Costco newbee with questions

[SteveR]

Unfortunately, neither Costco nor Sam's can sell wine or alcohol anywhere in Utah...too bad as we got used to it when we lived in the midwest.

We will check it out when we get moved in and see if we want to go with the Exec. or the reg. membership.

[youbet]

We have a discount liquor store nearby which honors coupons or print advertisements from any liquor store in the Chicago area. When you get to the register, you just show them the ad and that's what they charge you, even if the competing store is 30 - 40 miles away. And even without coupons or ads, their prices are hard to beat. So it isn't very often we purchase booze from Costco or Sam's. I haven't tried Costco's Kirkland branded booze. Maybe that will be an opportunity to save.

Oh...one exception...Sam's has a great price on 18 packs of Guinness Pub Draft which no one seems able to beat.

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Booze prices are good here in CA. A case of Sierra Nevada is under $20. About $7-8 a six pack when not on sale in the supermarkets.

I've tried the kirkland brand champagne (from debruyne in france) and their vodka is also pretty decent. Its alleged to be Grey Goose, but the grey goose folks say NO! But its made in the same town, in a building on the same street...sooo...I think it is.

Seems costco has applied to make their own beer as well, which will be crafted by Gordon Biersch.

[kaneohe]

1) if you don't want to buy a membership, get a friend to take you and have them
buy a gift card for you and then reimburse them for that. The gift card will gain
you entry to the store until it runs out.
2) echo CFB's very long post on the previous page. Costco seems to have found the
sweet spot of value/quality (at least in my mind) on so many things that I sometimesfeel guilty when I automatically go there and don't comparison shop.
3) Their return policy is so good that I sometimes feel cheated when they don't
even ask for a reason for the return.
4) If you get the Executive Membership (so you can shop an hr earlier on wkdays
than the masses) and don't get your $100 back from the 2% rebate, you can
request that the difference be credited to you so effectively, the Executive
Membership costs nothing.
5) As I understand it, their tech support on electronics/computers is forever at
no extra cost.

[calmloki]

Aaaand. Their biggest selling item: toilet paper. They import 20% of the cashews in America. They're so smooth i am very selective about doing returns - the item has to really be sub-standard. When we go to different towns that have a Costco it's an attraction i like to visit. The employees tend to be non-mouth-breathers and actually informative and useful. The customers seem of a slightly better cut. By order, summer lingers through September
In Costcamelot.
Costco! Camelot!
I know it sounds a bit bizarre,
But in Costcamelot, Costcamelot
That's how conditions are.
The rain may never fall till after sundown.
By eight, the morning fog must disappear.
In short, there's simply not
A more congenial spot
For happily-ever-aftering than here
In Costcamelot

[ChrisC]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kaneohe 1) if you don't want to buy a membership, get a friend to take you and have them buy a gift card for you and then reimburse them for that. The gift card will gain you entry to the store until it runs out. 2) echo CFB's very long post on the previous page. Costco seems to have found the sweet spot of value/quality (at least in my mind) on so many things that I sometimesfeel guilty when I automatically go there and don't comparison shop. 3) Their return policy is so good that I sometimes feel cheated when they don't even ask for a reason for the return. 4) If you get the Executive Membership (so you can shop an hr earlier on wkdays than the masses) and don't get your $100 back from the 2% rebate, you can request that the difference be credited to you so effectively, the Executive Membership costs nothing. 5) As I understand it, their tech support on electronics/computers is forever at no extra cost.

The bakery at Costco has lots of sweet stuff too. I can't recall the last time I purchased a sheet cake from someone other than the Costco bakery; I know some people who find excuses to buy the sheet cakes at Costco -- they are really good and cheap too.

The refund policy tended to bring out the worse in some people and it was a classic case of the tragedy of the commons, where unchecked self-interest affected everyone's enjoyment of a generous policy, so I guess the changes to the policy on electronics will probably benefit everyone. I benefited from the old policy a few months ago before Costco changed it. I bought a Vizio TV a few years ago, and the input jack for the cable tv came off and couldn't easily be kept in tact. I brought the TV back intending to get a new one; since I bought the TV, the price had dropped on it so I got cash back at the old price and bought a wider screen TV with the cash and pocketed $50.

And like others, Costco pays me to shop at the store and generally feeds me lunch. The other thing about Costco that I like is that the employees appear to be genuinely content -- the turn-over does not nearly appear to be as bad as at other chains. Costco is on my short list for part-time employment when I retire.

[saluki9]

Quote:

Originally Posted by cute fuzzy bunny Booze prices are good here in CA. A case of Sierra Nevada is under $20. About $7-8 a six pack when not on sale in the supermarkets. I've tried the kirkland brand champagne (from debruyne in france) and their vodka is also pretty decent. Its alleged to be Grey Goose, but the grey goose folks say NO! But its made in the same town, in a building on the same street...sooo...I think it is. Seems costco has applied to make their own beer as well, which will be crafted by Gordon Biersch.

Despite everybody else raising prices somehow they keep them down. We had a party last weekend and we picked up cases on Blue Moon at Costco for $20 and Sam Adams for $22.

I also like the giant bottles of Maker's Mark for $31.99

[clifp]

Maurice I can't believe you've been an active board member for 6 months and aren't a Costco member.:confused:

Costco is part of the holy trinity of the ER boards. The others are Pen Fed and Vanguard of course.

The difference between Costco prices (and often quality) are much greater in Hawaii than the mainland. So even single people like myself shop there on a regular basis. Twice a week for me cause my exercise class is right next to Costco.

[youbet]

Quote:

Originally Posted by cute fuzzy bunny Booze prices are good here in CA. A case of Sierra Nevada is under $20. About $7-8 a six pack when not on sale in the supermarkets. .

Sam's and Costco booze prices are good here in Illinois too. I just happen to live near a warehouse size discount liquor store that will match any price in the Chicago area. So, despite the good prices at Sam's and Costco, they're better yet. The good thing about Sam's and Costco is that if I haven't planned ahead and need something on the spur of the moment, both stores are closeby and have decent prices all the time. But for most stuff, I just scan the Trib on Sundays and tear out ads featuring my favorites at ridiculously low prices as loss leaders at various major booze emporiums around town and take them to my favorite store which happily matches them all! It's truly a good deal......

[TromboneAl]

Quote:

Don't know if it is true at all COSTCOs but the ones out this way, especially on Saturday have enough free food samples to fill in for a meal. This is a LBYM board, right?

I use little paper cups to start fires in our woodstove-type fireplace every day (put in some vegetable oil and paper towel, surround it with wood and light it).

So, we always save the little paper cups that the samples come in. Sometimes I look in the garbage cans by the sample carts, and of course there's a several year's supply of cups. Can't think of a way of scrounging them without causing a scene, though.

[DJRR]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TromboneAl I use little paper cups to start fires in our woodstove-type fireplace every day (put in some vegetable oil and paper towel, surround it with wood and light it). So, we always save the little paper cups that the samples come in. Sometimes I look in the garbage cans by the sample carts, and of course there's a several year's supply of cups. Can't think of a way of scrounging them without causing a scene, though.

Psst.....Al you can BUY the cups too LOL. Although I must admit that one day my wife made me scrounge the trash for Box Tops for education. The guy was giving out samples and the empty boxes has $.50 coupons on them!!! I collected $10 for my elementary school is short order

[Free To Canoe]

Loved Cosco's outdoor food courts in Calif. (no membership needed). Now that I live in PA, Cosco is not nearby. I really miss the Very Berry Sundaes.

[Moemg]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kaneohe 1) if you don't want to buy a membership, get a friend to take you and have them buy a gift card for you and then reimburse them for that. The gift card will gain you entry to the store until it runs out. .

I wonder if that would work at Sam's club ? I do not shop there enough to pay for a membership so I usually look for shop for free coupons but this would work even better .

[cute fuzzy bunny]

I miss the $1 berry sundaes too on the occasions when Gabe insists on an ice cream and Baskin Robbins wants to charge me $3.50 for a scoop of ice cream.

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Moemg I wonder if that would work at Sam's club ? I do not shop there enough to pay for a membership so I usually look for shop for free coupons but this would work even better .

I thought that you could buy a Walmart/Sams gift card in a walmart and then use it as your membership/purchase at sams. Not sure if you can still pull that routine or if they charge you extra or not.

Its $3-4 a month. If you're not saving at least that much you're not trying hard enough or buying enough booze!

[Moemg]

Quote:

Originally Posted by cute fuzzy bunny I thought that you could buy a Walmart/Sams gift card in a walmart and then use it as your membership/purchase at sams. Not sure if you can still pull that routine or if they charge you extra or not. Its $3-4 a month. If you're not saving at least that much you're not trying hard enough or buying enough booze!

I'm going to call Sam's and ask them and I'm sure I could save at least $3-4 a month but I enjoy getting a free pass and having lunch a few times for free . It is cheap and fun !

[maddythebeagle]

The day passes at Sams dont allow you to buy anything without a surcharge..you used to be able to shop there occasionally and buy with those...One thing that does work is 2 family members joining together...I have my sister on my account so we get 2 for 1...I dont know what the point of buying gift cards with a member? I have bought Walmart gift cards at Walmart for better points rewards and used them in Sams...They do allow Mastercard now though...

As far as savings, we have a list of items that we get with some things better getting locally on sale...

[Moemg]

Quote:

Originally Posted by maddythebeagle The day passes at Sams dont allow you to buy anything without a surcharge...

They usually do not add the surcharge . They just ask you if you would like to join .

[cute fuzzy bunny]

I dont know whats wrong with me. I forgot to mention bacon! Bacon at Costco is a fine and wonderful thing.

Four pounds of kirkland bacon in regular or low sodium is about $9. Four pounds of Fletchers dry cured thick sliced is about $10. They have the precooked bacon in large packages but I've never looked at the price.

I saw yesterday that inflation is having its way with some food court items. The berry sundae is now up to $1.65 but they're slicing fresh strawberries on top to go with the presumably previously frozen berry mix. The iced mochas are $1.45 now. But the hand dipped ice cream bars with chocolate and nuts are still $1.50.

Gabe's a costco-holic. He calls the sample servers "lunch ladies" and yells it out whenever he sees one. On the way in he also lets me know that he wants his own hot dog AND his own coke. For a buck fifty, who cares that he only eats two bites of it...

[Purron]

Quote:

Originally Posted by cute fuzzy bunny Gabe's a costco-holic. He calls the sample servers "lunch ladies" and yells it out whenever he sees one. On the way in he also lets me know that he wants his own hot dog AND his own coke. For a buck fifty, who cares that he only eats two bites of it...

Gabe's a costoco-holic just like his dad I can just see you two in Costo having the time of your lives. Dad gettin' the bacon and Gabe running toward the "lunch ladies".