Hundreds may have lined up for the grand opening of New Zealand's first Costco mega store, but will it be cheaper and who can get the most bang for their buck?
Opinion by Diana Clement
Diana Clement is a freelance journalist who has written a column for the Herald since 2004. Before that, she was personal finance editor for the Sunday Business (now The Business) newspaper in London.
Bargains are great. But I woke up with a great big Costco hangover after a trip to the much-lauded supermarket.
When one friend told us she had a Costco membership, a plan was hatched. Four of us headed west for a day trip to experience the hype, have lunch andthrow in some culture with the Wallace Collection at the Pah Homestead. Costco was an eye opener and all bar one of us spent money on items we didn’t need, which in some cases cost more than they do at New Zealand-owned supermarkets.
Before reading another word, readers should accept that they should do as I say, not as I do. My trip to Costco was a personal finance disaster - albeit with my eyes wide open. I spent $288.98 but came home without the three most important items on my list because they weren’t stocked.
For the true Costco experience, we went the full hog, buying items that didn’t make financial sense. Looking at other people’s trolleys it wasn’t just us that the American cash and carry supermarket caught with every trick in the book.
Sure, I found a handful of bargains. I paid $4.98 for 907g of Monterey Jack cheese. Jarlsberg cheese at $9.98 for 700g was a bargain, although definitely not essential.
On the other hand, many of my purchases cost me more than they would at New World or Pak’nSave.
First mistake, albeit made with my eyes wide open, was a number of WTH [what the hell] purchases, that I didn’t do a price comparison on. I threw in a 900g pot of Obela hummus as a special treat for the whānau. That cost $10.59 compared to a larger 1kg pack of the same Obela brand for $10.29 at Pak’nSave. Ouch. Even more shameful is that I usually make my own hummus from canned chickpeas, which costs even a fraction of that.
Some of my purchases were for convenience, even though I knew I was paying over the odds. Every second or third trolley had a massive 48-roll pack of Kirkland toilet paper underneath, and I followed suit. Being me, I did the maths on it later and each sheet of the Costco loo roll cost $0.00339c each, compared to $0.00138c full price for the brand I usually buy. “But it’s 3-ply,” one friend cooed. Honestly, the Costco rolls were 146 per cent more than my usual brand for one extra ply. I’ll be remembering that until all 48 rolls are used up.
The other item I bought simply because it appeared semi-obligatory was croissants at $9.98 or 83c each for a box of 12. Compared to $1 each in a pack of six at Pak’nSave, the Costco ones were cheaper. But consider this: a: I never buy supermarket croissants, so they were non-essential; b: they don’t taste anywhere near as nice as the ones from local bakeries; and c: they came in a great big single-use plastic container that isn’t sustainable on any measure.
Is Costco really good value or just a fun day out? Photo / Michael Craig
One of my higher-priced but convenient purchases was 1kg of Grinders brand coffee beans from Costco at $26.99. That’s more than Aurora Italian Blend beans from Pak’nSave for $19.99. Both were packaged overseas, which I cringe at for failing to support local.
I know most readers don’t buy pressed, spiced, tofu. But my 600g Costco purchase at $11.59 would have been $9.60 from my favourite Chinese supermarket in Wairau Valley.
Costco NZ has various fan groups on Facebook, where prices are discussed. Meat, many argue, is a bargain at Costco. But I only ever buy markdowns, so it wasn’t going to save me much if anything at all.
Cleaning products, dishwasher tablets, paper towels and toilet paper are often held up as being cheaper. My shop wasn’t scientific. But one of the dozens of products I photographed was Finish Power dishwasher tablets, that worked out at 27c each. Only Active brand at Pak’nSave and Shine at Countdown were cheaper that day. Of course, I accept some people are brand loyal.
It’s not even paying over the odds that I’m most ashamed about. Numerous items in my trolley that could have been made in New Zealand were imported. The cheese, for goodness sake, the bacon and the toilet paper were sourced from foreign countries including Australia, the United States, Ireland and European Union countries.
When I reflect, it was a fun, if costly, day out but I don’t feel I saved enough to chance it again. For those who are inclined to join, the moral of the tale is, yes, by all means shop at Costco if you have plenty of mouths to feed or you’re stocking up on non-perishables for several months. But only buy the items that really are cheaper than your usual supermarket, don’t make assumptions and don’t use some bargains to justify non-essential or overpriced purchases.
*For the record, the Costco visit took us far longer than we anticipated and we had to delay the cultural add-on of the Pah Homestead to another day.
