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Sam's Club does a very nice job with photo enlargement but being a person who lives alone and has to lug packages up a flight of stairs, those super large products are a no-go for me.
Unless you have a family I think the $55 for Costco membership is nuts. I don't have a Sam's near me.
I pay $110 for an executive membership, and my kids are no longer living at home. It is still worth it for me. And depending on how much you spend, you get some or all of the $55 back at the end of the year, or you could even get enough back to cover your whole $110 membership for the next year. I usually get around $90 back so in effect, the membership costs me about $20 a year.
As an example of the savings I just bought a package of 40 Duracell AA batteries for $12.99 at Costco. You know how much 40 AA batteries would cost elsewhere? And that's just ONE thing. Costco also sends out a book of coupons every couple of months on $2 or $4 off this or that, and it always includes things that I ALWAYS buy, like toilet paper and paper towels. They just scan the bar code on the booklet they send you and then anything you buy that is in the booklet is also included (you don't have to cut out individual coupons) and I was told my one register person that it's still good if you go back again and get those sale items within a certain period of time. Maybe not for the whole time of the date of the coupon, but for a week or so.
I get 80 Keurig K-cups for about $37. In the grocery store it would cost me $55 or more.
First it depends on the total amount of money each year you spend on Sam's/Costco's type merchandize. (if you a family vs single and upper middle class vs lower class...)
Second it depends on your whole shopping strategy. Do you shop multiple stores,being careful to buy on sale, clip coupons...? That kind of strategy can beat the everyday low bulk prices of the warehouse clubs.
I pay $35 a year formy Sam's membership. I figured it up one time, that I save that $35 plus on a single item that everyone buys, toilet paper. Yes the savings are siginificant on just the necessities, food, cleaning and paper products.
Had to replace our 10 year old 55" TV a couple of months ago. Knew what I wanted (technology, features, etc.) narrowed it down to a brand, and the Sam's price was $170 less than the next closest either online or brick and mortar.
The thing with Costco is that they sell everything at cost. They only make money off of membership fees. So you generally make out well.... moreso if you have a family to shop for.
I am a sale shopper and a coupon clipper, but my Costco membership is well worth its cost to me even though I'm only shopping for two people. Here are my Top 10 reasons why:
1. I have found myself buying at least one big ticket item there at least once a year. This year it was a mattress, last year car tires and a battery, the year before that a laptop computer. I shop very carefully for those things, checking out prices and features for months sometimes, and for each purchase I could get the item I wanted at a price that provided big enough savings that it covered my annual membership fee.
2. I get my gasoline there except for the three-month periods when my Visa Rewards card is giving me a 5% return on gas. Then, gas at Circle K paid with my Visa card is a bit cheaper.
3. I get prescriptions filled there. The price is lower than any other pharmacy in my area. Someone already mentioned that it's especially beneficial if you have no insurance coverage for prescriptions. That's true — you get an extra discount if you're paying out of pocket. Vitamins, supplements, and many OTC medications are also well-priced and they have a great selection. My mother's doctor recommended an OTC med to her and she paid $5 for 30 pills at Osco. I got her a bottle of 200 for $7 at Costco.
4. I get inkjet cartridges refilled and computer supplies like photo paper. Cheaper than any office store.
5. I buy some laundry and paper products there. But only when I've calculated that it's indeed cheaper than supermarket + coupon and/or it's the quality I want. I could get lower-quality paper towels at my supermarket but I prefer Bounty and I can get them cheaper per-roll at Costco, often with an additional $3 off from their monthly coupon book.
6. I buy some food items there, especially if they fit in my freezer. For instance they have great bread choices but for two people some of it has to be frozen due to quantity. Of course, their $5 rotisserie chickens have yet to be beaten by any other purveyor. And Cheerios — two huge boxes for less than $6.
7. If you are entertaining, it's a no-brainer to buy the food at Costco. You can look like you hired a caterer.
8. I get a lot of holiday gifts. I'm a big believer in giving things that get used up and don't sit around collecting dust. Last year I bought practical food items for my seniors on fixed incomes that I put in gift baskets, gourmet coffee and boxes of golf or tennis balls for appropriate people, candy gifts for workers at offices I frequent, gift cards from local restaurants that were less expensive than the restaurant sold them for, I-tune gift cards, and international phone cards for people who use them. Yes, you can get those things at other places, but not usually at Costco prices. Not to mention ... one-stop shopping and no malls.
9. Has anyone yet mentioned booze? I think some states limit the sale, but at my Arizona store, the prices can't be beat. Excellent wine selections at rock-bottom prices. I don't even drink but I buy it for entertaining and as gifts. Give financially strapped parents a bottle of top-shelf tequila or a case of good beer for Christmas and watch their faces light up.
10. I get a rebate check every summer in an amount depending on what I purchased that year. Mine's usually a little over $100. Again, more than the price of the membership.
I, too, don't care to go to Costco when it's crowded. My solution: go Monday through Thursday at 7 p.m. No crowds. Good parking. Take a list and don't browse.
I'm trying to decide whether or not renew my membership with Costco. We haven't been since November when we bought our TV (old one died). Every time we've gone, we got a very high-pressure sales spiel to upgrade the membership to the Executive level while we were waiting in line. I mean it was extreme high pressure - worse than even Culligan gives (and that's bad enough). My husband doesn't feel it's worth it at all, but I do, especially on some of the things we buy. I noticed it did lower our average grocery bill some. I think he objects more to the high-pressure sales spiel than anything. It's the fastest way to turn him off on a product/service/whatever. It comes up for renewal this month. We finally did relent and upgraded the membership when we bought the TV but haven't been back. They added two months to the membership when we did that, otherwise it would have been up in May.
I'm trying to decide whether or not renew my membership with Costco. We haven't been since November when we bought our TV (old one died). Every time we've gone, we got a very high-pressure sales spiel to upgrade the membership to the Executive level while we were waiting in line. I mean it was extreme high pressure - worse than even Culligan gives (and that's bad enough). My husband doesn't feel it's worth it at all, but I do, especially on some of the things we buy. I noticed it did lower our average grocery bill some. I think he objects more to the high-pressure sales spiel than anything. It's the fastest way to turn him off on a product/service/whatever. It comes up for renewal this month. We finally did relent and upgraded the membership when we bought the TV but haven't been back. They added two months to the membership when we did that, otherwise it would have been up in May.
Hmmm....I didn't notice it being high pressure. They scanned my card to see how much I'd spent so far that year and told me how much of a rebate I'd get based on that if I had executive membership as opposed to regular membership. When I declined, that was the end of it. Later I did end up getting an executive membership because I had a friend who had one and said that it was worth it for her. Now I've had executive membership for three years, and every year the rebate check I get nearly pays for my executive membership ($110). But even if I had to pay the full $110 every year, the savings would make it worth the membership fee. And as I said in a prior post, I don't buy all that much food because it's just the two of now (kids have left home), but I use it for Keurig cups, toilet paper, paper towels, dryer sheets, aluminum foil, ziplock freezer bags, paper plates, paper cups, bath soap, Q-tips, body lotion, ibuprofen, instant breakfast, vitamins/supplements, electronics (GPS, TVs, computers), batteries, ink cartridges, shorts, T-shirts, pillows, towels, kitchen appliances, candy/snacks when we have parties or at Christmas. Also get lots of Christmas gifts there, and find things to buy throughout the year to save for Christmas time.
A big cheesecake at the grocery store is about $30 and at Costco MUCH less, and it's delicious. Since their bakery products are baked fresh, I don't think they use preservatives in them. So I have found that I need to buy bakery goods within a day or two of when I plan to serve it. I bought pumpkins pies once a couple of days before Thanksgiving and the day after Thanksgiving they had mold on them. I don't blame Costco for that; I figure they bake them fresh and don't use preservatives, so they aren't going to keep as long as a factory-made pie would. That's okay.
Last edited by luzianne; 07-02-2012 at 09:36 AM..
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