppers in no time, and i've never seen white mushrooms that nice and big anywhere else (assuming you can find something to do with like 30 oz of them.) I'm a huge fan of the photo developing, which is cheap, fast, friendly, and great quality - i see wedding photographers getting proofs back there all the time. You can't beat the price on their half-sheet cakes for bdays (and they're yummy), and stuff like paper cups, plates, etc. makes sense to buy there because they're sturdy and have an unlimited shelf life in your pantry. You just have to know your prices and know a bargain when you see one. | ||
| Sgt. Pepper Citizen Username: Jjkatz Post Number: 653 Registered: 12-2003  |
I've gotten good prices on software there, and had less trouble returning opened software to Costco than to "regular" stores. Their meat is way less expensive than the supermarket, and their Kirkland baby wipes are the best we've used. | ||
| akb Citizen Username: Akb Post Number: 268 Registered: 12-2001 |
We do as much shopping as possible at Costco. Individual items may be cheaper elsewhere (soda, or diapers if you have coupons) but overall, for quality of product and price paid, I don't think you can beat it. | ||
| Bobkat Supporter Username: Bobk Post Number: 7531 Registered: 5-2001 |
........and that plasma TV S mentioned is down to under $1,700, uhm...... | ||
| AlleyGater Citizen Username: Alleygater Post Number: 53 Registered: 10-2004 |
I watched a comparison shopping show on t.v. that checked the prices for food at a whole bunch of the discount stores you guys are talking about. After all was said and done, they concluded that almost always you will save money by shopping at the supermarket. I think the conclusion was, supermarkets by nature need to be competitive and there are always SUPER cheap items on sale that end up beating the other stores. I always figure that Costco/BJs is irritating, cause I don't want to store huge quantities of products in my house. For instance, I have hand soap in my closet that will be there for 2 or 3 more years. Same with the bleach cleaner, and just about every other household product. So if you factor in having a cluttered house/cabinets and closets, well... Food from the wholesale places on the other hand sometimes gets wasted (as does food from a supermarket), but when it does, I tend to waste more cause I bought more. I find that the wholesale places are best for certain types of things. For instance we have saved a lot of money on dog treats, and dog beds. Occassionnally electronics or household utensils and tools, but it's a real mixed bag. For everyday shopping, I think the supermarket is definitely the way to go. | ||
| Amie Brockway-Metcalf Citizen Username: Amie Post Number: 168 Registered: 6-2004 |
Costco, hands down, is the best. BJs and Sams tend to have too much processed food for our liking. And last month I returned the $150 Eureka vacuum I got there six months ago, no reciept, and said "it clogs too much." They took it right back, no complaints. Of course I then went and spent the cash on the $500 Dyson, but that's another story. My in-laws live in Seattle and my MIL, the most "informed consumer" I know, is convinced that everything there is the absolute highest quality, and I mostly agree. Those baby wipes are the best, and we gorge ourselves on the fresh spinich whenever we go. In WA they have (sigh) a Costco furniture sstore which is beyond wonderful. We have a leather club chair which we ordered online for 600 bucks, including shipping, and it's better than the ones at Pottery Barn. | ||
| akb Citizen Username: Akb Post Number: 270 Registered: 12-2001 |
For food, it depends what you eat. We don't eat much processed food at all, and Costco has way better prices (and quality) for fresh fish, meat and produce. I don't think we save money, per se, because there is so much else to spend it on ($13 Laura Ashley dresses last weekend!) but we eat better by shopping there and we buy less junk/snack food because the containers are so large we cannot justify buying it! | ||
| DeborahG Citizen Username: Deborahg Post Number: 1182 Registered: 5-2001  |
Funny about those Kirkland baby wipes...my last baby stopped wearing diapers 8 months ago and I still buy them. They are terrific for sticky hands, removing makeup, wiping out the sink -- just about anything you can think of. Now if i could just stay away from those gigantic boxes of mozzarella sticks.... | ||
| Joan Supporter Username: Joancrystal Post Number: 4906 Registered: 5-2001 |
Costco is good if you buy food in bulk, either because you have a lot of people to feed or because you don't mind eatting the same foods over and over. It also helps to have a lot of storage space and think about shelf life when selecting items. It is not all that good for small families that like to have variety in their diet or buy large quantities of foods which spoil quickly. Some items like sodas and some canned goods are cheaper in the supermarket, even without the sales. The other items they carry are never cheap if they are impulse purchases but can be good values if you would have purchased the item anyway. | ||
| Tom Reingold Supporter Username: Noglider Post Number: 5418 Registered: 1-2003  |
Baby wipes are good for cleaning spills on rugs and other things. My wife and I dislike big stores, not just because of their socio-political economics but because their size makes us dizzy and disoriented. Well, we make an exception for Costco, because it is so good. We don't go often, because of that dizzying effect. But it is worthwhile. If we had the stamina, we would go more often. I hear their labor practices are actually good for that type of business. And they do seem interested in having happy customers. We buy non-perishable things there, such as toiletries and paper towels. We can't buy much of our food there, because we don't go often, but the fresh food is good and well-priced. Sometimes, the quantities are ridiculous, though. I found TWO boxes of Q-Tips in the cabinet and asked my wife if she forgot she had one when she bought the second. Each would last five years. She said no, they came together as a package. So we have about ten years' worth of Q-tips. Maybe we didn't save on those. I think I'll give one box away. Some packages are really weird. We got something that had four large boxes of dental floss and two very small boxes, all in one blister pack. Who thinks up this stuff? | ||
| greenetree Supporter Username: Greenetree Post Number: 3848 Registered: 5-2001  |
I've come to the conclusion that paper goods & cleaning supplies are a good deal - if you use the limited brands they carry. Then again, you can hit a sale at a supermarket for the P-towels, etc. if you time things right. Soda is always a rip-off at Costco. We have had parties of 70-80 people at our house and have never once used even half of the large bags of snacks, 4-packs of crackers, etc. that we've bought. We now buy the smaller, but more expensive per-serving bags at the supermarket. TS loves the meat, eggs, etc. Underwear is usually a good deal. When my twin niece and nephew were on formula, I would get cases for my brother when we went - that saved a lot of money. I don't buy them diapers, because they go thru them so fast that my brother has them delivered from some online company & he can't store enough in a Manhattan apartment to make it worth me driving in with a trunk load. All in all, we stock up two or three times a year on the basic non-perishables that we use. Otherwise, I think you spend more than you will ever use in the quest to pay less per serving, etc. We do buy the Q-tips, tho. Those don't go bad. Before I started getting a huge discount on certain consumer health items at the company store, I would stock up on pain killers, antacids, etc. My biggest pet peeve is the stuff that we didn't know we needed until someone who shall remain nameless discovered that it was such a bargain that we couldn't afford not to get it. Kind of like Drug Fair. | ||
| sbenois Citizen Username: Sbenois Post Number: 13146 Registered: 10-2001 |
Here's another Costco thing to look out for: you know that great salmon they sell? It's gorgeous and tastes great. And it has food coloring. Says so right on the price tag. | ||
| Bobkat Supporter Username: Bobk Post Number: 7542 Registered: 5-2001 |
I just hope it isn't Red Dye Number One. All farm raised salmon has artificial coloring. | ||
| gemini Citizen Username: Gemini Post Number: 366 Registered: 6-2001 |
Costco non-food items are great. Beware all the junky ingredients in the snaks and "pre made stuff" tho, like those trans fats and artificial colors; it's everythere there. I can't believe the people that buy hords of crap sometimes. oh well. | ||
| Lydia Citizen Username: Lydial Post Number: 911 Registered: 5-2001 |
I like Bj's and Costco - I don't think I save that much money, but I save a lot of time. I try to make big quarterly runs to Costco and buy tons of non-perishables. If I go for the impulse buys (orchids @ $19.99) I've negated any savings, but then again I get a nice plant, so it's OK. If time is money then Costco is worth it - we haven't run out of lightbulbs or TP in 10 years. Priceless  | ||
| sbenois Citizen Username: Sbenois Post Number: 13149 Registered: 10-2001 |
One of the best things I ever saw in Costco was Lydia! |
