I was at Costco Docklands today. Most of the things were so expensive. I saw a Sony 65" at 970 or so but that was it. Maybe Alcohol was cheap as there were many people buying it.
Milk was 1.9 a litre!
Is my experience out of the ordinary?
PS: Here is someone else's findings from 2016. She found Costco was cheaper than Aldi on those items.
I visited it shortly as well, made it half way into the car park and then decided to leave and go to the Moorabbin store instead.
Were you one of those assholes that decided to push into the carpark line at the last second in attempt to jump the queue?
Wasn't me. Someone else drove me there. We were in a Nissan SUV.
Fair enough, to answer your question though, a lot of the items they stock are only cheap if you actually use them, bulk buy etc.
With that being said, we won't be renewing our membership which expires in January.
Depends on what you're buying really. I agree they're often not cheap - I made the mistake of buyinf 2 SD Cards there recently when I was in a hurry. Ripped blind.
Conversely, I know people who get their hearing aids there for several thousand $ below the price of equivalent hearing aids elsewhere. I personally picked up one of their low profile car trolley jacks for about $100 under the best "street price" elsewhere, got 3 tonne car axle stands for $30 (crazy cheap) and bought batteries for my 4x4 for $200 less than the very best price at SuperCrap Auto, where they were on 25% off already.
I don't buy food there at all. Aldi -> Coles -> WW for that, though the Coles / WW order isn't set in stone. I use the half price app to see who's got what on special and just chase the discounts.
The only other thing that seems consistently cheap at Costco is their clothing. It's generally pretty good quality too, so I see value in that.
Half price app. Tell more
It's an app, called "half price". It's free, with adverts or there's a paid version. They collate all the stuff that's advertised as half price or better at Colesworth, updated weekly.
I've had about a 70% hit rate in Melbourne with what they list as on special. I assume it's not 100% because of regional differences that they don't account for.
I just checked the app and their support is [email protected] so I guess check it out there?
Ta, just compared to woolies website half price and the app seems to miss quite a bit. But one benefit is i now know woolies has an option to easily filter by half price.
Roast Chicken, Calvin Klein shirts and Tommy Bahamas shower robes are economical. But I visit Costco for the fuel and the hotdogs :)
whats special about the 'dogs
Tastes better than IKEA and includes soda for $1.5
Only 1.5 in Totally?😯
it's $2
I was impressed with a product named Paleo mix for $17.99. It's 1.125k of trail mix including macadamia nuts and walnuts and 40% Australian ingredients. The equivalent product from coles is $3.50 for 200g - walnuts and macadamias are substituted with almonds with no Australian ingredients. As you can see a trip to costco is very expensive. If you have to spend x 5 the amount of money on every item you buy
You realise that 17.99 for 1.125 kg is 3.20 per 200g. Not a huge difference given bulk pack
I never found Costco to be very cheap but the quality of the products is excellent. They try to make sure that nobody has a reason to complain about the products themselves. The other great thing was when I lived in Asia it was the go to for foods not normally found in Japanese/Korean supermarkets. Now where I live though, the only Costco is too far to justify membership…
If you like the kind of fresh food and cafe food they sell there, and you're under 30 and not at risk of heart attack, then membership might be worth it. Car batteries and tyres were consistently cheaper last time I was there, though I don't need them often enough to justify membership.
The non-consumables were generally expensive.
Sometimes TVs were sometimes cheaper if on special, but it's impossible to find out the price without a membership.
I bought a big TV there and maintained membership for a few years because of the "lifetime warranty" (it's in quotes because it was extremely vague). They got rid of the lifetime warranty so I had no reason to renew.
I think the difficulty in accessing the place, due to membership and location, makes people really hunt for things to justify the effort/time/cost. I bought some junk that I never used, and it was so far away to both with returning.
Most of the items in Costco that go in specials in Colesworth is more expensive when on special.
But the bakery stuff, meat and laundry toiletries in costco is priced very well. Tyres and batteries and the odd nook are also good
Costco is not cheap for couple or single. Its membership is good for family of 4 atleast. What I found good at costco.
Cheap Fuel
Nuts, almonds: Super Quality. Cheaper than WW and Coles. But catch is small packs are not availabille.
Milk : I like procal.. its exceptionally good after A2.
Chips (corn & potato): Cheapest you can get ever
Electronics: If you are buying from costco then you do not need to worry about that extra warranty. They have it covered for you.
Quality / quantity of veggies. Fruits are expensive though
Can you give indication of nut prices. How do veg prices compare with grocers?
Almonds are mostly : 1.14 kilo for $19 approx, Wallnuts: $27 approx for 1., organic Cashew - 1.13 Kilo for between $ 25-29.
Spinach is very cheap $5 for bag of 500gm, 900gm blueberries for $11, Strawberries also similar. Some herbs between 3-5 $ for bunch of 2.
i like their jars of mixed nuts they have an even mix of cashews
unlike some other stores where it's mostly peanuts
@cybapete: I hate it when peanuts are mixed with far more expensive nuts even in an equal proportion. It’s like mixing Lindt and Cadbury’s (or home brands) and calling it a premium mix of chocolates.
Knowledge of pricing of things is essential for shopping at any retailer.
Cheap Fuel, Tyres, Batteries consistently. The Men's business shirts CK / Van Heusen biz shirts are good value for money. They've also had some good drops of sports shoes and hoodies.
It's just whatever they can drop in by the container / Pallet load, and sometimes that's within it's own global network. We consistently save the cost of membership each year, just from Fuel alone.
Like anything, you have to know your prices when going to Costco - don't just assume everything will be cheaper.
Yesterday I saw a twin pack of CAT-branded 500 Lumen LED work lights for $29. I quickly searched Bunnings website and found the equivalent Arlec-branded ones for $10.
ALDI is the cheapest
but not my closest
Often not when Colesworth have 50% off. Plus, Aldi doesn’t sell all those products/ brands anyway.
I have been a member of Costco for about 4yrs, there are 4 adults that buy on that membership (one has an additional card). In Qld we don't have alcohol sales (in any supermarket) and none of us buy much anyway.
We have saved hundreds by buying at Costco over that time. My son put a deposit on a TV a few mths ago at Harvey Norman (they were the cheapest he could find) and the day we went to pick it up, we went to costco first and found the same TV $300 cheaper. So he called HN and told them he could buy it at Costco, took a pic of the lower price and HN dropped his price by $250 (allowing for the membership they say you need). He was happy as it saved him $250 and he didn't have to stuff around with getting his deposit back. He also bought a really good leather recliner for $400 ($100 off) last yr.
There are things I buy that I either can't get elsewhere or are more expensive elsewhere. Large jar of sundried toms, large jar of goat feta (save several $s each time and buy 1 every 2 to 4 wks. I used to get sunny queen FR eggs 30pk for $10.50 (ww is $9ish for 18pk) though recently they stopped stocking this.
I was getting the petrol (98) but now just buy 91 and Costco 91 is unleaded which I will not buy.
I live about 45 min drive from the Nth Lakes store and still find it very worth the $60 pa membership fee. I will absolutely agree with the 'don't get too attached to a particular product" advice as they do randomly stop selling things or change brands.
"Costco 91 is unleaded"? All 91 is unleaded now…
lol 95 also unleaded
I meant it has ethanol, which I won't use.
Costco 91 is unleaded which I will not buy.
Why won't you buy it?
98 also unleaded
All fuel at an Australian bowser is unleaded, no matter the octane.
People buy electronics and appliances from costco because alot of them have lifetime warranty.
how do they survive? :o
is the milk you’re referring to A2 milk? A2 is sold at coles and woolies for $2.50 a litre.
My wife and I tried Costco a few years back, and also found it to be more expensive than expected and overall pretty underwhelming. I think that's one of the main reasons they have their petrol stations: it gives everyone this notion that they sell everything well below market value, and people then go into the store with that assumption. I was walking around price checking everything though (much to my wifes annoyance) and found that a lot of their home brand stuff was actually more expensive than Aldi. So we focused more on name brand stuff, and yeah, there were some good deals to be found. But the fact that you're forced to buy in such large quantities left us with two problems: a relatively small trolley load of items still ended up costing you $200+, and you then had to find somewhere to store all this extra stuff until you need it. We also found the overall Costco experience to be a bit unpleasant; long lines at the servo, people pushing in front of you for free samples, absurdly sized shopping trolleys, and pretty average food from the fast food area. We also didn't live close enough to take regular advantage of the fuel, nor did we have enough people in our household or enough freezer space to take advantage of the meat. So we ultimately cancelled our membership.
I wonder if they will have a discounted membership (or other promos) when they open the first Perth store early in the new year?
Unlikely, people will pay because big stacks of bulk items in a warehouse trigger people to think they're getting great deals because most don't take the time to compare unit cost.
I have just joined for the Perth launch. Rates still the same. The expiry date will be forwarded to align with the opening date….whenever that is…
Too many people have the mindset of everything must be cheap at CostCo when really it's just like a normal shop, shop the bargains, look around, compare per unit prices.
Some things are a massive saving (Tim Tams, meats, some electronics, some frozen things, Vitamins (majorly). Others are a ripoff just because they know people will assume bulk = cheap.
Just gotta keep the normal shopping mindset and you can get some great bargains from them, but never make it your end all be all.
Meat is actually not great value when you compare to local butchers.
Costco is depressing. Used to shop there for some very small niche products but watching mobs of people fill up their giant trolleys made me appreciate my life. You'll find the occasional bargain but for the avid ozber, coles/woolies specials are cheaper.
Just my experience:
Salmon was the best quality (not the best price) compared to Colesworth, aldi and fishmongers (including Sydney fish market). Trout is huon which is excellent.
Scallops are sold from the USA with no shell/roe and about $42 a bag for a kilo (from memory). Again, not the cheapest, but the other ones were either from China that I remember seeing and therefore not exactly the most direct comparison.
Meat (eg New York Strip Wagyu Marble 4-5+) was also very good quality (and you can cut your own steaks to the size you want, I like mine thicker and my family likes it thinner). I think it was about 45 a kg, so a whole block would be about $140. Compared to some of the other places I buy from, the same cut but marbling score of 7-9 but at a price of $85-90 a kg, Id prefer Costco anyday. Its one of the few places where you can buy a 9kg beef brisket and good pork ribs.
I think for food I'd just prefer paying more to get it from Costco. In general, I'm not sure its the cheapest but the quality is there and I'd be happy to pay more.
Only go to Costco when buying in bulk. That and the hotdogs and drink.
Reasons for going to costco:
Just because reason 1 (prices) is not that attractive - reason 2/3 in conjunction with reason 1 could compel people to shop at costco.
In general, does Costco change/cycle pricing regularly throughout the year?
For me it's their cuts of meat - specifically their brisket - fantastic quality, well priced and better than anything my local butchers stock. A 9kg brisket gives us a massive number of meals. They are also the only place I've found locally that stocks Boston Butt cuts of pork. The $60 a year is worth it to me just for access to those two items.
Sure, many food items can't compare to the 50% off Woolworths/Coles deals, but not everything comes up on those 50% sales, and Coles/Woolworths seem to have the items we buy rotate through those sales less frequently than in previous years.
Top tip - only go to costco on a week night. It's much, much quieter and the queues are almost non-existant. Mondays & Tuesdays particularly.
3 p.m. on a weekday also works pretty well when people are doing the school run
school run
hold my hand, pls
What are you using to cook (smoke) your briskets? I always struggle getting them to perfection and I've read everything there is to know about them. I think it's my cooker.
I have a Kamado Akorn from Bunnings, works great. I also have one of those Smartfire BBQ sets that will maintain whatever temperature you want. Feels like a bit of a cheat, but means I can chuck the brisket on before I go to sleep and everythings (usually) under control and I can sleep soundly. I cooked several briskets before I got the smartfire and they went fine, just required more monitoring.
I wouldn't say I get all the brisket to perfection, but the majority of the meat is (to me) fantastic and the rest is fine. When you've got a massive hunk of meat there's always going to be some variation. We eat what we can of the fantastic bits that day and the remainder is all getting vacuum sealed and going in the freezer anyway where the quality kinda becomes irrelevant.
How much is the brisket?
Yep notice the same thing OP. Most stuff at Costco is more expensive than Aldi… but there are a few goodies that are much cheaper than Aldi/Woolies (not much though). Have to agree with others that the product quality is excellent and very tasty/not available at any other supermarket.
I mostly go to Costco for the fuel. 30c + savings per litre is handy.
Biggest problem is that they don't actively promote all their specials, making it hard to compare their prices.
Pure value for anyone with hearing aids. Save heaps on them there and no audiology fees as it’s all rolled into your membership.
Here is my experience with Costco. Their everyday items are cheaper than rrp you find elsewhere like woolies / coles and some electronics.
But they are expensive than special buys or targeted discounts.
I got a free membership and my misses wouldn't want to go Costco anymore because the line it much worst than Aldi :)
If Coles or woollies have special on the price is even cheaper than Costco.
If you are a ALDI lover, Costco is not for you. /End.
I shop at ALDI frequently and also shop at Costco. You can't exclude any place because they all have great deals, even Costco has coupons and special deals.
I'm not referring to ppl like you, there are some ONLY shops at ALDI.
Yes I know and they are generally well into their 60s and over but use their elbows and might like a footballer in their prime
Penn tennis balls and kirkland microfibre towels. Nuff said
A small selection of goods are cheaper. Most is definitely more expensive. If you are a smart shopper and buy what you can in bulk during Coles or woolies sales then Costco is even worse. Some alcohol is good value and some of the fresh produce. While the electrical is generally more expensive you can't best the Costco warranty.
The milk you saw is A2. I always buy A2 milk from costco as the same A2 milk at Aldi or Coles, woolies cost above $2/litre
Go in while the petrol price has spiked elsewhere, buy Kirkland toilet paper, a roast chicken and a hot dog and drink. Then you'll save some money, lol.
I just go because everything is great quality for the money. Not necessarily the cheapest, and I can return anything I want if I don't like it. Also, it's pretty close to me.
I normally find beef jerky, and dehydrated mangos to be cheaper than anywhere, even with sales.
It depends what you're looking at.
I don't find it good value and at our house with the huge sizing of all the products there ends up being a lot of wastage.
You may benefit from a home economics course. It sounds like you are doing something wrong.
Do you own a fridge with a freezer? If not consider purchasing one during the boxing day sales.
The people I know that have a membership they have it for the petrol price in primis.
When living in Canberra drove past Costco on the way to work so was convenient
Fuel was consistently 20-30c cheaper and no que at 0600 in the morning this alone was worth $60 a year
In general most food can be had cheaper at aldi but Costco was convenient as everything was there.
Free samples are nice.
Aisle sizes your never stuck behind another customer as aisles are huuge.
There meat selection and quality is miles ahead of the other supermarkets.
Toilet paper was heaps better than crap Woolworths or Coles sell(you had to buy 60 rolls at a time though.)
Kirkland products is Costco brand was consistently good and well priced.
Dog food was a steal.
Pizza and hot chickens.
Cons
It cost more than shopping specials but If you value your time this is a minor
Cueing up to leave
Carpark
Have to buy everything in bulk
Despite everything else, I remember the large car park spaces were so nice to park in. And they way they painted the lines, with a gap between each parking spot, ensured that the mouth breathers parked in the middle of the spot, rather than hard up against one side.
People somehow manage to park cross the painted gap between bays, which the occasional flog parking in the middle of two bays, despite the space being more than generous to prevent door dings etc.
I used to visit Costco Adelaide on weekends but the checkout lines are usually 8 customers long, the food sample people scattered around the store create traffic jams, and families randomly decide to have conferences in the middle of aisles. Not to mention if the petrol price cycle is high I have seen people queuing to the 'gasoline' station all the way out to the main road.
No thanks.
I now go around 6pm on a Monday. You can breeze through the store in a fraction of the time. The food sample people won't be there, but meh.
Things that are better and/or cheaper:-
Dog Food
Jerky, so many types
Kitchen roll - Kirkland is excellent and rolls way bigger
Specials - e.g. that Karcher Windows cleaner was $95 last week
Car Batteries, especially when 25% off. Means a average battery for say a Ford Falcon is much less than $100
Tyres - Bridgestone RE003 are $125 each at the moment on a buy 3 get 4. So $375 for 4 x 215/60x16.
Pizzas
Chicken
Cheese
Large sauce bottles, e.g. sweet chilli, peri peri
Baked Beans not that Heinz have reduced their standard sizes
Petrol
Cakes and such
Meat and Fish seems much better than most
Alaskan Salmon, so much nicer than Atlantic Salmon that we get here. Yes Tassie salmon is still atlantic.
Frozen snacks
Odd-ball things like swimming pool stuff
Pasta variety
As with every shop you need to know what the basic prices are to compare.
Personally, I find that the introduction if Aldi and Costco into the Australian market has just brought so much more choice. E.g. just a few years ago we had to go to Leichardt just to buy dried Porcini mushrooms. Now WW sell them.
They have squid Jerky. That’s just wrong!
Only buying what you NEED, vs what you WANT saves you millions more.
But what a boring world that would be. However, people shouldn’t buy what they are going to waste.
Pork chops, minced beef, bulgarian feta, spinach… A few other things. Oh yeah, roast chicken
Obviously.. if its cheaper elsewhere during their promo you get it elsewhere. Costco is good as the prices are consistent all year.
Milk was 1.9 a litre!
Three litre milk is around $3.
I found that I impulsed bought a lot more items which kind of defeated the purpose of being a member. In the end I just buy items on sale at Woolworths.
Also Costco offer lifetime warranty. We bought a Roomba robot vacuum a couple years ago. 2 years on it wouldn't charge. Full refund provided, no further questions asked.
2 years is nothing. Try going back there 8 years from now and ask if they'll provide a remedy.
Try going anywhere else after 2 years and see what kind of remedy you get. Especially the likes of Hardly Normal/JB/Ebay etc.
They're all the same.
Very interesting analysis of Costco’s earning and business model
https://twitter.com/investing_city/status/117997425777998233…
Unfortunately it’s a twitter thread
I agree. Costco isn't cheap. By shopping around can get the same or better prices. By getting a Costco membership I'm locking myself into that one store.
Costco for cheap electronics? Probably not.
Costco for cheapest top-quality meat/seafood, fresh food and alcohol? definitely yes.
I always buy a nice 2kg slab of wagyu steak and some briskets everytime I go there, and if they have seafood I'll get their king prawns too. Quality always beats Coles/Woolies and alot cheaper than other shops selling the same quality cuts. Even the Costco rotisserie chickens are much juicier than the shrivelled overcooked trash at supermarkets.
Besides most Costco makes the most sales to small business owners, who prefer to purchase bulk at consistent prices frequently rather than waiting for sales at supermarkets.
If you just want the lowest price regardless of quality then Costco is definitely not for you.
Most things are priced quite expensively. But there are some bargains. You have to comparison shop. Fuel and Kirkland signature dog food, and some meat is cheaper
and/or better quality than what you can get at Colesworth or Aldi.
Their pizza and hot dogs are cheap but they are so low quality they actually make me queazy, and I'm not a fussy eater.
Their electronics are usually overpriced but they do have the occasional stellar bargain.
You have to have a lot of discipline if you want to get the most out of Costco. They rely on the fact that most people don't have that discipline.
When I was a member I saved enough on the carmens muesli bars to make it worthwhile for the year. I also liked the very large jars of jelly bellys they had.
Can someone clarify Costco's return policy? I purchased a 60" Sony Bravia x83F in Feb this year and have kept all original packaging, etc.
Costco's website is very basic when it comes to their returns policy. Will they allow the return - I want to purchase the 65" 95G that currently on sale?
I have a 3 hour round trip to my nearest store, so looking for advice before hitting the road.
Just trying to upgrade?
11 months change of mind policy is generous by any standards
Good luck
If you arent satisfied with the TV, it can be returned - years later if necessary…
Last time I looked there was nothing firm in writing, so best you can do is go by the experience of others and hope you get a nice staff member. Also beware that they may give you the change-of-mind return and then ban you and refund your membership, so it might be a once only kind of thing.
I don't drink so did not investigate. It is quite far from my place too.