Costco

Recently renewed my membership and fair to say I’ve missed the place. Not much has changed.
I still can’t afford the 90′ LED smart TV.
The prices without the VAT (in bold) still annoy me.
For the life of me I don’t know how/​why people eat the greasy food on offer at the end (apart from the obvious cheap price tag)
But apart from the minor hiccups mentioned above this place is like an adult candy store. Something for extremely cheap (in bulk) for everyone. But what a lot of people won’t realize is that aside from the obvious, there’s plenty of quirky little items that can be bought exclusively (from my knowledge) from here. Take the sensational thin ginger biscuits in the fancy box, or the big jar of specially seasoned cous cous, or the big box of premium roasted almonds. I’m not saying this place has replaced your asda/​tesco or whatever your go to shopping place is. But I for one have definitely settled on a monthly shopping visit which caters for my mineral water supplies as well as feed the aforementioned ginger biscuit/​cous-​cous habbit.

I don’t know what I was expecting. I was sort of praying for the Costco experiences I was used to from the States, where you get surprisingly good quality items for rock-​bottom prices. Instead I got above-​average items for average prices. Even buying in bulk, I was surprised that things weren’t cheaper.
There are a handful of good buys here and there, but the bulk of it wasn’t worth the stop for me. It felt weird seeing the same items I’m used to in the States as well for more than double the price (things made in-​house, so no excuses for import fees). The place where Costco in the States shines is the alcohol section — a huge array of great wines, whiskies, beer, etc., all for cheap cheap prices. Instead, at this Costco, it seemed to be priced about the same as what you’d get at any other market.
I’ll definitely be making trips back here for some of their better buys, but I was just disappointed in the overall fares and prices provided when I compared them to previous Costcos I’d been to. High expectations, I guess?

Bulk buying FOR THE WIN! When I was a university student I was lucky enough to know somebody with a Costco card, and I must say that the money we saved in our apartment on foodstuffs was more than impressive. Our cupboard was filled to the brim with beans and soup, our freezer was stocked with Danish pastries, our pasta jars were always stacked high and our selection of soft drinks was second to none. Food party at ours, people.
And now I’m a real grown-​up, and the boyf and I have recently become members. Costco is a wholesaler’s designed for businesses of all sizes, particularly those in the catering trade, hence the huge boxes of sugar sachets and milk blisters (what a HORRID phrase). The tiny annual fee is definitely worth the money you’d save, and considering how much I bake I really appreciate huge vats of flour, chocolate chips, raisins, sugar and giant bars of butter. While I do titter to myself when I think of the numerous depictions of bulk buying on American animated sitcoms like Family Guy and The Simpsons, I have to say I do adore buying in bulk. I then despise it when I get home and realise I don’t have the cupboard space.
I’d highly recommend this method of grocery shopping to students or anyone wanting to save a few pennies. The fee pays for itself, but be careful — if you go shopping make sure you take the person whose image is on the membership card, as you could be shunned if you don’t match the picture. And why risk not being able to shop here, when you can purchase all kinds of American brilliance like peanut butter-​filled pretzels, cake mixes, giant tubs of Jelly Belly beans aaaaaand eat humongous slices of pizza at proper hotdogs at the café like we did today (a gigantic lunch for just over a fiver). Not to be sniffed at. Only things I’d change if I could would be the cold warehouse temperature (wrap up warm) and the way you can’t reverse the trolleys, hence them getting so easily stuck in aisles!

LET’S GO COSTCO!
We used to chant this as kids at my poor parents! Years later, I still get just as excited about going! Sad really isn’t it?!
Costco is amazing, it’s a huuuuuuge warehouse type place where you have to be a member to go in… this by no means makes it exclusive, anyone can become a member, you just have to pay for it!
They sell everything from electronics to clothes to food to toys to alcohol, it’s awesome. They also have a photo printing service which is fantastic and a tyre-​changing facility too. They sell everything.
A lot of the food they sell is in bulk, you get a lot of business owners here as it is a cash and carry type place but it suits big families too.
The best thing about Costco is the prices, it is ridiculous how cheap things are in here! Electronics are a stupidly low price, they undercut the Trafford Centre (which is just across the road by the way) by an insane amount for the exact same thing! It’s mad!
Another thing I love about Costco and the reason we used to love it as kids is the fact that they do tasters, they have little stands on the end of aisles with random little tasters of crazy food, I love it!
I also have to mention the Costco café which is just after the checkouts, this is not such a well kept secret anymore as at lunchtimes you will find it full of business people from Trafford Park, it’s the prices that get you here, hot dogs at £1.47?! Jacket potato’s at £1.22?! Including a drink which is free refills?! The best part has to be the pizzas though, huge 18-​inch pizzas for £7.99. Ridiculous.
My advice is find someone with a Costco card and try it for yourself, you can pretty much guarantee you’ll want to sign up after one trip!

I do not think it is that cheap at all. I would say, ASDA next to Costco is much cheaper. you should be careful to think if it is really that good deal or not. However they sell good quality products. I like some puddings made in France, they taste really nice and delicate flavour. They sell magazines with 20% off and stamps with some discounts too. For my wedding I bought stamps (they sell in bulk) and it was just before increasing the stamp price, so I could saved up some money! They sell some American products too so it is nice to browse the warehouse! I do not think I renew the membership but would enjoy shopping there in this year.

Massive big warehouse, used to come here before moving down south. You need to be a member which costs around £20 for the year.
Once inside you need a good hour to have a good look around, they have a good clothing selection mostly designer names. Last time i went they has ugg boots for around £100 which was about £30 cheaper than the shops.
Foodstuff you normally have to buy in large quantities but this does work out cheaper over the long run.
I would recomend poeple to join as their prices are alot cheaper than the shops.

Costco is fantastic. I agree the cakes are fantastic. Other things worth buying are the huge container of mixed dried mushrooms, the milk is much cheaper than the supermarkets and the cheeses are also excellent value.
The birthday/​celebration cakes are truly wonderful and as for the mince pies… Well simply the best in the world.

Costco cakes rock!!! I can never decide between the chocolate and the carrot cake and have for my god daughters christening I bought both as I couldnt decide!
And as jvaudrey points out the cakes and pizzas and food you can buy come in HUGE sizes so they are great for parties etc.
The jacket spuds from the café are great too and fantastic value for money.
The stock can be random like furniture and the biggest shower I have ever seen, so you need to go on a regular basis, but they also have a large amount of stock that they always have in like food, drinks, cat food, baby wipes, oh and did I mention the moreish cakes, danish pastries, muffins etc?
The will also personalise cakes for you too.
Although its not a bakery, its costco!

I have to agree with the other review this place is great for all the things you can buy in bulk. I personally go there for baby wipes, I get them lots of them usually about 7 boxes! They have about 6 packets in each box costing around 6 which is a great save. The other thing we always get from there is the cakes, anyone who has ever bought one of their cakes will tell you they are huge and taste so good you will dream about it everyday until your next taste. The little café there is also great you can get a HUGE hot dog and HUGE soda for £1.50 and you can refill when ever you like. You can order a whole pizza or just a slice to eat in or take away.

Great place to shop if you own a small shop or have a HUGE family or even need supplies for work.
Having a party? Then get one of the sponge cakes made they are large enough to feed the 5000 without a problem, the pizzas are almost as big and you can feed approximately 1000 off them (as you can probably tell these are exaggerated figures but you get the idea they are MASSIVE)
This is a membership store, i.e., you need to be eligible for membership check the website and you pay for it each year, if you do shop there frequently then you will easier make back the cost of this membership in savings.