Costco Membership

House of Wax

House of Wax

Active member
We`ve got a Costco opening up near us in a couple weeks. Any thoughts on if it`s worth it or not? We have a family of 4.....
 
Been a Costco Executive Membership card holder for 17 years..

If your Costco is going to have a gasoline station, their price is always the lowest for a top tier gasoline; they only offer Regular and Premium, no Middle Grade..

They sell in bigger sizes so if you have a family of kids, this could be a good thing..

When I was married in WA., we shopped at the huge Costco located in the Costco Headquarters Campus, Issaquah, WA., so it had to be the nicest one and it was..

We had 2 refrigerators and a giant upright freezer, so spending $500 a trip was easy.. Her kids were big eaters.. :)

They sell a lot of their own branded (Kirkland) products as well as name brands.

I have never had anything go bad with these people; they have a very generous Return Policy..

They have their own Pharmacy, Eye Doctor, Hearing Center, and a big tire shop that I believe is now doing some minor things like perhaps oil changes, etc..

You can also shop Online - costco.com, and get a lot of things delivered, sometimes, Free..

They also give discounts on a lot of things including insurance, travel, car rentals, cruises, etc., just a lot of things at discounts..

I personally Detailed a lot of their Costco Executives` German cars from that Headquarters Campus, at the German Repair Shop I worked out of, that was 2 blocks away from there..

These people who run Costco are really nice, very smart, and do A LOT of vetting and research before they sell anything or put their Kirkland brand name on it..

Costco is yet another very successful business venture from the same place (Seattle, WA) as Nordstrom`s, Starbucks, Microsoft, Boeing, Amazon, Fluke, (testing equipment) etc., all started out from..

Dan F
 
Absolutely worth it. You will save enough on normal household purchases to more than make up for the membership cost.
 
For what I save just on gas here in CT, it`s well worth the price of membership.


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House of Wax said:
We`ve got a Costco opening up near us in a couple weeks. Any thoughts on if it`s worth it or not? We have a family of 4.....
Click to expand...


Thanks for asking. One is opening a few miles down the street from me. Also, it is directly across the street from Sams. Which we are current Members.

Is Costco that much better than Sams? The main reason I ask, is for Gas. It is about 4.5 miles to the nearest gas station and only 2 miles to these locations. We do shop there for some items. With a family of 3 we don`t need to buy in bulk.

I guess the question is. If Membership cost the same. Is one really better than the other?
 
I buy very little from anything related to Walmart anymore. I no longer have a sams membership. If a Costco was closer to me I would get a membership in a heartbeat. There`s a reason why people stay employed with Costco. Voting for things with your pocketbook is pretty powerful. Wish I had been doing more of it my whole life.
 
For those of you who are considering purchasing (not leasing) a NEW vehicle, you can buy virtually any manufacturer`s (Sorry, no Ferrari!) vehicle through Costco. I talked with a neighbor about his Dodge Challenger GT-AWD, and that is what he did. He like the experience so much, their Subaru Forester was bought through their vehicle purchasing program. The Subaru purchase saved him about $3,000 from what he could get as a deal from the local Subaru dealership. That ain`t no chump change for the average new car buyer!!
(Disclaimer: I am not a Costco member, but am a Sam`s Club member since they came to Green Bay WI)
 
I`m in Canada, and the Costco gas is worth it all by itself. I tried their microfiber towels and honestly they`re the worst I have ever used. I use them now for really dirty "one time" jobs and in the trash they go...

Chris
 
I just signed up a couple weeks ago and wish I’d done it sooner. Just a family of two here, but still worth it. Won’t need to shop there every week, as it’s not the sorta place you can just buy enough stuff for dinner for 2 people for one night. But they have great prices on meat and frozen stuff, so I’m gonna buy a couple weeks worth at a time and supplement with the regular grocery store as needed.

Long story short, it might take a bit of effort, but the membership will definitely pay for itself.
 
We`ve been members for a very long time and have used them everywhere we`ve lived. Even though we not very close to one we keep our membership despite only going a few times a year.

Things I like about it:

- Electronics department is MUCH better than Sams Club and you can actually score a good deal on mid-level TV`s. They tend to carry the "real" versions of the models and not the decontented versions with slightly different model numbers like you find at WalMart or Sams. They also automatically give you an extra year of waranty and have their own tech support service for stuff you buy from them.

- Great deals on tires if you watch closesly for the sales. They only sell Michelin and BF Goodrich tires, but they have a good variety with good sale prices. Their road hazard waranty is also really good and hassle free to use.

- Online shopping is good too. I`ve bought a couple computers and an iPad from them at a screaming deal. Unlike some places, Costco will have the sales established with the actual manufacturer. A couple of years ago I bought a Dell laptop for the Costco site. It was a commonly found model, but the configuration of faster processor, SSD drive size, and RAM was not available in any store and could not be custom configured directly through Dell. After ordering, the laptop shipped directly from Dell a few days later...not from a Costco warehouse or distribution center. Again, you have to watch for the sales as they don`t last more than a week or two.

- MF Towels of course.

- Food selection is pretty good, but highly localized.

- Gas is actually certified, "Top Tier" like many major brands and not simply the cheapest no-brand stuff they can negotiate from a local refinery like Sams or independant gas stations.
 
I always tell my wife I hate Costco. Why? Because I spend too much money there every time I go! They just have a way of thinking you need all the stuff in your cart even though you didn’t even know it existed before you walked by it

Like another said a avoid Walmart things at all costs.

Costco pays their employees a living wage. That’s important to me

No one mentioned the cakes. Come on man! The friggen cakes ! What a deal and so good.

Golf balls are nice but hard to get at times.

What about the gold margaritas pre made bottles !

They do good pricing on tires

I could go on

As far as the car buying deal goes. I attempted to use it last year shopping around when our lease was ending. It was for a Honda product. The guy calls me from the Costco partnered dealership (and the dealership I have used in the past) and tells me the price. So I shoot the breeze with him for a bit and says I’ll tell you what I can do (insert lower price ) for that it’s our internet price

So in my case it wasn’t always the best out of the box for the Costco price. Yes better than sticker but was still room to be had on it without trying to negotiate it

Definitely A membership worth having but take caution if you go in the store they will get money from you !




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MattPersman said:
I always tell my wife I hate Costco. Why? Because I spend too much money there every time I go! They just have a way of thinking you need all the stuff in your cart even though you didn’t even know it existed before you walked by it

Like another said a avoid Walmart things at all costs.

Costco pays their employees a living wage. That’s important to me

No one mentioned the cakes. Come on man! The friggen cakes ! What a deal and so good.

Golf balls are nice but hard to get at times.

What about the gold margaritas pre made bottles !

They do good pricing on tires

I could go on

As far as the car buying deal goes. I attempted to use it last year shopping around when our lease was ending. It was for a Honda product. The guy calls me from the Costco partnered dealership (and the dealership I have used in the past) and tells me the price. So I shoot the breeze with him for a bit and says I’ll tell you what I can do (insert lower price ) for that it’s our internet price

So in my case it wasn’t always the best out of the box for the Costco price. Yes better than sticker but was still room to be had on it without trying to negotiate it

Definitely A membership worth having but take caution if you go in the store they will get money from you !




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The cakes are ridiculous. My wife`s (and mine) favorite. I believe they are $17.99 and come in at a whopping 9.5 lbs! Definitely will take care of any birthday or office party.

Also their meat is on a different planet than any other grocery chain. Prime beef prices are best anywhere and even the choice blows away anything you can get at a grocery store.

I`ve bought two sets of tires there and in both cases they were Bridgestones that were approx. $400 cheaper than Firestone Complete Auto (or any similar tire shop).
 
We have memberships to both Costco and Sam’s Club (Sam’s is wife’s business perk and Costco used to be one of mine). Comparing the two stores, I’d end up at Costco every single time. My wife however likes Sam’s Club, go figure. My gut says Costco merchandise simply seems to be a step above Sam’s and I really do like their meat counter and bakery better, they make some in store Pizza’s that are top notch too. I have on rare occasion filled up at Costco but I’m a Chevron guy. That said, even without the fuel benefits I’m sure it saves us quite a bit over a years time. We do buy bulk and we keep a rotational food storage system going so the “have to buy in bulk” issue isn’t a negative for us.
 
boomdone said:
The cakes are ridiculous. My wife`s (and mine) favorite. I believe they are $17.99 and come in at a whopping 9.5 lbs! Definitely will take care of any birthday or office party.

Also their meat is on a different planet than any other grocery chain. Prime beef prices are best anywhere and even the choice blows away anything you can get at a grocery store.

I`ve bought two sets of tires there and in both cases they were Bridgestones that were approx. $400 cheaper than Firestone Complete Auto (or any similar tire shop).
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Boomdone !!!!
YES ! The All American 5-Layer Chocolate Cake !!!! Nothing like it on the Planet !!! It IS absolutely the best cake I have ever had...
I always had to buy the 2-box Kirkland Vanilla Ice Cream (which is in itself, an incredible flavor) to go with that enormous cake so we wouldn`t all OD on this incredible chocolate cake, and not finish our plates.. :):):)

Last I looked they no longer have the Kirkland Brand Vanilla 2-pack but perhaps they were just out that day ???
Yeah, if you are referring to this cake, I am so happy they still bake it..
Dan F
 
As a former Seattlelite, and now living in nowhere Minnesota with only a Sam`s semi near-by...I can only say, "I really miss Costco!"

Bill
 
Tc99m said:
Thanks for asking. One is opening a few miles down the street from me. Also, it is directly across the street from Sams. Which we are current Members.

Is Costco that much better than Sams? The main reason I ask, is for Gas. It is about 4.5 miles to the nearest gas station and only 2 miles to these locations. We do shop there for some items. With a family of 3 we don`t need to buy in bulk.

I guess the question is. If Membership cost the same. Is one really better than the other?
Click to expand...

Tc99m --
The Gasoline prices at the Costco I currently shop at is sometimes 15-20 cents lower than the average gas station.. Of course, since gasoline price varies on the oil market, this number can change BUT for sure it is Always much lower than that Arco or Shell at the corner over there..

And most Costco gas stations, if not all, open at 0600 hrs, and are open after the store is closed.. They also have really long hoses on those pump rows that are opposite of your filler, so you can easily park over there, and the hose will always reach the opposite side to reach your filler...
Dan F
 
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