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I disagree here. Costco is now often trading on its reputation for getting you a bulk discount, but when you compare them to Aldi, or even to a larger supermar

I disagree here. Costco is now often trading on its reputation for getting you a bulk discount, but when you compare them to Aldi, or even to a larger supermarket, you're often getting things in large quantity for the same price or more than you'd pay in small quantity. This is especially true for things like cheese. Meanwhile, you're giving up the opportunity to get a superior product. In the cheese example, Costco stocks Belgioioso mozzarella, which to me is about store-brand quality. Popular because it doesn't taste like cheese. For a decent price, you can buy much better mozzarella which has some flavor. And you don't have to buy 3 lbs at a time.

simonsarris 7y ago
I was doing price comparison just yesterday and was pretty disappointed in what I found for Costco prices. I thought they were better. Kerrygold butter is cheaper at Walmart. Organic chicken stock is cheaper at Whole Foods. Organic diced tomatoes at Costco however are very well priced.
- lotsofpulp 7y ago
  I shop at Costco despite the prices, because I like their ethos of treating employees well and business model that makes me feel like they wouldn’t cut unnecessary corners on product quality.
- sureshv 7y ago
  Since this is an item I get regularly - it’s $9 for a 4-pack of Kerrygold butter at the Mountain View Costco ($2.25/ 8oz bar). Same 8oz butter is almost double at Safeway or Whole Foods. The local Walmart is $2.83 per bar. I have rarely found Costco items more expensive than other local stores, at least for my regular items. I discount Trader Joe’s since they don’t carry branded items other than wine and beer.
  - simonsarris 7y ago
    That's weird, it's $11.49 in NH for the same thing at Costco. :( And 2.50/bar at Walmart here (What I actually buy now is the French cultured butter from trader Joe's though, which is v good)
    - xnyan 7y ago
      Second on TJs butter. For quality to value ratio of most foods, TJs blows Costso out of the water imo, and you don't have to buy cheese in 3 lb blocks.
  - inferiorhuman 7y ago
    I discount Trader Joe’s since they don’t carry branded items other than wine and beer. They carry a variety of branded items including Kerrygold, Tilamook, Rouge et Noir (Bay Area cheese maker), those kringles, Spindrift, Columbus (lunchmeat), those organic herbs, and Tom's of Maine (hygiene). There's probably a few more.
    - fiter 7y ago
      It's funny that you mention Rouge et Noir; I think they've been re-branded to "Marin French Cheese". I miss the old name.
  - disgruntledphd2 7y ago
    That is depressingly cheap Kerrygold. I live in ireland (the home of Kerrygold), and it cost me 3.75 euro to get one of those packs today :( On the bright side, the no-name brand butter is almost as good here, so it's not a total wash.
- AdmiralAsshat 7y ago
  > Organic chicken stock is cheaper at Whole Foods. If you buy Better than Bouillon at Costco, you can get a pound of the stuff for about $6, which is double the quantity that you find at most other grocery stores. I stopped buying liquid stock after I found that stuff, because it's so much cheaper.
  - stickfigure 7y ago
    And so much easier to store! I've also given up on liquid - you cannot taste the difference.
    - bayonetz 7y ago
      That stuff is way too salty though with a pretty thin flavor profile. You can at least find liquid stocks with no sodium so you can add a lot of flavor and then salt to taste. Even their reduced sodium version is too salty. Liquid no sodium stocks still aren’t awesome either but I think it’s better overall than the Better than Boulion options.
- Aloha 7y ago
  Yes, but to get those things, I'd have to make three stops, or I can make one stop and pay marginally more.
- myrandomcomment 7y ago
  So given a choice of shopping at Costco who pays the highest wages and benefits vs. Walmart who has the lowest wages and benefits, I will pay that small extra for the butter.
- perl4ever 7y ago
  I've been getting a lot of stuff at Home Depot and Lowe's recently, and finding that they each have different products for everything, and which one is obviously better/cheaper varies on an extremely granular level - not just a manufacturer or product type, but an individual product. It's gotten really frustrating that every time I want three or four things I have to go to both or I will regret my choices. I believe this is a general phenomenon and I read years ago about someone studying it in grocery stores. I'm not sure to what extent it is emergent vs. rationally thought out, but direct competitors tend to evolve to give you just enough good options to get you in the store, and as many bad deals as you are likely to go with just because you are in the store. Being uniformly better is not necessary to compete and therefore suboptimal.
- gamblor956 7y ago
  It depends on the Costcos, Walmarts, and Whole Foods in your area. In LA, Costco isn't always the cheapest on a per-unit basis, but they're always the cheapest on a per weight/per ounce basis. For example, Kerrygold butter is $5 at the Ralphs, and the same size container is $8 at the nearest Whole Foods. It's $16 at Costco...but for 4x the amount of butter, making it cheaper than both Ralphs and Whole Foods if you can actually use all that butter. (There are no nearby Walmarts, and neither of the local Targets or Food4Less' sell Kerrygold.)
sjg007 7y ago
The problem with costco is bulk buying. I feel like someone should start a buyers club or something online.
- brianwawok 7y ago
  That mostly feels like a myth to me? It’s not that bulk. Chips come in bigger bags - use a clip. Bread comes two loaves, freeze one. It’s very rare I see something but it’s an unusable quantity for a family of four. Now that said, when I lived in a tiny apartment getting 36 rolls of toilet paper at once was annoying, but I made it work.
  - sjg007 7y ago
    I mean, you get like 16 packs of chicken.. 3 boxes of cereal, a crate of pears, 3 things of hummus... yes you can make it work but still it’s a lot.
  - philwelch 7y ago
    There are the buckets of soy sauce that seem targeted to the “restaurant supply” sector.
    - tssva 7y ago
      If you don't run a restaurant there are also just bottles of soy sauce.
  - aj7 7y ago
    Put chips in the freezer. It pumps the water vapor out.
  - esoterica 7y ago
    Are single and childless people a myth to you? A lot of people are part of households that have substantially fewer than four members. Also, frozen bread is an indignity that no one should have to suffer. Unless you are very very poor just pay the extra dollar and eat fresh bread.
nickpsecurity 7y ago
I agree. Which items are cheaper than competitors are really hit and miss. Some of Costco's have higher quality, though. I think that Aldi sells singles cheap by stocking cases with 1-3 stockers keeping the whole store up proves Costco could've done that. They should try doing it Aldi-like with higher-quality brands.
JeremyNT 7y ago
Costco is seldom cheapest, but you can be confident that it will at least be competitive and they only sell quality products. If you enjoy shopping around and comparing pricing, it's not the best option. But if you just want to buy a product and know you won't be ripped off, you can shop there and never have to think about it. That allows people who don't enjoy shopping to save a lot of time and mental energy.
- dragonwriter 7y ago
  > Costco is seldom cheapest, but you can be confident that it will at least be competitive and they only sell quality products. I've run into plenty of counterexamples to the last claim.
  - fsckin 7y ago
    Same here, on occasion, but I've found they typically make you whole when you get a dud. Good example: I bought two collapsible milk crates. They loaded all my groceries into them in the store. When I got home and lifted the first crate out of the car, it had too much weight inside, the bottom fell out and two bottles of wine shattered. I told them the story when returning the crate two weeks later, they waved me off when I said I had a pic, told me it wasn’t necessary, and refunded the wine without being prompted. Trying to get wine refunded with most other retailer would probably require talking to a manager and making a scene.
  - loco5niner 7y ago
    Which is where their return policy comes in. I've used it extensively

simonsarris 7y ago

I was doing price comparison just yesterday and was pretty disappointed in what I found for Costco prices. I thought they were better. Kerrygold butter is cheaper at Walmart. Organic chicken stock is cheaper at Whole Foods. Organic diced tomatoes at Costco however are very well priced.

lotsofpulp 7y ago
I shop at Costco despite the prices, because I like their ethos of treating employees well and business model that makes me feel like they wouldn’t cut unnecessary corners on product quality.
sureshv 7y ago
Since this is an item I get regularly - it’s $9 for a 4-pack of Kerrygold butter at the Mountain View Costco ($2.25/ 8oz bar). Same 8oz butter is almost double at Safeway or Whole Foods. The local Walmart is $2.83 per bar. I have rarely found Costco items more expensive than other local stores, at least for my regular items. I discount Trader Joe’s since they don’t carry branded items other than wine and beer.
- simonsarris 7y ago
  That's weird, it's $11.49 in NH for the same thing at Costco. :( And 2.50/bar at Walmart here (What I actually buy now is the French cultured butter from trader Joe's though, which is v good)
  - xnyan 7y ago
    Second on TJs butter. For quality to value ratio of most foods, TJs blows Costso out of the water imo, and you don't have to buy cheese in 3 lb blocks.
- inferiorhuman 7y ago
  I discount Trader Joe’s since they don’t carry branded items other than wine and beer. They carry a variety of branded items including Kerrygold, Tilamook, Rouge et Noir (Bay Area cheese maker), those kringles, Spindrift, Columbus (lunchmeat), those organic herbs, and Tom's of Maine (hygiene). There's probably a few more.
  - fiter 7y ago
    It's funny that you mention Rouge et Noir; I think they've been re-branded to "Marin French Cheese". I miss the old name.
- disgruntledphd2 7y ago
  That is depressingly cheap Kerrygold. I live in ireland (the home of Kerrygold), and it cost me 3.75 euro to get one of those packs today :( On the bright side, the no-name brand butter is almost as good here, so it's not a total wash.
AdmiralAsshat 7y ago
> Organic chicken stock is cheaper at Whole Foods. If you buy Better than Bouillon at Costco, you can get a pound of the stuff for about $6, which is double the quantity that you find at most other grocery stores. I stopped buying liquid stock after I found that stuff, because it's so much cheaper.
- stickfigure 7y ago
  And so much easier to store! I've also given up on liquid - you cannot taste the difference.
  - bayonetz 7y ago
    That stuff is way too salty though with a pretty thin flavor profile. You can at least find liquid stocks with no sodium so you can add a lot of flavor and then salt to taste. Even their reduced sodium version is too salty. Liquid no sodium stocks still aren’t awesome either but I think it’s better overall than the Better than Boulion options.
Aloha 7y ago
Yes, but to get those things, I'd have to make three stops, or I can make one stop and pay marginally more.
myrandomcomment 7y ago
So given a choice of shopping at Costco who pays the highest wages and benefits vs. Walmart who has the lowest wages and benefits, I will pay that small extra for the butter.
perl4ever 7y ago
I've been getting a lot of stuff at Home Depot and Lowe's recently, and finding that they each have different products for everything, and which one is obviously better/cheaper varies on an extremely granular level - not just a manufacturer or product type, but an individual product. It's gotten really frustrating that every time I want three or four things I have to go to both or I will regret my choices. I believe this is a general phenomenon and I read years ago about someone studying it in grocery stores. I'm not sure to what extent it is emergent vs. rationally thought out, but direct competitors tend to evolve to give you just enough good options to get you in the store, and as many bad deals as you are likely to go with just because you are in the store. Being uniformly better is not necessary to compete and therefore suboptimal.
gamblor956 7y ago
It depends on the Costcos, Walmarts, and Whole Foods in your area. In LA, Costco isn't always the cheapest on a per-unit basis, but they're always the cheapest on a per weight/per ounce basis. For example, Kerrygold butter is $5 at the Ralphs, and the same size container is $8 at the nearest Whole Foods. It's $16 at Costco...but for 4x the amount of butter, making it cheaper than both Ralphs and Whole Foods if you can actually use all that butter. (There are no nearby Walmarts, and neither of the local Targets or Food4Less' sell Kerrygold.)

sjg007 7y ago

The problem with costco is bulk buying. I feel like someone should start a buyers club or something online.

brianwawok 7y ago
That mostly feels like a myth to me? It’s not that bulk. Chips come in bigger bags - use a clip. Bread comes two loaves, freeze one. It’s very rare I see something but it’s an unusable quantity for a family of four. Now that said, when I lived in a tiny apartment getting 36 rolls of toilet paper at once was annoying, but I made it work.
- sjg007 7y ago
  I mean, you get like 16 packs of chicken.. 3 boxes of cereal, a crate of pears, 3 things of hummus... yes you can make it work but still it’s a lot.
- philwelch 7y ago
  There are the buckets of soy sauce that seem targeted to the “restaurant supply” sector.
  - tssva 7y ago
    If you don't run a restaurant there are also just bottles of soy sauce.
- aj7 7y ago
  Put chips in the freezer. It pumps the water vapor out.
- esoterica 7y ago
  Are single and childless people a myth to you? A lot of people are part of households that have substantially fewer than four members. Also, frozen bread is an indignity that no one should have to suffer. Unless you are very very poor just pay the extra dollar and eat fresh bread.

nickpsecurity 7y ago

I agree. Which items are cheaper than competitors are really hit and miss. Some of Costco's have higher quality, though. I think that Aldi sells singles cheap by stocking cases with 1-3 stockers keeping the whole store up proves Costco could've done that. They should try doing it Aldi-like with higher-quality brands.

JeremyNT 7y ago

Costco is seldom cheapest, but you can be confident that it will at least be competitive and they only sell quality products. If you enjoy shopping around and comparing pricing, it's not the best option. But if you just want to buy a product and know you won't be ripped off, you can shop there and never have to think about it. That allows people who don't enjoy shopping to save a lot of time and mental energy.

dragonwriter 7y ago
> Costco is seldom cheapest, but you can be confident that it will at least be competitive and they only sell quality products. I've run into plenty of counterexamples to the last claim.
- fsckin 7y ago
  Same here, on occasion, but I've found they typically make you whole when you get a dud. Good example: I bought two collapsible milk crates. They loaded all my groceries into them in the store. When I got home and lifted the first crate out of the car, it had too much weight inside, the bottom fell out and two bottles of wine shattered. I told them the story when returning the crate two weeks later, they waved me off when I said I had a pic, told me it wasn’t necessary, and refunded the wine without being prompted. Trying to get wine refunded with most other retailer would probably require talking to a manager and making a scene.
- loco5niner 7y ago
  Which is where their return policy comes in. I've used it extensively