What does everyone buy at Costco?

[E&Cmom]

Too many things to list

Anthing from socks and toilet paper to my children's bedroom sets. Lol.

 

[Ciao Mickey]

I love my Costco especially around the holidays. Wait until you see all the goodies they carry.

I check Costco.com once per week. They have really really good prices on some high-end items. They are limited in number so it's like now you see it, now you don't.

At the beginning of the summer they had woman's Birkenstock sandals for $49 (Birko-Flor). I bought 3 pairs in different colors (they are uggie I know, but due to a toe injury I needed open-toed sandals for around the house). They've carried Burberry, Miu Miu, Prada, and many designer bags if you're into designer bags. They had Tumi luggage back in June that I was going to buy for my son's birthday. When I went back to order it, it was gone.

They have excellent sales on tv's around Black Friday. They extend the warranties on tvs and appliances if you use their credit card.

Also, their rental car rates are great too.

 

[ols386]

TP, paper towel, meat sometimes, pop, dessert or cookies

 

[DawnM]

90% of our grocery shopping is at Costco.
Pet food
Vitamins and meds
Gift Cards (we save a bundle!)
clothing
TVs
gloves, socks, Mixers, batteries

What do we NOT buy at Costco?

 

[bcla]

90% of our grocery shopping is at Costco.
Pet food
Vitamins and meds
Gift Cards (we save a bundle!)
clothing
TVs
gloves, socks, Mixers, batteries

What do we NOT buy at Costco?

Costco isn't always the cheapest, but the quality of almost everything they sell is good. Their "instant coupon" specials seem to be based on the manufacturer chipping in. I don't believe that they every have any "loss leaders" like regular retail stores do to get people in the door, but some of the things they have don't make much money (like the food court).

I don't buy eggs at Costco any more. My local ones used to have two dozen standard white eggs pretty cheap. But now they seem to only have cage free and organic brown eggs as two dozen. I think I'd have to get a flat of five dozen, and we don't go through eggs fast enough for that. My Trader Joe's has basic white eggs cheaper by the dozen. I don't know if it has anything to do with California laws that don't allow eggs to be sold by "battery hens".

I like the bananas they sell. Sold by the bag with a nominal 3 lb weight. I prefer the smaller ones as opposed to other retailers that sell them individually or perhaps weighed.

I'm willing to get almost anything there if I need it, but I'll look at the price and figure out if it's worth it - especially the monster sizes.

I've also gotten car batteries (their warranty service is excellent) and tires. When you get it there you can get free rotations and rebalancing for the life of the tires. Not all tire shops rebalance for free.

One of the more interesting concepts they have are "Costco Business Centers". They have some of the items that regular Costco stores have, but they have stuff like restaurant supplies, office supplies, and resale packages - and they will sell to any Costco member. There's one on the way to/from work and I've gotten snacks like single-serving bags of Cheez-Its, pretzels, cookies, etc. I got a case of shot glasses, stainless steel bowls, measuring spoons, tongs, etc. The first time I saw one of these was when I was in Las Vegas and my wife needed to adjust her glasses. I just punched in Costco to my phone mapping app and it sent me there where I found out it wasn't a regular Costco and the optical department went away when they changed the format.

 

[amberpi]

They've carried Burberry, Miu Miu, Prada, and many designer bags if you're into designer bags. They had Tumi luggage back in June that I was going to buy for my son's birthday. When I went back to order it, it was gone.

Is that at costco online or do you have to constantly be checking the store? I'm a single woman who tries to eat locally and I eat out all the time, so I figured costco made no sense, and its super inconvenient. However, if I could a deal on designer handbags without having to drive across the city, THAT could make the cost of admission worth it.

 

[bcla]

Is that at costco online or do you have to constantly be checking the store? I'm a single woman who tries to eat locally and I eat out all the time, so I figured costco made no sense, and its super inconvenient. However, if I could a deal on designer handbags without having to drive across the city, THAT could make the cost of admission worth it.

When Costco has that sort of stuff it tends to be a one-off deal or "traveling shows" where a rep from the seller is there. Sometimes they get deals with local or regional retailers and might sell them in a limited number of stores. If it's designer handbags, they would tend to be grey market since the manufacturer doesn't typically want them sold at Costco. I've seen some expensive (up to $10,000) watches in the jewelry case, and my guess is that they're grey market and have the serial numbers scrubbed to prevent tracing back to the authorized retailer that sold it to Costco or an intermediary.

https://www.costco.com/special-events.html

One of the ones I remember was a traveling show with various imported rugs. That was just after the embargo on rugs from Iran in 2010, but these were imported before the embargo started. We bought a reasonably large Persian rug for under $1000. It was a very nice rug, but we couldn't figure out what to do with it and returned it. Costco took it back without question, even though the traveling show had left over a month earlier.

I was in one talking to a rep from the seller of smoker grills. The thing my kid likes is that they sell home versions of Vitamix blenders, although they usually have them until they run out and don't need a rep around to sell them. We already have one, but we hang around when they have someone to demonstrate them. It isn't actually a Vitamix employee, but they contract out to independent contractors who create smoothie, soup, etc recipes and demonstrate how the blenders work. And they attract crowds who are just waiting for the various stuff they're preparing.

The gift card/certificates may even be for local/regional businesses. I've even seen them selling gift certificates for local restaurants with just one or two locations. One of the really good deals I saw was $50 for two $50 gift certificates at a local teppanyaki restaurant. Not only that, but they set up a demonstration with two of their chefs and they were handing out samples.

 

[AuntieMe3]

Too much....

Gas
Dog food
Dish soap
Laundry soap/Fabric softener
Toilet paper/paper towels
Trash bags
Kitchen sponges
Milk and cheddar cheese (can't beat the price anywhere else around here)
Hamburger meat (only ever buy from Costco)
Bread/tortillas
Kirkland brand Keurig coffee pods
Pasta
Cereal
Pistachios
And anything else that makes it way into our basket.

The list above are our essentials... we may not get it all every trip but pretty much...haha

 

[amberpi]

When Costco has that sort of stuff it tends to be a one-off deal or "traveling shows" where a rep from the seller is there.

Thanks for the run down. Doesn't sound worth it to me. Its not convenient to anything I do, so doesn't sound like a fit. Maybe in another lifetime.

I actually interviewed for a job today in Mountain View, so who knows, maybe I'll be moving to your side of the world!

 

[bcla]

Thanks for the run down. Doesn't sound worth it to me. Its not convenient to anything I do, so doesn't sound like a fit. Maybe in another lifetime.

I actually interviewed for a job today in Mountain View, so who knows, maybe I'll be moving to your side of the world!

You do realize how much it costs to buy or rent in Silicon Valley, right? There are stories of Google employees who just bought RVs or even delivery vans and lived in the parking lot to avoid paying rent. It might cost about 3 months rent and can be resold. Last I've heard they've discouraged that. My rental property is shared by three people.

 

[amberpi]

You do realize how much it costs to buy or rent in Silicon Valley, right? There are stories of Google employees who just bought RVs or even delivery vans and lived in the parking lot to avoid paying rent. It might cost about 3 months rent and can be resold. Last I've heard they've discouraged that. My rental property is shared by three people.

Yep. I'll be fine I mean, this was just the first non-HR interview. I won't even have to live in a van down by the river.

 

[jdb in AZ]

My favorite thing at Costco is their steak -- fillets are always tender. I also stock up on pork roasts for pulled pork, and their standing rib roasts when they're on sale for the holidays. Just before Easter they have great sales on hams.

Their huge apple pies are great for after-funeral luncheons. A lot of boy scout trips and church dinners are "catered by Costco."

 

[Christine]

Gas
Tires
Fresh Salmon
Beef Tenderloin during the holidays
Kirkland Paper Towels
Romaine Lettuce packs
Cetaphil Cream
Zyrtec
Dish Soap
Kirkland Men's White Undershirts (nicest ones out there)

 

[FlightlessDuck]

Never been to Costco but we have a Sam's Club membership. We usually only go there when we need to get stuff in bulk for church or drama club or something. We very rarely go there for anything for our household.

 

[Sweetpancake]

Most most of our weekly groceries are bought at a normal grocery store but we do go to Costco for things like, garbage bags, ziplock bags, ground turkey, other meat, occasionally cheese, I also get my tires switched out for winter there and both my engagement ring and wedding band are from Costco. Not everything is cheaper when sold in bulk so you have to know your prices. My husband just bought another pair of glasses from Costco and it seems their frames are quite good quality.

 

[lorimay]

Costco is the best!
We go all the all the time.
Gas is always way cheaper.
Their water bottles are $3.50 for 40 bottles, can't beat that.
Paper towels are great.
Kirkland breakfast blend coffee pods last forever
Love their bath towels, especially when they go on sale for $4.99-$6.99, they are great quality and wash so nice.
The rotisserie chickens are so good too.

We have used their travel too, got a good deal on Disneyland package in 2014.
I bought tires in May for my SUV, I got a $100 gift card back, same tires at The Volvo deal were almost $200 more.

 

[RangerPooh]

We've lived places where we had to drive 50 minutes -1.5 hours away and still stocked up. These are some of the things that we typically buy from Costco (regardless if we are 5 minutes-1.5 hours away). Oh, when we lived farther away we'd bring an ice chest for the cold items. Also, Costco would be our last stop of the day after the mall and Target. Can you tell we lived in rural America, lol.

• Bread: 2 loaves/ package. Buy two packs each time and the go into the deep freeze
• Lunch box treats: chips, Cheeze it's, Goldfish...depends what's on sale. With 4 kids we go through them fast
• Meat/cheese: ground beef and them split it into 4 separate servings, sliced deli meat. Bigger packages of shredded cheese and Cheddar cheese slices. String cheese for lunches/snack
• Frozen items: all beef hot dogs (if on sale otherwise I get at Walmart), frozen veggies (on sale, otherwise I get that at Kroger), hamburger/chicken patties, lasagna (if on sale), random dinner items (again I compare prices with Kroger/Walmart)
• Dairy: milk, whipped cream (3 pack),
• Non-refrigerated Beverages: Juice boxes, protein shakes
• Dry Goods/boxed food: spices (salt, pepper, Montreal Seasoning, California Seasoning), cooking spray, rice in bulk bag, coffee pods, ritz crackers,
• Canned goods: baked beans (if on sale), peanut butter, individual sized apple sauce/fruit cups/pouches (lunchbox item),
• fruit/veggies: onions, potatoes, bagged salad, mushrooms, (other things I look at quality and compare to Sprouts pricing),
• Household: laundry detergent (if on sale), dishwasher pods (if on sale), paper towels, toilet paper
• Pet food: dog food, cat food, kitty litter
• School Supplies: printer paper, Ticonderoga pencils, electric pencil sharpeners (for home and classroom), ink cartridges (can also refill these at photo center!!!!), scissors (multipack)
• Automotive: we've gotten tires there many times
• Gas
• Clothing/books/center isle things: workout clothes, Easter/spring dresses for girls, summer sandals for kids, books, Christmas presents (American Girl Dolls),

 

[soccerdad72]

wow, I'm definitely going to have to make a plan to check it all out some Saturday when we've got time. Do you guys all have the Executive membership? They talked me into upgrading to it. Sounds like a no-lose situation (at least for the first year) since you get the price back if you don't earn the entire $60 back. Seems like with the big purchases, it would definitely be worth it!

We do have it, along with the Costco Citibank card (formerly AmEx). With each one, we get well over $60 back each year (more like $100+ for each of them). Our monthly credit card bill from Costco is usually $600-$800, though, not counting vacations we purchase through Costco Travel.

 

[tvguy]

Gasoline.

I just go to ARCO, 2 cents a gallon cheaper, no line, and a FEW of them even taking credit cards now.

 

[karmic]

We bought a swing set / play scape for our grandsons there

Reasonably priced delivered and assembled