Are warehouse clubs like Costco and Sam's Club worth it?
We were members at costco, but decided not to renew.  Meat was a definite cost savings, and laundry detergent as well.  Diapers used to be a huge savings, but loblaws seems to be pricing things better now.  We did by a bunch of Kirkland brand diapers and wipes before the membership ended. The problem we had was that you just get too much stuff - you save a bunch on that laundry detergent that you buy once every two years, or the chicken you have in your freezer forever. In Canada, the basic membership is $55 and we could not be certain we made that back, nor that we weren't over consuming as we walked the aisles.  I have heard that the more expensive membership ($100) which gives you 2% back on purchases is a good way to gauge your usage and determine if it is worth it. It also costs nothing to give it a try - their policy is a full refund at any time, so in theory you could go in on your 364th day and get a refund. I know that for me personally, if I buy that giant box of Goldfish instead of the bags, it doesn't mean I'm saving money... just eating a lot more Goldfish.  The trick, I think, to buying in bulk is to make sure that you're not consuming in bulk.  You're not likely to go through more dishwasher detergent just because you bought the big bottle, but you may find the kids are eating a lot more fruit snacks, or you're throwing away half of that huge bag of baby carrots that went bad, because you bought in bulk. Whether or not they are worth it depends entirely on your situation. For my family, they are worth it, but I know a number of people who it would not be worthwhile for.  The big things that we find are cheaper to get at bulk stores are toiletries, detergents (laundry, dishwasher), meats (only if you have a big freezer), bread, and certain types of prepackaged foods. Right now, it's just my wife and me, but once we have kids it will become even more worthwhile with things like diapers, wipes, and various other items. If you have a large family, or a large freezer odds are they are worth it. One thing to be careful of however is that they usually don't accept coupons. So if you're a big time deal shopper the gain may be minimal.  They only cost $40 a year, so worst case scenario if you don't get back your full investment you're not out too much. Also don't just assume that everything that Costco or Sams (we use Costco) sells is cheaper.  Still shop around and look for the best price.    For us it is definitely worth it. Only select items. First - I agree, beware the Goldfish Factor - any of those items may very well lead to greater consumption, which will impact your waistline worse than your bottom line. And, in this category, chips, and snacks in general, you'll typically get twice the size bag for the same price as supermarket. For a large family, this might work ok. If one is interested in saving on grocery items, the very first step is to get familiar with the unit cost (often cents per ounce) of most items you buy. Warehouse store or not, this knowledge will make you a better buyer.  In general, the papergoods/toiletries are cheaper than at the store but not as cheap as the big sale/coupon cost at the supermarket or pharmacy (CVS/RiteAid). So if you pay attention you may always be stocked up from other sources. All that said, there are many items that easily cover our membership cost (for Costco). The meat, beef tenderloin, $8.99, I can pay up to $18 at the supermarket or butcher. Big shrimp (12 to the lb), $9.50/lb, easily $15 at fish dept. Funny, I buy the carrots JCarter mentioned. They are less than half supermarket price per lb, so I am ahead if we throw out the last 1/4 of the bag. More often than not, it's used up 100%.  Truth is, everyone will have a different experience at these stores. Costco will refund membership up to the very end, so why not try it, and see if the visit is worth it? Last year, I read and wrote a review of a book titled The Paradox of Choice. The book's premise was the diminishing return that come with too many things to choose from. In my review, I observed how a benefit of Costco is the lack of choice, there's one or two brands for most items, not dozens. If you give this a bit of thought, it's actually a benefit. I'm guessing it depends on how much you'd be paying for membership. If you save more than the membership costs you and you actually use the products you buy and they don't get thrown away, then it's worth it. I'm not a member of a warehouse club but I do have a membership for another wholesale outlet, so I know a little bit about buying in bulk.  You need to take the same approach to buying goods wholesale as you would in an ordinary outlet, and do a few more things besides. Things like writing a list and sticking to it, making that list logically, so that you minimise the amount of time you spend walking around the shop. The less you see, the less you are likely to buy. Don't be taken in by offers, it's only a bargain if it's something you would have bought anyway. Don't shop on an empty stomach or with you children. And with bulk buying, you have to stick to things with long dates, unless your family gets through something at a phenomenal rate. Things like pet food are good, sugar too if you do a lot of home baking, that kind of thing. Toilet paper and kitchen roll are great to buy in bulk if you have the storage space and toothbrushes are good too. You'll always need them, always need to replace them, they don't take up much space and don't have a use by.  The rules differ from family to family. Look at what your family uses and how much time it takes to get through something. That's the best place to start. Silly as it sounds, we belong to both BJ's and Sam's club (we don't have Costco in this area).  The produce at our local Sam's is top-notch, especially in the winter. The prices on fruit there are unbeatable in the winter time, and more than cover the membership cost. I also find the price/quality of canned/box grocery items like tomatoes, flour, etc is better than our supermarkets. Our local BJ's has an excellent meat department, and we tend to buy alot of non-perishable groceries like ketchup, cheese, etc  as well as soap/cleaning stuff because they accept coupons. They are closer to my home and also have a member-only gas pump that is $0.10-0.30 cheaper.
I can't understand online wine sales.  The market for wine clubs are so saturated.  A lot of liquor stores put on wine tasting since wine has the highest markup next to beer and booze.  Taste it, buy it.  Not see it online, buy it. yes, the really good weed requires a bit of know how to grow properly... but i have known and hung out with people that grow plants, and i have been to their houses and they have shown me how they trim and clip things, and they show me how they put a light to trick the plant into thinking that it is still daylight out, etc...  but in the end, weed aint worth what is being charged for it...  no way...  i am in texas now, and the price here is similar to what i paid at the weed club in california, in cali i paid a mininum of ten dollars per gram and it was possible to spend approx forty dollars per gram, and i think that they even had some that was more than that...  but i want to promise you that your average joe can figure out how to get his plants growing just fine, especially when all he has to do is to trim and water it, as opposed to having to give some criminal ten dollars for enough to make a couple of cigarettes/joints of it.  fk paying for weed.  and, just for the record, i dont really give a fk why people pay for cigarettes.  cigarettes are just plain retarded. The problem, really, is Amazon generally delivers better pricing AND better service on top of a better experience.  No club cards, nothing clogging your mailbox, no chip and signature getting beeped at bullshit, no super narrow aisles full of double-wides asses you can't get around, no shopping car that rides like it's a modded impala on Hydros, no going to multiple stores to get a decent price on things.  Eff all that. They won't do it as things can and often do change daily at every Costco location.  They sale out of X and move Y there.  They get S so they move X.  I don't think people realize Costco is literally a warehouse and is run and operated as such. Sysco is rather pragmatic, if people are buying it, they'll sell it. There's an entire section in their catalog for local.   We don't use them because they're so expensive but it is tempting because it's so much easier. WTF?   How the heck is the truth a strawman? Where I live Walmart is about the best low skill employer. And, what is wrong with a business about making money. No one will setup a business, take risks, put in the work to get it started, and make investments without making money as their main goal. Otherwise you are setting up a charity.   The links were all relevant. Walmart is a better place to work than Target and pays better. If you look at some of my other comments I have a lot more sources. The high paying selective retailers such as Trader Joe's and Costco have a different cost structure due to having many less SKU's, and only being in areas with relatively high disposable income, among other things. Those are facts. Not strawmen.   And, if you think Walmart makes too much per employee and needs to do redistribution (they do have profit sharing too), then shouldn't Costco pay their employees even more, as their profit per employee is much higher, or are you being a hypocrite? Why are self checkout lanes always available? Because people don't want the do extra work.  Sure this is coupd be a good idea in a small convenience store setting, but not a large grocery store.  It just seems like a complete logistical nightmare, especially with produce.  With massive upfront construction costs or refit costs, and then add in the new maintenence, preventative maintenance, and monitoring costs.  Do you truly see savings when cashiers are cheap?  On top of everything, you are still going to have lines.  A week''s worth of groceries doesn't bag itself. "I was recently terminated from a company that promoted its company culture as one of the mainstays of the perks there. I can assure you that in many cases, it is all a facade for any company claiming how amazing their culture is. You can easily go to Glassdoor and check out the reviews and get an idea of what the true company culture is like.  At this particular company, it was almost cult-like in how they pushed the culture down your throats. Every Monday was a ""TGIM"" Monday and every department hold meetings after 6PM. Part of the ritual was that dinner would be served every Monday night, catered from popular restaurants around the city. Most people don't get home until 8-10PM and most of them start 8-9AM. If you failed to show up for these TGIM's you were an outcast and managers often confront those that they noticed were not present.   Of course one of the big selling points of working at this company was the many ""perks"" they try to entice you with. Beer on tap on every floor, free coffee and spa water, tons of snacks on a weekly basis, company events, wellness programs, etc. Of course they will often pay you 30-40% under the market rate for your skills. In fact, almost everyone I knew there have told me they took a pay cut to work for this company. The company would also hold major annual corporate events, namely a huge ""Summer Camp"" event where they will fly everyone in around from the world and spend 4 days at a weekend retreat. There's also an annual company summit where, again the company flies everyone in to a location to hold a major conference. All of these events however, cuts into your actual vacation time as they subtract it away from your accrued vacation. These events are mandatory for all employees to attend.  Underneath the facade of ""culture"", the management was extremely toxic. If you did not drink the koolaid, you were almost assuredly on your way out. As this is an at-will company, I would often see people let go for the most stupid reasons, if any were even given (including myself). Anybody who voiced concerns or had different ideas going against someone in charge were soon to be ""performance managed"" out of the company.  I highly encourage anyone looking for a job to check out the prospective company's Glassdoor page. It is a great resource and will truly give you an idea about what kind of ride you'll be in for."