Questions About CostCo

Questions About CostCo

Seeing as the Brisbane CostCo isn’t too far for me, I’ve wondered if I should join and do my shopping there. But I have a lot of questions about what would be worth it or not.

 

Questions About CostCo

 

Is it really cheaper?

Firstly, we don’t spend much overall on grocery shopping, so it has me wondering if there really are savings to be had. I would say we average $100/week for groceries (which includes dog food, cleaning times, toiletries etc). Is it really cheaper?

 

What brands are sold there?

We buy a range of branded and non branded food, but we do tend to stick to the ones we know for a variety of health and medical reasons across the humans and dogs. Small differences in brands can actually have a big impact. We don’t shop at Aldi for this reason (and others). This applies to prepackaged food primarily for us.

 

Questions About CostCo

 

Are the opening hours comparable?

I checked out the locations page here, and it seems that they are open nearly as late as regular supermarkets. That’s a big check for me, as I only like going to supermarkets late at night when they’re not busy. How this works out practically in terms of busyness and so on is something I’m curious about. Basically I really like shopping when no one is around and I feel like that is likely to be an impossibility at CostCo.

 

What is the fresh food like?

I love our local fruit & veggie shop, which is only a few doors from our house. Is CostCo’s fresh food as high quality? Does it last as long? How do I feel ethically about possibly swapping my shopping away from a local business?

 

Do I have the space to buy in bulk?

How bulk is shopping at CostCo? Do I have the pantry, fridge and freezer space to shop there? Does it make my exisiting storage containers redundant?

 

Is bulk wasteful?

Depending on the answer to the question above, do I need to buy that much? Will it go to waste before I use it?

 

How likely am I to spend more just because it’s there?

I saw on Instagram the other day that there is a wider range of items than Coles and Woolies…which sounds great. But will that just increase my grocery spend?

 

To answer these questions …well I will either be tagging along with a friend who has a card, or I’ll buy a membership and just try it.

 

At least CostCo appear to have a more US style returns policy, rather than Australian one. That’s one thing I like about the US – it’s not punitive when you need to return things like stores that kick up a fuss as if it’s personal. It’s a big pet peeve of mine!

 

Do you shop at CostCo? Any tips? 

 

2 Replies to “Questions About CostCo”

  1. I’ve never shopped there, as they are too far from where I live, though I look forward to hearing the answers to your questions. They would be mine as well.

    1. Vanessa Smith says: Reply

      I’ll be sure to post when I’ve been! I want to basically copy what I would buy normally in Coles/Woolies and do a side by side comparison.

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