Costco is going to open here. Is it worth joining

[Pencil]

in local news today, Costco will open their 2nd store in Sweden in my city sometimes next year. I guess it's a big-ish deal. They have a ton of stores in the UK, but the rest of Europe, not so much: two in France, four in Spain, none in Germany.

I understand the basic premise, and joining will be $60, same as the U.S.
I live in a one bedroom rented apartment, have a car that's new enough to not worry me for some years, am not planning on investing in appliances or electronics. I'm stuck (by choice) in the Apple universe, and I doubt Costco can be a lot cheaper, than buying from Apple.

So, it's food and clothes, basically. If Costco is a place where you make HUGE SAVINGS by buying 64 rolls of TP, or a six pack of 2 liter pop, then it won't be worth it, I think. But maybe I'm wrong. Would it be worth 60 bucks?

[Sputnik]

We had Costco for a few years, mostly for gas. Their gas is usually less expensive than any other gas. The store selection isn't bad, but it's really a hassle to shop there. Long lines, etc. Try it for a year.

[Rat Diva]

Originally Posted by Pencil

If Costco is a place where you make HUGE SAVINGS by buying 64 rolls of TP, or a six pack of 2 liter pop, then it won't be worth it, I think.

That's pretty much what it is. If you have a big family or business you can save by buying food and everyday goods in bulk, but it's not worth it for a single person.

I also live alone, though my house is large so I can buy paper products and stuff like that in bulk, but I just get those from Amazon with free shipping.

[hajario]

You guys don't know this about me but my drink of choice is Pellegrino mixed with POM pomegranate juice. I go through a lot of it. They have gigantic bottles of it for less than the smaller bottles in the market. I easily make back my money with POM.

I also get cases of Pellegrino bottles there for about the same price that I can get them elsewhere but it's way more convenient to get them in the boxes. Some of their premade stuff is good and I like their shredded parmesan a lot but I just get that there because I am there anyway for the POM.

It's supposedly great for beer, wine and liquor but I'm not a drinker. The one by me doesn't have a gas station unfortunately. It's very good for electronics but about the same as Best Buy and Best Buy will price match anyway.

[Pixel]

Originally Posted by Pencil

... Costco is a place where you make HUGE SAVINGS by buying 64 rolls of TP, or a six pack of 2 liter pop, then it won't be worth it, I think. But maybe I'm wrong. Would it be worth 60 bucks?

Basically, that's it. If you don't need huge quantities of the stuff they sell, or have huge storage space for things that will last you forever, it ain't worth the 'membership' price. They keep sending me mailings for 'free trial memberships', but they ain't worth my time...

Especially since I'd have to drive almost an hour, just to get there.

[Pencil]

Just what I thought. Thanks all.
re: alcohol, well I don't drink anymore. And besides, state owned monopoly will put a stop to that. Gas price in Yurp is more a matter of taxes, so a single retailer won't be able to do much about that.

I might splurge the 60 bucks for the novelty and take mom. Maybe she'll find some bargains (being a bargain rat, which I am not).

Thanks guys.

[Sputnik]

Oh, almost forgot. One thing about the Costco here, is lunchtime. They have samples set up all over the store with people serving the samples. Plus the one near me has a food court with pizza that's not bad for a decent price.

[SmartAleq]

I have pets, so I save way more than the membership price just on savings from food and supplies for the critters, plus all the other stuff so it's totally worth it for me, even as a single person.

Costco does do a lot of interesting food, stuff you don't usually find in a supermarket. Lot of organic trendyfood, personally I love that stuff but not everyone agrees. I think the main thing about Costco isn't saving tons on dead base standard items, it's finding interesting higher end food at dead base standard prices. They're also very good on pharmacy items, vitamins and their optical department is first rate--I now know this having replaced the grandkid's glasses there and got super good frames with lenses that have ALL the bells and whistles, turned out to be $100/pair, which my DIL tells me is about what they paid last time for his cheapie Buddy Holly industrial frames and lenses.

They do good seasonal items too, like mattresses and furniture in fall and summer items like kayaks and camping gear. The big stuff like that rotates throughout the year, but you can always get stuff through the website if it's not in the store at the moment. It might be a good idea to browse through the Costco site, see if there's anything there you could save enough on to cover the membership for the year, then see if you use it enough to make it worth your while.

Hell, the $5 rotisserie chickens alone are almost worth it for someone who doesn't like to cook but does want chicken a lot. That's a baked chicken for less than a raw one, they keep them as loss leaders, like the hot dog and pop for a buck fiddy in the food court.

[Jaglavak]

They also have pretty good deals on name brand tires and batteries. And jewelry, computers, and cameras too.

[Zeener Diode]

Originally Posted by Rat Diva

That's pretty much what it is. If you have a big family or business you can save by buying food and everyday goods in bulk, but it's not worth it for a single person.

I go back and forth on this. I've had an account for 10 years and I went hog-wild the first few times. Since I've scaled back to just purchasing bulk items I need (tp, vitamins, etc). Like Smartie sez, it's pretty good on stocking seasonal items at cost, and most of their prepared food is second only to Trader Joe's. (The rotisserie chicken is fantastic!)

Two more things of note: I signed up for Costco's Travel Club and Auto programs at no extra cost, and both have been beneficial to me.

[Dragonlady]

Another thing to consider: they let you have two people on the account. I shared an account with my son when I was in California. Find someone and go in halves?

[Wolf Larsen]

Originally Posted by Zeener Diode

(The rotisserie chicken is fantastic!)

Got one yesterday and ate the chicken wrapped in a nice tortilla with guac and a salad. Excellent dinner and everything in it but the avocado came from Costco.

[hajario]

Originally Posted by Dragonlady

Another thing to consider: they let you have two people on the account. I shared an account with my son when I was in California. Find someone and go in halves?

My ex-wife still has my extra.

[teela brown]

I like that you can get prime steaks for a lot less than at a fancy butcher's. Yes, they're still expensive, but we just eat less beef nowadays. And a three-pack of New York steaks doesn't require a whole bunch of freezer space to store them.

Costco is also where we get our huge wedges of real Parmesan cheese. I use a lot in cooking. It's so salty that it doesn't get moldy, so a wedge lasts a good long time in the fridge.

And I usually buy my shorts, capris, t-shirts and pull-on pants at Costco. They're a lot cheaper there.