Mega Store Price Comparisons

[archimedes24]

My tiny dinosaur brain couldn't remember who was cheapest for what kits & ingredients. As I'm a lowly kit brewer, and prefer all things Cooper, I did some Coopers biased market research @ a big mall near work (E. Melbourne). Prices were gathered today... (16Sept05)

Pardon my craptacular ASCII table...

Bi-lo | Big W | Coles | Kmart
Coop. PA Kit 11.98 | 10.98 | 11.98 | 10.98
Coop Cdn Blond Kit 11.98 | 10.98 | 11.98 | 10.98
Coop LDM (500g) 5.19 | 4.78 | 5.19 | 4.78
Coop Brw Sugar 1K 3.75 | 3.27 | 3.75 | 3.27
Coop Enhance 1 4.49 | 3.98 | 4.49 | 3.98 (Dextrose + Maltodex)
Coop Enhance 2 5.49 | 4.98 | 5.49 |4.98 (Dex + Maltdx + LghtMlt)
Coop Fermenter 67.99 | 67.36 | 75.95 | 68.48

Don't need to point out the obvious trend. You either pay more, or you pay less & you have your choice of 2 stores for either category...assuming you're lucky enough to have all of these near you.

Brewiser fermentables (just cause I'm paying more attention to fermentables now)

Big W | Kmart
Body Brew 4.04 | 3.99 (60%Dextrose/40%Maltodex)
Ultra Brew 6.36 | 5.99 (50% Light Malt/25% Maltodex/25% Dextrose)
Brew Boost 5.08 | 4.99 (50% Dextrose/25% Maltodex/25% Light Malt)

(So everything contains Maltodex...I ended up just buying Cooper Dextrose, which I'll split & mix w/ 500g of LME for next brew....ANYHOO)

All the extract kits I checked were in date, usually w/ 1-2 years remaining.
This Big W had by far the best selection, including a good selection of replacement bits for just about all fermenter kits. I bought a Coopers o-ring replacement kit containing 2 grometts, a spigot o-ring, and the large O-ring for the lid for less than $5. By way of comparison, I paid $2 each for the same grometts at a local HBS when I was building my jerry can secondary fermenters (before I found my good one). :angry:

Anyway, hope some of my other lowly kit & kilo brew brothers can save a few bucks with the above info.

 

[archimedes24]

Oh...and I should add, I don't work for any of the four stores I mentioned. Just in case anyone was wondering...

 

[Asher]

good work archi....

I have both a Coles & Woolies nearby.... Usually do my grocery shopping at the Coles. May have to go check out the BigW store having read the above.....

Asher for now

 

[cardenio98]

Thanks for the research!!

I found much the same thing as I had done the rounds of K Mart, Big W, Coles, & Woolworths (no Bi Lo in my area). I found that in my area, Woolies is cheapest of the lot followed by Big W, K Mart and finally Coles. However, Woolies has the smallest product range; Big W has the largest followed by K Mart.

The situation gets very confusing when two different Woolies or Coles stores in Sydney can have different pricing - anyone know why? Just competition I'd think.

Often, we are only talking the difference of a few cents between some of the majors so what I look for are specials as I'm doing my grocery shopping (Woolies is my choice here). With savings of $2 or more, then it's worth buying a few more or stocking up. Woolies recently had the Coopers range on special and I stocked up for those Christmas parties - you know, those parties where you are not serving your BEST home brew!!! ;-)


Big W has the best balance of price and product range so they're my best bet. Woolies is great if all I want is a basic Coopers brew but their product range is the smallest.

Keep any eye out for specials no matter which store you shop at! If you can buy a few extra cans when on special, then you'll be better off than driving 20mins to get a cheaper price!!!

cheers!
cardenio98

 

[tangent]

Im really interested in the same research but 20L drums of Coopers liquid malt.
Anyone in ADL want to play along?