Noticed that COSTCO was not included in the survey. Was there any particular reason? How are the prices at COSTCO compared to the other supermarkets in the survey? I do not shop at COSTCO as I don’t believe in paying them an upfront “fine” annually.
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Welcome to the community, @Nibeck
The following discussion might also be of interest.
Does one also need to suggest paying an annual membership to the local sporting club to give your hard earned away on the pokies also a fine?
Once upon a time beer etc was substantially cheaper in a club than the local pub (NSW 1980). These days most are run on a commercial basis with paid management/staff and a target profit-return to the organisation.
P.S.
We don’t shop at Costco because it’s less than convenient. The difficult decision is how to factor justification of any perceived premium keeping the local smaller retailers in business. The Costco nearest to us is a 30mins drive on the M1 at 110/100kph.
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Most of us have Coles, Woolworths, IGA and related entities nearby and many have ALDI nearby. Costco are not in many locations yet so for the purposes of comparison they are too few and so are an outlier for comparison.
Savings at Costco are variable, you need to know your prices or be able to do a comparison with a smart device (your phone/tablet) while in store. Some things are standouts eg their roasted chickens but others not so clear in their savings.
Membership entitles a member to avail themselves of free hearing checks, free eyesight checks, cheaper (in most cases) E10, 98 petrol and cheaper diesel (again in most cases). Had your tyres replaced at Costco then free puncture repairs up to size 6 holes for the life of the tyre. As they normally inflate the new tyres with nitrogen, when visiting Costco they will check and re-inflate with nitrogen for free and every 10,0000 km rotate the tyres for free. In regards to the fuel we have each year saved ourselves the cost of membership at least to the value of 3X the cost, my son and daughter-in-law fill their diesel vehicles (and a couple of jerry cans at the same time) at Costco in Bundamba and travel from Brunswick Heads NSW to do so and save money doing it (we know others who travel similar distances to do so as well).
If unsatisfied with membership, then that year’s fee is refunded on cancellation of the membership (no reduction in the refund for prorated time). Gold Star members (home/non commercial members) get two membership cards so another household member gets membership as well, no multiple invoices are possible to split the sale into various purchases. The Commercial members get a red card that allows them to split purchased goods into multiple invoices eg one for the home goods and another for the business purchases.
Sometimes the specials are outstanding bargains, last year I saved over $400 on a new washing machine compared to any price I could find elsewhere. This year I purchased an item (tool chest for the shed) that saved me $500 on anything similar I could find anywhere else. $60 membership per year is nothing in comparison to what we have saved year on year by being members. Value will vary for people, careful comparison before joining is worthwhile, and then once joined observe if the value really does make it worth it. If not then cancel and get your membership back for that year.
Buying this pack at Costco ($32) saves me between $12 and $20 when compared to Coles/Woolworths prices, even if bought as 5 bar packs. I enjoy them as part of a lower carb diet.
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Apologies for the ramble but an attempt to put some perspective on how difficult it would be to compare Costco to our grocery chains.
Grocery products vary widely, the package sizes are large and won’t suit everyone. Their meats are generally expensive, weighty per package, and very premium quality. For those having regular BBQ/parties, a cafe, or a large freezer it could make sense.
Comparing Colesworth, Aldi, or IGA to a Costco doesn’t work IMO because the experience and product range at Costco doesn’t match. They have milk, eggs, bread and bakery goods, F&V, and general grocery items - just different. Many selections are hit and miss as general grocery products come and go and return. Products suitable for a cafe are consistent and well stocked.
If one doesn’t follow sale prices Costco can sometimes be higher priced than Colesworths promotions, and sometimes Costco match/beat those promotions per unit price but not always, and in bigger quantities per package. An example, need toilet paper? Costco [only] offers a 64 roll Kleenex - and a similarly large package of their Kirkland Signature brand!
To avoid replication there are a few topics on Costco
Edit - I merged the following two similar/related topics to the former and adjusted the topic name.
and as for adding them into the Choice mix this one
https://choice.community/t/costcos-kirkland-signature-products/25976
and some specific products that can justify membership by themselves
https://choice.community/t/do-you-have-a-hearing-aid-help-others-learn-from-your-experience/15697/5
and others…
If you are not near a Costco that is all irrelevant unless one buys from their web site. Everything in the warehouses is not available on their website. We shop at Costco maybe every other month for targeted products.
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Thanks for providing details of some not so obvoious membership benefits.
Do they undertake this travel just to purchase fuel and other costco shopping or are those purchases incidental to another reason for travel? If the former, are you able to provide an example of the savings i.e. savings per litre x number of litres purchased etc. that would justify a 320km round trip for each vehicle?
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They don’t just do it for the fuel but for the other items they buy in Costco (this include the pork roast at $7 a kilo which they can get three meals out of one huge roast when divided into three portions). I will ask them the details of it all as I just hear them say it is worth doing the trip for what they save. They do the trip purely for the shopping, they don’t always visit us on the trips (often it is as a shop and not a visit as they can’t fit the kids and the shopping in the same trip if they are buying a lot). They buy the milk, kitchen paper, vegetables, rice, flour, salt, vitamins, shoes (running type eg puma or similar), pizzas to freeze, mince, chickens that I personally know of and a shop not including fuel is between $400 and $600 I believe.
To compare a product (these are the Touch versions which are a different product to the normal T7 which don’t have touch encryption enabled)
Samsung T7 Touch 1TB Portable SSD | Costco Australia
Samsung 1TB T7 Touch Portable Solid State Drive Black | Officeworks
Only $10 difference but still a saving, the more you buy the more the saving. 2 units and it’s $20.
We bought the Apple AirTag 4 pack for $129 and Apple sell them for $150. iPhones and Android phones are cheaper than if purchased elsewhere. I think the iPhone 13 Pro Max in the 256 GB package is about $200 cheaper (including if purchased directly from Apple).
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Thanks for that, no need to ask for too much detail, my main interests were how much the fuel savings per litre roughly are and whether the fuel cost savings were a major part of the total savings. You post has already covered the latter.
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I don’t use diesel but our Costco is usually from $0.20~0.40 less (sometimes less, I haven’t seen it more) per litre for 91/98 than the local branded servos. The few branded servos roughly surrounding Costco are usually somewhere between the locals and the Costco. It is not economic for us to go there just for petrol but every time we shop there we top up.
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They save around $30 per fill/car (it’s around $0.20 savings per litre and 2 X 75 litre tanks in the Prado & similar in the Navara), 80 litres in 4 jerry cans saves around $16. So if filling the car/s, those plus the shopping savings, they think the trip saves them money overall.
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Is it worth putting a 20 litre jerry can in as well? Might be enough to save you buying elsewhere for a week or so depending on your travel habits.
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My fuel economy is in litres per month these days 
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Not sure if you/they knew; there is a new one opening at Coomera, next to Westfield Coomera, in 2023. May be a more en-route to you for them.
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Yep 
Thank you for the reminder though. They are trying to move up closer to us around Ipswich if they can find a place to rent.
The fuel cost is still beating most of the fuel stations around us and is only about 3 minutes away from our house. So we continue to buy there as we save a lot on our own fuel there.
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2 weeks ago the Costco in Epping Vic was actually 1cpl higher than most of the surrounding servos. Never saw that before.
As I often post, one needs to pay attention to prevailing prices because Costco is often a real deal and most often is highly competitive - but sometimes not.
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