Comments on: 7 Reasons Not To Shop At Costco

By: Melissa and Doug Puzzles, Costco, First Class at the Masters | fewdropsofsunshine

Mon, 15 Apr 2013 20:39:43 +0000

[...] some people who do- either for the democratic owner or their prices (which aren’t always the lowest)… but I love it. Costco is a treat for my family. We live an hour away from the closest [...]

By: MB

MB — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 12:42:37 +0000

I have a hard time reading the replies. They are loaded with lack of self control and over spending habits. Practical spending is personal, should never be the control of a wholesaler/retailer. When you shop where people are underpaid/underemployeed offering merchandise coming from sweat shops in other counties you continue to keep our job market in the toilet through that choice. When little money goes back into the local tax base, no money for police/roads, new jobs. When taxes go to a corporation that supports sustainability in its practices and foster decent paying jobs in its community there is gain for the culture as a whole. Much of what I hear is the overconsumption, lacking self control, entitlement, blame game thinking. Understanding and researching the backbones of the companies we support is a step in understanding how to best self sustain our communities. My reply is not directed at every post. Costco is a pretty amazing company with values. Walmart pays employees $8.90 per hour, lacking accessibility to medical insurance people largely underemployeed often struggling and on food stamps………………….way to shift the needs of culture onto the Physical Cliff while they rake in money hand over fist, and one of the largest supporters of GMO’d foods. Costco pays their employees fair living wage. When feeding working fair wage is FAIR.

By: Costco shopper

Costco shopper — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 06:00:52 +0000

To “Value Shopper” Costco actually puts a price per ounce or price per pound etc. On the majority of their signs proving your getting a better deal then you do at Costco then at Walmart but if your not smart enough to read the whole sign that seems like a bigger problem then saving money

By: How to Save on Healthy Groceries | phatandfit

How to Save on Healthy Groceries | phatandfit — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 13:45:02 +0000

[...] buy what I go in the store for and I only buy things I know I will consume anyway. Here is the other side of the Costco debate. Only you know what’s best for you. AND stay away from the packages [...]

By: Mike

Mike — Tue, 11 Dec 2012 00:37:52 +0000

I work at a Costco. We laugh at the idiots who shop at our store. We charge more than Walmart and then charge the morons a membership fee! When I started work at Costco I was told our slogan should be “never give a sucker an even brake”

By: value shopper

value shopper — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 20:14:54 +0000

Lots of great comments, but I think a lot of people totally miss the big problem with Costco. It’s not a question of buying too much or the inconvenience of having to buy in bulk. It’s simply that things at costco are not a better deal (by the oz., gram, or however you add it up). They, like other club stores deliberately deceive you with carefully sized products that are hard to compare, but if you really do the math, you’ll find that Wal-Mart is consistently a better deal regardless of the size. Also a quick comment on Costco’s “AWESOME” return policy: I’ve returned everything at Walmart including food and stuff that I didn’t even have bar code on it. They have never given me any troble. I’d argue that Wal-Mart’s return policy is better and less of a hassle.

By: Olivia

Olivia — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 04:28:35 +0000

I shopped at Costco on the weekend and it will definitely be the last time. We bought a useless cookbook for $20 just because we were at “Costco” and normally a book like that would retail for $5 – $10. The “savings” were just not worth the negatives – you don’t get all the brands you normally like, its a long way from where I live, and I don’t get to enjoy the shopping experience (not enough parking, and too many other people roaming around with massive shopping trolleys).

By: Northern VA

Northern VA — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 14:42:02 +0000

My wife and I read, very interested, the article so that we could deduce a better shopping method. But we couldn’t. The writer had personal reasons why Costco didn’t add up. But for us (a family of 3), Costco is awesome.
1. We don’t buy more than we need. For whatever reason, Costco products “stay longer.” We are fresh food fans, and Costco meats last us a long time. Also, the CHICKEN is packed in 1 pound individual pouches! (We’ve gotten food poisoning from meat on “special” at Safeway.)
2. Well, that’s a personal issue. We cook fabulous meals and have leftovers. Snacking is left for Costco Saturdays when we make an afternoon of wandering around Costco eating free samples.
3. Another very personal difference. We don’t do much in the way of comparison shopping. We’ve got a lot to do. And we’re a little bait-shy about getting meats on special after seeing what we sometimes would get at the grocery stores.
4. After a couple years of Costco membership, we are subject to EXACTLY the same level impulse buying as at the grocery stores.
5. We have the option of driving 5 miles to the Pentagon City Costco, but traffic is bad. We drive to Springfield instead. We also drive all over NoVa and Maryland to find specialty items that we cannot buy in regular grocery stores (or Costco). To us, that’s a wash. Besides, driving around here is “entertaining.”
6. Shopping at Costco takes a lot of time. Shopping at Shoppers Food Warehouse takes a lot of time. Shopping at TJ Maxx takes a lot of time. Shopping at Macy’s takes a lot of time. Shopping at Trader Joe’s takes a little less than a lot of time. 7-Eleven doesn’t take much time.
7. When we factor the cost savings of BABY FORMULA into the equation, the membership is very cost effective. SECRET SECRET SECRET!!! If you pay the now $110 for Executive Membership and you cannot get that back at the end of the year, go to the Service Desk and they’ll cut you a check for the difference of the $110 minus the check you got minus the $55 of the standard membership.

In summary, Costco makes lots and lots of sense to our family.

Cheers!

By: Charles Rice

Charles Rice — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 07:26:32 +0000

Great article.

My two cents: A thought experiment I use constantly is “If this were free, would I take it home?” In that context, a #10 can of ravioli, even for $1, is a “No”.

If you shop around, you can do better than CostCo, but I’m confident that I’m not going to get ripped off.

They have a fantastic return policy. I’ve never had any trouble returning anything I bought there. Even grapes that I found were soft the day after I bought them. That impressed me.

By: baselle

baselle — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 05:45:14 +0000

Costco was the first causality of my price book. Only a couple of things (unit price lower and if you overbuy, it doesn’t go bad) made it worthwhile for me. Again, the most frugal solution is when you don’t buy at all.