Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => The O' Club => Topic started by: Halo on May 08, 2007, 11:57:28 AM
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A big new Costco just opened near us, and once again I'm considering PAYING TO SHOP, a concept I dearly hate. I've tried memberships before in stores like Sam's Club and BJ's but let them lapse after a year.
If I had a large family or a small business and needed bulk quantities at somewhat better prices than available elsewhere, membership might be worth it. But I don't need bulk quantities and am not impressed with a constantly changing selection of merchandise that can never be counted on for a particular item or brand.
How about you? Is membership bulk purchasing something you currently need and participate in? If so, which stores and why?
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My wife and I shop at a Sams Club about once a month. I really don't do it to save money, I like buying large quantities of stuff I use a lot of so I don't have to pick it up every week at the grocery store.
Cat litter, cat food, paper towels, toilet paper, juice, soda, and other stuff we get at Sams.
Also I got our 46" Sony HDTV there about 2 months ago, exact same models I was going to buy at Tweeter but $300 less.
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I've been a Costco member since the early 90's. It's not near as good now as it used to be. They used to have great a software selection at half price but now the selection is hardly worth looking at and it's all at full price or more than you could get on-line. The prices on a lot of other popular products cost as much or more than they would at any other store too.
But for a growing family there are still a lot of benefits. The bulk food is still a better deal and for book lovers, most are still at half price or greatly reduced. And they have the cheapest gas in town.
If you do a lot of shopping there like I do, get yourself the Costco/American Express card that pays back a percentage of what you spend. At the end of the year it more than pays for the annual membership for me.
But if I was single, it probably wouldn't be worth it for me.
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Costco is the Shiznit.
I wander around that store saying.."I need that" "I need that"....
Got some great deals on Scotch there.
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what MT said.
I like tuna, and get it really cheap there, like 1/2 the price of the grocery store.
lots of other stuff too, but the deals are great (IF you want to buy in bulk like I do buying 20 cans of tuna a pop)
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I belong to Sams.
Depends what your looking for.
You gotta know your prices because sometimes sams can actually be more expencive then the local supermarket.
One deal they always seem to have is on Ribs.
You can get 3 pretty nice racks for around $25 which can be close to half the price for the same amount in the local supermarket.
I have a standup freezer in my garage so I like to buy7 meat in bulk and seperate it and freeze it when I se good deals.
also Sams comes in handy if you have teenagers around and you more or less need to buy food in bulk
also I get assorted odds and ends from sams like trash bags
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I think I've saved a lot more shopping at SAM'S CLUB than I've spent on the membership. Have gotten good deals on bulk items to clean the house, do yard work, tires, batteries, tools, some furniture, paper, electronics, some cheap clothes, and so forth.
I usually only go in once or twice a year to buy all the rags, paper towels, laundry items, and cleaning supplies to take care of the house for the coming year.
Only shop there for food if I've throwing a party. I'm a single adult, so saving on food usually is not worth the effort if I want to eat well (tasty or healthy), and buying in bulk is not really a good option.
Can they be a good deal; yes, but not for everyone, and as noted, you should compare prices on occasion with other sources.
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For a little comedy relief, Google to Wikipedia and search for BJ's. That's BJ's Wholesale Club. You won't believe what they say the title stands for.
Or maybe you will. I used to joke about that but didn't believe it might be true. I checked Snopes, but no urban legend on that yet. So I asked Snopes to check into it.
I was comparing Costco, Sam's Club, and BJ's when I came across the Wikipedia item. :O
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I like hitting the local Sam's since they have good deals on steak, pork and chicken (whole bird). I fill the freezer after I divy up the steaks and pork chops into smaller ZipLoc bags. I find the steak to be better cuts than the local chain supermarkets offer a majority of the time
My one greivance...I wish they had plastic bags at the register. I always forget to bring some and the cardboard leftovers they leave up front never seem to contain things from rolling around in the trunk.
Another perk to the local Sam's....they have beds and furniture, which several local stores pricematch against. Capitalism is good.
I haven't used them for electronics since I began buying online from folks like NewEgg and so forth.
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I use Costco about once a month. I am single and buy different things each time I go there with a couple of exceptions: Meat and poultry and fruit. I like large enough quantities of paper items and the like so I don't have to worry about running out.
It has paid for itself but it is also easy to overspend in there for me.
Mark
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Originally posted by LePaul
I like hitting the local Sam's since they have good deals on steak, pork and chicken (whole bird). I fill the freezer after I divy up the steaks and pork chops into smaller ZipLoc bags. I find the steak to be better cuts than the local chain supermarkets offer a majority of the time
My father and I find better pork chops for cheaper at BJ's then in the super market. The rest of the meat is comparable in price and quality, if not a touch cheaper (only a touch though).
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We use costco two to three times a month, but we fall into that large family category ( 2 parents, 2 teens, and a mess of others :) ) So the bulk food is great for us. We looked at the executive membership, but it wasn't worth the extra money, so after 10 months we went back to the normal money and were given back the difference in membership cost versus savings.
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A drawback of retail/wholesale/whatever clubs is many do not accept the most popular credit cards. For people who like to consolidate most purchases on one piece of plastic that is generally acceptable anywhere, this is irritating and often a deal breaker.
Costco, for example, pushes America Express and doesn't accept Master Card or Visa. Some competitors reportedly are starting to accept Master Card. That makes their membership fees a tad easier to rationalize.
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Originally posted by Halo
A drawback of retail/wholesale/whatever clubs is many do not accept the most popular credit cards. For people who like to consolidate most purchases on one piece of plastic that is generally acceptable anywhere, this is irritating and often a deal breaker.
Costco, for example, pushes America Express and doesn't accept Master Card or Visa. Some competitors reportedly are starting to accept Master Card. That makes their membership fees a tad easier to rationalize.
don't know about there.... or if it has changed recently (I actually havent gone in a few months as money is tight and I father actually pays my membership)
but Sam's Club here only accepts / accepted Discover card, or cash.
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I haven't been to Sam's Club either in a long while but Googling says at least some Sam's started accepting Master Card around November.
Apparently the warehouse clubs experiment with various card options now and then. Long ago when we tried Sam's we had to get a Discover card which we've never used since.
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Originally posted by Halo
Costco, for example, pushes America Express and doesn't accept Master Card or Visa.
Deal breaker for me. Visa debit cards rule.
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That's really wierd because AMEX is the most expensive card for a merchant to accept.
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uh... they do take cash you know.
lazs
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Originally posted by JB73
don't know about there.... or if it has changed recently (I actually havent gone in a few months as money is tight and I father actually pays my membership)
but Sam's Club here only accepts / accepted Discover card, or cash.
Wow.
Here our Sams club has accepted anything Ive thrown at em
though I primarily use my VISA debit card
In this day and age it almost seems foolish for a store not to accept them.
I lke to goof on cashiers at whatever store I go into and I plan on paying in cash.
"That will be $74.95 sir"
"Ok. do you accept cash?"
always gets a puzzled look and a chuckle.
but they usually admit more then half these days pay witha debit card
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costco takes debit cards.
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I've used bot Sams and Costco, the latter more than the former. I found them to be well worth the membership cost. Oh and each one accepts debit cards. I've been using debit cards with them for over 10 years with Costco.
I find they are both great for families who tend to need to buy things in a bulk format like toilet paper, paper towels, toothpaste, clothing etc. that are common high use items. For us now, since we don't have much storage space in the rv it's not really worth it except for the optical outlet and some of our meds and supplies. It's a break even point for us now but we can split some things with the kids when we are visiting.
One thing I dearly miss about the Costco in Tucson is the meat. They had the best meat quality in town without going to a specialty butcher. They cut pork chops very thick so one was enough for a meal and I am very fond of pork chops and roasts.
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You can buy just as cheap or cheaper in Kroger here in Texas and buy as much or little as you want. The Electronics they sell are generally discontinued or close to discontinued. I bought a TV at Sams then found the same one with more on it for 300 cheaper at circuit city.... the very next day. I returned the TV to Sams and that is when they told me they sell discontinued items in electronics.
IMHO paying to shop without buying anything is ludicrous.
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Costco is great but you have to like buying in bulk, you can get good deals in electronics from time to time but what i like is the free sample tastings lol