Thoughts on Discount Warehouses

[andyzee]

What's everyones thought on these, your Costcos, BJ, Sam Club, etc.... If you ask me, they're a joke, and at the same time, a hell of a racket for the sellers. You pay a membership fee to buy something? I mean come on. I have tried Costco, got the memebership, went in, looked at the prices and didn't see anything better than what I could get elsewhere.

• Meats, get better prices at my local Shoprite, only thing is, I may just have to wait for the right time
• Computer Supplies, same story, better prices at Best Buy, Staples, and Circuit City.
• Liquor, discount liqour stores have same or better prices.
• All other items, household goods, same.

One difference, don't have to buy bulk.
Funny thing with these stores, IMO, they created a whole society of shopper zombies that don't think of looking elsewhere. Talk to a Costco Zombie and tell him you need paper towels, see what they say

[hardline]

my cousin basically only shops there (costco). i have never been but he seems to think he is getting a deal on the stuff he buys

[snoseek]

I bought four new snow tires at Sam's for 140$ installed and warrentied-unbeatable price. Big jugs of nuts like almonds, cashews are 10 bucks-unbeatable again. Dog food, cat litter, and coffee, trash bags are some other things I will buy there. It is easily worth the membership just for these things. The place is not great for straight out grocery shopping though.

[ERJ-145CA]

I have a BJ's membership that we got when we had my son because of the baby supplies. The prices on diapers and baby wipes are a lot less than at the supermarket. Paper goods like toilet paper and paper towels are never a good deal so I buy those at the supermarket when they are on sale and I have coupons.

Some things are cheaper and some aren't, for example a 24 pack of kids Yoplait yogurt is $7.19 at BJ's but the sale price at the supermarket is 2-6 packs for 5.00 so it's $10.00 for the same quantity at the Shoprite. My son eats it all well before it goes out of date so it's worth it. You just have to be a smart shopper and buy certain items where they are a better price.

Another thing I've noticed related to grocery shopping is that everyone thinks the Shoprite is the cheapest so it's always packed with people and is pretty aggravating to shop at, even on weekdays. Shoprite does have a lot of really good sale prices but the Weis supermarket down the street has the non sale items for $0.30 to $0.75 cheaper than Shoprite so I end up saving money on the items that are not on sale but that I have to get anyway. Also I'm less stressed from the grocery shopping experience.

[severine]

My parents paid for my BJ's membership - I would not buy one. And yes, you can get better deals at the grocery stores in town when the items are on sale...but you have to shop the sales, and different stores offer better deals on different things (yup, it gets that particular). Like right now, Big Y tends to offer the best prices on strawberries that aren't total shit. I can get them cheaper at Stop & Shop, but the ones at Stop & Shop are usually rotten. Not a great deal.

So knowing this, I'm careful about the things I will buy at BJ's. Sometimes there are things I need that aren't on sale and I need them then (mostly produce stuff) because of the kids. And when the produce is fresh, it's usually pretty good.

But BJ's is not my first pick, and I've gone there rarely over the last year that I've had the membership. I live in a small apartment - I don't have the space to stock up. And like I said, if I pay attention to sales elsewhere, I can get as good, if not better, deals at the other grocery stores in town. I won't be renewing the membership.

[ckofer]

I kinda like Sam's club. Like anything else, you need to watch the prices. The membership price tends to be worth it.

[wa-loaf]

Like anything, you need to shop around. We had a BJs membership for a few years, especially when we were buying a lot of diapers and baby supplies. We actually got the gold membership that is $20-30 more, but you get a percentage back. We shopped enough that the rebates paid for the membership. Ours also has a gas station that's about 10 cents cheaper than the main stations. You can find similar prices at the discount stations, but if you are already there shopping it's convenient to fill up at the same time.

We let the membership lapse and don't really miss it these days. For the most part we cloth diaper my son now and Target has really inexpensive diapers for the rest of the time.

[Philpug]

I love Costco. Meats are fantastic, it is the only place I will buy ribeyes. With their return policy, it is usually hte first place I shop. It was even better years ago when there was no time limit on returning electronics , I think I was one of the reasons it went to 90 days from "lifetime".

[MR. evil]

I love Costco. Meats are fantastic, it is the only place I will buy ribeyes. With their return policy, it is usually hte first place I shop. It was even better years ago when there was no time limit on returning electronics , I think I was one of the reasons it went to 90 days from "lifetime".

The return policy along with over a $400 savings is why we purchased our TV there. There meats are ussually a great deal aswell and good quality.

[Moe Ghoul]

We use BJ's because its the closest one out of all of them. I'm on the fence as to how significant the savings are. a 40lb bag of Purina ONE is still cheaper than the supermarket, but I can get Alpo on sale for 50 cents a can at Shoprite. BJ's has coupons as well, so you simply have to be smart about what you buy. I think Costco has bigger and better selection of products.