5 ms·

It is not unlike Prime Video and Prime Music (among others). When you run a membership program you create offers that increase the perceived value of the member

It is not unlike Prime Video and Prime Music (among others). When you run a membership program you create offers that increase the perceived value of the membership and engagement with your ecosystem. Similar is Costco gas, people wouldn’t drive out of their way for the discount if they didn’t already pay the membership. And while you are there you might as well pick up four times the bread you need, more milk than you consume in a week, a new camera (that was probably cheaper online), and a hot dog on your way out. Getting the value out of that $100 membership leads people to consume far more than they normally would.

thecosas 8y ago
A few things you can do at Costco without a membership: * Eat at the food court * Buy alcohol (in certain states, see below) * Get an eye exam * Get your hearing checked * Fill prescriptions at the pharmacy States where you can buy alcohol w/o a membership: * Arizona * California * Connecticut * Delaware * Hawaii * Indiana * Massachusetts * Michigan * Minnesota * New York * Texas * Vermont P.S. Looking for a better source, but here's a general list: https://thekrazycouponlady.com/tips/money/6-things-you-can-do-at-costco-without-a-membership https://thekrazycouponlady.com/tips/money/6-things-you-can-d...
- a_t48 8y ago
  San Francisco's Costco does not let you into the food court.
  - awad 8y ago
    I think I once read somewhere that they allow it if the food court is located outside
1701d 8y ago
Except you don't have to be a member to eat at Costco.
- arkades 8y ago
  You have to be a member, or accompanying a member, to walk in the door. The hot dogs lie beyond the checkpoint.
  - ballenf 8y ago
    The membership checkers are there to give members the feeling of exclusivity and belonging. They do not generally turn people away and will accept basically any reason from "meeting someone" to no response at all, in my experience. But I haven't been to more than half dozen Costco's, so can't speak broadly.
    - raisedbyninjas 8y ago
      I think their primary purpose is to ensure that nobody who isn't a member or forgot their membership card gets in the checkout line and slows it down.
      - ceejayoz 8y ago
        I suspect "where are you going with that $2000 TV?" plays a role, too.
  - xythian 8y ago
    You do not need to be a member to access the food court, alcohol sales, or pharmacy. You will need to stop at member services and wait in line to get a temporary pass. It's a deliberate hassle, but by various laws Costco can't stop you from accessing those services.
  - RangerScience 8y ago
    Almost every Costco I've been to, the food vending is a window on the outside of the building (so before the checkpoint). And, at the ones where the food vending is on the inside, it's on the "paid" side of the cash registers. You can get to this area just by claiming you're "going to member services", since that's also on that side, and it's where you go when you forget your card (and so can't show membership at the checkpoint). Source: Have forgotten my card a lot.
gowld 8y ago
Your examples don't makes sense, as bread and milk (which Costco sells as multi-packs) keep fine in storage. Buying perishables and junk food would be a better example. Costco electronics prices are competitive and have the best return policy and practice in the industry.
- jeremyt 8y ago
  In what world does milk "keep fine in storage"?
  - ouid 8y ago
    The modern world. Milk no longer goes bad quickly.
    - dsjoerg 8y ago
      Maybe neither you nor grandparent know about UHT treatment of milk, and how it's common outside America and uncommon inside.
      - chillwaves 8y ago
        Seems to be at every single grocery store I have ever shopped in for the past at least 5 years. Not every milk is UHT but every grocery store offers it.
        mmt 8y ago
        > Not every milk is UHT but every grocery store offers it. But what about Costco (or other bulk-only sources), which is, really, the whole point of the thread (and original comment)?
    - reaperducer 8y ago
      I guess it depends on the definition of "quickly" and also where you live. In some cities I've lived, the expiration date of milk was often two or three weeks out. In other cities, it was 10 days maximum. I think it's because dairies (and cows) are not equally plentiful in every part of the country. One thing I have noticed is that in the places where regular milk expires in 10 days, the organic milk (which one family member drinks) doesn't expire for a month or more.
jerf 8y ago
I'm only consuming "far more than I normally would" if I'm routinely throwing away things I bought from CostCo, unconsumed. I don't. Nor does anyone else I know. It's just consumption moved around in time. I know, I know, it may be aesthetically distasteful to you to see people walking out with 36 rolls of toilet paper instead of six. It may be hard not to sneer at the poor people trapped on the capitalist treadmill. But you should get over it, because in most ways you're better off when people shop at CostCo, because buying that way and storing things at home for a time is much more packaging and environmentally efficient that packing things into little bundles to be bought every day. And buying like that also minimizes the little bites being taken out by middlemen who are doing the packaging into little bundles. And a car trip taken to CostCo that fills the car is more efficient than lots of little trips to the grocery store.
- emodendroket 8y ago
  I mean, I agree, in the sense that I also like to buy in bulk and save a lot on things I use a lot this way. But it is true that a membership makes people shop at a store more to "get their money's worth" for the membership.
- mmt 8y ago
  > And a car trip I suspect this is the real source of the hostility, rather than aesthetics: Costco represents, in general, a larger-land-footprint, car-dependent, suburban (or even semi-rural) lifestyle. There's likely something of a false dichotomy at work here, as well, in that there could be Costco-compatible dense-city living, but that doesn't seem to be true currently.
  - nightski 8y ago
    I shop at Costco regularly (once every two weeks at least, sometimes weekly). Yes I gasp drive a car. But I put less than 3k miles on my car a year since I work from home. Maybe shopping at Costco isn't the problem for most people. It's working in an office.
    - 8y ago

thecosas 8y ago

A few things you can do at Costco without a membership: * Eat at the food court * Buy alcohol (in certain states, see below) * Get an eye exam * Get your hearing checked * Fill prescriptions at the pharmacy States where you can buy alcohol w/o a membership: * Arizona * California * Connecticut * Delaware * Hawaii * Indiana * Massachusetts * Michigan * Minnesota * New York * Texas * Vermont P.S. Looking for a better source, but here's a general list: https://thekrazycouponlady.com/tips/money/6-things-you-can-do-at-costco-without-a-membership https://thekrazycouponlady.com/tips/money/6-things-you-can-d...

a_t48 8y ago
San Francisco's Costco does not let you into the food court.
- awad 8y ago
  I think I once read somewhere that they allow it if the food court is located outside

1701d 8y ago

Except you don't have to be a member to eat at Costco.

arkades 8y ago
You have to be a member, or accompanying a member, to walk in the door. The hot dogs lie beyond the checkpoint.
- ballenf 8y ago
  The membership checkers are there to give members the feeling of exclusivity and belonging. They do not generally turn people away and will accept basically any reason from "meeting someone" to no response at all, in my experience. But I haven't been to more than half dozen Costco's, so can't speak broadly.
  - raisedbyninjas 8y ago
    I think their primary purpose is to ensure that nobody who isn't a member or forgot their membership card gets in the checkout line and slows it down.
    - ceejayoz 8y ago
      I suspect "where are you going with that $2000 TV?" plays a role, too.
- xythian 8y ago
  You do not need to be a member to access the food court, alcohol sales, or pharmacy. You will need to stop at member services and wait in line to get a temporary pass. It's a deliberate hassle, but by various laws Costco can't stop you from accessing those services.
- RangerScience 8y ago
  Almost every Costco I've been to, the food vending is a window on the outside of the building (so before the checkpoint). And, at the ones where the food vending is on the inside, it's on the "paid" side of the cash registers. You can get to this area just by claiming you're "going to member services", since that's also on that side, and it's where you go when you forget your card (and so can't show membership at the checkpoint). Source: Have forgotten my card a lot.

gowld 8y ago

Your examples don't makes sense, as bread and milk (which Costco sells as multi-packs) keep fine in storage. Buying perishables and junk food would be a better example. Costco electronics prices are competitive and have the best return policy and practice in the industry.

jeremyt 8y ago
In what world does milk "keep fine in storage"?
- ouid 8y ago
  The modern world. Milk no longer goes bad quickly.
  - dsjoerg 8y ago
    Maybe neither you nor grandparent know about UHT treatment of milk, and how it's common outside America and uncommon inside.
    - chillwaves 8y ago
      Seems to be at every single grocery store I have ever shopped in for the past at least 5 years. Not every milk is UHT but every grocery store offers it.
      - mmt 8y ago
        > Not every milk is UHT but every grocery store offers it. But what about Costco (or other bulk-only sources), which is, really, the whole point of the thread (and original comment)?
  - reaperducer 8y ago
    I guess it depends on the definition of "quickly" and also where you live. In some cities I've lived, the expiration date of milk was often two or three weeks out. In other cities, it was 10 days maximum. I think it's because dairies (and cows) are not equally plentiful in every part of the country. One thing I have noticed is that in the places where regular milk expires in 10 days, the organic milk (which one family member drinks) doesn't expire for a month or more.

jerf 8y ago

I'm only consuming "far more than I normally would" if I'm routinely throwing away things I bought from CostCo, unconsumed. I don't. Nor does anyone else I know. It's just consumption moved around in time. I know, I know, it may be aesthetically distasteful to you to see people walking out with 36 rolls of toilet paper instead of six. It may be hard not to sneer at the poor people trapped on the capitalist treadmill. But you should get over it, because in most ways you're better off when people shop at CostCo, because buying that way and storing things at home for a time is much more packaging and environmentally efficient that packing things into little bundles to be bought every day. And buying like that also minimizes the little bites being taken out by middlemen who are doing the packaging into little bundles. And a car trip taken to CostCo that fills the car is more efficient than lots of little trips to the grocery store.

emodendroket 8y ago
I mean, I agree, in the sense that I also like to buy in bulk and save a lot on things I use a lot this way. But it is true that a membership makes people shop at a store more to "get their money's worth" for the membership.
mmt 8y ago
> And a car trip I suspect this is the real source of the hostility, rather than aesthetics: Costco represents, in general, a larger-land-footprint, car-dependent, suburban (or even semi-rural) lifestyle. There's likely something of a false dichotomy at work here, as well, in that there could be Costco-compatible dense-city living, but that doesn't seem to be true currently.
- nightski 8y ago
  I shop at Costco regularly (once every two weeks at least, sometimes weekly). Yes I gasp drive a car. But I put less than 3k miles on my car a year since I work from home. Maybe shopping at Costco isn't the problem for most people. It's working in an office.
  - 8y ago