When it comes to shopping at Costco, I feel like I have something to say. Why is that? Well even though Costco Perth has just opened in 2020, my first Costco visit, was back in 2001, when I was in California seeing family. Over the past 17 years (and 5 visits to the U.S), I have made many visits to Costco outlets.

Over the years, I’ve had some great Costco deals on clothes, a digital camera, an iPod, and lots of other stuff. This probably explains why, when Costco came to Perth, I was there as a new member on opening day! And yes, I did line up for almost an hour in the queue around the building (shown in the top image)

The first question most of us will ask is, ‘can I get the same products?’. The answer to that is, ‘it depends what you’re looking for’. For example, if you enjoy a good old Aussie meat pie, then Costco has them. The difference is, that you need to buy them in bulk. If you venture to your local supermarket, you might see something like this:

If you were to shop at Costco, you could get that same ‘Great Aussie Taste’. The difference is, in the amount you spend, and the quantity you get. If you bought the same product from Costco, you’d need to spend more money, but you’d get 3 time as many pies. So rather than paying $1.25 per 100g for 6 pies, you’d need to buy 18 pies at $0.70 per 100g. You are spending more, but Costco is 44% cheaper per pie.

What we see here, is that you can indeed buy the exact same products at heavily discounted prices. The only difference is, that you have to buy a lot more at once. This is an item I have been known to purchase in the past, but given my current set up, the Costco option would take up 83% of my freezer.

You may have heard that they have a lot of U.S brands, and that’s true, but you can save a lot of money on Australian brands at Costco

I also looked at other products, but won’t share photos of all of them, so you’ll have to trust me… Let’s look at a couple of the basic essentials

Free range eggs. Yes I like buying eggs from chickens who, allegedly, spend their days running around ‘free’. Costco sells them and at a price of $0.49 per 100 grams. My regular supermarket was offering free range eggs at 0.63 per 100 grams. In other words Costco is more than 26% cheaper for eggs. Once again, the big difference is that the supermarket was selling a carton of 12, while at Costco it was a carton of 30 eggs.

I bought 3 Litres of locally sourced milk from Costco for $2.95. My local supermarket sold 3 Litres of ‘Australian milk’, for $3.50. So Costco is more than 15% cheaper for the same quantity of milk. The difference this time, is that at the supermarket, 3 Litres is the largest option, while at Costco, it’s the only option. My fridge prefers a 2 Litre bottle, but I manage to squeeze the 3L into to the door.

It’s true, I have a small fridge with an even smaller freezer. If you really want to save money shopping at Costco, then you need the proper storage space. Well the good news for you is that Costco Perth, sells fridge/freezers. Having said that, at my last visit, they were in short supply due to the Covid-19 shoppers.

Given that you need to be a member to shop at Costco, I’m guessing many of you are asking ‘is it worth $60 a year?’. The answer depends on you. In the times when there isn’t a global pandemic, I find myself near the Perth airport at least twice a week. So in normal conditions, the petrol alone would make the membership worthwhile. That’s right, Costco sells petrol. But before you join, I must warn you, there are not window washing buckets. All you get is petrol, and yes you need to be member to buy it.

I did my best to find similar prices, on the way home (I live near Yokine reserve), but couldn’t. Below is a very badly composed image, which shows the difference in fuel prices on March 20, 2020 between Costco, and a ‘cheap’ station on the way home.

If we pay attention, we’ll notice that Costco fuel is more than 20% cheaper. In fact their 98 fuel is cheaper than the competitors regular 91. So if you need high performance fuel, then Costco will be cheaper then nasty fuel. As a diesel customer, I don’t understand why you’d buy full price 91 instead of discount 91, but Costco is way cheaper either way.

While the price of fuel today is very different from a month ago, the important thing to remember is that you can save around 20% on fuel at Costco. To put that in perspective, if you fill up once a week, it’s like getting 8.5 days of fuel for the price of 7! If you are strategic and fill up your tank while doing your other shopping, then you can save money making the trip to Costco

You can also buy tyres at Costco, so if you are looking for a deal on some new treads, then you can probably find it there.

If you’re wondering, what you can buy at Costco, the real question is, what can’t you buy at Costco. Even during these times of Corona virus madness, Costco has had a steady stock of items that may be unavailable during the Covid-19 shopping madness. On my first shop, I was able so acquire substantial supply of TP, tissues, and paper towels!

Even though Costco opened after the Covid madness, I was still able to buy 48 rolls of toilet paper, 12 rolls of paper towel, and 8 boxes of tissues. Naturally I gifted this entire bounty to my ‘at risk’ parents, who were stocking up on Covid-19 supplies. The recurring theme here, is that Costco is bulk shopping

You can also find deals on several items you are probably familiar with. For example you can buy tins of John West tuna. Naturally you can only buy the larger 425g tin, and you have to buy 6 tins at once.

What may not be apparent in the above photo, is that Costco also means buying jumbo sizes. Just look at the difference between a roll of paper towels from Costco, compared to the roll from the supermarket

It’s not hard to guess which roll will last longer, or give you more toweling power. The only challenge you may face, is if you have one of those dispensers designed for a regular roll of paper towel. The ones from Costco are a bit too supersized for them

You can find most of your grocery needs at Costco, but you will need to get used to buying in larger quantities. If you want to buy a jar of Jalapenos, then you can, but it will be a 1.8 KG jar. You can find Yumis brand hummus dip, but it’s only available in the 1KG bucket. Then there’s the 2KG of olives.

If you visit Costco, you may notice that several of their products are ‘Kirkland’ brand. This is their own brand. Just like when you go into the local supermarket, and they sell several products with their own branding. So they’re not just a wholesaler of other brands, they’re also a producer of their own brand. This explains why their toilet paper was only $0.50 per roll.

If you can spend more per visit but go to shops less often, then you can save a lot of money at Costco. While the airport location and the bulk quantities aren’t for everyone, if you can adjust the way you shop, then it’s worthwhile buying a membership. If you can time your Costco shops, with filling up your tank, then you can save even more.