If you’ve been reading my blog for a while you probably caught my two posts about price comparisons from April 2008 (part 1 and part 2). I decided to do a repeat of my comparison from last year, although I did make a few changes to the way I’ve presented the data in the spreadsheet. I’m hoping that the changes I made make it easier for people to see how all four stores compare to each other, so I’ve tried to highlight not only the best price but actually rank them from best to worst.
What did I compare?
My comparison is between Costco and 3 local grocery stores, HEB, Wal-Mart, and Randall’s (that’s Safeway). I compared 39 items that I buy, and figure that other people might buy frequently too. I tried to choose the leading brands or the store brands, mostly this depends on what Costco sells. I wanted to make sure that I was comparing like items. Of course, there are a couple of places that I’m pretty sure I’m not getting a direct comparison: premium vanilla ice cream, store brand apple juice, and fish. It’s also possible that the coffee at Costco is a better quality than the other store brands but I’m not sure since I don’t drink coffee at all. All prices in my comparison were gathered this week – all on Tuesday. I also want to point out a few things: a) I did not cherry pick items from Costco that I knew were cheaper than at other stores; b) I did not have my Costco prices with me when I went to the other stores; c) I want to reiterate that I compared store brands to store brands and name brands to the same name brand.
Here is the list of 39 items that I compared:
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Where can you find the data?
You can check out all the data, including the original prices at all stores, in this lovely Google spreadsheet: http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=r2ybQh3eLt5FM4Z1_-NEU3Q.
So, what are my conclusions?
As you can pretty clearly see from the spreadsheet Costco has the best pricing on 30 of the 39 items. Which obviously makes them the clear winner in the price comparison competition. Sadly, there were 3 items that Costco actually had the worst price on: fresh chicken breasts, as well as their store brand coffees. In second place, was HEB with the best price for 6 of the items. Wal-Mart came in next with 3 items that offered the best price, however, they were second best price on the majority of items. And lastly, the place you don’t want to shop, is Randall’s. Randall’s was only best on one item, chicken breasts. And actually it was a tie with HEB, so kind of a hollow victory. Even though Costco did not have the best price for the vanilla ice cream or the store brand apple juice, my guess is that they actually offer the better value because their products are of higher quality. Also, I do feel that Costco seems to have better quality and nicer looking fresh fish in comparison with the offerings at regular grocery stores. However, this is kind of subjective as there’s not a real rating, like ‘choice’ or ‘prime’ as with steaks.
In response to some comments from my results last year, I decided that I would take all of my normalized pricing that I used for direct comparison and total it up for each store. Costco was also the clear winner here too, with a total of $128.06. That is $25.72 (about 17%) less than the closest competitor, HEB. HEB and Wal-Mart were fairly close though, despite the fact that HEB had more items that offered the best price. HEB had a total of $153.78 (20% more than Costco) and Wal-Mart came in at $156.90 (23% more than Costco); that’s just $3.12 difference between HEB and Wal-Mart. And poor Randall’s came in way behind with a total of $173.70 (36% more than Costco) Yikes! That’s a huge difference.
Once again, Costco was the very clear winner. However, I know some will comment about needing to buy a membership to shop at Costco. Of course, you can pretty easily see that it would not take long with the kinds of savings mentioned above to cover the $50.00 price of the standard membership. I would also encourage everyone to read my follow-up post to my comparison that I did last year, The post discusses the large quantities at Costco and where it is reasonable and where it is a potential issue. I have noticed that there are a lot of things you can buy in very large quantities at your local grocery store too. And really, for most non-perishable items, buying more isn’t a big issue (think laundry detergent) and is probably better.
Hopefully, this little comparison will shed some light on why I really do think Costco is a better deal for people. I don’t agree with all of the people that say you’ll actually end up spending more at Costco to save money. I think that’s a fairly ridiculous statement when you consider the results of this comparison.
1
Joe //
2009.05.07 at 9:58 am
Were these regular prices or sale prices at the supermarkets? I’ve consistently found that although Costco is cheaper than the everyday prices at the local supermarkets, the sale prices on staples tend to be much better at the grocery store (except when costco has a coupon). Butter, cheese, chicken breasts, paper products, sugar; these are all things we purchase on sale at the supermarket and found it to be much cheaper than costco. Other than these items we do the vast majority of our grocery shopping at Costco and have been very satisfied with the quality and value there.
2
Saige //
2009.05.07 at 10:29 am
Very interesting… Thanks for doing that!
Just to comment on the chicken breasts…..although you can buy them much cheaper at the grocery store when they are on sale, they are by far lower quality that those you buy in the fresh meat section at Costco (I think they’re Foster Farms??) Anyway, cheaper isn’t necessarily better. Same thing goes, in my opinion, when you’re discussing the paper products…Costco paper towels may not be the cheapest out there, but they are individually packaged and thick and durable. Definitely worth it. And the soda we always buy on sale w/ the Costco coupons, making it much cheaper than grocery stores. I admit that I am partial to Costco because I feel the quality is superior to others. And it’s nice to know that if I don’t like a product, I can return it (which happens very rarely). But I like seeing those solid facts about it actually being less expensive on most items vs. the grocery store and Walmart (shocked on that one, actually).
Thank you!
3
Kimberly //
2009.05.07 at 11:11 am
Actually, Joe, I did use sale prices where available, as well as discounts for people that use the loyalty cards. Sadly, the loyalty cards at Randall’s make a big difference but their prices are so high, you barely notice it when compared to other stores. There were sale prices on chicken breasts, potatoes, and soda that I definitely remember at a couple of the supermarkets and I used those prices.
4
Kimberly //
2009.05.07 at 11:15 am
Saige, I definitely agree with you about the quality of items at Costco being a little higher than the average supermarket. As you mentioned, the chicken breasts at Costco are much nicer than those at other stores. But much like the fish, there’s no way to actually have a factual, non-subjective, version of ‘better’ for those.
I shop for 95% of my groceries at Costco because I know they offer excellent quality and value for the price. Plus, you’re right, you can always take back the horrible things. I’ve only resorted to that a few times but it’s nice to have the option, especially when trying something new.
5
Marco //
2009.05.07 at 12:07 pm
Thank you for the insightful report. I have forwarded to my in-laws and family so they can read up. I have always been a huge fan of Costco, back to when it was called Price Club. I dont think you can beat the prices and quality. Not to mention the atmosphere and cleanliness of the store compared to a Walmart is something you cannot price. Thanks again!
By the way where is the coupon book information? I heard people have received them already.
6
Kimberly //
2009.05.07 at 12:13 pm
I’ll be adding my post regarding the newest coupon book tomorrow. Just so you’ll know it is good from May 11 – May 31 and has some useful coupons. It seems to have a better mix of items than the last couple of coupon books too.
7
Cynthia //
2009.05.07 at 1:36 pm
I am not in love with Costco, but they are quite okay. Just wanted to add that, Kroger always takes back their stuff if it is not good. Their CS is really good here.
8
Kathy //
2009.05.13 at 10:14 am
Does Costco sell organic produce? I don’t remember seeing that in my Costco.
9
Kimberly //
2009.05.13 at 11:15 am
The Austin Costco actually has a fair share of organic produce. The selection changes somewhat throughout the year. But they always have the organic carrots and spinach. I’ve seen organic berries and fruit too but that’s not a continual thing. Costco has actually been pretty good about getting a wider selection of organic food items over the last couple of years.
10
Pat //
2009.05.15 at 2:47 pm
I just want to add that I think Costco membership is worth it, and I shop for one (myself). Th $aving on a pair of glasses alone will offset the membership cost. I admit that I hardly buy fresh food/produce there. Most of my money goes to eye care, contact lenses, glasses, and things that have at least 1-year shelf life (detergent, toothpaste, toiletries, Always, etc.), movie tickets, gift cards (discount on Starbucks and Coffee Bean), appliances, gas, awesome Japanese green tea that my friends always ask me to buy, and the list goes on. I’m trying to venture out and try a few produce items to see if they’re worth it or if they’ll go bad before I finish them. Anyway, my point is that the savings on food is just icing on the cake.
11
Kimberly //
2009.05.15 at 2:59 pm
I completely agree, Pat. I’ve done various price comparison posts for things other than food, like glasses and prescription medication, for instance. And I am always amazed at the savings that Costco provides for members. Just recently I compared prescription drugs from Costco to Wal-Mart; that difference alone easily pays for my membership. And my husband and I are both going to be buying contact lenses in the next month or so and I know last time I did this, Costco’s prices were right around 1/2 that of my eye doctor.
12
Kathy //
2009.05.16 at 6:59 pm
I went to costco today and found the organic baby carrots. They were $5.89 for a 5 lb bag. I guess everything costs more here in NY. I didn’t find any organic spinach though.
13
Kimberly //
2009.05.20 at 7:20 am
My mom, who shops at the Costco’s around Kansas City and I have had the produce discussion recently too. She doesn’t have the variety that we have, the same quality, or the same pricing. I’m thinking this may have something to do with being in Texas and closer to growers. But I’m just completely speculating on that one. Our Costco has both organic spinach and lettuce I noticed last time we were there. It’s strange that yours doesn’t. I wouldn’t think that would be a regional thing. Possibly there’s just a really big market for organics here in Austin?
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Zin //
2010.04.01 at 11:38 am
I am not a big fan of Costco as it needs to buy in bulk. I think sometime you can’t compare price with quality. I don’t think Wal-mart Apple price is everyday price. I saw sometime its price is way higher than that. Moreover, its quality. In Costco, you can’t even need to choose one by one, it quality is really good. Last few weeks ago, I buy strawberries at local store $1.50 per lb box. After that I go to Costco to buy other things, I saw in Costco $6 or $8( I don’t remember exactly) for 2 lbs box. At first, I think I am lucky for buying at local store. But in reality, my 2yrs old boy(he really like strawberries no matter how sweet or sour. he eats one Costco box within 2-3 days, we adult don’t eat; leave for him) don’t even touch that strawberries as the quality is really bad. Thus, low price don’t ever necessity especially for fresh fruit, it going to end up more cost.
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25
Tina //
2010.11.01 at 9:45 am
Hi Kimberly,
my husband and I just signed up for a Costco membership after reading your blog, so thanks so much for all the info. I was wondering if you were planning on doing one of your price comparison charts for 2010 as well? Or have you already done so and I have just missed it?
I really enjoy your blog, since I just moved here from Germany it really helped me out finding my way around getting good grocery deals in Tx
I also agree, even though it’s just the two of us right now, we can actually eat most of the stuff that you can buy at Costco’s even though it comes in bigger amounts, we only have trouble finding enough room for the flour and rice packages, so we don’t get those there (yet – still trying to figure that one out)…
26
Kimberly //
2010.11.02 at 7:04 am
@Tina, I’m glad that you’re enjoying the blog and finding the price comparison helpful. You didn’t miss the 2010 price comparison, I just didn’t do one since we’re living in London right now. I had hoped that I would be able to get it done before we left Austin, but I just didn’t have the time to run around and get prices unfortunately.
As far as the flour goes, you know you can keep it in the freezer right? I don’t know if you have the space for that much flour in your freezer, but you can always keep some of it in the freezer and some of it out and ready to use. We bought the rice at Costco in the 25 pound bags, and it will keep very nicely if you put it in an air tight container (check out The Container Store for something appropriate).
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