Shopping at Costco

To my American readers this might seem a little strange . . . but my son and I went to Costco on Saturday.  And we had SO much fun.  There are three Costco's in Australia - all new, and it is our first experience with shopping "American" style.  We couldn't get over the "super-sizing" of so many products, things just didn't come in what we would consider regular size - everything was huge (even the trollies)!! Just like the Tabasco sauce.  We usually buy (for around $5) the baby size - but at Costco we bough super-size for just $10.  A big saving.

Not everything was cheaper - but heaps was.  However, I avoided the 12 cans of sweetcorn (even though cheaper - where do I keep it) or the 60 rolls of toilet paper (storage problem again) or the litres of sauce etc . . . .My son and I just walk and walk and walk (its huge) and said "wow, look at this" at all the products we don't usually get in Australia.
There were a few American products we couldn't resist, such as Hershey's Chocolate Syrup and the Wing and Rib Sauce and I was very excited to find a large bottle (1 litre = 2.11 pints) of Maple Syrup. In fact the Maple Syrup turned out to be my biggest bargain.  I usually buy 250ml of Maple Syrup costing $10 - 1 litre = $40.  But the bottle I bought at Costco was $15 - a saving of $25.00.  That really impressed me.
It isn't a place I would do my regular shopping, but once every few months it is a place I would certainly visit to stock up on products - in particular their meat, cleaning products and toiletries.  My son definitely wants to go back.   For big families, this certainly would be a useful place to shop.

I don't usually get excited over grocery shopping but this was so much fun - we were like two kids in a lolly shop!!

~oOo~

Comments

  1. Haha! I don't blame you - we would be just as excited!! :) Can you go on and look around the store without a membership card, or do you have to sign up first??

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  2. Oh my! There's one in Melbourne. "Now I just gotta go!"

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  3. Clara - you can go with a member, but you can't go alone - its their way of trapping you!!




    Jeanne - it was heaps of fun and if you want to find all those wonderful American food items its the place to visit. You do need to be a member which costs $60, however if you can find someone who is already a member you can tag along.

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  4. We have a few of those stores here where I live, as well as Sam's Club, which is basically the same thing: a huge warehouse of store goods sold in bulk. I haven't been to a store like this in awhile. We had one close to our house (Sam's Club), but since it moved, I don't bother going anymore. Ha, ha! :)

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  5. Interesting! Never heard of it, but I have heard about the over sizing of everything! xxx

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  6. Americans like to oversize everything... including their budget deficit!!!

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  7. Costco can be a trap. I don't know anyone who does NOT shop there except us...and we used to. It is so easy to say "Only 10 dollars for all this!" It adds up quickly when you are counting by tens. Without even realizing it the tab is over $100.

    My favorite bargain there are the cream puffs. It is a fun place though...especially when they are giving out samples of everything.

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  8. Mrs Santos - you hit the nail on the head. I was very aware of the cost of each item (around $10) and all you need are 10 items to reach $100 - on things you don't really need. While we had fun, I did mostly buy food that we eat each week but did spoil my son with a few treats. We saw the cream puffs in the freezer section and wondered about them (no good for dieting!!). i wouldn't go there often, but perhaps as a special treat for a 18 year old!!!

    They did have quite a good range of cook books that looked interesting - but I walked past quickly so not to be tempted.

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  9. Our family loves Costco, even though we get lots of strange looks when we go. But, tell me, what other place has large enough packages of food for a family of 10? :) Glad you enjoyed it, Jo!

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  10. We do all our core shopping for the month at Costco in one large purchase -- milk (it gets frozen), meat, lunch meat, laundry detergent, etc.; the savings are tremendous. Understand, it's not about super-sizing things at all; the store was originally intended as a wholesale for businesses, hence the membership and the large product sizes -- in the USA businesses still use it.
    LL
    Nick

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  11. Yes, all those supersized products have supersized price tags! We can't afford to shop at stores like that, but I don't mind one bit :)
    Glad you had fun,
    Mrs. Q

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  12. Nick, I think the supersize thing is such a novelty for us we really noticed it, there is nothing like Costco in Australia. I can see businesses buy from Costco now that we have one. I'm sure I will go there every couple of months to stock up on basics - and have a bit of fun:)

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  13. we are just a family of three so it's never tempted me:) we also live in a very small place and so their bulk items wouldn't tempt me at all though the maple syrup does look good and that wing and rib sauce - I remember how good they were in the US! yum!

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  14. We like Costco. My husband does a fair amount of our shopping there as it is quite close to his work. Since we have the space we can take advantage of the large quantities of paper products and some other things. We especially like the good prices on things like cheese, organic eggs, died fruit, healthier choices of meat and so forth. They also seem to offer more organic products than the other major membership warehouse in the U.S. (Sam's Club). Organic products are generally quite pricey in the regular supermarkets here.

    But, as you say, not all things are cheaper. If it's a "national brand" or something a bit "luxury" in regular stores it's quite probably cheaper at Costco. But, for some items the smaller stores who offer their own brand lines sometimes beat them out on price per unit. Of course, there are things they simply don't carry.

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