• Dojan
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    1 year ago

    What’s special about Costco? Speaking as someone who’s never been.

    • blargerer
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      281 year ago

      As it pertains to this post, they specialize in selling in bulk.

      • Dojan
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        1 year ago

        Aah, that’s the context I wanted. Thank you!

        They’ve recently tried establishing here in Sweden. Not quite sure where they set up shop but it’s nowhere near where I live, so I’ve not been. Don’t think it’s going great for them. I don’t think bulk groceries is a filled niche here, but I’m also not sure how big that niche even is. As far as I know most people buy groceries for the day, or every couple of days. My roomie and I order in groceries once a week. I think that’s fairly standard.

        Might be massive savings in buying in bulk, but then there’s the matter of storing it all too.

        • @[email protected]
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          141 year ago

          Depends on the items. Things that you don’t typically buy on a weekly basis is the draw, then while You’re there you may as well get your stuff for the week.

          We don’t typically go to Costco every week, for us it’s a once a month type trip. Things like dog food, toilet paper, paper towels, meat that you can freeze for later (typically the best quality meat around here), cheese, treats, etc.

          Most things that are expensive elsewhere are cheaper there and in a larger size.

          • uphillbothways
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            1 year ago

            A lot of Americans don’t realize how small European refrigerators are. And, that storage space, in general, is more limited.

            • peopleproblems
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              21 year ago

              Then what do you do with the random crap you own?

            • @[email protected]
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              01 year ago

              was about to say, the reason bulk sellers don’t really work here is because a lot of people just shop every other day or so, if not straight up every single day.

              weekly grocery shopping just sounds absurd to me, so much more effort than just popping by on the way home from work or just living close enough that you can bike there in 5 minutes.

              • @afraid_of_zombies
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                21 year ago

                I can do that I just find shopping annoying. Would rather just know it’s a choir I have to do once a week. There is a store I walk to if I run short of something.

                • @[email protected]
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                  01 year ago

                  i mean yeah it’s annoying because you’re buying a week’s worth of stuff… when you’re shopping daily you’re buying like 3 things at once and it takes all of 10 minutes.

              • @MrStankov
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                01 year ago

                Yeah, we don’t really have that whole popping by thing here in freedom land. You’re going to the store in your car, might as well fill up the trunk and just go once a week or so.

        • @afraid_of_zombies
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          31 year ago

          It’s okay for some things. Like I bake and it’s nice just getting a big sack of flour. If it’s something you are going to use a little of every day and doesn’t spoil go to Costco, but unless I am hosting a party or something the local supermarket is fine.

        • @ABC123itsEASY
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          21 year ago

          Yea you don’t need to have a family of 10 to make use of Costco. You and your roomies can definitely save some money by pooling and getting some stuff together at Costco. You just learn what you can actually use and what doesn’t make sense for your household and buy the stuff you need less of somewhere else. I highly recommend it; learning to shop at Costco has helped me and my partner eat better, cook more, and spend less money.

          • Dojan
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            21 year ago

            I don’t think we could as the nearest Costco is 2 hours and 40 minutes away. The reviews aren’t great either, seems they mostly sell expired stuff.

      • @expatriado
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        1 year ago

        oh, a straight answer, those are rare

    • The Picard ManeuverOPM
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      91 year ago

      Bulk shopping, and the place is like a giant warehouse. I once made the mistake of picking up a few heavy things and hauling them around the store with me until I could check out. It was painful.

    • @afraid_of_zombies
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      21 year ago

      Just imagine a Walmart that you are not hoping no one sees you in.

      • Dojan
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        11 year ago

        We don’t have Walmart.

        • @afraid_of_zombies
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          11 year ago

          Ok whatever store your country has that everyone shops there but no one wants to admit it. Or you know just use theory of mind and visualize the concept.

          • Dojan
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            01 year ago

            There’s no such thing here, to my knowledge. Why would you be ashamed of shopping at a certain store?

    • squiblet
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      11 year ago

      They sell items in larger quantities, like 24 eggs vs 12, or 3 lbs of cheese vs .5 or 1, or 7 lbs of sour cream vs 1, 2-3 lbs of chips vs 10 ounces (if my goofy American units mean anything to you). They also have good prices on other items like kitchen goods, jewelry, electronics, auto services, alcohol and clothing. One thing that distinguishes them is that their house brand, Kirkland Select, is very good for most items. While they tend to only carry 1-2 brand names for most items, they’re very well chosen in my experience.

      • Karyoplasma
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        21 year ago

        (if my goofy American units mean anything to you)

        I got the idea after reading “24 eggs”. That strongly implies family size.