Costco vs Amazon?

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Barefootgirl
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Costco vs Amazon?

Post by Barefootgirl »

I was recently gifted a Costco membership and I've never shopped there before, so I looked around online for shopping tips for Costco...ran across some sites with posters indicating that Amazon offers better pricing on the same items.

Our household is small and I tend not to purchase in bulk.

If you shop at Costco, what's worthwhile to pick up there?

Thanks, BFG
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dbCooperAir
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Re: Costco vs Amazon?

Post by dbCooperAir »

We get just about all our fruit, meat, milk, fish, cheese and veggies at Costco, those are our biggest ticket items. Soap, paper products etc. as well.

I never really did the math but I would guess for our daily living products we get 80% of it from Costco.
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rustymutt
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Re: Costco vs Amazon?

Post by rustymutt »

Costco!!!!

And we only have Sam's club now. Can't wait til Costco opens next year. Bye Sam's
Sam's service is the worst of any businesses we use. I can't stand Sam's clubs anymore.
To many bad experiences with Sam's clubs. Poorly managed here.
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SteveGo
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Re: Costco vs Amazon?

Post by SteveGo »

We use Costco for:
1. Their dog food, which my large dog prefers.
2. Eyeglasses and Contact Lenses. They have one of the best reputations for price and accuracy of prescription.
3. Hearing aids. They offer a top brand of hearing aid at about half the price of anyone else, with great service.
4. Some of their grocery items, like the mixed nuts, are excellent.

The glasses and hearing aid service more than cover the cost of membership for us.

We are not in an Amazon "speedy delivery" zip code, so I have not considered them for much other than Instant Video, and electronics.
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sdsailing
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Re: Costco vs Amazon?

Post by sdsailing »

We get pretty much all groceries at Costco.
bloom2708
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Re: Costco vs Amazon?

Post by bloom2708 »

sdsailing wrote:We get pretty much all groceries at Costco.
+1

There are a few items we have to get at a regular grocery store or Walmart, otherwise we get all our groceries from Costco.
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cheese_breath
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Re: Costco vs Amazon?

Post by cheese_breath »

I like Costco's return policy. Take just about anything back to them for any reason, and they refund your purchase price. No return mailing involved.
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atomicrc11
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Re: Costco vs Amazon?

Post by atomicrc11 »

For groceries I go to a local grocery store that has great prices, somethings I need to get a the local WalMart or Target and the rest is from Amazon. I looked at Costco, but with the $55 membership and time to get there and back it just is not worth it. Also, no Costco Gas in Massachusetts so that is another blow.

I tried to compare Costco to what we buy normally and just could not beat the price of Amazon or Walmart/Target. For example, diapers size 1 cost $0.15 each when buying Kirkland Brand diapers. Amazon sells Luv's for $0.10 each when you sign up free for Amazon Family and have them delivered monthly. So not only is it less expensive, it gets delivered to my home. Amazon Prime is also nice when we order things and have them all show up no later than 2 days. Also, buying the generic of WalMart/Target saves a lot of money. Thus, to me it isn't worth it. That is not to say it is not worth it to everybody.
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SpringMan
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Re: Costco vs Amazon?

Post by SpringMan »

rustymutt wrote:Costco!!!!

And we only have Sam's club now. Can't wait til Costco opens next year. Bye Sam's
Sam's service is the worst of any businesses we use. I can't stand Sam's clubs anymore.
To many bad experiences with Sam's clubs. Poorly managed here.
Absolutely agree about Sam's and Walmart does not impress me either. I posted in a recent thread about a run in with the Sam's Club greeter. I had arrived 15 minutes before the store was open for non business customers. Rules are rules but the demeanor of the greeter fortified my negative view on Sam's. I considered the new Sam's credit card that pays 5% back on gas. Read the fine print that Sam's automatically deducts yearly Sam's Club dues. I was gifted my membership and don't plan to renew. On the other hand, Costco has an excellent return policy. I prefer them hands down over Sam's. Amazon is very convenient and avoids sales tax in some cases though I believe this is supposed to be reported on the state tax forms as fair use tax. Not being an Amazon Prime member, I have delayed vacations in the past due to expecting an expensive Amazon delivery. Didn't feel comfortable leaving a 500 dollar camera on my porch for days while nobody was home. I don't see Costco and Amazon as being mutually exclusive, shop both for the best deal.
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BigFoot48
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Re: Costco vs Amazon?

Post by BigFoot48 »

Both! Order cheaper specialty items from Amazon (I have irrigation timers, power strips, and an umbrella on the way right now) and food, TVs, clothes, pills and glasses from Costco (Did just get two $8 umbrellas there too!). Recent thread on Costco stuff to buy: http://www.bogleheads.org/forum/viewtop ... 1&t=145886
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S&L1940
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Re: Costco vs Amazon?

Post by S&L1940 »

sdsailing wrote:We get pretty much all groceries at Costco.
+1 as well as much of our snacks and paper goods
Costco has a great return policy - no questions asked - including opened food packages
Amazon has a greater spread of products but here in Florida they have lost their no tax edge
They both are go-to sources and Costco's self check out seems to speed things along
A shopping trip there is no different than the wife hitting the mall for her major department store excursions
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bungalow10
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Re: Costco vs Amazon?

Post by bungalow10 »

Costco. Very few items are available and cheaper at Amazon.

regular Costco purchases - organic bulk AP flour for baking, yeast, organic sugar, fruit and veggies (out of season), Tillamook medium cheddar cheese (great cheese and really good value), Parmesan wedge, cheese pizza, snack foods and cereals (especially when there are coupons), Kirkland whole bean coffee, organic butter, capers (seriously - 32 ounce jars of capers for $6!!), dry pasta.
Last edited by bungalow10 on Thu Sep 11, 2014 9:47 am, edited 1 time in total.
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red5
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Re: Costco vs Amazon?

Post by red5 »

Purchasing milk throughout the year saves us our entire membership fee and then more. Milk is .75 to 1.00 dollar cheaper at Costco than any of the other local grocery stores. And the good thing about this is you don't buy it in bulk.

Other items that we tend to purchase there include apples (fruit), cereal, eggs, butter, meats (except chicken/cheaper elsewhere), dishwasher soap, laundry detergent, peanut butter, pasta sauce, some vegetables, spices, baking ingredients, and probably some other things that I cannot think of off the top of my head.

I find that many of these "bulk" items are not horrendously bulky and they certainly will not completely fill up your kitchen and spare closet space. Instead of buying a single box of cereal, you get two. Same thing with peanut butter. Yes, you do purchase more of each product but it is not like you are getting restaurant sized food items (well for some, you can).

One important thing I feel is to go in there with a list, otherwise it will be easy to go overboard on buying items you would not normally purchase.

By the way, I find that Kirkland is an excellent brand, better than name brands in many instances (especially peanut butter and chocolate chips).
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Re: Costco vs Amazon?

Post by Pizzasteve510 »

You might also check out Costco.com . They have special deals that beat Amazon for the more narrow set of offerings they source (usually limited duration) and their offerings differ from store products. An example is a recent premium inflatable air mattress that was roughly 10% below Amazons best price, but sold out after a few weeks.
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Re: Costco vs Amazon?

Post by gerrym51 »

red5 wrote:Purchasing milk throughout the year saves us our entire membership fee and then more. Milk is .75 to 1.00 dollar cheaper at Costco than any of the other local grocery stores. And the good thing about this is you don't buy it in bulk.

Other items that we tend to purchase there include apples (fruit), cereal, eggs, butter, meats (except chicken/cheaper elsewhere), dishwasher soap, laundry detergent, peanut butter, pasta sauce, some vegetables, spices, baking ingredients, and probably some other things that I cannot think of off the top of my head.

I find that many of these "bulk" items are not horrendously bulky and they certainly will not completely fill up your kitchen and spare closet space. Instead of buying a single box of cereal, you get two. Same thing with peanut butter. Yes, you do purchase more of each product but it is not like you are getting restaurant sized food items (well for some, you can).

One important thing I feel is to go in there with a list, otherwise it will be easy to go overboard on buying items you would not normally purchase.

By the way, I find that Kirkland is an excellent brand, better than name brands in many instances (especially peanut butter and chocolate chips).
Kirkland premium tuna fish-best we have ever had
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Re: Costco vs Amazon?

Post by LongerPrimer »

Costco:
Cheap hydrocodone (now, I remember why I don't take the stuff-nausea for 24 hours after pill #4). Cheap BP and metformin pills.
Cheap hotdogs and pizzas. In the 25 years of our store, they have never raised the price of a dog or pizza - and it comes with drink.
We used to buy TP, but we do bidet now.
Eggs, milk, coffee, and salad greens.
Large once or twice in lifetime kitchen/home appliances.
Batteries, detergents, daily vitamins and supplements.

Wal-Mart Super stores: Coffee filters. Diapers. Not much else. Don't like how they treat their clerks and it shows in the service.

Amazon: very occasionally, when we need more unique items like bidets (6). We piggy back on DS's Prime Card. He uses Prime a lot, lives in Seattle near downtown where suburbia stores are hard to get to.
Last edited by LongerPrimer on Thu Sep 11, 2014 11:33 am, edited 1 time in total.
investor1
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Re: Costco vs Amazon?

Post by investor1 »

Costco

Gas. They are always the cheapest around.
Toiletries
They have good deals on random things like electronics, clothing, camping gear, etc. from time to time, and they typically keep that stuff near the entrance which means you have to walk by it anyway. I lost my soft shell jacket last year and picked one up there for $20 (Kirkland brand built exactly like the North Face one I lost). That beats the $80 that Columbia or North Face wanted!
They also have good deals when booking car rentals through them.

...and you don't have to wait for any of this to be delivered. They also pay their employees a decent wage and offer good benefits.
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tyrion
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Re: Costco vs Amazon?

Post by tyrion »

As a family of 4 we buy a lot of stuff at Costco. I used to joke to coworkers that if you couldn't buy it at Costco you didn't need it. They stock seasonal items as well as food. And each Costco has a beer/wine buyer, so expect good variety and great prices plus some regional stuff.

Here's what I bought yesterday-
Fruits - I think it was organic bananas, grapes, and apples
Veggies - kale salad, baby romaine hearts, bell peppers, brocolli
organic eggs
Flautas
Beer
Wine
bread
bagels
volleyball ($42 at amazon, $29 at costco)

Also picked up some pizza slices.

Cool/interesting things I've bought previously:
Ink refills (way cheaper than buying the cartridges new each time)
Wetsuits and boogie boards
furniture (not cheap, but very well made)
flat screen TV (great return policy, took the first one I bought back with zero hassle)



Ditto on comments about Costco paying employees a solid living wage. The people seem happy at my Costco, despite the hustle and bustle. No so much at the nearby Target and Walmart.
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Re: Costco vs Amazon?

Post by bungalow10 »

tyrion wrote: furniture (not cheap, but very well made)
flat screen TV (great return policy, took the first one I bought back with zero hassle)



Ditto on comments about Costco paying employees a solid living wage. The people seem happy at my Costco, despite the hustle and bustle. No so much at the nearby Target and Walmart.
We've also purchased TVs, a monitor, printer, and furniture at Costco. We took an outdoor furniture set back that was three years old (it was falling apart) and they refunded our money with no questions.

I've been shopping at Costco for four years now and their turnover appears to be very low, which speaks to how well they treat their employees.

My favorite way to discover new items to try at Costco is to ask employees. I will often ask the person at the checkout what their favorite product is or what seems to be selling really well.
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Re: Costco vs Amazon?

Post by dm200 »

Barefootgirl wrote:I was recently gifted a Costco membership and I've never shopped there before, so I looked around online for shopping tips for Costco...ran across some sites with posters indicating that Amazon offers better pricing on the same items.

Our household is small and I tend not to purchase in bulk.

If you shop at Costco, what's worthwhile to pick up there?

Thanks, BFG
There is a COSTCO about 2 miles from our house, so it is very convenient - no gas station though ;(

I buy

-plain almonds, walnuts (eachin 3 pound bags)
- Sunkist raisins, dried plums, dates, 5 pound bag peanuts in the shell
- bananas (3 pounds at 39cents a pound), strawberries, mixed salad greens, whole grain bread, sometimes apples (Red Delicious), frozen mixed berries, frozen pineapple chunks
- some shoes (when available)
- salmon burgers, frozen hake (fish) fillets, veggie burgers, soy burgers, (occasionally) frozen turkey burgers
- multivitaims, calcium+D tablets
- regular oatmeal (10 pound box), raisin bran, chunk light tunafish
- soy milk (dozen 1 quart packages)
and a few other, similar items from time to time

Definitely worth it
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Re: Costco vs Amazon?

Post by rixer »

Excluding price, some things are just packaged better at Costco. Such as hamburger, you can get it in a frozen package of separately wrapped individual 1lb chubs. Very handy. The frozen skinless chicken breasts are also sold in bags of individually wrapped breasts that make it easy store in the freezer and use just what you need.

We always stock up on the TP, laundry detergent and softener, bread, mayo, jars of sliced jalapino, salsa, canned veggies, frozen cheese pizza, cheese and one of my favorites is their organic maple syrup.

I've found that their casual cloths are trendy, and well made. I love the Adidas shirts and Union Bay cargo shorts they carry. Since retirement, I have this Costco wardrobe I'm always in. Another item we like there is bedsheets. We get some comfortable Egyptian Cotton sheets with 4 pillowcases at good prices.

At any rate, there's lot's of things we buy at Costco and things we get elsewhere but we usually start at Costco because we like the quality and price of their merchandise.
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Re: Costco vs Amazon?

Post by englishgirl »

Regular purchases: Toilet paper, dry cat food, wet cat food, coffee, green tea, olive oil, rice, quinoa, lentils, hummus, laundry detergent, frozen organic veggies and fruit (I tend to buy fresh stuff at a local store), frozen veggie burgers, butter, almond milk, almonds, walnuts, canned black beans, canned tomatoes, dry quinoa pasta, kitchen towels, stuffed grape leaves, spinach ravioli, salsa, roasted seaweed snacks

Occasional stuff that is still a good deal: trash bags (OMG, the giant box!), batteries, ziploc bags, eyeglasses, yoga clothes, camisoles, PJ pants, light bulbs

Occasional splurges: manchego cheese, saffron, wine, almond butter
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dm200
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Re: Costco vs Amazon?

Post by dm200 »

The food "court" has, in my opinion, real bargains - if you eat hot dogs, pizza (either by the slice there or whole pizza to go), or a few other available items.
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Re: Costco vs Amazon?

Post by nisiprius »

We use both. We like both. It never even occurred to me to compare them, because their range of competency is so different.

I tend to go to Costco (and Walmart*) not so much for price, as because they have a non-overlapping selection of merchandise with other stores. Sometimes I think that the main supermarket chains in our area must all be buying from the same limited set of distributors.

I tend to go to Amazon for "hard-to-get" items. If I can't find the right thing in stores, I go to the Internet, and if I go to the Internet I, well, tend to go to Amazon first because of Amazon Prime shipping and because they have excellent customer service.
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vv19
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Re: Costco vs Amazon?

Post by vv19 »

Has anyone done a Costco vs Target comparison? We recently got the Target Red card which gives an additional 5% off on all purchases. I'd be interested to see how Target's prices compare with Costco and Walmart.
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Post by ivyhedge »

atomicrc11 wrote:Also, no Costco Gas in Massachusetts so that is another blow.
I use the Danvers Costco for gas once per week. It might be out of the way for some, but I pass by there on 95 South ... once per week! It is the only Costco gas location in the Commonwealth, though.
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Re: Costco vs Amazon?

Post by bungalow10 »

jay22 wrote:Has anyone done a Costco vs Target comparison? We recently got the Target Red card which gives an additional 5% off on all purchases. I'd be interested to see how Target's prices compare with Costco and Walmart.
I find Target to be very expensive. I only go there when I have no other choice.

adding link - http://wealthyturtle.com/finally-proof- ... -cheapest/
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Re: Costco vs Amazon?

Post by bnes »

Barefootgirl wrote:I was recently gifted a Costco membership and I've never shopped there before, so I looked around online for shopping tips for Costco...ran across some sites with posters indicating that Amazon offers better pricing on the same items.
Prices change all the time. Amazon and Costco are competitors.
http://www.seattleweekly.com/news/theda ... not-costco

In general Costco is lower. By and large Costco's costs are lower, since items are delivered to the store
in bulk, and don't need to be boxed or shipped
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Re: Costco vs Amazon?

Post by leonard »

We have 2 people in our household - but still manage to find great deals at costco for eggs, greek yogurt, low carb wraps, pine nuts, cheeses (great selection of cheeses at a reasonable price), frozen berries, protein powder, snacks, gum, all vitamins, and clothing (great deals on everyday clothes).

Be cautious or outright avoid at costco: "fresh" berries (several times we have purchased blueberries and strawberries that have molded in a day or two; we simply don't buy fresh berries from costco now), some fresh veggies (bags of asparagus seem like a good deal, but they ended up being old and went soft quickly).
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Re: Costco vs Amazon?

Post by CABob »

Costco has a fair number of items for sale under their own trade name, "Kirkland". Generally these things are very well priced and couldn't be compared directly with Amazon. Costco doesn't typically carry a number of different brands for a single item, but IMO the one they carry is generally priced well.
We buy a lot of meat, grocery items, paper products, water, drinks, etc. regularly from Costco. Ocassionally we will buy small appliances, office supplies, clothing, etc.
Most of these things I would not think of for purchase at Amazon.
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Re: Costco vs Amazon?

Post by vv19 »

bungalow10 wrote:
jay22 wrote:Has anyone done a Costco vs Target comparison? We recently got the Target Red card which gives an additional 5% off on all purchases. I'd be interested to see how Target's prices compare with Costco and Walmart.
I find Target to be very expensive. I only go there when I have no other choice.

adding link - http://wealthyturtle.com/finally-proof- ... -cheapest/
I guess it really depends on what you're buying - in general, we have concluded that everything in Target (except grocery) is comparable to the Walmart prices and at a much better quality.
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Re: Costco vs Amazon?

Post by S&L1940 »

leonard wrote: Be cautious or outright avoid at costco: "fresh" berries (several times we have purchased blueberries and strawberries that have molded in a day or two; we simply don't buy fresh berries from costco now), some fresh veggies (bags of asparagus seem like a good deal, but they ended up being old and went soft quickly).
We had bananas that did not ripen, grapes that molded up in a day, pea pods went bad, cheese that turned, etc...
Even when the purchase was a month old, they checked the receipt and gave us a refund.
Only once, they needed to plug in a TV that did not perform the way we expected and they wanted to make sure it worked.
Costco does not ask why, they just want to make sure you bought the item from them
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Re: Costco vs Amazon?

Post by leonard »

1530jesup wrote:
leonard wrote: Be cautious or outright avoid at costco: "fresh" berries (several times we have purchased blueberries and strawberries that have molded in a day or two; we simply don't buy fresh berries from costco now), some fresh veggies (bags of asparagus seem like a good deal, but they ended up being old and went soft quickly).
We had bananas that did not ripen, grapes that molded up in a day, pea pods went bad, cheese that turned, etc...
Even when the purchase was a month old, they checked the receipt and gave us a refund.
Only once, they needed to plug in a TV that did not perform the way we expected and they wanted to make sure it worked.
Costco does not ask why, they just want to make sure you bought the item from them
yes. they definitely have a great return policy. The problem items are just indicative IMO of an inability to really manage their fresh fruit and veggies in to the store and ensure it's actually fresh.
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Re: Costco vs Amazon?

Post by MoonOrb »

Okay, I LOVE Costco. Having said that, I wonder sometimes if I'm better off without the membership because I wind up dropping a ton of money there, and I go there a lot. I've come to think of Costco as a sort of lifestyle/entertainment combined with a shopping choice instead of just as a straight up shopping choice.

But. Here are all of the things I regularly get at Costco:

Gas, milk, greek yogurt, organic eggs, frozen fruit, salad mix, apples, vitamins, some random vegetables, protein powder.

Less regularly: oatmeal, cheese, coconut water, vitamins, printer cartridges, peanut butter, nuts.

Occasionally: toilet paper, paper towels, toothpaste, deodorant, quinoa, laundry or dishwasher detergent, wine, shampoo, stamps.

Rarely: tires, socks, small appliances, flash drives, lightbulbs.

Regular impulse type purchases: things to eat like quiche, fresh salsa, guacamole, quinoa salad, etc.; sometimes a cookbook or DVD, discounted movie tickets.

I figure everything that goes in my cart averages about $10 or darn close to it, so when I am on top of my game I try to limit the number of items in my cart.

I live in Seattle, the mecca of Costcos, so getting to Costco is not a big deal and I (for better or worse) go 3-4 times a month. I'd be less willing to do this if it were not convenient.
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Re: Costco vs Amazon?

Post by bertilak »

cheese_breath wrote:I like Costco's return policy. Take just about anything back to them for any reason, and they refund your purchase price. No return mailing involved.
I just returned a desk chair I bought at Costco about a month ago.

The chair was comfortable -- mostly.

I didn't notice it at first but it had a subtle tilt to the left. After a while (week or so) I started to have back aches on one side and then noticed I was constantly shifting about in the chair to stay comfortable. Asked wife to sit in it and when I pointed out what I was experiencing shef noticed the same thing.

To be sure I used a level and sure enough it tilted left. I spun the chair around and the tile followed the chair so it was't the floor. I also spun around the base, leaving the seat as is and the tilt stayed with the seat and back.

Bottom line Costco took it back with just one question - why was I returning it. I explained the above. They put a "Not Resaleable" sticker on it and credited my card. Asked to see a receipt but I didn't have it with me and it made no difference -- they have all the records on their computer.

That is one reason I like Costco. To be fair, Amazon has a similar return policy but it was easier to stick the chair in the back seat of my car than to try to repackage it for a UPS (or was it FedEx) return.
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Re: Costco vs Amazon?

Post by Toons »

Sams club member here,no Costco Available.I am always using the Amazon app to scan items before purchase when visiting Sams,,,Many times,,especially when it comes to electronics,Amazon has the better price.
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Re: Costco vs Amazon?

Post by CABob »

I have been a Costco member for many years. My conclusion is that they may not have the cheapest price on everything, but, that have a very fair price. And they often will throw in some extra that has some value. I got my last cell phone through them. I think I may have paid the same price as I would have directly from Verizon, but, they included a case, charger, display protector, etc.
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Re: Costco vs Amazon?

Post by blackstone »

Not exactly Costco vs Amazon, but Costco's car & home insurance rates ( through Ameriprise ) have tended to be way better than other options ( atleast in MA ). Just that might easily pay for an executive membership.
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Re: Costco vs Amazon?

Post by drawpoker »

Nearest Costco & Sam's are 36 miles away over bad roads so don't get there much anymore.
Amazon dot com turned out to be huge disappointment with 1st purchase of cat litter. Bags that were supposed to weigh 21-22 lbs (they were being sold by the liter) turned out to weigh less than 16 lbs. Major ripoff!
Amazon was very nice, apologized, and gave prompt full refund on everything, incl. shipping.
However, their excuse was that they don't use any type of quality control, spot checking, of new vendors & newer products, so they were unaware customers were being so short-changed by the underweight bags.
If true, that tells me they need to start instituting some quality control measures before they post shipping weights, whether expressed in pounds or metric system, on their website and new customers like me feel they can be relied upon.
They lost me as a customer.
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6miths
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Re: Costco vs Amazon?

Post by 6miths »

Costco may not have the lowest price but often they do, especially if you buy things when they go on sale. Quality is excellent. Return policy is ridiculously good. Anything that I can buy at Costco, I do. Kirkland branded items are generally excellent. I like the diversity of products on Amazon and love to browse and occasionally buy things there. Some very good deals. I have one of Amazon's no Forex fee Visa cards for traveling.
'It ain't what you don't know that gets you into trouble. It's what you know for sure that just ain't so!' Mark Twain
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dm200
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Re: Costco vs Amazon?

Post by dm200 »

1530jesup wrote:
leonard wrote: Be cautious or outright avoid at costco: "fresh" berries (several times we have purchased blueberries and strawberries that have molded in a day or two; we simply don't buy fresh berries from costco now), some fresh veggies (bags of asparagus seem like a good deal, but they ended up being old and went soft quickly).
We had bananas that did not ripen, grapes that molded up in a day, pea pods went bad, cheese that turned, etc...
Even when the purchase was a month old, they checked the receipt and gave us a refund.
Only once, they needed to plug in a TV that did not perform the way we expected and they wanted to make sure it worked.
Costco does not ask why, they just want to make sure you bought the item from them
I regularly get fresh strawberries - and have not had any quality problems. In fact, the Costco strawberries are less likely to moldy/mushy than the ones I occasionally get at the local grocery chain. The last time I bought strawberries, I noticed just before i got my cart around to the strawberries, that an employee had gone through the strwberries and pulled out quite a few packages - I presume he was pulling th older dated ones. I occasionally get grapes - never any problem.

I regularly get the 3 pound bag of bananas (only 39 cents a pound!). Until about a year ago, I noticed that the COSTCO bananas seemed to often "ripen" in a way that they got soft/mushy more than other ones - but I was able to eat them up. Now, the bananas tend to often be very green - so I just plan for that and put them in a paper bag to hasten ripening - works ok. The previous tendency to get soft/mushy seems to have gone away as well. Since the COSTCO bananas are so much less per pound, I have concluded that I could (but have not yet) throw away 1/3 of them and still be money ahead.
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Hexdump
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Re: Costco vs Amazon?

Post by Hexdump »

Re the moldy berries especially blackberries, what we do is to immediately rinse them in a bleach solution which kills all the bugs, and put them in the fridge.
Then rinse them again in fresh water just before eating.
I have only tried this once and it did keep them from molding.
bungalow10
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Re: Costco vs Amazon?

Post by bungalow10 »

Hexdump wrote:Re the moldy berries especially blackberries, what we do is to immediately rinse them in a bleach solution which kills all the bugs, and put them in the fridge.
Then rinse them again in fresh water just before eating.
I have only tried this once and it did keep them from molding.
Vinegar works as well... and I would think less risk of side effects.

Also, um, keep your refrigerator clean. If you ever wonder why your berries (or other foods) are getting moldy or stinky before they should... well, the bacteria may originate in your refrigerator. :oops:
An elephant for a dime is only a good deal if you need an elephant and have a dime.
vv19
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Re: Costco vs Amazon?

Post by vv19 »

bungalow10 wrote:
Vinegar works as well... and I would think less risk of side effects.

Also, um, keep your refrigerator clean. If you ever wonder why your berries (or other foods) are getting moldy or stinky before they should... well, the bacteria may originate in your refrigerator. :oops:
Off topic, but whenever I see any of your post, I can't help but smile after reading your signature. What an apt quote! :D
TravelerMSY
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Re: Costco vs Amazon?

Post by TravelerMSY »

Diehard BH members will be price checking items against Amazon or their local grocer on their phones while you're at Cc.
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DonCamillo
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Re: Costco vs Amazon?

Post by DonCamillo »

Costco has a deliberately limited selection of a a few thousand items in a limited range of sizes. Amazon probably has over a million. So you can not do all your shopping at Costco, but for the reasons given by other BH above, it is a great place to shop.

You probably should not buy perishable items from Costco if the package contains significantly more product than you would use before it spoils. I always joke about buying aspirin in a 55 gallon drum from Costco. It seems that half the people in my Costco parking lot are driving SUVs. I don't think you can shop at Costco if your only car is a Mercedes Smart or a Mazda Miata.
Les vieillards aiment à donner de bons préceptes, pour se consoler de n'être plus en état de donner de mauvais exemples. | (François, duc de La Rochefoucauld, maxim 93)
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VictoriaF
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Re: Costco vs Amazon?

Post by VictoriaF »

Right now, I make over 95% of my purchases in Costco and Amazon. I don't consider shopping a form of entertainment and don't go to more than one physical store per week. Thus, I buy most of my food in Costco, most of which is organic. When I am in Costco, I never take free samples of food, never buy meals in Costco, and seldom buy non-food items. Thus, I have never been in danger of overspending in Costco.

Amazon is a different story. I buy a lot of books, many more than I should, as well as other non-perishable items. Shopping on Amazon is mildly entertaining for me as I am reading reviews and visualizing how various features of an item would apply to me. Frequently, it's beneficial; sometimes, it's waste of time.

Victoria
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ralph124cf
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Re: Costco vs Amazon?

Post by ralph124cf »

I just bought some Costco house brand (Kirkland) pills at Amazon. I joined Costco in 1982, but I moved in 2005 to a place that was 20 miles from the nearest Costco and only 2 miles from Sam's Club. Sam's and Costco have amazingly similar selections, although I like the Costco house brands fractionally better than the Sam's house brand.

Ralph
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Barefootgirl
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Re: Costco vs Amazon?

Post by Barefootgirl »

I confess to not having been in one of these warehouse type stores in some time....do they still sell items only in large quantity packaging? just thinking about the perishability factor.

BFG
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