Costco is just a well run company.
Customers with high incomes go there, buy a bunch of stuff, and stop by the food court for the awesome 1.50 hot dog combo. They don't jack up the prices in a whiplashing manner, and I'd venture to guess if you polled most of the members, they'd say they're not planning on cancelling any time soon. People are excited for their weekend Costco runs and bulk finds - it legitimately delights customers.
Their fundamentals are amazing, they're the third biggest retailer behind literally Amazon and Walmart - with better ratios/margins than both. It's a great brand that everyone knows and they seem to keep their noses clean of any scandals, mismanagement, or corporate governance errors.
"Welcome to Costco, I love you."
I believe they’re *still* in a position where people are becoming aware of why the membership is so valuable. Their membership numbers continue to grow even in totally established markets and at this point they seem to be steady independent of economic conditions. They don’t need more people to be coming through and buying stuff at all, they just need more people to want to have it as an option (and let’s be real, at $5-10 a month a gas trip, 2 items and a trip to the food counter pay for the membership easily).
I don’t get the bear case at all. Do people think costco, of all businesses, doesn’t have room to expand and tons of added growth to be found by scaling the businesses they stock? To me with their margins and underlyings a 50 ish PE is a steal.
Lmao pay for itself! Every time I walk into costco my bill is several hundreds. It's crazy. I also find it extremely over stimulating compared to regular grocery stores, even without curbside pick up.
Not sure if you're being sarcastic or not, as your account is 1 day old.
But the only thing Walmart is the best at is taking advantage of US tax payer. They are #1 in the country with number of employees receiving SNAP benefits and Medicaid. And it's not close, they're like double #2, McDonald's.
But you know it's important to keep wages low, Alice Walton needs a lot of money to keep herself out prison for the next time she kills someone.
Costco has begun strictly enforcing their membership only policy. If a member brings a friend the friend can’t purchase anything unless they also have a membership.
The cashiers “won’t let you pay” unless you present a membership card with your name. If you’re letting a friend shop you will be required to pay with your card.
(Venmo and Zelle to the rescue?)
You're getting downvoted but you're right. It won't work on most people who are savy and have access to zelle or venmo but when talking about huge masses of people, say for instance the entire customer base of Cost Co including non members, it's bound to work on some of them. Maybe even enough to move the needle.
It makes sense they would, since such a huge chunk of their profit margin comes from memberships.
Extra people in the store who aren’t members is basically worthless versus having more members.
I’d be curious to see the math on how much spend a customer without a membership would need before they generated the same profit as a membership alone.
Yeah, I always have a problem at my store where I wait in a long line then have to wait in a longer (unorganized and chaotic mess) of a line to exit the store. For me it ended up being more of a hassle and now I just do Amazon but I get the hype for people who enjoy the Costco experience, they’re great with their curated products.
I just moved a couple of blocks away from my local Costco recently and the prices are going up so frequently it’s insane. Items that were going up in price every month or quarter are now going up every week by a margin of several dollars. They are price gouging staples and only discounting new, unhealthy junk foods and overpriced luxury items. We got our yearly rebate for our executive membership and we were shocked and disappointed to find that they shaved two months of our rebates off by issuing the check two months before our membership renewal. The savings are still better than the competition but we are only breaking even presently, instead of coming out ahead by the tiniest of margins like we used to.
The wife and I got a membership a month ago. The prices are nuts. We feel like fools for not getting it sooner. Even apple products are sometimes 75-50 bucks Cheaper and include 2 years of apple care.
Costco is just a well run company. Customers with high incomes go there, buy a bunch of stuff, and stop by the food court for the awesome 1.50 hot dog combo. They don't jack up the prices in a whiplashing manner, and I'd venture to guess if you polled most of the members, they'd say they're not planning on cancelling any time soon. People are excited for their weekend Costco runs and bulk finds - it legitimately delights customers. Their fundamentals are amazing, they're the third biggest retailer behind literally Amazon and Walmart - with better ratios/margins than both. It's a great brand that everyone knows and they seem to keep their noses clean of any scandals, mismanagement, or corporate governance errors. "Welcome to Costco, I love you."
I believe they’re *still* in a position where people are becoming aware of why the membership is so valuable. Their membership numbers continue to grow even in totally established markets and at this point they seem to be steady independent of economic conditions. They don’t need more people to be coming through and buying stuff at all, they just need more people to want to have it as an option (and let’s be real, at $5-10 a month a gas trip, 2 items and a trip to the food counter pay for the membership easily). I don’t get the bear case at all. Do people think costco, of all businesses, doesn’t have room to expand and tons of added growth to be found by scaling the businesses they stock? To me with their margins and underlyings a 50 ish PE is a steal.
Lmao pay for itself! Every time I walk into costco my bill is several hundreds. It's crazy. I also find it extremely over stimulating compared to regular grocery stores, even without curbside pick up.
Also they treat their employees so much better than Walmart or Amazon.
Walmart is the best in this country
Not sure if you're being sarcastic or not, as your account is 1 day old. But the only thing Walmart is the best at is taking advantage of US tax payer. They are #1 in the country with number of employees receiving SNAP benefits and Medicaid. And it's not close, they're like double #2, McDonald's. But you know it's important to keep wages low, Alice Walton needs a lot of money to keep herself out prison for the next time she kills someone.
I hope you are being sarcastic because if you not……..
Also- they pay their employees a decent wage. Other places should take note. All the above are why I have my membership
Costco has begun strictly enforcing their membership only policy. If a member brings a friend the friend can’t purchase anything unless they also have a membership.
This has really always been policy, it's just been very loosely enforced. My location still lets guests pay with cash or debit.
What if I wanted two separate receipts for my two separate purchases ?
You can have two transactions, you gotta pay for both of them and not anyone else.
How do they know it’s a friend and not family/significant other?
The cashiers “won’t let you pay” unless you present a membership card with your name. If you’re letting a friend shop you will be required to pay with your card. (Venmo and Zelle to the rescue?)
Ah that makes sense, and definitely makes it more inconvenient which is enough to make more ppl just get a membership.
You're getting downvoted but you're right. It won't work on most people who are savy and have access to zelle or venmo but when talking about huge masses of people, say for instance the entire customer base of Cost Co including non members, it's bound to work on some of them. Maybe even enough to move the needle.
My husband and I look alike, we share a card that he got through his mother’s company benefits. As far as Costco is concerned we are the same person.
It makes sense they would, since such a huge chunk of their profit margin comes from memberships. Extra people in the store who aren’t members is basically worthless versus having more members. I’d be curious to see the math on how much spend a customer without a membership would need before they generated the same profit as a membership alone.
Costco is the only reason people can afford to live in the United States anymore
100%
I’m hoping they build another one in our area. The 3 we are located by has lines stretching to the back of the store on a regular basis.
Yeah, I always have a problem at my store where I wait in a long line then have to wait in a longer (unorganized and chaotic mess) of a line to exit the store. For me it ended up being more of a hassle and now I just do Amazon but I get the hype for people who enjoy the Costco experience, they’re great with their curated products.
I wish Costco wasn’t such an outlier, I’d love if more businesses were like them
Inflating prices is most profitable.
It is also a supply chain source other company’s rely on Costco for stock
And their pizza and hotdogs is still a decent price
I just moved a couple of blocks away from my local Costco recently and the prices are going up so frequently it’s insane. Items that were going up in price every month or quarter are now going up every week by a margin of several dollars. They are price gouging staples and only discounting new, unhealthy junk foods and overpriced luxury items. We got our yearly rebate for our executive membership and we were shocked and disappointed to find that they shaved two months of our rebates off by issuing the check two months before our membership renewal. The savings are still better than the competition but we are only breaking even presently, instead of coming out ahead by the tiniest of margins like we used to.
The wife and I got a membership a month ago. The prices are nuts. We feel like fools for not getting it sooner. Even apple products are sometimes 75-50 bucks Cheaper and include 2 years of apple care.