What does Costco Have That I Can't Find Other Places?

[Music Lover]

Someone may have mentioned that their return policy is amazing. One time I bought 2 boxes of chocolate cookies. At the parking lot, somehow one box fell on the ground and cookies scattered all over. I was going to just collect them and put inside a garbage bin. An employee just walking by and quietly said, "don't tell anyone I said this, but you can just go inside and return it. Grab a new box and pay for it again"

I had a flat of 30 pop cans slide off the bottom of the cart in the parking lot, a couple of them burst open. An employee came running outside, asked me if I could wait a few minutes while he replaced it. I told him not to bother as it was 100% my fault but he insisted.

 

[athena53]

We went to QFC and scored a great piece of fresh King, but it was $40/lb. Typically, Costco would have the same for less than $24/lb. Still a bit costly, but well worth it for those who know the difference.

Glad I'm not one who can tell the difference.

 

[Buckeye]

Totally agree on the wine. One thing I have learned quickly is that sale items tend to later be priced the same as the sale. We always look for items ending in $XXX7 or $xxx0, this indicates they are being closed out or last one to be sold. So far this past 6 months I scored an LG 83 inch OLED TV for $1200 less, and new powered leather couches for 1/2 price, and some great heavy lined shirt coats for $9.00 (prior $29.99). I bought a cast iron Instapot on sale regular $179 for $134, then found it later marked down to $94.97. My favorite jeans were marked down to $6.97, but rang up at $5.00 at check out.....

The best policy is the 30 day guarantee. Just take the receipt to customer service if something you bought recently is lower, they refund it. I bought an outdoor furniture set, which was marked down, and later marked down further and got the refund. This has happened a lot to me, you just have to be aware. BTW we have been to Costco 4 times in the last 7 days, but its pretty close.....Our Costco is in Redmond, just east of Kirkland so maybe we see better deals here locally.

We live 1.5 miles from our Costco. They call to check on us if they haven't seen for 48 hours! We share larger quantity items with our neighbor such as onions, avocados, croissants, Danishes, muffins, etc. One time we buy, one time they buy or however it happens to work out.

 

[Birdie Num Nums]

Totally agree on the wine. One thing I have learned quickly is that sale items tend to later be priced the same as the sale. We always look for items ending in $XXX7 or $xxx0, this indicates they are being closed out or last one to be sold....

Costco Codes (item numbers ending with):

• .00 & .88: close outs
• .79, 49, 89: on sale
• .97: Clear-out or markdown
• .97* (with asterisk): last chance good deal

 

[Chuckanut]

I knew someone who sold their products to Costco and they told me one of Costco’s marketing techniques was they discovered customers liked to “treasure hunt”. That is why you see some things only once and new things pop up all the time, but for a limited time.

Some of the Kirkland appellation level wines are tremendous values. The Châteauneuf-du-Pape and Gigondas blends are usually a screaming deal.

I just got a "treasure hunt" email from Costco earlier this week.

And I still have a few bottles of the Châteanunef-du-Pape fom a purchase a few years ago. Alas, the wine department of my local Costco is not good about offering these great deals as some other Costco stores are.

 

[RobbieB]

The meat and fish area (at the rear of the store) is where I spend all the dough. Next time you're there check out the 10 pound box of King Crab! Whole prime tenderloins, Mexican shrimp, Lobster Claws, Chilean Sea Bass, Halibut. And right next to huge rounds of Brie and Blue Stilton a few aisles down.

Impulse? No, I just love that stuff! I'm a fine food junkie -

Have taken to Costco "snatch & grabs", don't get a cart and only buy what you can carry in both hands.

 

[Chuckanut]

The meat and fish area (at the rear of the store) is where I spend all the dough. Next time you're there check out the 10 pound box of King Crab! Whole prime tenderloins, Mexican shrimp, Lobster Claws, Chilean Sea Bass, Halibut. And right next to huge rounds of Brie and Blue Stilton a few aisles down.

Emphasis added.

Your Costco is obviously higher class than my Costco.

 

[Another Reader]

The meat and fish area (at the rear of the store) is where I spend all the dough. Next time you're there check out the 10 pound box of King Crab! Whole prime tenderloins, Mexican shrimp, Lobster Claws, Chilean Sea Bass, Halibut. And right next to huge rounds of Brie and Blue Stilton a few aisles down.

Impulse? No, I just love that stuff! I'm a fine food junkie -

Have taken to Costco "snatch & grabs", don't get a cart and only buy what you can carry in both hands.

I know the San Ramon Costco carries all the high end stuff, but do Manteca, Stockton and the other stores out there carry these items?

 

[RobbieB]

Don't know. I go to the Tracy store.

 

[Another Reader]

Don't know. I go to the Tracy store.

Tracy is moving up! Some large homes are being built out there now. I forgot they had a Costco.

 

[jollystomper]

DW: The greek non-fat yogurt.
Me: The himalayan salt potato chips.

Mmmm, snacks....

 

[isisdave]

Our Costco and Sam's are in sight of each other, just 3100 feet apart. Can anyone beat that?

We've been Price/Costco members since the days of the "barn" in San Diego about 1978. We joined Sam's because they built a store on the route between home and office, had better parking, and opened for Plus members at 7am (now 8).

Now in semi-rural Indiana, neither parking lot is never full, not even the week before Christmas. DW likes some Costco stuff (cashews -- hey, they're in bags now, not plastic jars, chocolate covered raisins, some wine, lamb), while I like the earlier hours and Sea Salt chips at Sam's, and we get over the minimum to make Executive/Plus cost effective at both, so I think we'll be staying.

Both have gas stations, usually within a penny of each other and 30-60 cents less than local stations, but neither has Diesel ... grrr.

 

[Koolau]

I guess this would be the time to claim the busiest Costco in the world.

https://www.isitpacked.com/2010/10/27/the-busiest-costco-in-the-world-iwilei-oahu/

This was OUR Costco when we lived Windward. We had to hop on the Likelike Highway, go through the Wilson tunnels and arrive at Costco about 25 minutes later. It seemed we "lived" someplace between the Costco store and the Home Depot in the same complex (which also claimed to be the busiest Home Depot in the world) as we completed the renovation of our town house. That particular Costco has a huge fueling station where we still buy most of our gas. Imagine people on the street waiting to get INTO the parking lot of Costco. That was common (less so now that we have 4 Oahu Costco stores.)

Oh, and if you just can't wait to check out the busiest Costco in the world, here is a kamaʻāina who can show you around as she shops. Not quite like watching paint dry, but close. Enjoy.

 

[badatmath]

I have a gift membership but I'd never pay for it. I find it an annoying place where merchandise moves around even if you bought something last week you may never see it again.

I am shocked the city does nothing to force them to mitigate the traffic blockages it causes. People going to buy gas frequently are unable to turn in and consequently block the road.

 

[Koolau]

I have a gift membership but I'd never pay for it. I find it an annoying place where merchandise moves around even if you bought something last week you may never see it again.

I am shocked the city does nothing to force them to mitigate the traffic blockages it causes. People going to buy gas frequently are unable to turn in and consequently block the road.

Yeah, pretty much everything "bad" folks say about Costco is true. Having said that, I save about 50% on average with everything I buy there. We've have learned how to buy so that stuff does not go to waste because of the quantities.

Perhaps Costco is not the bargain in other places but here in Paradise, it absolutely w*rks for us (faults and all) but YMMV.

 

[Charlotte]

Has anyone mentioned the Kirkland extra virgin olive oil? We love their Italian one, very tasty and a nice price too.

 

[audreyh1]

Yes, I also buy a bottle or two of Costco’s fancy regional extra virgin olive oil which changes every year. I only buy olive oil in glass bottles or cans.

 

[Koolau]

Has anyone mentioned the Kirkland extra virgin olive oil? We love their Italian one, very tasty and a nice price too.

One good thing about Kirkland brand is that, if you like something in the brand, they will have it the next time you go. That's not always true with other brands. They may change brands of items they carry or they may simply drop an item - no explanation. But, Kirkland will be there. YMMV

 

[HI Bill]

There are more than a dozen things that make the Costco membership worthwhile for my family of two:

1) Executive membership credit card rebates (up to 5%).
2) Gas savings (up to $0.40 per gallon).
3) Breakfast bars. I save my entire membership fee every year on just this item.
4) Eye Glasses. I can get 2-3 pairs of eyeglasses for the price of a single pair at Lenscrafters.
5) Tires. Better deal, better warranty, nitrogen fills for free.
6) Produce, meat, food items, paper products - all a much better deal than Safeway.
7) Electronics. Just can't find many TVs elsewhere.

I could go on, but we generally spend about $600-700 monthly in groceries including alcohol and household cleaning supplies. Would easily cost $1,000 at the grocery stores.

 

[braumeister]

FWIW, the OP hasn't been signed in here for the last four days. But all us Costco fans have been reinforcing each other's opinions very nicely!

 

[JohnRM]

probably not

Hi,

I'm on the fence of whether to join Costco. They won't let me "try it out" - I have to become a member.

My challenge is I don't own a car. I can ride my bike there, but probably couldn't haul much back.

I could take Uber, or ask for a ride as a back up plan.

Is it worth it? More than finding discounts, I'm more interested in - if they have things I can't find other places. I tend to buy healthy, unprocessed foods, so I'm not sure if Costco is like shopping Walmart or a standard grocery store chain (which I don't usually need to do).

I'm a small household (2 people) and not a big family that need huge quantities of things. But every once and awhile I hear about interesting food items they sell, that other stores don't. Do you have a favorite thing you can't get other places?

Most of the food at Costco is prepackaged stuff, or frozen. You can save money but the quantities are large and a 2 person household would probably end up throwing stuff out. I don't think it would be worth it for you.

 

[Koolau]

FWIW, the OP hasn't been signed in here for the last four days. But all us Costco fans have been reinforcing each other's opinions very nicely!

Heh, heh, some of us own the company.

 

[Koolau]

There are more than a dozen things that make the Costco membership worthwhile for my family of two:

1) Executive membership credit card rebates (up to 5%).
2) Gas savings (up to $0.40 per gallon).
3) Breakfast bars. I save my entire membership fee every year on just this item.
4) Eye Glasses. I can get 2-3 pairs of eyeglasses for the price of a single pair at Lenscrafters.
5) Tires. Better deal, better warranty, nitrogen fills for free.
6) Produce, meat, food items, paper products - all a much better deal than Safeway.
7) Electronics. Just can't find many TVs elsewhere.

I could go on, but we generally spend about $600-700 monthly in groceries including alcohol and household cleaning supplies. Would easily cost $1,000 at the grocery stores.

Yeah, they talked me into the executive membership several years ago. I told them I doubted it would save enough to cover the cost, but they promised a refund of the extra cost if it failed to save the extra cost. Heh, heh, it's like 4 X or more savings every year.

 

[JohnRM]

me too

Heh, heh, some of us own the company.

Yeah, it's a well run company, I have stock in it too, unless my financial advisor sold it. We shop there too, but 4 of us here.

 

[KarenF]

We have been Costco members for over 20 years. We have an Executive membership and were not sure it would be worth it after the kids left the nest. We go to Costco once or twice a month (we do have a car) and still get back more than our membership every year. Costco Travel is good as well.