Costco Selection?

[HFWR]

> Costco gas is always cheaper by $0.10 to $0.20

It depends. Back in the bay area Costco was always cheaper and had the long lines to show for it.

Here in Ohio, Costco isn't always cheaper. But the lines aren't long either ;-)

I use GasBuddy to track prices and around here they tend to spike (creep downward, then one day they go 25¢). When I see the spike, I usually go by Costco because they don't adjust their prices during the day and I have a chance to get the lower price before it goes up.

One the other hand, I now have a diesel car and our local Costco is gasoline only. BUT on our recent trip our west I saw a Costco in Bakersfield that was offering diesel with a sign saying "now offering diesel" implying it's a new thing. So maybe there is hope for it here.

My local Costco is usually two or three cents cheaper, plus the 3% "rebate" I get for using the Costco AMEX card.

 

[mpeirce]

> My local Costco is usually two or three cents cheaper, plus the 3% "rebate" I get for using the Costco AMEX card.

The Costco AMEX offer's 3% back on fuel no matter where you buy it. For me this means I often end up at Kroger for fuel. Once a month I get the 10¢ or 20¢ kickback from buying groceries there. Even when that's used up they offer a 3¢ discount all the time (when you use the Kroger loyalty card).

Of course I always check GasBuddy since often UDF or someone else's will be significantly cheaper for a while.

And I try not to drive all over creation to get cheap fuel since that can pretty much negate any savings.

 

[HFWR]

> My local Costco is usually two or three cents cheaper, plus the 3% "rebate" I get for using the Costco AMEX card.

The Costco AMEX offer's 3% back on fuel no matter where you buy it. For me this means I often end up at Kroger for fuel. Once a month I get the 10¢ or 20¢ kickback from buying groceries there. Even when that's used up they offer a 3¢ discount all the time (when you use the Kroger loyalty card).

Of course I always check GasBuddy since often UDF or someone else's will be significantly cheaper for a while.

And I try not to drive all over creation to get cheap fuel since that can pretty much negate any savings.

True about the rebate. There's a local grocery that gives big discounts, if I happen to actually buy enough groceries to qualify. But the Racetrac chain has a couple of stations nearby, and Costco always beats their price.

 

[ERhoosier]

The last car I bought I used Costco, But I figured they couldn't go up from the Costco quoted price, but they could go down.

I wound up buying much cheaper than the cheapest Costco price, from that Costco network dealer who gave me the best final net price.

Ha

I've heard this many times before.
Except for true automaker employee (not friends/family/referrals/etc) discounts (e.g. Ford A-Plan, Chrysler "green Slip", etc.), there is no substitute for doing your own web-searching homework & hard bargaining with car dealers.

 

[Chuckanut]

Here's an interesting article on the design of Costco stores, the 'treasure hunt' effect, and how they profit by not being to greedy.

The Choreography Of Design, Treasure Hunts, And Hot Dogs That Have Made Costco So Successful | Fast Company | Business + Innovation

 

[audreyh1]

Ooh! My great Costco wine find of 2013 showed up this week with several cases!!! Yay!

http://costcowineblog.com/2012/10/06/2007-vina-eguia-rioja-reserva.aspx