stewing steak, lamb shanks, lenor, lurpak, heineken, sausage rolls, philips DAB radio, ferrero rocher, wines, ainsley harriott instant soups, kenco rapport, mars celebrations, badger beers, case of grolsh (275ml) at £8.63 (but is this cheap) - same query for stella - £22.99 for 24 x 568ml, cadbury's drinking chocolate, fairy dishwasher tablets, tia maris (1 ltre) £11.49 plus handbags, womens slippers etc etc.

Grundip freeview box at £27.59 and breville handblender at 28.74.

All prices are with VAT

I was a member of Cosco but I cancelled my membership after the first year. I deal with a few wholesalers and Cosco is the most expensive and you have to pay a fee to join. 'Proper' wholesalers do not charge a fee.

Joining Costco is not as exclusive as they make out. All you need is a bill from home (Thosands of people work from home) and make a letterhead on your computer with a random company name. I know a few people that have done this and it works perfectly.

All in all, I wouldnt go back when I can get it elsewhere for less but I do miss the prawns in brine. They were good and I cant find them anywhere else. Other than that, a complete waste of £20 for membership.

Very interesting have been here once and loved it

got a great bargain on a tele

Can you join if you work for DWP does anyone know

It's part of the civil service so the answer is 'yes'. I had to go there yesterday and whilst looking at membership criteria it said if you work for a bank, insurance company (things to do with finance), or if you are a chartered 'anything', education, travel company (I think) then you can join. Even working for an airline qualifies.

Are there any wholesalers that accept just ordinary Joes that aren't VAT registered ?

Are there any wholesalers that accept just ordinary Joes that aren't VAT registered ?

Costco?

Going off at a tangent slightly but I found out today that the wholesale fruit and vegetable market her in Brum will sell to ordinary members of the public (as long as you are on foot) betwen the hours of 03:00 and 11:00.

Going to check it out next week before going to work. It must be true in other citries you would think. Lots of lovely shallots to pickle and cook with.

I too was an individual member, I worked for a large insurance firm and was allowed membership.

I found myself spending hundreds on things I didn't really need!!

So I don't go anymore

Ooooohhhhhhhhhh I so agree. Now we just go round with a calculator so I can't do that (or my daughter). Silly to overspend instead of saving me money.

Hello Folks!

Costco is a good place to shop provided you plan ahead.

The trick is to avoid the pretty Gadgets and household stuff you really don't need, and concentrate on the best of the Food and Fruit.

Do watch their Huge Cakes and Monster Bags of Biscuits etc, as they are still using Hydrogenated Fat (or they were), and that is a killer best avoided. That said, most of the rest is very good, fresh meat and fish etc

Also, note that most Food and Fruit is zero VAT!

Also, note that all Gadgets and things like luxuries, fancy Shampoo, make-up, toys for big boys etc etc, are also all plus VAT!

Also, note that booze is also all plus VAT!

Get the picture? Yes? That's it, avoid the plus VAT items.

Next time, grab a big Trolley or Basket, and limit yourself to Food and Fruit...and you will find yourself hard pushed to spend £200 before the thing is full! I do mean really full.

The Fruit is, on the whole, far better than most rip-off Supermarkets. Stays fresh for longer, provided you check the Date Codes...usually a number, and you want to pick the highest number there. So, dig around the piles, and reach to the back of the display, and you'll find higher Date Codes. The Costco staff are there to keep sorting the displays to pull the older Date Codes to the front, your job is to burrow back, mess up their display, and grab the freshest there is! It's their career choice, after all, and you are keeping them in a job, so they won't mind!

I can't praise it enough, but I am well aware how easy it is to spend an arm and a leg the first few visits...done that, read the book and shot the rabbit (in the dim and distant past when I once had some money the banks hadn't taken off me)!

Anyway, once you have bought all the Food and Fruit you need, then go back in for Booze and any Gadgets you must have! By then you'll know what is left from your budget, and will know exactly what you can spend on the plonk and the flashy Digital Camera with the magic erectile lens!

Finally, their Coupons can be good. Watch what is coming up, and take advantage of the offers...provided you merge them with a well planned shop as suggested above. With Christmas coming, a well-planned trip to Costco can really fit a good time into a tight budget.

I even use a Spreadsheet to plan the visits and, since we did that, we've had the last two Christmas budgets hacked without straying a penny over what limited funds we had available.

It also helps that they don't take Debt Cards, er, I mean Credit Cards. Um, no, right first time...Debt Cards! It's Cash or Debit Cards, and that also helps to keep things sensible I find.

I hope this helps.

Cheers,

BRW

We go as well. My MIL get through loads and loads and loads of kitchen rolls

x:)x

Costco is great but beware of letting people you don't know become members through your account. My parents have a business account and someone they know through a friend asked them to give them membership and as they didn't see the harm they did it for them. But one day as they were at the tills paying they got called into the managers office and were told that they were going to loose there membership because the people they introduced were caught stealing stuff. My father explained that he didn't really know them an apologies and luckily didn't take it away. He wont be doing that again.

M

I wish i had one near me!

it's definitely worth joining

Even three years on after the last reply it still only costs £30 for an individual inc. vat. That's why I thought I would reply to this thread as many people are struggling food wise including me.