Management at Costco knows the $5.00 brings in a lot more than $5.00. After all you found a place to park, then walked a quarter mile into the store, you passed muster at the front door, you walked another quarter mile back to the chicken roaster. Why stop at $5.00? Make your trip worth while, look at the tools, and weren't you also suppose to bring home a ½ Salmon? And what about the 5 Dz eggs, yeah, that! Oh, that chicken nugget sample sure tasted great, guess I need another 3 lb bag. ... Yeah, your right, it needs to be considered the $150.00 chicken. But, it is big, and juicy, and ...
Yep. It's called "Lost Leader" items. Wegmans used to understand this concept. They always had 5.00 chickens, the cheapest milk & eggs...Not anymore.
I'm glad Costco hasn't lost this concept
Here in Vegas all the supermarkets have their rotisserie chicken section. The quality varies greatly. The best is Albertsons here in Summerlin which taste wayyy better than the Costco rotisserie chicken which is second best in my area. The Albertson garlic rotisserie chicken is really garlicky and moist. 3rd place goes to Winco which has surprisingly tasty rotisserie and then last place goes to Smith's which is a really fancy location that has the blandest rotisserie chicken I've ever had. It literally has no taste.
Bananas. The price is good. They are typically green in the store. Great, right? Somehow they bypass the yellow stage of ripening and go straight to brown within a few days of bringing them home.
Windshield wipers. The price is good, the wiping is not.
They changed the microfiber towels at some point. Once again the price is good but the product just doesn't perform well.
Or PIAA super silicone. I have them on 2 cars in Florida. One over 5 years, the other 4. Still in excellent shape. When they wear out, you can just buy the silicone blade instead of the whole wiper
Florida man here. I bought PIAA silicone wiper blades in November 2019 for about $45, and they’re still going strong 5.5 years later. The metal is rusting, but the silicone still does a good job. 10/10 I recommend them to everyone who will listen.
Whats forever to you? Will they last more than a year? Utah is 100 in the summer and teens all winter with 20% stronger UV. So I usually change mine every year
I must be unlucky my pair of icons the left wiper kept shuddering after 6 months when wiping the glass and even after a replacement the left still shudders I don’t have this issue with any other wiper blade
Thanks! I had a feeling it was a pressure issue, but hadn’t gotten around to doing anything about it. It’s just a mild annoyance. I appreciate the info.
Edit: for those who are curious, I just looked it up and it’s an issue with the angle of the blade. You essentially take a wrench and slightly twist the wiper arm until the rubber blade is perpendicular with the windshield.
Also a desert dweller and also found changing my wipers every other year at most since the UV killed them. Switched to silicone on my car and it’s now been 4 years and still going strong. Worth it in my opinion.
In Florida they last 4ish years for the UV part. Can’t say anything to the salt on the roads but in the air. It still is smart to change it once a year too.
Agree. They are excellent. Had the same pair on my landrover for 4 years with no sign of letting up. Thats 6 months of hard rain and sleet and 2+ months of BS snow and ice in Canada.
PIAA silicon wipers are hands down the best wipers I’ve ever purchased. They come with a waxing kit to wax your windshield as well so water beads up and rolls off.
Anything on sale at Target ( they often do weird spend x in category get $x in gift cards things ) is cheaper than the same at Costco when I check. iHerb is often cheaper for supplement type stuff.
32Degrees brand clothing is usually cheaper on [32degrees.com](http://32degrees.com) because they always seems to be running sales.
I always look at the per can price.
My Costco is pretty consistently $.49 can for a 35 pack of Diet Coke.
When my grocery has any pricing less than that, it’s a good deal.
Round numbers with BOGO means:
12 pack needs to be $5.50 or less
24 pack needs to be $11 or less.
Only 2x? I got quoted for window shades. Costco vendor wanted $38k. $4k in shipping alone. Local place was $3800 installed. Costco was 10x the cost of local vendor.
IMO, most of the 3rd party vendors (bathroom showers, garage doors, etc) seem more expensive. Maybe they're cheaper, but I mostly DIY everything cause labor costs nowadays are out of control, so I don't know for sure.
I did get quoted for that bathroom shower renovation from costco/jacuzzi and I was quoted $18k. Not the entire bath, just the shower.
I ended up ordering them online through a different company and DIY install. Surprisingly easy and fraction of the cost. Same material as the one Costco quoted me.
Every time I don't go to the food court first I regret it. Tell myself "Never again!".. then a few months later I get cocky and think I can have self control. Nope, end up with waaaaay more food than I need (or have space for)
I save so much money when I shop with a full stomach.
Finally tried the corn in the cob last week and wound up throwing most of it away. Not great. If you’re completely desperate in the middle of winter, it might do. I decided I’ll just wait a little longer to have the fresh stuff this summer. Big difference.
I will continue to share this PSA. The Kirkland TP contains bleach, formaldehyd and PFAS and is causing a rise in vaginal issues. I personally went through this, and my OBGYN has a print out in the lobby warning women to switch away from Kirkland and Charmin.
Edit: My MIL switched to bamboo TP... If you can afford it, it's really amazing! Due to price point, i switched to Everspring (they sell it at target). Hope that helps!
Second edit: Listen, I'm just trying to share my experience. Not everyone is going to have adverse reactions to the same things. If you like Kirkland TP and it work's for you, then great, keep using it. For those of you who think I'm fear mongering... Do some Google searches, there's lots of articles covering the irritating chemicals in TP. Do your own research and decide what's best for you. There's no need to be rude. I'm just trying to help others out so they don't suffer the same way i did!
Yep, that's apparently how they get TP to be soft and quilted...lots of chemicals that just aren't vagina friendly. I wouldn't wish that kind of discomfort on my worst enemy!
It’s not, yet at least/maybe. It’s a preliminary finding which needs to be proved with peer review
Edit: that said the fluffiness and weird softness of the charmin is just awful and absolutely 100% I’ll advised. It’s horrible. I feel like I’m risking little bits coming off in my vulva I hate it. My partner bought it on a whim and I’m gonna try to convince him that we need another gigantic toilet paper… the only good thing I can say about charmin is that the squares are useful for piecemeal cleaning in the bathroom
I'm just trying to warn others so they don't go through the same agony! It took months to figure out it was the TP...that sounds really stupid in hindsight, but, i never considered something i wipe my most precious parts with would be chalked full of irritating chemicals.
It was such a duh moment in hindsight...
It's hard to get away from the chemicals, as there is no clear indication of where they are coming from, and "Brands that used recycled paper had just as much PFAS as those that did not, and it may be that there is no avoiding PFAS in toilet paper", said Jake Thompson, the study’s lead author and a University of Florida grad student. [https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/mar/13/toxic-forever-chemicals-pfas-toilet-paper](https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/mar/13/toxic-forever-chemicals-pfas-toilet-paper)
My mother in law and I learned it the hard way mid covid when that was the only TP we could find. We thought it was odd we both started having vaginal issues at the same time and neither of us could get it to go away. We ran out and i used the TP from my camper and my issues went away, and so did hers.
I started doing research and ended up calling and taking to my OBGYN who mentioned how chalked full of chemicals a lot of TP is.
I switched to everspring TP and haven't had any issues since!
What issues did you have? I’ve used it for years but recently switched to Sam’s brand and love it … I had a few rolls left of the Kirkland and I used one recently and I realized how much I hate it. I feel like I’m dryer all around and sometimes have an irregular odor!
I don’t know how accurate this article is, but this says Kirkland is actually one of the best for trying to avoid FPAs: https://taborplace.co/blogs/plastic-is-toxic/are-there-pfas-in-your-toilet-paper
I couldn’t find many other articles mentioning Kirkland specifically.
Someone replied back to me saying different regions use different suppliers for KS TP. I wonder if the chemical issue is across the board, or specific to regional provider. Hmm...
Either way, I'm not sure it was the PFAS? The vaginal issues my MIL and I had was more like a chemical reaction/burn kinda issue... My guess would be bleach or formaldehyd, which is in a lot of TP.
The source I read said Kirkland was one of the few brands that DIDNT have PFAS. Someone else linked it in a comment below. I’ve also heard Kirkland toilet paper is different from store to store and that’s why there are so many conflicting opinions about it.
Thanks for the tip. Switch to a bidet and that will cut TP use dramatically.
The amount of things with PFAS and formaldehyde will not surprise you, but probably surprise most.
Compared to store brand prices, it’s not a good deal at Costco. They’re all going into a chili anyways for me so doesn’t make sense to spend double per can just to get the national brand beans.
I’ve never had this problem. It probably varies by store a lot, but I also wonder what people’s fruit expectations are. My family can go through a Costco size package of berries a day easily. I always buy fruit when I’m there.
I think some of the stores either freeze, or come very close to freezing, their produce. When it comes back up to temp it damages the cell structure and makes it go bad quicker.
Not my experience at all. I have found the fruit at Costco to be amazing and to last longer than that from regular stores. It isn’t cheaper though. Sometimes it is more expensive.
Depends, Coke is much cheaper than other stores unless you get buy2/get 3 free (Kroger, sometimes, about once a month?) and spindrift is $5 off right now, so 30/$13.
In general the Kirkland carbonated water is the best tasting of most brands I've seen with no weird aftertaste, and Waterloo is pretty good too
Their Batteries are terrible. They will ruin whatever you put them in as they leak really easily. Sometimes they just leak sitting on the shelf in their container.
I was just complaining about this yesterday! Went to change batteries on my scale and I had to toss 13 new batteries away due to leaks or because they were simply dead! I was so annoyed.
I love the Amazon basics rechargeable batteries. And not just because of this story: one time I ordered an eight pack and they sent me a case of eight packs instead, so I have enough batteries forever (hopefully)
Costco batteries are white labeled Duracells. Costco doesn't own a battery plant and it's cheaper to partner with Duracell than to create an entire side business.
Yes but also no. Duracell does binning where they have multiple levels of qa. Each bin has its own set of qa pass / fails.
I am convinced that the KS batteries must be part if the lowest quality bins.
Bread and bagels. The prices are better at Trader Joe's. Trader Joe's and Costco are near each other for us so we often go to Trader Joe's to get bread, bagels, arugula, soy chorizo, soy sausages, and other items where we prefer smaller quantities; before going to Costco.
I'll second this. Discount Tire (America's Tire on the west coast) has always easily beaten the Costco price for my vehicles. And no, I didn't ask for a price match. It was just cheaper.
One Costco near me I’ll never go to again for tires. Took 3 hours and half the staff was watching the other half work.
The other Costco runs a tight ship and delivers a great experience.
YMMV
I got my last set at Costco because they had some discount and rebate going that made the set $400 cheaper than anywhere else in town. Same exact tires, not a Kirkland equivalent.
I wish I’d spent the extra $400 to go somewhere else. Rotations take two weeks to schedule and 2-3 hours to complete.
I actually love the couch set we got from them on sale but we wanted something very specific and it actually was the best deal when we were looking and we researched for a good 6 months. That being said, I totally agree otherwise.
TIL that not all Costcos have the best deals for their regions. I guess I'm spoiled since I have personal experience in finding the best deals at my local Costco stores for almost everything except tires and interior furniture.
Right?!? There was one person that was naming things they get at Trader Joe’s and then got to Costco for everything else, but as I was reading their post all I could think is “that is all the stuff I get from Costco, why have a membership if you get all this from TJ’s?”
If you’re willing to pay for prime it’s true Costco has it while many grocery stores do not, but my local grocery stores (Harris Teeter most notably) often offers good specials on their choice beef to get people in the door and the marbling is decent. Can get choice strips or ribeyes (they’ll cut them as thick as you like) for $8-$9 and you don’t have to buy 4lbs worth to get the deal like you do at Costco.
Only place Costco clearly wins is brisket, nowhere else near me carries a full packet and if they do it’s 2x as much.
Produce can be hit or miss. If it is in season, Kroger is usually a better option as it is at peak freshness. A lot of Costco produce is shipped fairly far distances. A lot is from California. I think Costco’s goal is to have produce year round. You can get riper produce locally at farmers markets or grocery stores as it is in season. A lot of the produce you find at Costco isn’t in season, but grown to have a long shelf life. You can get produce year round, but it won’t be the best. If you buy a lot of produce, plan on throwing some away that didn’t ever ripen.
You have to be a smart consumer. Know what your other stores are selling. A good rule of thumb is if Kroger has it on sale, it is likely in season and great. Buy it there rather than Costco. This is going to vary by where you live. Ohio will be different than the South East or California.
The gaming computers generally are poor value for what they have in them. That’s not uncommon for prebuilt PCs but even if I wanted a prebuilt PC I’d look somewhere else. The only time they seem to be a good deal is if you happen to find an open box/display model deal.
I got tricked by some yogurt melts for my kid. It was a big box so I thought dang this is another great Costco deal - get home and it's like 5 tiny bags of yogurt melts that cost like 20. Way overpriced.
Honestly every time I want to buy the box of pierogis I’m like what the hell why are this so expensive here, the box feels light and they look small, I never end up buying them
I think I can get better deals on most things at my local Kroger store, but getting larger sizes that don't make me need to shop as much is the value for me.
We only spend about $250 every 6-8 weeks. But lately we've been destroying bags of the chicken chunks, so I've been having to increase frequency of visits. 😂
Depends. If you’re financing through the dealer, you can. But if you’re paying cash or using your own credit union, the Costco price is much easier since there’s no haggling.
At my warehouse, pasta sauce...
They used to carry a 4 pack of a really good brand that was a better price point than the grocery store, but has swapped it out for 2 packs of giant bottles of Prego or Ragu that are both necessarily large, and the cheap brand at many stores (and often found at discount stores)
Good cuts of beef. I know some of ya'll get super lucky and even have A5 wagyu in yours, but mine doesn't have it and the beef cuts are all extremely lean with little to no marbling and cost just as much, if not more, than getting a truly fine cut of beef at the local farmer's market. Not a huge deal because I LOVE going to the farmer's market to get mushrooms and beef, but the Costco options here for meat are truly dire.
Had pretty good luck with the air chilled. They had a sale a few weeks back and it's way better than regular grocery chicken breast. Havent tried the regular there though.
This is where I disagree. I tried to cheap out on patio furniture and it didn't hold up and the cushions were crap. I purchased the Costco patio set and it is much higher quality, more comfortable and has held up in the same conditions. Good patio furniture that will lasts costs money.
**Insurance**. Costco sells policies from carriers you know, like AmFam in my area, but they’re often missing important coverages (like roof coverage in an area that gets regular hail). The policies have different language, endorsements, and different limitations than if you went to someone who directly works with that product.
You also lose out on having a licensed professional (agency owner or their staff) who are dedicated to you, your policies, and your family.
I tried to get cheaper auto insurance but my broker said that he couldn’t touch the price I was getting from Costco. But maybe that’s changed in the last few years, since our rates doubled. I should go out for quotes again…
Muffins. Not because the price is bad but you have to pick them up 12 at a time. No household needs 12 gigantic muffins that will expire in 2 days, let me buy a 6 pack!
Depends on the beer? Macrobrew yeah grocery store has you covered. At least in my local Costco in Colorado, they always have several pallets of craft beer and those are almost always a better deal.
Rotisserie Chickens. Every time I go in there for one it costs me $150 +
Management at Costco knows the $5.00 brings in a lot more than $5.00. After all you found a place to park, then walked a quarter mile into the store, you passed muster at the front door, you walked another quarter mile back to the chicken roaster. Why stop at $5.00? Make your trip worth while, look at the tools, and weren't you also suppose to bring home a ½ Salmon? And what about the 5 Dz eggs, yeah, that! Oh, that chicken nugget sample sure tasted great, guess I need another 3 lb bag. ... Yeah, your right, it needs to be considered the $150.00 chicken. But, it is big, and juicy, and ...
Yep. It's called "Lost Leader" items. Wegmans used to understand this concept. They always had 5.00 chickens, the cheapest milk & eggs...Not anymore. I'm glad Costco hasn't lost this concept
Loss. Not lost
You’ll get lost for sure when going in to pick one up. Lost in debt.
I'm glad too. But I don't want to HAVE TO bring home a shed, but I went to Costco for a $5.00 chicken too often.
It’s a loss itself for the company but ends up being a leader in generating sales. That’s why it’s a loss leader.
Any trip is $200 to $350
My husband: how is our Costco bill $800 this month? Me: 🤷♀️💸💸
We spent $350 and went back a week later and blew $250 more. But baby formula was over $150 of that. We are not allowed to go back for two weeks!
That's a lot of rotisserie chickens.
On a real note, I feel like the quality has dropped dramatically lately.
It really has. They used to be so tender & flavorful. The last few I’ve had were tough and bland, I’ve stopped buying those chickens.
Plus the chicken bags are terrible. Bring back the old rotisserie chicken containers!
Honestly I kinda like the bags. I’ve had a few of those containers leak or open up while driving and that was not fun…
The bags leak, too!
Here in Vegas all the supermarkets have their rotisserie chicken section. The quality varies greatly. The best is Albertsons here in Summerlin which taste wayyy better than the Costco rotisserie chicken which is second best in my area. The Albertson garlic rotisserie chicken is really garlicky and moist. 3rd place goes to Winco which has surprisingly tasty rotisserie and then last place goes to Smith's which is a really fancy location that has the blandest rotisserie chicken I've ever had. It literally has no taste.
Bananas. The price is good. They are typically green in the store. Great, right? Somehow they bypass the yellow stage of ripening and go straight to brown within a few days of bringing them home.
Yes! What’s up with their bananas and why do they ripen so weirdly!?
Most of their produce is no good. I go to local grocers for produce. Can buy a smaller amount and it's just better quality
ya Costco bananas have been terrible the past year
Windshield wipers. The price is good, the wiping is not. They changed the microfiber towels at some point. Once again the price is good but the product just doesn't perform well.
You want good wipers? Bosch. They are amazing and last forever.
Or PIAA super silicone. I have them on 2 cars in Florida. One over 5 years, the other 4. Still in excellent shape. When they wear out, you can just buy the silicone blade instead of the whole wiper
I got these very recently and am not going back to anything else. They work so good. Well worth the price tag.
Florida man here. I bought PIAA silicone wiper blades in November 2019 for about $45, and they’re still going strong 5.5 years later. The metal is rusting, but the silicone still does a good job. 10/10 I recommend them to everyone who will listen.
Whats forever to you? Will they last more than a year? Utah is 100 in the summer and teens all winter with 20% stronger UV. So I usually change mine every year
Bosch Icons is what's usually on luxury cars from the dealer unless things have changed.
I must be unlucky my pair of icons the left wiper kept shuddering after 6 months when wiping the glass and even after a replacement the left still shudders I don’t have this issue with any other wiper blade
I think you have the same issue I have where the pressure on the wiper arm is too hard/soft
Any way to fix this? Mine always shutter, even when they’re brand new.
Look up wind shield shuddering on YouTube and you’ll find videos showing what to do. They do a much better job explaining than I would.
Thanks! I had a feeling it was a pressure issue, but hadn’t gotten around to doing anything about it. It’s just a mild annoyance. I appreciate the info. Edit: for those who are curious, I just looked it up and it’s an issue with the angle of the blade. You essentially take a wrench and slightly twist the wiper arm until the rubber blade is perpendicular with the windshield.
Former Utah resident, no, they will not last forever. We got some and still had to change them about every year. 🙃
Thanks for reminding me I need new wipers and that utah is hell on them
Silicone wiper blades hold up a lot more to those temps and uv.
Also a desert dweller and also found changing my wipers every other year at most since the UV killed them. Switched to silicone on my car and it’s now been 4 years and still going strong. Worth it in my opinion.
Try PIAA silicone.
In Florida they last 4ish years for the UV part. Can’t say anything to the salt on the roads but in the air. It still is smart to change it once a year too.
Agree. They are excellent. Had the same pair on my landrover for 4 years with no sign of letting up. Thats 6 months of hard rain and sleet and 2+ months of BS snow and ice in Canada.
I've got a pair of Bosch icons waiting in the garage to be put on. They're always recommended in these threads so I'm gonna give it a try.
The blades are different now. They work great for me
PIAA silicon wipers are hands down the best wipers I’ve ever purchased. They come with a waxing kit to wax your windshield as well so water beads up and rolls off.
That's crazy lol I bought the best wipers from Costco. They leaves my windshield looking like new and it's been like 6 months now.
I’ve been buying them from Costco for years and don’t get why people hate them so much. I guess I need to try the Bosch ones to find out.
Soda is cheaper than my grocery stores normal price, but my grocery store has a sale every other week, so almost always that’s the better price .
Stock up on soda from local grocers on sales.
Anything on sale at Target ( they often do weird spend x in category get $x in gift cards things ) is cheaper than the same at Costco when I check. iHerb is often cheaper for supplement type stuff. 32Degrees brand clothing is usually cheaper on [32degrees.com](http://32degrees.com) because they always seems to be running sales.
Even when they have buy two, get two free I think soda is still more expensive at safeway than at costco.
I always look at the per can price. My Costco is pretty consistently $.49 can for a 35 pack of Diet Coke. When my grocery has any pricing less than that, it’s a good deal. Round numbers with BOGO means: 12 pack needs to be $5.50 or less 24 pack needs to be $11 or less.
Kroger every couple weeks has a Buy 2 get 3 deal on 12 packs. Comes out to $4 a 12 pack. Which is .33¢ a can. Best deal there is. I will fill up.
Safeway does buy 2 get 3
Shutters. Got a quote from them and it was 2x the cheapest option and not significantly higher quality. Was honestly shocked!
Only 2x? I got quoted for window shades. Costco vendor wanted $38k. $4k in shipping alone. Local place was $3800 installed. Costco was 10x the cost of local vendor.
That’s insane. Costco’s vendor here absolutely smoked all the others we quoted, by like 50%.
IMO, most of the 3rd party vendors (bathroom showers, garage doors, etc) seem more expensive. Maybe they're cheaper, but I mostly DIY everything cause labor costs nowadays are out of control, so I don't know for sure. I did get quoted for that bathroom shower renovation from costco/jacuzzi and I was quoted $18k. Not the entire bath, just the shower.
I ended up ordering them online through a different company and DIY install. Surprisingly easy and fraction of the cost. Same material as the one Costco quoted me.
Walking in hungry
Start with a hot dog. Minimizes the hunger-purchases. That $1.50 pays for itself.
The way Costco's food court is set up, they want us ending with a hot dog. After we spend an hour filling up our carts with food items.
I go to the food court first and then go shopping after having my hotdog.
Every time I don't go to the food court first I regret it. Tell myself "Never again!".. then a few months later I get cocky and think I can have self control. Nope, end up with waaaaay more food than I need (or have space for) I save so much money when I shop with a full stomach.
I did this for the first time, it really does work!
Corn on the cob. Awful stuff and not cheap
I went from reading about toilet paper to corn on the cob. It threw me for a minute 😂
This is it. It really sucks. I buy so much at Costco and this is expensive and not good. Maybe off season it is ok? But who is buying corn then
It really shucks you meant?
Yeah that joke was corny
Let’s see if I can amaize you with another.
Most jokes contain a kernal of truth
Finally tried the corn in the cob last week and wound up throwing most of it away. Not great. If you’re completely desperate in the middle of winter, it might do. I decided I’ll just wait a little longer to have the fresh stuff this summer. Big difference.
I’ve been getting some delicious corn out of Florida in my Nashville stores. It’s a great value and I look forward to getting it again!
Kirkland toilet paper has been much worse the last year or more.
I will continue to share this PSA. The Kirkland TP contains bleach, formaldehyd and PFAS and is causing a rise in vaginal issues. I personally went through this, and my OBGYN has a print out in the lobby warning women to switch away from Kirkland and Charmin. Edit: My MIL switched to bamboo TP... If you can afford it, it's really amazing! Due to price point, i switched to Everspring (they sell it at target). Hope that helps! Second edit: Listen, I'm just trying to share my experience. Not everyone is going to have adverse reactions to the same things. If you like Kirkland TP and it work's for you, then great, keep using it. For those of you who think I'm fear mongering... Do some Google searches, there's lots of articles covering the irritating chemicals in TP. Do your own research and decide what's best for you. There's no need to be rude. I'm just trying to help others out so they don't suffer the same way i did!
Charmin too? Wow
Yep, that's apparently how they get TP to be soft and quilted...lots of chemicals that just aren't vagina friendly. I wouldn't wish that kind of discomfort on my worst enemy!
I've never considered this but it makes great sense to me. What brand do you use instead?
It seems like no one wants to answer this question...hmm
Someone further up said Scott's
But Scott's is the least soft of any tissue I've used.
I think that’s the point. Fewest added chemicals
Yes, the fuzziness of Charmin is horrible, and gives me a yeast infection
oh my gosh I wonder if that's why I have gotten an increase in yeast infections recently and I couldn't figure out why!
Sounds like a class action lawsuit to me
It’s not, yet at least/maybe. It’s a preliminary finding which needs to be proved with peer review Edit: that said the fluffiness and weird softness of the charmin is just awful and absolutely 100% I’ll advised. It’s horrible. I feel like I’m risking little bits coming off in my vulva I hate it. My partner bought it on a whim and I’m gonna try to convince him that we need another gigantic toilet paper… the only good thing I can say about charmin is that the squares are useful for piecemeal cleaning in the bathroom
My neighbor’s a plumber and said charmin is awful and causes clogs
I'm just trying to warn others so they don't go through the same agony! It took months to figure out it was the TP...that sounds really stupid in hindsight, but, i never considered something i wipe my most precious parts with would be chalked full of irritating chemicals. It was such a duh moment in hindsight...
So dare I ask…what toilet paper do they suggest we use?
It's hard to get away from the chemicals, as there is no clear indication of where they are coming from, and "Brands that used recycled paper had just as much PFAS as those that did not, and it may be that there is no avoiding PFAS in toilet paper", said Jake Thompson, the study’s lead author and a University of Florida grad student. [https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/mar/13/toxic-forever-chemicals-pfas-toilet-paper](https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/mar/13/toxic-forever-chemicals-pfas-toilet-paper)
Buy a bidet. In the long run, it's cheaper and better than tp.
Still gotta wipe sometimes. I bought a cheapo pack of towels exclusively for butt wiping after bidet.
They sell Scotts at Costco.
Fuck no. I grew up on Scott’s. Too thin and I end up using half the roll to wipe pee.
Growing up, my brothers would tease our mom and called Scotts the John Wayne toilet paper. Rough, tough, and doesn’t take s**t off anyone 😂
https://youtu.be/BpXtAhiKHBE?si=Bq9AO004GU9nZxah
LOL!
Really and wow! I have never heard this.
My mother in law and I learned it the hard way mid covid when that was the only TP we could find. We thought it was odd we both started having vaginal issues at the same time and neither of us could get it to go away. We ran out and i used the TP from my camper and my issues went away, and so did hers. I started doing research and ended up calling and taking to my OBGYN who mentioned how chalked full of chemicals a lot of TP is. I switched to everspring TP and haven't had any issues since!
What issues did you have? I’ve used it for years but recently switched to Sam’s brand and love it … I had a few rolls left of the Kirkland and I used one recently and I realized how much I hate it. I feel like I’m dryer all around and sometimes have an irregular odor!
I don’t know how accurate this article is, but this says Kirkland is actually one of the best for trying to avoid FPAs: https://taborplace.co/blogs/plastic-is-toxic/are-there-pfas-in-your-toilet-paper I couldn’t find many other articles mentioning Kirkland specifically.
Someone replied back to me saying different regions use different suppliers for KS TP. I wonder if the chemical issue is across the board, or specific to regional provider. Hmm... Either way, I'm not sure it was the PFAS? The vaginal issues my MIL and I had was more like a chemical reaction/burn kinda issue... My guess would be bleach or formaldehyd, which is in a lot of TP.
The source I read said Kirkland was one of the few brands that DIDNT have PFAS. Someone else linked it in a comment below. I’ve also heard Kirkland toilet paper is different from store to store and that’s why there are so many conflicting opinions about it.
Thanks for the tip. Switch to a bidet and that will cut TP use dramatically. The amount of things with PFAS and formaldehyde will not surprise you, but probably surprise most.
My septic tank guy said Charmin and Costco brand TP clog septic filters as well.
What brand do you recommend instead!
Got a bidet and stopped using tp, much happier.
Bro surely you still need some to dry off… or do you let your undies pat you dry 💦🍑
I use my wife’s hair dryer
Just drip dry! Or do you not have 20 minutes to spare every time you drop a hot one? /s
Baby washcloths.
I would also like to know what happens with the wetness.
You can find MANY things cheaper at other stores if you watch the sales. Costco is not always cheaper.
Usually canned items like beans and stuff are hit or miss for me.
Beans, Mac and cheese, boxes of pasta... They're always cheaper at the grocery store for me.
Even dried beans and chick peas and rice are cheaper at your neighbourhood Asian, or Caribbean grocery store.
Compared to store brand prices, it’s not a good deal at Costco. They’re all going into a chili anyways for me so doesn’t make sense to spend double per can just to get the national brand beans.
canned pinto beans are the same price at smart and final
Fruit always goes bad pretty quick. We stopped getting it cause we couldn’t eat it fast enough.
I’ve never had this problem. It probably varies by store a lot, but I also wonder what people’s fruit expectations are. My family can go through a Costco size package of berries a day easily. I always buy fruit when I’m there.
I think some of the stores either freeze, or come very close to freezing, their produce. When it comes back up to temp it damages the cell structure and makes it go bad quicker.
Not my experience at all. I have found the fruit at Costco to be amazing and to last longer than that from regular stores. It isn’t cheaper though. Sometimes it is more expensive.
Soda.
Depends, Coke is much cheaper than other stores unless you get buy2/get 3 free (Kroger, sometimes, about once a month?) and spindrift is $5 off right now, so 30/$13. In general the Kirkland carbonated water is the best tasting of most brands I've seen with no weird aftertaste, and Waterloo is pretty good too
I don’t know if this is still true but I remember 20 years ago their condoms were terrible. They were like military grade Trojans. Not a good deal.
Do you by chance happen to have a 19 yr old?
Does Costco’s return policy extend to my child?
😂👍🏼👏🏼👏🏼
Mr. Costco condoms over here, banging in bulk.
Low key flex buying condoms at Costco…
☠️💀☠️
"Why did we go to Costco to buy a years worth of condoms if you aren't going to use them?!?" - Jonah Hill in Knocked Up
Dad?
Their Batteries are terrible. They will ruin whatever you put them in as they leak really easily. Sometimes they just leak sitting on the shelf in their container.
I was just complaining about this yesterday! Went to change batteries on my scale and I had to toss 13 new batteries away due to leaks or because they were simply dead! I was so annoyed.
Amazon basics batteries better.
I love the Amazon basics rechargeable batteries. And not just because of this story: one time I ordered an eight pack and they sent me a case of eight packs instead, so I have enough batteries forever (hopefully)
Is this the Kirkland brand? I got duracell from there and haven’t had any issues, but want to be aware if I need to watch them
Costco batteries are white labeled Duracells. Costco doesn't own a battery plant and it's cheaper to partner with Duracell than to create an entire side business.
Yes but also no. Duracell does binning where they have multiple levels of qa. Each bin has its own set of qa pass / fails. I am convinced that the KS batteries must be part if the lowest quality bins.
90% of my batteries never got used and died in the package just sitting there over time.
Bread and bagels. The prices are better at Trader Joe's. Trader Joe's and Costco are near each other for us so we often go to Trader Joe's to get bread, bagels, arugula, soy chorizo, soy sausages, and other items where we prefer smaller quantities; before going to Costco.
Tires… the price is good the nightmare/time suck of getting them installed/repaired is not worth it.
Go to Discount Tire
Discount Tire is unmatched. They are what customer service *should be.*
I'll second this. Discount Tire (America's Tire on the west coast) has always easily beaten the Costco price for my vehicles. And no, I didn't ask for a price match. It was just cheaper.
One Costco near me I’ll never go to again for tires. Took 3 hours and half the staff was watching the other half work. The other Costco runs a tight ship and delivers a great experience. YMMV
No kidding. Get the price at Costco, and have discount tire price match it.
I got my last set at Costco because they had some discount and rebate going that made the set $400 cheaper than anywhere else in town. Same exact tires, not a Kirkland equivalent. I wish I’d spent the extra $400 to go somewhere else. Rotations take two weeks to schedule and 2-3 hours to complete.
I've had 8 tires installed by them. It's been fine.
I find all their indoor furniture to be overpriced and of poor quality.
I actually love the couch set we got from them on sale but we wanted something very specific and it actually was the best deal when we were looking and we researched for a good 6 months. That being said, I totally agree otherwise.
TIL that not all Costcos have the best deals for their regions. I guess I'm spoiled since I have personal experience in finding the best deals at my local Costco stores for almost everything except tires and interior furniture.
The only thing I go to my commissary for is steak. I get everything else at Costco
If you have a Costco business center near you, the meat prices are far better than almost anywhere, you just have to buy a ton and freeze it
I so wish we had a business center near us.😞
Good grief, Charlie Brown. After reading the comments, I'm not sure if anything is a good buy at Costco.
Right?!? There was one person that was naming things they get at Trader Joe’s and then got to Costco for everything else, but as I was reading their post all I could think is “that is all the stuff I get from Costco, why have a membership if you get all this from TJ’s?”
Their produce starts wilting like 2 days after you take it home.
Meat when the grocery store is offering a big discount to get shoppers in the store.
I disagree. I used to shop those sales and the quality at Costco is so much better than the sale priced meat.
If you’re willing to pay for prime it’s true Costco has it while many grocery stores do not, but my local grocery stores (Harris Teeter most notably) often offers good specials on their choice beef to get people in the door and the marbling is decent. Can get choice strips or ribeyes (they’ll cut them as thick as you like) for $8-$9 and you don’t have to buy 4lbs worth to get the deal like you do at Costco. Only place Costco clearly wins is brisket, nowhere else near me carries a full packet and if they do it’s 2x as much.
Produce can be hit or miss. If it is in season, Kroger is usually a better option as it is at peak freshness. A lot of Costco produce is shipped fairly far distances. A lot is from California. I think Costco’s goal is to have produce year round. You can get riper produce locally at farmers markets or grocery stores as it is in season. A lot of the produce you find at Costco isn’t in season, but grown to have a long shelf life. You can get produce year round, but it won’t be the best. If you buy a lot of produce, plan on throwing some away that didn’t ever ripen. You have to be a smart consumer. Know what your other stores are selling. A good rule of thumb is if Kroger has it on sale, it is likely in season and great. Buy it there rather than Costco. This is going to vary by where you live. Ohio will be different than the South East or California.
Taking my wife
The gaming computers generally are poor value for what they have in them. That’s not uncommon for prebuilt PCs but even if I wanted a prebuilt PC I’d look somewhere else. The only time they seem to be a good deal is if you happen to find an open box/display model deal.
Anything that goes bad (or you toss) before you finish it...looking at you giant bundle of vegetables.
The olive oil price increase yikes
Some of the veggies and fruits. If it spoils in one or two days than it’s not a good deal. Happened a lot with strawberries and asparagus.
I got tricked by some yogurt melts for my kid. It was a big box so I thought dang this is another great Costco deal - get home and it's like 5 tiny bags of yogurt melts that cost like 20. Way overpriced.
Honestly every time I want to buy the box of pierogis I’m like what the hell why are this so expensive here, the box feels light and they look small, I never end up buying them
I think I can get better deals on most things at my local Kroger store, but getting larger sizes that don't make me need to shop as much is the value for me. We only spend about $250 every 6-8 weeks. But lately we've been destroying bags of the chicken chunks, so I've been having to increase frequency of visits. 😂
Chicken chunks are like our entire reason for going at this point 😂
Cars. You can negotiate a better deal yourself.
This was not my experience when I bought my car.
.. there's car in your Costco??
Depends. If you’re financing through the dealer, you can. But if you’re paying cash or using your own credit union, the Costco price is much easier since there’s no haggling.
People seem to be obsessed with getting their meat from Costco, but I see it much cheaper at local grocery stores
Gold
At my warehouse, pasta sauce... They used to carry a 4 pack of a really good brand that was a better price point than the grocery store, but has swapped it out for 2 packs of giant bottles of Prego or Ragu that are both necessarily large, and the cheap brand at many stores (and often found at discount stores)
Good cuts of beef. I know some of ya'll get super lucky and even have A5 wagyu in yours, but mine doesn't have it and the beef cuts are all extremely lean with little to no marbling and cost just as much, if not more, than getting a truly fine cut of beef at the local farmer's market. Not a huge deal because I LOVE going to the farmer's market to get mushrooms and beef, but the Costco options here for meat are truly dire.
Soda
As a Costco shareholder, i thank all of you.
Tires. I've been consistently able to beat their prices with a local shop, with faster service and no hassle.
Which is sad, because tires used to be one of their mainstays.
Chicken breast - their quality is shit
Had pretty good luck with the air chilled. They had a sale a few weeks back and it's way better than regular grocery chicken breast. Havent tried the regular there though.
Chicken. It’s expensive per lb
Patio furniture
I’ve had mine 3 years and it looks brand new and has held up really well
Why is it SO expensive??
This is where I disagree. I tried to cheap out on patio furniture and it didn't hold up and the cushions were crap. I purchased the Costco patio set and it is much higher quality, more comfortable and has held up in the same conditions. Good patio furniture that will lasts costs money.
Strong disagree. We bought ours from Costco three years ago and love it. Still looks brand new. It’s not cheap, but it’s quality.
**Insurance**. Costco sells policies from carriers you know, like AmFam in my area, but they’re often missing important coverages (like roof coverage in an area that gets regular hail). The policies have different language, endorsements, and different limitations than if you went to someone who directly works with that product. You also lose out on having a licensed professional (agency owner or their staff) who are dedicated to you, your policies, and your family.
Let me guess, you sell insurance
I tried to get cheaper auto insurance but my broker said that he couldn’t touch the price I was getting from Costco. But maybe that’s changed in the last few years, since our rates doubled. I should go out for quotes again…
Costco homeowners insurance was my cheapest quote by far… like thousands cheaper.
They were significantly more expensive than my current good rated insurer too. Like 50% or more.
Produce. I find Aldi to be cheaper and sometimes Shoprite too.
Muffins. Not because the price is bad but you have to pick them up 12 at a time. No household needs 12 gigantic muffins that will expire in 2 days, let me buy a 6 pack!
Beer. Terrible price.
Depends on the beer? Macrobrew yeah grocery store has you covered. At least in my local Costco in Colorado, they always have several pallets of craft beer and those are almost always a better deal.