Costco three years - what are your regular buys?

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gzt

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#325565 16-Sep-2026 13:06

Costco three years old. How are you finding it? Are you buying anything regularly?

My regular buy is Mozzarella cheese 2kg currently $23.99 usually $29.99. We probably eat way too much pizza now. Ploughmans Rustic White $6.99 for two is nearly a dollar lower per loaf compared to PakNSave or Woolworths. Persil Automatic may become a regular buy there if I can time the special correctly. I usually fill the car there. We initially got hooked on the enormous muffins but managed to break that habit thank goodness.

The clothing area is worth checking now and then. I've picked up a few clothing items over the years.

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#3528223 16-Sep-2026 13:18

Mainly indulgences :D

Otherwise, dishwasher tablets, toiletries, butter, mince, chicken, dog food.....

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richms

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#3528224 16-Sep-2026 13:22

Trays of red bull - normal price is the same as special at NW, and when on rebate its even better.

Roast chooks

cat food - roost brand and the dine tubs are way cheaper

mango drink stuff - seems better than the 1l that is sometimes in stock at NW

mozzarella sticks, nuggets, jalapeno popper etc for the air fryer for snacks.

coffee capsules for the nespresso.

AA and AAA batteries for all my remotes and controllers and cat doors etc.

Blue Persil liquid and also the Dettol laundry sanitiser.

Sometimes the box of cookies or muffins to take into work, but that means that people know I have been and didnt ask if they wanted anything so causes drama so not done that much recently.

I just go straight past the electronics area as they only seem to sell meh quality computer stuff and random brands of other things.

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mrgsm021

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#3528233 16-Sep-2026 13:37

richms:

cat food - roost brand and the dine tubs are way cheaper

The Dine tubs, is this 85g per tub? Care to share how much?

I am not currently a member but might become one if these are cheap enough at Costco...

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#3528235 16-Sep-2026 13:45

For us it's mainly 3-packs of bread, tubs of dishwasher tablets, collagen gummies for the old gal, bagels, ham, chicken breast, cooked chooks etc.

Then we do occasional stuff as and when we find it tickles our collective fancy.

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trig42

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#3528238 16-Sep-2026 13:49

Cheese. Parmigiano or Grana Padano and Pecorino.

Minced Beef and Minced Pork (plus whatever other meat may be on Rebate)

Butter.

We always buy a cooked chook or two when we're there (we live nearly 2 hours drive away - bring on Drury!) - the chickens are great value, even if we freeze one or chop it up to use in other meals to freeze.

Persil powder, Napisan etc.

Sauces, Best foods Mayo, Maple Syrup. Spices. Massive bags of crisps are always in the basket.

Always check the rebates - most of them are great value. Clothes and shoes are worth checking too. I've bought a couple of pairs of Jeans from there that are good (Levis and Kirkland).

Will be interested to see, when Drury opens, what sort of deals they can do on Alcohol. I suspect not as great as overseas given taxes (and I wonder if they'll be able to sell spirits - Gilmours does, so I suppose being a wholesaler they'll be able to?)

wellygary

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#3528242 16-Sep-2026 14:02

Has anyone noticed any uptick in "Kirkland" branded products turning up in local corner diaries??,

Costco have always been reasonably open to others using them for wholesale supply, so was wondering is this was happening much?

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#3528246 16-Sep-2026 14:10

The croissant boxes, made with butter instead of whatever PnS/countdown/NW make them out of.

Air frier for 5min at 120C and have with coffee in the mornings.

trig42

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#3528247 16-Sep-2026 14:13

wellygary:

Has anyone noticed any uptick in "Kirkland" branded products turning up in local corner diaries??,

Costco have always been reasonably open to others using them for wholesale supply, so was wondering is this was happening much?

It happened a lot when the Kirkland Butter was $10/kilo and the cheapest the Supermarkets had was $8ish for 500g.

I haven't seen anything else Kirkland in a corner store, but I don't peruse a lot of them.

Costco is a wholesaler, so they won't have any issues with anything they sell being resold.
I have seen while there massive trolleyloads of the same product going up the escalators, so assume they must be going to either stores or restaurants.

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#3528252 16-Sep-2026 14:23

mrgsm021:

richms:

cat food - roost brand and the dine tubs are way cheaper

The Dine tubs, is this 85g per tub? Care to share how much?

I am not currently a member but might become one if these are cheap enough at Costco...

How do you find out how much items cost at Costco? They don't seem to publish it online. Is there an app or something?

Radiotron

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#3528256 16-Sep-2026 14:27

Regular buys - canisters of black peppercorns, cheese slices, Tabasco sauce, chilli flakes and such like. And some frozens. Given the quantities, things that get used a lot, or will keep/freeze OK.

pdh

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#3528257 16-Sep-2026 14:34

Our experience - after having bought groceries 150+ times at Costco NZ over the past 3 years - is that you just get better value, or better product, than you do elsewhere.

Often that requires us to use our freezer/pantry to store quantities larger than we will eat immediately.

Examples:
The bread products (buns, croissants, bagettes, pide) are better than P&S/NW/W - and cheaper than specialist bakers.
Milk & butter are cheaper.
Cheeses are interesting and good value. Some are amazing and are now regular buys.
Mince is both better and cheaper than available elsewhere - but 3 kg. We deal with that.
Pork roasts are excellent value - but, again, large, they get chopped in half or in 3.
Lamb chops are superb - slightly dearer than P&S/NW/W - but better prepared.
Sauces & spices & oils / balsamic are cheaper - and good brands/quality.

In fact, we have concluded that they don't sell rubbish.

Vegetables are a mixed bag - tomatoes are excellent year-round, but dearer than P&S/NW/W. Yes to avos & pumpkins & squash & carrots, no to much of the rest. Not bad produce - just not appealing (to us) at the price.
Large cheesecakes & chocolate cakes - once or twice a year when we'll have help eating them up. They are good.

Examples of stuff we choose not to buy:
Beef is often Wagyu - and way more $$$ than we want to spend.

So, overall - we feel that we spend a bit more, but eat much better.
If we can get it at Costco (except for beef), we won't be sorry we did.

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#3528272 16-Sep-2026 15:04

Anyone tried the Costco audiologist and their hearing aids? The prices look to be lower than even Specsavers audiology.

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#3528274 16-Sep-2026 15:08

Some of us are still waiting patiently for them to expand out of Auckland..

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#3528275 16-Sep-2026 15:09

Meat - Mince, Chicken and whatevers on special.

Electronics - picked up TV's, bluetooth speakers.

Toilet rolls, Laundry Detergent, Dishwasher tabs etc.. basically a tonne of stuff that doesnt expire or has a long date... Batteries etc.

Coffee, and food/items and american brands.

Halloween Decorations.

Fuel.

I drink at the pub sometimes with the manager of NZ. We get on well. Have not had any special treatment though lol... he has told me when he has great specials on.

richms

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#3528276 16-Sep-2026 15:10

mrgsm021:

richms:

cat food - roost brand and the dine tubs are way cheaper

The Dine tubs, is this 85g per tub? Care to share how much?

I am not currently a member but might become one if these are cheap enough at Costco...

34.99 for 28 of them, its a pack of 2 boxes of 14 - some fishy one and some meaty one. Last time had a $2 rebate on them making it 32.99

Sometimes they get close to it at the supermarket when on sale, but they are loose and a pain to deal with many loose ones so not worth it. Same for the redbull where its a nice tray of cans thats easy to move around at costco, or the pepsi where its a convenient box of them.

Richard rich.ms

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