# Costco Beer/spirit Selection & Pricing



## reVoxAHB (20/8/09)

I braved the horde of masses this morning to visit CostCo, Docklands Melbourne. Pretty much only the big boys were on offering - Cascade, Coopers (pale only), Boags, Crown L, VB & Carlton and pricing was not flash. I'd at least expected to find Interbrew Stella or the like, but nope. 

Prices (all 24 bottle slab):
VB $36.99
Carton $36.99
Corona $51.99
Boags $44.89
Coopers Pale $41.99

Spirits:
1L Absolute (Vodka) $42.99
700ml Jack Daniels $34.98

glossed over the other spirits, champagne and wine on offer. And certainly, there were a few other brands of beers available, but nothing from the craft sector. I'm not sure these two worlds need to meet, anyway. 

Point is, CostCo will not give you savings on booze in Aus.  Better to keep your ear to the ground and hit local bottle shops, Dan Murphys and the like for weekly specials.. Grosvenor Cellars (East St. Kilda) opening new this Saturday, have slabs of bottle VB for $25/slab; 2 slab limit, for example.

Pretty much a pointless thread, but figured I'd throw it out there in case others were wondering which beers CostCo will sell. Obviously, selection and pricing may change.. and I'll note they've only been open 1 week. 

Cheers, 
reVox


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## reVoxAHB (20/8/09)

Oh, I did find a wall of 156L Maxcold eskys on sale for $159. Dream tun :lol:


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## Bribie G (20/8/09)

What no Oettinger for $28?  
I'd rather buy two slabs of that then one slab of Corona for the same price any day.

I read on an American forum that they often sell kegerators over there, the tomahawk style with the single font, did you see any in there?


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## brettprevans (20/8/09)

that blows in regards to liquor. they are terrible prices.

is any of the other stuff they stock worth while?


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## Supra-Jim (20/8/09)

Given that DM's sell VB and like for cost or a small loss, i don't reckon there's much room to discount. Plus they're all about moving big volumes of product, so i guess there wouldn't be any shelf space for craft beers (even the larger ones like LC etc) as this is still a relatively small (but growing) market.

Gotta remember too, there's a $60 membership fee.

Cheers SJ


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## discoloop (20/8/09)

Very interesting indeed, considering they offer a flat 15% margin on all their products. Either they're not getting a good price from their distributors or the other bottlos are extremely big on 'loss leaders'. I suspect the former is the case.


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## bum (20/8/09)

reVox said:


> Pretty much only the big boys were on offering



It is a bulk goods store catering to the lowest common denominator. Not sure why the media is hyping this shit up. Getting paid I suppose.


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## iScarlet (20/8/09)

But with all the money you spend on all the other crap you didn't intend buying, you might save enough to be able to justify the high prices!


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## Bribie G (20/8/09)

iScarlet said:


> But with all the money you spend on all the other crap you didn't intend buying, you might save enough to be able to justify the high prices!



Sounds like me when I go to ALDI for a couple of items and come out with the foot spa, veg steamer and ugg boots as well <_<


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## Cummins (20/8/09)

I will be getting a refund on my membership. I have been waiting for months for this to open and have been left disgusted and disappointed.

I did notice one thing brewers may like, 25kgs of sugar for $20. Under $1/kg is pretty reasonable.

The place was packed and every prick was buying overpriced toilet paper.

As someone wrote so eloquently on the feedback stand... '**** this shit'


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## brettprevans (20/8/09)

so prices not all that cheap? dissapointing. the folks were considering getting a memberhsip so they could buy goods in bulk for their shop.


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## HoppingMad (20/8/09)

Had a squiz at Costco on Monday and went away going 'Meh'. Not much to be blown away about and prices were ok. Agree with the statements on their grog section.

If you've been to the US and seen products in larger containers before then you would have been reminded of it here - there were plenty of people holding up items going 'Check out the size of this!' with scant regard to the upsized pricetag on it, and rushing to the front counter to sign up. A lot of hype on Costco here in Melb at the moment.

Mind you, like ReVox I was impressed by the 'Supersized' eskies up the front. 
They were massive - looked like this one:






Everything else you could take or leave really - unless you're interested in buying a large sack of cane sugar h34r: they had large sacks pretty cheap!!!

Hopper.


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## iScarlet (20/8/09)

> large sacks pretty cheap!!!



Just this statement, despite the valid point being made, gives me an immature snicker every time.

Those Eskys are impressive.

Cheers
Mark


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## discoloop (20/8/09)

> I did notice one thing brewers may like, 25kgs of sugar for $20. Under $1/kg is pretty reasonable.



What was the price for 25 Tooheys kits?


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## HoppingMad (20/8/09)

iScarlet said:


> Just this statement, despite the valid point being made, gives me an immature snicker every time.



Gotta love Benny Hill humour! :lol:


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## reVoxAHB (20/8/09)

BribieG said:


> I read on an American forum that they often sell kegerators over there, the tomahawk style with the single font, did you see any in there?



Definitely didn't see any kegerators, but didn't comb the store either. 



citymorgue2 said:


> that blows in regards to liquor. they are terrible prices.
> 
> is any of the other stuff they stock worth while?



Hard to say from my initial visit. I'm sure it's like every store where some things will work out cheaper, and others not. It would be interesting to price plasma TV's or LCD's or phones, etc. to the Good Guys, JB & other local retailers. 92% lean mince beef was $7.99kg. (generally $9.99kg./S.Melb market), Lilydale Organic Chooks $5.79kg. which I think is pretty good off the top of my head. I purchased 4kg of oranges for $3.49 and normally pay $2.99 for 3kg at the market, not that big of a difference. 

I think most savings will come in buying bulk where you'll purchase a 50 pack of AA Duracell batteries, vs. a Coles 4 pack (or 10 pack, or however high they bulk in the Australian retail sector). 





Yeah, that's the bastard right there.. $159


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## tcraig20 (21/8/09)

BribieG said:


> What no Oettinger for $28?



Off topic, but I saw it here for $33 the other day!

At that price, Furstenberg for $40 seems a much better deal.


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## doon (22/8/09)

TV's are alot cheaper

50 inch LED TV at Harvery norman is around 5800, where at Costco it is 4400 so big saving there

I was 50/50 on it really. Meat is definitely not cheaper there i can go to Tasman meats and get it way cheaper, there is so much stuff that isnt cheaper.

On the other hand i got a big duffel bag on wheels with handle for 50 bucks which has 10 year warranty.

Wouldnt all the bullshit taxes we have on grog limit what they can discount it too? The wife and i were at Dans and Costco yesterday and Pure Blonde is 2 bucks cheaper at Dans (not that i drink the shit)


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## archie82 (22/8/09)

I went to costco on the opening day as it's just up the road from my house and agree with a few of the other posts above about it not being anything special. I asked one of the staff there if they had any brewing stuff and he told me he would have to ask around to find out and would come find me which he never did. Price wise it wasnt anything flash but i will probably go back and shop there only because its 3 - 5 minutes from my house, but if i lived on the other side of town i wouldnt go out of my way to travel down to shop there. Also there were some smaller 60 or 65 lt lt eskies for around $60 - $70.


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## Count Vorlauf (22/8/09)

Dang, I was hoping they might at least have brought some American beers over along with them.


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## Maz91379 (22/8/09)

Count Vorlauf said:


> Dang, I was hoping they might at least have brought some American beers over along with them.



ROFL 

On another note i haven't been yet but really miss Costco in the states. Really want to compare differences/ similarities when it calms down a bit. Hope it increases competition driving down prices a bit retailers kinda have you guys by the balls down here. But yeah they have great deals on certain stuff and you just kinda need to shop around or you'll end up paying more.


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## goatherder (22/8/09)

A little OT, but here's a recent article about costco:

http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf...ent&src=rss

apparently 3/4 of the company's profit is the membership fee.

Good to see some more competition in the grocery space though.


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