What does everyone buy at Costco?

[bcla]

They don't pull the product, the manufacturer can pull the AD status of the retailer. There is no way Rolex and some others want Costco sold watches traced back to them. Tag doesn't care, Breitling pretends to care but they really don't, Omega is starting to care as the last 3 years they have been trying to change their image some with huge price increases and the opening of boutiques that will not discount. They used to be a very highly discounted watch just like Breitling and Tag now are. Still. Breitling and Omega AD's risk punishment if caught selling out the back door. Tag doesn't care.

I think more specifically the dealer doesn't want the watches to be traced back. In many cases it's the overseas dealers selling to individuals with no knowledge that they're being resold. Or perhaps they see the same buyers coming back and they have an idea that they're being bought for the grey market. And then there might be the dealers that directly sell to the intermediaries, and I'm pretty sure they will do everything they can to avoid being traced.

The head of Tag-Heuer at least publicly has called grey marketing a "cancer". I do get that he might say it knowing that it's inevitable.

 

[dish rag]

I think more specifically the dealer doesn't want the watches to be traced back. In many cases it's the overseas dealers selling to individuals with no knowledge that they're being resold. Or perhaps they see the same buyers coming back and they have an idea that they're being bought for the grey market. And then there might be the dealers that directly sell to the intermediaries, and I'm pretty sure they will do everything they can to avoid being traced.

The head of Tag-Heuer at least publicly has called grey marketing a "cancer". I do get that he might say it knowing that it's inevitable.

Typically how it's done is once one gets in good with an AD, the AD will sell them a very hard to get watch if he buys several dogs ( slow selling pieces ). From there the watches end up on the grey market, through a buyer with open papers. The high end watch manufacturers on a local level do at times look for hard to get watches for sale on line. i know very first hand how this works. Tags are not looked at as high end watches. Most guys won't bother with them.

 

[mnrose]

Thought of this thread when I went to Costco today.

I got:

Vinegar
Coffee beans (kirkland branded. love the quality and price)
Kirkland greek yogurt
Chocolate chips (72 ounce bag....)
Walnuts (baking in my future)
Gel pens (my DD asked for some....got 100 of them for $16....that ought to do it...LOL).
Vidalia onions
Peaches
Pears
Swimsuit for DH (deep clearance, $6...he's had other Kirkland branded swimsuits and they last for years, I expect the same from this one).
T-shirt for my son (very high quality, 100% pima cotton...they never go out of shape, nor suffer premature aging).
Sunshirt for DH (for working in the garden). Deep clearance, $5.
Jeans for DH (clearance, $8...kirkland branded....probably not all that fashionable for a young man, but very nice, well made, last forever "dad" jeans)
Figgy pops (impulse buy....but delicious)
6 bottles of red wine (total cost: $42, including tax, and all good stuff....mostly on clearance....I've got a sharp eye for deals, and since I shop there often, I know when something has been lowered in price).
Lunch meat for sandwiches.
Organic 1/2 & 1/2----same price as Aldi's charges for "regular" kind.
Pasta (Garafalo, organic...stuff is amazing).
Organic tortilla chips.

In other words, just about anything and everything.

 

[bcla]

Typically how it's done is once one gets in good with an AD, the AD will sell them a very hard to get watch if he buys several dogs ( slow selling pieces ). From there the watches end up on the grey market, through a buyer with open papers. The high end watch manufacturers on a local level do at times look for hard to get watches for sale on line. i know very first hand how this works. Tags are not looked at as high end watches. Most guys won't bother with them.

Yeah - I get that Tag isn't necessarily the highest end. I don't think of any watch that is sold by department stores as authorized dealers is that high end, and yeah they're generally cheaper than Omega which I rather consider on the low end of the luxury market. However, the CEO of Tag-Heuer has at least publicly said that the grey market is creating the slow death of the luxury watch market.

I've certainly seen the slow death of a brand's reputation. I remember when the Coach handbag brand was known for mostly American manufacturing with a the signature product being heavyweight baseball glove style leather. They did have some limited number of outlet stores, but they were also located in high end shopping areas. The ones I'd been to were in Carmel and an upscale part of Santa Barbara. Once I was looking for the one in Napa Valley, which was in St Helena. Now they're located in regular outlet malls and deal in tons of volume selling mostly fabric bags made in China. It's just too common these days. However, the company is probably making more money based on volume.

Gucci became a parody back in the 70s when they licensed their name to American Motors. Strangely enough the 1970s Gucci edition AMC Hornet Sportabout is considered a collectors car.

 

[bigbabyblues]

I've never been to a Cosco,

I haven't either! The closest one to me is two hours away in an area we go to maybe once a year.

 

[tvguy]

I've been using ARCO in my Suburban since I bought it new 30 years ago. The detergent level must be enough because I have never had issues with the fuel injectors or spark plugs and the heads have never been off the engine. But, just as the owner's manual suggests, I change the fuel filter every 30,000 miles.

They meet the Top Tier standard, which is higher than the minimum EPA standard and the CARB standard. The fuel is basically the same though. It's hard for some people to get around that, especially when they're paying a steep premium for Shell or Chevron.

If you ever have a chance to check out a Costco gas station, they have signs like this:

It's not an exact number since it's really a performance standard, but roughly 2.5 times the minimum EPA standard meets Top Tier. 76 uses this graphic to claim that they exceed Top Tier requirements:

 

[bcla]

I've been using ARCO in my Suburban since I bought it new 30 years ago. The detergent level must be enough because I have never had issues with the fuel injectors or spark plugs and the heads have never been off the engine. But, just as the owner's manual suggests, I change the fuel filter every 30,000 miles.

I've filled up at Arco when it was convenient or when I needed a gallon or two just to make it home. However, my preference is for Costco. They have the highest turnover, which means their gas is fresher than anywhere else. Also, their prices at their closest location to me are consistently 10-20 cents more per gallon than my closest Costco. They maintain their stations better than other retailers. There's always an attendant on duty who doesn't need to worry about anything but helping customers and accepting fuel deliveries. And now they take Visa. It kind of bugs me that most Arco stations will only take debit cards with a transaction fee.

It just gives me the warm and fuzzies. I know there's nothing wrong with Arco (or generally any gas station) but there are differences.

 

[tvguy]

I've filled up at Arco when it was convenient or when I needed a gallon or two just to make it home. However, my preference is for Costco. They have the highest turnover, which means their gas is fresher than anywhere else. Also, their prices at their closest location to me are consistently 10-20 cents more per gallon than my closest Costco. They maintain their stations better than other retailers. There's always an attendant on duty who doesn't need to worry about anything but helping customers and accepting fuel deliveries. And now they take Visa. It kind of bugs me that most Arco stations will only take debit cards with a transaction fee.

It just gives me the warm and fuzzies. I know there's nothing wrong with Arco (or generally any gas station) but there are differences.

ARCOS have AMAZING turnover. There is one near me that gets 4 deliveries a day, but it is one of those huge ones with 4 islands and 16 pumps

 

[bcla]

ARCOS have AMAZING turnover. There is one near me that gets 4 deliveries a day, but it is one of those huge ones with 4 islands and 16 pumps

Don't really have one of those around here. Two islands at most.

My big PITA with Arco is that it's a cash price and there are often lines for the pump. Total time might be waiting longer just in line, especially since the cashier is responsible for a convenience store. So I'll have to wait in line to prepay, then wait again to get my change. The alternative is to use a debit card at the pump and given them 35 cents for the privilege. On top of that, the old kiosks where you could pay cash at the island are gone at many of the ones I've seen. But I'd still need to get in line for change. On top of that the closest Arco station to me costs 10+ cents more per gallon. I know that very dependent on location.

I also like pumps with extra long hoses. Safeway and Costco seem to have those.

 

[Teresa Pitman]

We buy a lot of things at Costco but usually don't buy food there as the quantities are just too large for our 2 person household. I've bought eyeglasses there before and the cost was nearly $300 cheaper than buying them through my eye docs place. Costco is good for computers and tvs too.

I am a one-person household but buy most of my fruits and veggies at Costco. I kind of see it as a challenge to make sure I eat enough servings during the week.

 

[tvguy]

Don't really have one of those around here. Two islands at most.

My big PITA with Arco is that it's a cash price and there are often lines for the pump..

LOL. Costco has the lines here. ARCO is busy, but I've seen 6 or 7 cars lined up at Costco. I pay cash for gas, so that isn't an issue. I had an ARCO credit card, but of course they canceled them all about 25 years ago. Before that I had a Mobil card, can't remember the last time I even saw a Mobil station.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

LOL. Costco has the lines here. ARCO is busy, but I've seen 6 or 7 cars lined up at Costco. I pay cash for gas, so that isn't an issue. I had an ARCO credit card, but of course they canceled them all about 25 years ago. Before that I had a Mobil card, can't remember the last time I even saw a Mobil station.

The largest lines at my Costco are people not realizing that the pumps only go in one direction. Meaning you enter one way and exit the other. So you'll see at times where people are lined up behind cars where the pump matches the gas tank...but at Costco that doesn't matter (ETA: because they have a pump extender) and most times a car will have left a pump thus leaving it open...and yet people still sit in that same line as before. I've seen it maybe 3 times where people have actually driving in through the exit and faced their car the wrong way just to get the pump that matches their gas tank...the huge arrows pointing one direction and the Do Not Enter sign I guess get missed.

Google photo of the pump extender:

 

[bcla]

I am a one-person household but buy most of my fruits and veggies at Costco. I kind of see it as a challenge to make sure I eat enough servings during the week.

My big issue (even with a family of three) is that what they have may be too much. However, Costco always seems to have the highest quality. If they don't get it they let their suppliers know.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Nacho Cheese...lots of nacho cheese!

 

[usnuzuloose]

LOL. Costco has the lines here. ARCO is busy, but I've seen 6 or 7 cars lined up at Costco. I pay cash for gas, so that isn't an issue. I had an ARCO credit card, but of course they canceled them all about 25 years ago. Before that I had a Mobil card, can't remember the last time I even saw a Mobil station.

Haha , now the Mobil's are popping up all over now. The gas stations make a good profit from the gas. The main bread and butter in from inside. But if you have the right location some stations do over a million gallons in a month. Man I miss my job.

 

[usnuzuloose]

But I buy enough from costco. I buy toilet Paper, Paper towels, my dogs chew treats which are much cheaper than from the pet stores. I like my whole chicken fryers. I love going in at Christmas time and looking around. Just depends on what my needs are at the time.

 

[bcla]

LOL. Costco has the lines here. ARCO is busy, but I've seen 6 or 7 cars lined up at Costco. I pay cash for gas, so that isn't an issue. I had an ARCO credit card, but of course they canceled them all about 25 years ago. Before that I had a Mobil card, can't remember the last time I even saw a Mobil station.

Both Exxon and Mobil stations are popping up all over Northern California now after being gone for years. About the only one I remember seeing in Northern California after they all disappeared in the 90s was one at Lake Tahoe. It's kind of complicated, but they're making big push to come back. I think they're giving huge incentives for existing stations to change their franchise and for independent stations to change to their brand names. There's no ExxonMobil refinery anywhere near Northern California though. For example there are two Mobil stations and one Exxon station in Folsom. If you play with the map you can see where they're popping up nearby.

https://www.exxon.com/en/find-stati...121.0454239921387&q=Folsom, CA, United States

 

[tvguy]

Both Exxon and Mobil stations are popping up all over Northern California now after being gone for years. About the only one I remember seeing in Northern California after they all disappeared in the 90s was one at Lake Tahoe. It's kind of complicated, but they're making big push to come back. I think they're giving huge incentives for existing stations to change their franchise and for independent stations to change to their brand names. There's no ExxonMobil refinery anywhere near Northern California though. For example there are two Mobil stations and one Exxon station in Folsom. If you play with the map you can see where they're popping up nearby.

https://www.exxon.com/en/find-station?latitude1=38.74493324827921&longitude1=-121.30669260786135&latitude2=38.61092222244074&longitude2=-121.0454239921387&q=Folsom, CA, United States

Yeah, I see 6 Mobil's in Sacramento County, and 1 Exxon, the one in Folsom. I have 6 ARCOs within 3 miles of my house!

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

But I buy enough from costco. I buy toilet Paper, Paper towels, my dogs chew treats which are much cheaper than from the pet stores. I like my whole chicken fryers. I love going in at Christmas time and looking around. Just depends on what my needs are at the time.

I love doing that too...but I really do have to be careful..it's all to easy to imagine this being in my house and that being in my house ohhh that too .

 

[aristocatz]

Pull-up diapers
They have the best baby wipes in the world
Organic eggs
Potstickers
Hummus
Baby carrots
Organic burritos
Paper towels
Toilet paper
Vitamins