trying to analyze the idea of going to Costco

[chhotii]

Does a membership at Costco or some similar warehouse store makes sense?

It seems silly that week after week, I buy things like boxed mac & cheese, pasta, rice, canned soup, canned green beans, etc. For these relatively non-perishable things, I would think that it would make sense to buy some utterly humungous supply (6 to 12 months' worth) at once. That way, during my weekly grocery run, my load is lighter and more manageable; and when things get crazy and I don't shop, there's always meals from canned and boxed stuff to fall back on. (And, I actually do have room in the apartment to store such stuff. Cabinet space that is too high up for regular usage, but reachable for storage; the ends of a couple of deep closets.)

If I am going to do the occasional humungous non-perishables run... It seems like it would be worth it to drive to wherever has the best prices for large quantities of stuff.

This brings up the idea of warehouse stores. One cannot just show up at Costco and shop, though; the website specifically says that only members are allowed to buy things. (!) BJ's has a membership policy, too, I believe, although they send me the occasional free trial membership card. (Although I may not have one of those in my mailbox that hasn't expired, so that may be moot.)

So, why would it make sense for any kind of retail store to say to anyone "no you can't buy anything, you're not a member"? I'm sure they would like you to believe that the reason is that you're actually getting some of the stuff at below their cost, thus non-members would be freeloading. I can think of a couple of other reasons that would be less positive for the member, though:
1) If you've paid for the membership, you now feel that you HAVE to shop there enough to justify having paid. Thus people who have paid for the privilege to shop at a store will tend to shop at that store more, and buy more once they are there, than those who haven't (and thus more than is economically optimal for themselves).
2) If you've paid for the membership, you're less receptive to information that might indicate that Costco is not, in fact, a good deal. (People tend to shut out information that causes cognitive dissonance, and it causes a lot of cognitive dissonance to believe that you've been had.) Thus you'll shop there more and buy more because you really believe the prices are better due to this filtering.

So... it could be that going to Costco is insane. You pay $50, and then, sending good money to chase after bad, you pay to buy a bunch of stuff that you didn't really need or which goes bad because you over-bought. On the other hand could all these people who do join be wrong? Also, sometimes people find spectacular stuff at Costco, such as boxes of Tasty-Bite chickpea packets, which I've had trouble finding. (OTOH I should look in the Indian grocers for that.)

Has anyone actually done an analysis? Should I just go to Market Basket and fill the cart to capacity, or is it actually worthwhile to go to Costco for the mega-shopping trip?

Comments

[sensesurfer.livejournal.com]

I think my annual membership fee is covered in what I save in buying coffee alone. We get lots of things there. Food, clothes, housewares, household supplies, led light bulbs, photographic prints, hot tub, kitchen cabinets etc etc etc. In general the quality of their merchandise is a step up from what you would get at target or walmart. Also they treat their employees better than most retailers.

[tamidon.livejournal.com]

they are the anti-walmart with regard to employees, with one of the lowest turnovers in retail. They even do great health coverage even for part timers. I personally don't thin you save huge amounts of money, but you save time. I go once every 3 months and get my non-perishables. They also have good deals on some high end foods like french cheeses on occasion. Their wine selections are surprisingly great and really cheap.

[totient]

Not only do I think they're a good deal, but I think they're a good company. miss_chance and I shop there, and we also own $10,000 worth of their stock.

[jbsegal.livejournal.com]

0) Memebership's $55/yr.

1) It seems to be the case that the vast percentage of their profits actually come from membership — that much of their stock is sold at only a couple of points above cost.

2) Costco is famous for being a Good Employer
http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-06-06/costco-ceo-craig-jelinek-leads-the-cheapest-happiest-company-in-the-world

2') On the other hand, BJ's in Medford is BJ's number 1. They're locally owned.

3) The Costco-vs-BJs debate is complicated by the fact that Costco's stock choice is more static (and thus limited) than BJ's is.

[ceo]

We switched from BJ's to Costco several years ago, after finding that Costco's selections are generally a couple levels up in quality from BJs' (BJ's's?). The annoying thing about Costco is they don't take Mastercard or Visa (we use an ATM card).

[jbsegal.livejournal.com]

Yeah, as did we... but that doesn't mean I'm still not a bit annoyed at what I can't get at Costco. :)

(I should find someone with a BJ's card and see what they're carrying these days.)

[chhotii.livejournal.com]

Don't take Mastercard or Visa... huh??? Um, what? How does one actually pay for one's purchases? Do they actually prefer a check? I am confused.

[tamidon.livejournal.com]

they will take debit cards

[whitebird.livejournal.com]

CostCo takes debit cards, checks, cash, and American Express.

This is because they were originally geared only to businesses. My mother was a pretty early member, because she ran her own stained glass business, and thus had a resale license. They offer a CostCo American Express card. I find that canned Cokes are cheapest at CostCo. And that's mostly the only thing I buy there. On the other hand, my CostCo runs take around 10 minutes, and everyone else's take hours.

[tamidon.livejournal.com]

I agree, they have a higher level of producr, like their base pasta is Barilla, not Prince

[hammercock.livejournal.com]

You could also take some tips on extreme couponing from thespian and save a lot of money that way. That method takes some work, though.

[skreeky]

I recommend going to a CostCo or BJs, noting the prices of the items you use most often (and whether they even have what you want) and comparing for yourself.

We were BJs members for years. The convenience was worth it even though the prices on some items (especially produce) wasn't actually a savings. We let it expire awhile ago, because (1) we got our SodaStream so no longer needed bulk soda, (2) it's important to us to buy recycled paper products, which BJs doesn't carry at all, so we couldn't use them for non-perishables like paper towels and toilet paper, (3) we were put off by the tales of poor employee treatment. Lately we used it almost exclusively to buy party food and supplies twice a year, so we quietly let the membership lapse.

We have been meaning to check out CostCo and see if they carry the items, such as recycled paper products, that we would like to buy in bulk.

[koshmom.livejournal.com]

I've found Costco is cheaper than BJ's. Also some Costco stuff is more expensive than supermarket if the supermarket has a decent sale. Thus bulk does not mean better-priced. You can just walk into a Costco, say you want to get a one day pass, and no questions asked you get one to shop for the day, free. They also allow multiple adults on a card, so you can share a card with anyone you know as their "costco partner". For instance, I was my mom's husband for a while, even tho she was in NJ and I was in Boston area.

[tb]

The dichotomy you're presenting in your penultimate paragraph is a false one. "Could all those people be wrong" is a red flag for sloppy thinking. Some of them are, some aren't. I'm afraid you're going to have to do your own analysis for your own household. Don't forget to factor in travel and shopping times/crowds as well as costs and staling/spoilage.

When I was considering a club I looked at what we buy, checked that against what they stock, did the math, and found that Costco/BJ's wasn't a good deal *for us*, especially with a Market Basket so close. I can see a club working for people with different buying patterns, a larger household, a subsidized membership, where the convenient grocery stores are expensive, or other reasons. The folks weighing in on the plus side are not wrong, they just have different constraints. What are yours?

[achinhibitor.livejournal.com]

I don't know if it's so valuable any more, but the "membership" thing also ensures that the store can associate all the purchases of each member together. I've read sporadically in the business press that this enables stores to be shrewder about what merchandise to stock, and do various tricks based on knowing what things people buy together. Also, they may be able to sell statistics to marketing types regarding what demographics of people buy what sorts of products.

It's possible that because there is some filtering and tracking of the clientele that there is reduced shoplifting, which is apparently a significant problem in most retail stores.

[deguspice.livejournal.com]

I have mixed opinions about BJs and Costco.

They're useful for things like OTC medicines. I used to get stuff like bulk packages of 35mm film (but not any more).

But I don't need to buy salsa in one gallon containers or bulk packages of paper plates (even if I'm having a party).