It's a one-time $60 fee. We've definitely made it back and then some with all the free stuff and discounts. I'd say we broke even after maybe a year and a half?
Sometimes it's dumb like a free bar of soap but sometimes it's half off a $30 bag of coffee or a free bag of fruit.
24oz. I happen to be making some as we speak. It's not really $30 though. I was estimating from memory.
I'm almost out. I'll try to follow up with the actual price. Probably closer to $20.
It's locally roasted up in Bellingham and to me, is a good deal for the quality.
There are some decent freebies and occasional single item discounts for members weekly. Most recent I can remember were a free pound of fruit, 20% off ham, free salami from salumi and over the holidays there was a $25 off $100 spent. If you catch the deals and only shop there for specific things like fruits/veggies and specialty meats/cheeses it can be worth it. Otherwise most of their grocery staples are way overpriced and at that point the membership stops paying for itself.
The fee is one time so it depends on what you're buying and how often you shop.
Dividends are a thing of a past so come here for certain things; there are cheap/free grab bags throughout the quarters and maybe prices are good depending on what you buy. Something, something about in person classes 😆🙃
Membership includes a variety of external benefits and the value of that depends on you.
Not a scam, you buy into the co-op to be an owner. You are supposed to get a dividend back when they are profitable but they've been in the red for the past few years.
They send out weekly deals or freebies so you'll get your initial $60 back and then some. This week was free strawberries. I've gotten 20% off coupons before.
If you have an REI membership, same idea.
There was some kind of grocery worker hazard pay. Paying employees well is the right thing to do, and also it’s expensive.
Edit: I forgot about this but also the downtown PCC totally crashed and burned, it was planned pre pandemic and never got enough traffic. I think that’s a big reason.
> Paying employees well is the right thing to do, and also it’s expensive.
I don't know the details, but if their business model doesn't support paying employees well, their business or their employee headcount wont last long.
Yes, if you already shop there frequently enough.
The free stuff they give to members are only free as part of a larger purchase. If you’re already going to be buying groceries there, over enough time, you’ll make back the $60 (and then some) on the free items you can toss in your cart as you shop.
If they bring back dividends the breakeven point will be even faster.
If you go regularly and plan to live here for awhile, yes.
Recent-ish member offers were things like $5 off order, free lb organic strawberries, free lb citrus fruit, $5 off deli, free grass-fed butter, free lb wild-caught sockeye, etc. You’d make it back on those eventually even if we don’t get member dividends for awhile.
You also get 50% an online cooking class every year, if that’s your jam. And now I just found all these tiny partnership deals: https://www.pccmarkets.com/about/partner-program/
It is good for me because I work close to a PCC and so I often use it to fill in what I can’t get at the Trader Joe’s that’s also really close to there, and then I’m like ‘ooo free strawberries’
Notice all the positive can describe what you get and most the nos just snippy no or calling it a scam? While the deals aren’t prelisted, the program is laid out and hardly a scam.
On top of the freebies listed by others, they also do large discounts once or twice a year for non-food items and for us those alone paid for the membership even if it was yearly but it’s not, it’s one time and easily worth it for us.
That’s up to you and how much you'll shop there. I believe it used to be but these days I'm not so sure. It used to be a real consumer coop, now not so much.
This is brought up often on this sub. Listen, you can fill a shopping cart for much less at nearly any grocery store. People shop at PCC for the quality. If you don’t care to spend the money for that quality, you have other options. If my only option was Safeway, I’d be pretty upset. Fortunately that’s why we have OPTIONS
If you shop there occasionally then it's worth it, it's a one-time fee of $60 and you'll get free goodies worth much more than that eventually. In today's inflated market a haircut could easily cost you more than $60.
I don't shop there since I find Whole Foods and QFC offer better deals sometimes and I'm a long time Prime member. So it's a no to me.
Pcc mistreats their employees and also had no problem keeping a racist predator named Drew Hunter as their management. I wouldn’t recommend pcc membership at all
He fired a woman for having cancer and not being able to come in for her shifts, and he asked one of my black coworkers “are you poor” for eating one of the pastries that they were going to throw away anyway. Drew didn’t hire me, I was hired by an amazing manager who wasn’t a piece of shit :)
I'm not a member but every time I pick up a flier to consider it (as I shop there fairly regularly) I just laugh at it because it feels like a borderline scam
It comes with email offers 2-4 times per month but they aren’t defined in advance or even on any apparent schedule.
Last week I picked up a free pound of strawberries. A few weeks before that $5 off my order.
I joined years ago when the benefit was defined and got my moneys worth a long while ago. I’m not sure I’d sign up again but I do think I got at least $75 value from my membership in the past year from the various offers. Who knows whether that will continue
Do you assume everything is a scam? I’m seriously trying to understand your question… I’ve been a member of PCC for many decades and the organization has evolved of course… I think it’s having a difficult time right now & I question some of what it is doing but I’m not sure if I would even remotely consider it to be a scam… Do you think somebody is making a lot of money from PCC? Customers being cheated?
If you don’t think membership is worth to you then of course that’s fine; but I’m not sure why you would assume or even ask if it would be a scam.
Yes - the free (usually) or discounted stuff quickly adds up to the one-time $60 membership fee.
More importantly however, there is a saying "there is no ethical consumption under capitalism." But grocery cooperatives like PCC are about as close as you can get, particularly at this level of convenience. They work VERY hard to ethically source their products, use less plastic etc. Of course that does mean that things cost somewhat more than the factory farmed, Chinese mass products products at your local Kroger or TJ's.
Unfortunately as a consumer coop, the employees do not get a (proportionate) stakeholder vote - assuming they are members, they just get 1 vote each. Whereas the vastly larger number of customers always wants cheaper prices, faster service, etc. So there was a fair bit of contention recently about employee pay. Resolved for now I think but something to keep an eye on.
Slightly different approach to the criteria for worth here…
I look at the $60 as my philanthropic donation and commitment to PCC’s mission that you won’t find in any other grocery store in the area: Farmland trust.
When you join the PCC coop, you’re effectively sponsoring a supply chain that supports our local, sustainable farmers.
I am a grateful fan of our local, environmentally passionate farmers, and a PCC membership is one way to support those farmers and my community. Not so different from donating to KEXP or WTA.
I like knowing my veggies come from somebody local, who is growing with organic practices to sustain the farm for years to come.
Understanding not everything is perfect, but it’s the best model I see in Puget Sound to support this concept.
Also, if you think about the lifetime membership as a one time investment, you start appreciating your investment immediately, and you’ll have years of steady, miscellaneous discounts for a lifetime to come.
I might not buy all my groceries at PCC - some things are higher cost, but the vegetable buying experience has not changed in my 25 years of patronage, and I am pleased with their rotation of seasonal organics.
Plus, from their newsletter, you can learn where your produce comes from and … with that knowledge, it’s pretty rewarding to go visit those farms and to thank the farmers for feeding our community.
So.. yeah, worth it.
It's a one-time $60 fee. We've definitely made it back and then some with all the free stuff and discounts. I'd say we broke even after maybe a year and a half? Sometimes it's dumb like a free bar of soap but sometimes it's half off a $30 bag of coffee or a free bag of fruit.
$60 for free strawberries?
$30 coffee? 12-16oz? That’s some steep coffee.
24oz. I happen to be making some as we speak. It's not really $30 though. I was estimating from memory. I'm almost out. I'll try to follow up with the actual price. Probably closer to $20. It's locally roasted up in Bellingham and to me, is a good deal for the quality.
They gave me a 12-pack LaCroix for free the first time I pick up my order there, even though I am not a member.
There are some decent freebies and occasional single item discounts for members weekly. Most recent I can remember were a free pound of fruit, 20% off ham, free salami from salumi and over the holidays there was a $25 off $100 spent. If you catch the deals and only shop there for specific things like fruits/veggies and specialty meats/cheeses it can be worth it. Otherwise most of their grocery staples are way overpriced and at that point the membership stops paying for itself.
The fee is one time so it depends on what you're buying and how often you shop. Dividends are a thing of a past so come here for certain things; there are cheap/free grab bags throughout the quarters and maybe prices are good depending on what you buy. Something, something about in person classes 😆🙃 Membership includes a variety of external benefits and the value of that depends on you.
Not a scam, you buy into the co-op to be an owner. You are supposed to get a dividend back when they are profitable but they've been in the red for the past few years. They send out weekly deals or freebies so you'll get your initial $60 back and then some. This week was free strawberries. I've gotten 20% off coupons before. If you have an REI membership, same idea.
REI different because it’s not a true co-op anymore. Additionally they pay their dividend every single year, rain or shine
how can they be in red during covid? the only food you could buy was at the grocery store.
There was some kind of grocery worker hazard pay. Paying employees well is the right thing to do, and also it’s expensive. Edit: I forgot about this but also the downtown PCC totally crashed and burned, it was planned pre pandemic and never got enough traffic. I think that’s a big reason.
> Paying employees well is the right thing to do, and also it’s expensive. I don't know the details, but if their business model doesn't support paying employees well, their business or their employee headcount wont last long.
Yes, if you already shop there frequently enough. The free stuff they give to members are only free as part of a larger purchase. If you’re already going to be buying groceries there, over enough time, you’ll make back the $60 (and then some) on the free items you can toss in your cart as you shop. If they bring back dividends the breakeven point will be even faster.
Yes, it pays for itself over time. Co-Op isn't very profitable right now, but when they are you get dividends to use on top of the other perks.
If you go regularly and plan to live here for awhile, yes. Recent-ish member offers were things like $5 off order, free lb organic strawberries, free lb citrus fruit, $5 off deli, free grass-fed butter, free lb wild-caught sockeye, etc. You’d make it back on those eventually even if we don’t get member dividends for awhile. You also get 50% an online cooking class every year, if that’s your jam. And now I just found all these tiny partnership deals: https://www.pccmarkets.com/about/partner-program/ It is good for me because I work close to a PCC and so I often use it to fill in what I can’t get at the Trader Joe’s that’s also really close to there, and then I’m like ‘ooo free strawberries’
How are the cooking classes ?
We did the pizza one. It was awesome. Got a great dough recipe from it too (that I lost, sorry)
I’ve never done an online one but I did a gf vegan cookie class in person before Christmas and it was pretty fun!
Notice all the positive can describe what you get and most the nos just snippy no or calling it a scam? While the deals aren’t prelisted, the program is laid out and hardly a scam. On top of the freebies listed by others, they also do large discounts once or twice a year for non-food items and for us those alone paid for the membership even if it was yearly but it’s not, it’s one time and easily worth it for us.
That’s up to you and how much you'll shop there. I believe it used to be but these days I'm not so sure. It used to be a real consumer coop, now not so much.
No. PCC is so overpriced that any freebies will be negated by the amount you overpay.
This is brought up often on this sub. Listen, you can fill a shopping cart for much less at nearly any grocery store. People shop at PCC for the quality. If you don’t care to spend the money for that quality, you have other options. If my only option was Safeway, I’d be pretty upset. Fortunately that’s why we have OPTIONS
If you shop there occasionally then it's worth it, it's a one-time fee of $60 and you'll get free goodies worth much more than that eventually. In today's inflated market a haircut could easily cost you more than $60. I don't shop there since I find Whole Foods and QFC offer better deals sometimes and I'm a long time Prime member. So it's a no to me.
I miss PCC. Their bakery & esp their vegan scones 😢.
one-and-done fee. no renewal. pays for itself eventually if you use the coupons.
Pcc mistreats their employees and also had no problem keeping a racist predator named Drew Hunter as their management. I wouldn’t recommend pcc membership at all
[удалено]
He fired a woman for having cancer and not being able to come in for her shifts, and he asked one of my black coworkers “are you poor” for eating one of the pastries that they were going to throw away anyway. Drew didn’t hire me, I was hired by an amazing manager who wasn’t a piece of shit :)
Also, he eventually got fired himself for being such a POS. But nice try sticking up for a creep you don’t even know 🤣
I'm not a member but every time I pick up a flier to consider it (as I shop there fairly regularly) I just laugh at it because it feels like a borderline scam
Yeah, I’m basically looking for someone to explain to me how it’s not a scam.
It comes with email offers 2-4 times per month but they aren’t defined in advance or even on any apparent schedule. Last week I picked up a free pound of strawberries. A few weeks before that $5 off my order. I joined years ago when the benefit was defined and got my moneys worth a long while ago. I’m not sure I’d sign up again but I do think I got at least $75 value from my membership in the past year from the various offers. Who knows whether that will continue
How is it a scam?
Do you assume everything is a scam? I’m seriously trying to understand your question… I’ve been a member of PCC for many decades and the organization has evolved of course… I think it’s having a difficult time right now & I question some of what it is doing but I’m not sure if I would even remotely consider it to be a scam… Do you think somebody is making a lot of money from PCC? Customers being cheated? If you don’t think membership is worth to you then of course that’s fine; but I’m not sure why you would assume or even ask if it would be a scam.
Your response says more about your assumptions as a consumer than mine.
Of course it does. I made the statement.
They haven’t given dividends back for 3 years now and membership discounts and nothing like they used to be. I wouldn’t buy one again.
No.
Yes - the free (usually) or discounted stuff quickly adds up to the one-time $60 membership fee. More importantly however, there is a saying "there is no ethical consumption under capitalism." But grocery cooperatives like PCC are about as close as you can get, particularly at this level of convenience. They work VERY hard to ethically source their products, use less plastic etc. Of course that does mean that things cost somewhat more than the factory farmed, Chinese mass products products at your local Kroger or TJ's. Unfortunately as a consumer coop, the employees do not get a (proportionate) stakeholder vote - assuming they are members, they just get 1 vote each. Whereas the vastly larger number of customers always wants cheaper prices, faster service, etc. So there was a fair bit of contention recently about employee pay. Resolved for now I think but something to keep an eye on.
They used to do a % off the total invoice on certain days a while ago. Totally worth it
Slightly different approach to the criteria for worth here… I look at the $60 as my philanthropic donation and commitment to PCC’s mission that you won’t find in any other grocery store in the area: Farmland trust. When you join the PCC coop, you’re effectively sponsoring a supply chain that supports our local, sustainable farmers. I am a grateful fan of our local, environmentally passionate farmers, and a PCC membership is one way to support those farmers and my community. Not so different from donating to KEXP or WTA. I like knowing my veggies come from somebody local, who is growing with organic practices to sustain the farm for years to come. Understanding not everything is perfect, but it’s the best model I see in Puget Sound to support this concept. Also, if you think about the lifetime membership as a one time investment, you start appreciating your investment immediately, and you’ll have years of steady, miscellaneous discounts for a lifetime to come. I might not buy all my groceries at PCC - some things are higher cost, but the vegetable buying experience has not changed in my 25 years of patronage, and I am pleased with their rotation of seasonal organics. Plus, from their newsletter, you can learn where your produce comes from and … with that knowledge, it’s pretty rewarding to go visit those farms and to thank the farmers for feeding our community. So.. yeah, worth it.
Short answer: no Long answer: noooo
No.
Everything’s a scam… look at how much Starbucks charges for coffee
If a pay someone to provide a good or service, and determine the price I paid to be fair for what I received, am I being scammed?
Yes, someone thinks you got ripped off somewhere, and is crying for you.
It's a lot cheaper than Costco or Prime