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A lot of their members are various types of small businesses. Remember when Costco was becoming popular like 20-30 years ago they mostly marketed themselves as

A lot of their members are various types of small businesses. Remember when Costco was becoming popular like 20-30 years ago they mostly marketed themselves as a place for small businesses to stock up. It is hard to say what would be reasonable for a small business.

abandonliberty 7y ago
I'm always entertained when the guy next to me is buying 50 cases of canola oil or something. Turns out Costco is still often cheaper than a lot of wholesalers.
- rootusrootus 7y ago
  > Costco is still often cheaper On the flip side, they have been more expensive on quite a lot of things that the normal grocery store carries. Beware that just because Costco sells a giant pack of something doesn't necessarily mean it is cheaper.
  - insaneirish 7y ago
    > On the flip side, they have been more expensive on quite a lot of things that the normal grocery store carries. Example? On a per unit/per weight basis, for equivalent quality, I have never once observed this.
    - baldeagle 7y ago
      Fresh produce / veggies.
    - kenhwang 7y ago
      I've only noticed it on produce. Fruit and vegetables can be a bit cheaper at the normal grocery store. I assume it's because Costco usually sells those items packaged while the grocery store typically does not. Real example since I just did groceries so I still remember all the prices and still have my receipt from my last Costco run last week. Asparagus is $0.99/lb at the grocery store bundled with a rubber band; Costco had it for $3.68/lb but it came in a nicely sealed plastic bag with nutritional facts. $0.99 per bell pepper at the grocery store, pick from a pile; $9.59/6-pack (effectively $1.59/per) at Costco, also in a plastic bag with two of each color selected for you.
      - KarlKemp 7y ago
        Packaged fruits and vegetables are usually cheaper than pick-from-pile. Because it somewhat limits your choice. Peppers are a good example: nobody buys green peppers if they can avoid it. That’s why they sell sets with red/yellow/green. (I hope “peppers” is the right word here. I have been somewhat confused by America’s use of pepper/pepperoni/paprika)
        DoreenMichele 7y ago
        Peppers looks like the right word. Pepperoni is a type of sausage typically used as a pizza topping. Paprika is usually sold in the US as a spice, not as the fruit/vegetable.
        kenhwang 7y ago
        Funny thing is my grocery store doesn't even stock green bell peppers anymore, probably for that reason. Makes the value even more biased towards the grocery store since it's cheaper per pepper and you don't get stuck with the undesirable green ones.
    - moftz 7y ago
      This isn't the case 100% but I'll buy some sort of snack at Costco that sounds good (because I went to the store hungry). I'll come home and try it and either I don't like it at all or I like it enough to finish most of it but not all because I get sick of it after awhile. I technically saved money buying it in bulk but I probably wasted more on what I didn't eat. I try not to buy things at Costco that I haven't already tried before in significant quantities. I've been burned too many times by the free samples that taste great but then I get sick of eating it over the course of the month or more. I try to limit Costco trips to only staples and essentials, things I use all the time and enjoy and only buy new things or things I don't want to eat for months on end at the normal grocery store. I also stay away from things at Costco that are hard to preserve, things like giant bags of chips where once you open it, it's going to go stale just as fast as a small bag of chips.
    - jcrawfordor 7y ago
      This is often very noticeable because Costco primarily carries name brands. For example, purchasing the large cases of soda at Costco is cheaper than buying the same brand at a grocer, but appreciably more expensive than buying the grocer's store brand. Costco hasn't built their reputation necessarily on being the cheapest, but also on carrying quality brands, so they are often not the cheapest if you compare across brands. This is particularly clear for products like soda where it's not that certain that the name brand is actually any better.
      - philwelch 7y ago
        On the other hand, there's the Costco store brand, "Kirkland Signature". On the other, other hand, Kirkland Signature is a fairly premium store brand, if that makes any sense--there are some products where I trust Kirkland Signature as much if not more than many name brands, similarly to Trader Joe's. Also, > This is particularly clear for products like soda where it's not that certain that the name brand is actually any better. This hasn't been true in my experience. A lot of soda drinkers have very strong preferences not just between brand to brand (Coke vs. Pepsi) but even within the same brand (Mexican vs. US Coke). About the only time I'd buy any store brand soda would be if (a) I was serving it to people and didn't particularly care how much they enjoyed it or (b) if I was buying it for some non-drinking purpose.
        jcrawfordor 7y ago
        Definitely the products are different - I say that because there are a lot of people, at least in my experience, who prefer an off-brand. RC is somewhat famous for being a discount soda with a strong following. Given the number of people who have a strong preference between name-brands Coca Cola and Pepsi, if they squared those against the few dozen off-brands would there be another they preferred? In another market space Coca Cola and Pepsi are now the underdog fighting back against National Beverage, a discount manufacturer which managed to sweep the market with their La Croix brand. At the same time their Shasta brand still runs fifty cents a can at the right vending machine and in my opinion isn't that bad. Coca-Cola tends to be better regarded than Pepsi due to their history, while Pepsi more often wins blind comparisons. This consumer preference is famously reversed in the soviet bloc. At the same time Coca Cola's Mr. Pibb is decidedly "off-brand" compared to the smaller Dr Pepper-Snapple group. So I think it's hard to say that there's a clear quality hierarchy with sodas. Rather, they drive strong consumer preference and two brands happen to be the best known and most widely distributed. This is more or less true of a lot of other products as well where there isn't a clear objective measure of quality, it just seems especially noticeable with sodas.
    - rootusrootus 7y ago
      Staple items. Dishwashing liquid. Peanut butter. Even things that I thought only Costco carried, like those dinosaur chicken nuggets (hey, what can I say, I have young kids...). Brand name foods, not "equivalent" items. All cheaper on a per-unit basis at Fred Meyer. And Fred Meyer is most assuredly not the cheapest source of groceries. Once I started paying attention, I was startled how many things we buy at Costco are actually cheaper at the grocery store.
paulddraper 7y ago
Indeed. Costco is a small business staple.
monadic2 7y ago
Meanwhile, restaurant supply stores are currently overflowing with extra stock.
dumbfoundded 7y ago
Absolutely. It's hard to say what would be reasonable for any person really. What if someone is looking after relatives, friends, or neighbors who are quarantined? What if someone is buying a bunch to give out to the homeless? When we take pictures of people "hoarding", how do we really know their intentions? That's the problem with these systems. You either limit the good people from doing reasonable things or you expose yourself to bad people. There are some reasonable compromises in between but I wish people were a little less quick to judge an entire person's being from what's in their shopping cart.
- WalterBright 7y ago
  Rationing comes with a list of unfortunate consequences. Its only value is it is politically popular.
  - monadic2 7y ago
    Hell of a claim. Got a link? It’s hard to imagine a resource distribution mechanism as harmful and inequitable as the free market.
    - WalterBright 7y ago
      You don't have to imagine. Just read a book on life in the Soviet Union. In fact, there is a book entitled "Life in the Soviet Union": https://www.amazon.com/Life-Soviet-Union-Report-Socialism/dp/0933028032/ https://www.amazon.com/Life-Soviet-Union-Report-Socialism/dp...
      - monadic2 7y ago
        ...really? Cuz there’s a homeless person outside my window. I don’t see a comparison benefitting the US. I would give all my money to live in a country where bread lines are what people fear.
        WalterBright 7y ago
dghughes 7y ago
It would be insane for a small business to buy items at retail prices. They should be going to a wholesaler to buy what they need. I used to work for my uncle's coin-op business. I would often go to the wholesaler to purchase vending machine stock. Cases of cigarettes were insanely expensive ($2K each??) even at a wholesaler back in the late 1980s early 1990s.
- pragmatic 7y ago
  Use cases: stocking a few pop/snack machines. Getting copy paper/pens. Food for the company BBQ.
- catblast 7y ago
  You misunderstood. It’s for small businesses to stock up on items they need for their place of business, not for resale. Countless small offices in the US may need a lot more TP than a 3 person family but doesn’t need enough to justify a direct wholesale account. Same goes for coffee, snacks, various office appliances.
  - jcrawfordor 7y ago
    There are businesses that buy stock for resale at Costco too. It's usually because the volume they buy is too small for wholesalers to take them seriously. Examples around here are small vending businesses and movie theaters.
    - kenhwang 7y ago
      The cafe near my office resells Costco baked goods like muffins and cookies. They primarily do hot breakfast/lunch/sandwiches, but hey, sometimes people just want a cookie.
- chrismcb 7y ago
  A small business isn't going to go to a wholesaler for small items that they use. If you are a small shop, with a handful of employees youll probably just go to Costco to get the small number of items you need. That is how Costco got started
pragmatic 7y ago
Yes, Sam's club and Costco are/were mostly for small biz. We didn't renew our membership at either because our family of 3+1 small dog can't consume the enormous minimum quantities fast enough. (How are we supposed to consume 3 larger containers of ketchup, etc)
kelnos 7y ago
Don't they have different memberships for business vs. personal?
jedberg 7y ago
Yeah but they have different memberships for businesses. They require a business license and cost extra, but get extra benefits. The could totally have said "normal memberships get one pack of TP a month, business memberships get 10 (or whatever the normal average is)".

abandonliberty 7y ago

I'm always entertained when the guy next to me is buying 50 cases of canola oil or something. Turns out Costco is still often cheaper than a lot of wholesalers.

rootusrootus 7y ago
> Costco is still often cheaper On the flip side, they have been more expensive on quite a lot of things that the normal grocery store carries. Beware that just because Costco sells a giant pack of something doesn't necessarily mean it is cheaper.
- insaneirish 7y ago
  > On the flip side, they have been more expensive on quite a lot of things that the normal grocery store carries. Example? On a per unit/per weight basis, for equivalent quality, I have never once observed this.
  - baldeagle 7y ago
    Fresh produce / veggies.
  - kenhwang 7y ago
    I've only noticed it on produce. Fruit and vegetables can be a bit cheaper at the normal grocery store. I assume it's because Costco usually sells those items packaged while the grocery store typically does not. Real example since I just did groceries so I still remember all the prices and still have my receipt from my last Costco run last week. Asparagus is $0.99/lb at the grocery store bundled with a rubber band; Costco had it for $3.68/lb but it came in a nicely sealed plastic bag with nutritional facts. $0.99 per bell pepper at the grocery store, pick from a pile; $9.59/6-pack (effectively $1.59/per) at Costco, also in a plastic bag with two of each color selected for you.
    - KarlKemp 7y ago
      Packaged fruits and vegetables are usually cheaper than pick-from-pile. Because it somewhat limits your choice. Peppers are a good example: nobody buys green peppers if they can avoid it. That’s why they sell sets with red/yellow/green. (I hope “peppers” is the right word here. I have been somewhat confused by America’s use of pepper/pepperoni/paprika)
      - DoreenMichele 7y ago
        Peppers looks like the right word. Pepperoni is a type of sausage typically used as a pizza topping. Paprika is usually sold in the US as a spice, not as the fruit/vegetable.
      - kenhwang 7y ago
        Funny thing is my grocery store doesn't even stock green bell peppers anymore, probably for that reason. Makes the value even more biased towards the grocery store since it's cheaper per pepper and you don't get stuck with the undesirable green ones.
  - moftz 7y ago
    This isn't the case 100% but I'll buy some sort of snack at Costco that sounds good (because I went to the store hungry). I'll come home and try it and either I don't like it at all or I like it enough to finish most of it but not all because I get sick of it after awhile. I technically saved money buying it in bulk but I probably wasted more on what I didn't eat. I try not to buy things at Costco that I haven't already tried before in significant quantities. I've been burned too many times by the free samples that taste great but then I get sick of eating it over the course of the month or more. I try to limit Costco trips to only staples and essentials, things I use all the time and enjoy and only buy new things or things I don't want to eat for months on end at the normal grocery store. I also stay away from things at Costco that are hard to preserve, things like giant bags of chips where once you open it, it's going to go stale just as fast as a small bag of chips.
  - jcrawfordor 7y ago
    This is often very noticeable because Costco primarily carries name brands. For example, purchasing the large cases of soda at Costco is cheaper than buying the same brand at a grocer, but appreciably more expensive than buying the grocer's store brand. Costco hasn't built their reputation necessarily on being the cheapest, but also on carrying quality brands, so they are often not the cheapest if you compare across brands. This is particularly clear for products like soda where it's not that certain that the name brand is actually any better.
    - philwelch 7y ago
      On the other hand, there's the Costco store brand, "Kirkland Signature". On the other, other hand, Kirkland Signature is a fairly premium store brand, if that makes any sense--there are some products where I trust Kirkland Signature as much if not more than many name brands, similarly to Trader Joe's. Also, > This is particularly clear for products like soda where it's not that certain that the name brand is actually any better. This hasn't been true in my experience. A lot of soda drinkers have very strong preferences not just between brand to brand (Coke vs. Pepsi) but even within the same brand (Mexican vs. US Coke). About the only time I'd buy any store brand soda would be if (a) I was serving it to people and didn't particularly care how much they enjoyed it or (b) if I was buying it for some non-drinking purpose.
      - jcrawfordor 7y ago
        Definitely the products are different - I say that because there are a lot of people, at least in my experience, who prefer an off-brand. RC is somewhat famous for being a discount soda with a strong following. Given the number of people who have a strong preference between name-brands Coca Cola and Pepsi, if they squared those against the few dozen off-brands would there be another they preferred? In another market space Coca Cola and Pepsi are now the underdog fighting back against National Beverage, a discount manufacturer which managed to sweep the market with their La Croix brand. At the same time their Shasta brand still runs fifty cents a can at the right vending machine and in my opinion isn't that bad. Coca-Cola tends to be better regarded than Pepsi due to their history, while Pepsi more often wins blind comparisons. This consumer preference is famously reversed in the soviet bloc. At the same time Coca Cola's Mr. Pibb is decidedly "off-brand" compared to the smaller Dr Pepper-Snapple group. So I think it's hard to say that there's a clear quality hierarchy with sodas. Rather, they drive strong consumer preference and two brands happen to be the best known and most widely distributed. This is more or less true of a lot of other products as well where there isn't a clear objective measure of quality, it just seems especially noticeable with sodas.
  - rootusrootus 7y ago
    Staple items. Dishwashing liquid. Peanut butter. Even things that I thought only Costco carried, like those dinosaur chicken nuggets (hey, what can I say, I have young kids...). Brand name foods, not "equivalent" items. All cheaper on a per-unit basis at Fred Meyer. And Fred Meyer is most assuredly not the cheapest source of groceries. Once I started paying attention, I was startled how many things we buy at Costco are actually cheaper at the grocery store.

paulddraper 7y ago

Indeed. Costco is a small business staple.

monadic2 7y ago

Meanwhile, restaurant supply stores are currently overflowing with extra stock.

dumbfoundded 7y ago

Absolutely. It's hard to say what would be reasonable for any person really. What if someone is looking after relatives, friends, or neighbors who are quarantined? What if someone is buying a bunch to give out to the homeless? When we take pictures of people "hoarding", how do we really know their intentions? That's the problem with these systems. You either limit the good people from doing reasonable things or you expose yourself to bad people. There are some reasonable compromises in between but I wish people were a little less quick to judge an entire person's being from what's in their shopping cart.

WalterBright 7y ago
Rationing comes with a list of unfortunate consequences. Its only value is it is politically popular.
- monadic2 7y ago
  Hell of a claim. Got a link? It’s hard to imagine a resource distribution mechanism as harmful and inequitable as the free market.
  - WalterBright 7y ago
    You don't have to imagine. Just read a book on life in the Soviet Union. In fact, there is a book entitled "Life in the Soviet Union": https://www.amazon.com/Life-Soviet-Union-Report-Socialism/dp/0933028032/ https://www.amazon.com/Life-Soviet-Union-Report-Socialism/dp...
    - monadic2 7y ago
      ...really? Cuz there’s a homeless person outside my window. I don’t see a comparison benefitting the US. I would give all my money to live in a country where bread lines are what people fear.
      - WalterBright 7y ago

dghughes 7y ago

It would be insane for a small business to buy items at retail prices. They should be going to a wholesaler to buy what they need. I used to work for my uncle's coin-op business. I would often go to the wholesaler to purchase vending machine stock. Cases of cigarettes were insanely expensive ($2K each??) even at a wholesaler back in the late 1980s early 1990s.

pragmatic 7y ago
Use cases: stocking a few pop/snack machines. Getting copy paper/pens. Food for the company BBQ.
catblast 7y ago
You misunderstood. It’s for small businesses to stock up on items they need for their place of business, not for resale. Countless small offices in the US may need a lot more TP than a 3 person family but doesn’t need enough to justify a direct wholesale account. Same goes for coffee, snacks, various office appliances.
- jcrawfordor 7y ago
  There are businesses that buy stock for resale at Costco too. It's usually because the volume they buy is too small for wholesalers to take them seriously. Examples around here are small vending businesses and movie theaters.
  - kenhwang 7y ago
    The cafe near my office resells Costco baked goods like muffins and cookies. They primarily do hot breakfast/lunch/sandwiches, but hey, sometimes people just want a cookie.
chrismcb 7y ago
A small business isn't going to go to a wholesaler for small items that they use. If you are a small shop, with a handful of employees youll probably just go to Costco to get the small number of items you need. That is how Costco got started

pragmatic 7y ago

Yes, Sam's club and Costco are/were mostly for small biz. We didn't renew our membership at either because our family of 3+1 small dog can't consume the enormous minimum quantities fast enough. (How are we supposed to consume 3 larger containers of ketchup, etc)

kelnos 7y ago

Don't they have different memberships for business vs. personal?

jedberg 7y ago

Yeah but they have different memberships for businesses. They require a business license and cost extra, but get extra benefits. The could totally have said "normal memberships get one pack of TP a month, business memberships get 10 (or whatever the normal average is)".