My husband and I are thinking about getting a membership and I have a few questions to ask others that shop there. When they sell things like ketchup or mayo, salad dressings , do these things come in really big jars or are they regular size but sold in a case . Also how do the costco brands compare in quality to other name brands ? When you go to costco what are your favorite things to buy there?

$ 8.99 for the refill - compare to $ 24 here in town.

get a few people together and rent a semi to go in.This will make your trip worth it as there are great deals. Just to drive to Winnipeg and shop is a waste of a day.

http://www.ebrandon.ca/messagethread.aspx?message_id=638845&cat_id=3

I believe they mostly come in big containers depending what u buy. Some stuff is a good deal but we found that going to bottineau was better for us. It's closer,cheaper and no membership. There are two of us and my home daycare and we still find Costco too big of bulk and more expensive.  
 
We will go occasionally with friends or family members and we have bought meat,Tassimo coffee and desserts. And we usually check out the non food stuff.

I let my membership expire. It is not worth it for Brandon citizens because very similar deals can be found through the local stores. When you add in the $50-$60 cost for gas every trip plus the membership fee, you will not save very much. It has unique items but those are now appearing in the regular retail outlets. The one item I used to buy at Costco was individually wrapped toilette paper because the shower was destroying the ones I had left in the room. But I discovered I could get a similar product for a similar price at SuperStore.  
 
When I did have a membership, I saw a three ton cube van loading up but that was for a community five hours away where a can of soup was $3.50 so the $1.29 was worth it to get a few cases. If you lived in Winnipeg and could use it on a monthly or weekly basis, it may be worth it but it is more cost effective to use the local stores in Brandon and pay the extra nickle here and there. If you watch the sales and stock up from the Brandon stores, you will be further ahead than traveling to Winnipeg and shopping there. Even a frugal friend that lives in Winnipeg has given up her membership.  
 
They have both regular size and humongous size available for many of the items and I may get a day membership if I need a joke gift of a gallon of pickles and a five gallon jug of ice cream for a pregnancy party. (Friends, you have been warned not to invite me to your pregnancy parties.) I have seen similar sizes at WalMart. A specialty pickle company had to make a larger than normal jar for their contract with WalMart (and this killed their supermarket normal size jar business).  
 
I would recommend that you take four hours when you are in Winnipeg on other business and buy a guest pass for the day to take a closer look to see if it suits your needs and if it really does save you money based on the best prices from the Brandon flyers over the past three months.

we called and asked questions on the membership they never once said we could buy a guest pass. I wonder if they have stopped doing that ,they did say if we did not like it we could cancel it and get our money back except for the taxes .We are going into Winnipeg for a few days and often go through out the year ,so I will not only be going just to shop . Thank you for the info still tossed on going there or not .

We always like to make a costco run. The selection that is there makes up for the gas. The clothes, the auto supplies, all around fun stuff. The Dry Garlic Ribs are worth the trip. The meat is the best(strip loin and rib-eye) any where. Most food items are packaged in two or three bundles or a large size. Pea-meal bacon is half the price of what is in Brandon. Way less blood in say chicken pieces.  
Worth the membership, plus you can stop a Red Lobster!!!

Costco is always worth it! Gas does NOT cost $50-60$ round trip as someone else has stated. I have a 3.5L and yes a tank of gas costs me around $65. However on my round trip I have more than half a tank left.  
 
Now to costco items.. mayo is a 1.8L jar. We just bought 2 of them couple weeks back for $5.49 ($2.00 off). Try buying mayo at walmart or superstore, see how much you pay for it and they dont even carry that size.  
 
We bought hidden valley ranch dressing which is 1.18L X 2 containers for $4.89.  
 
Gillete Mach3 razors: 32 cartridges for $54.99.  
 
Quik chocolate syrup 2L: $9.79  
 
Bicks pickles: 2L for $4.69  
 
On another note, Costco Mcgillvary sells gas.. which is minimum 5 cents cheaper than rest of Winnipeg.  
 
Again propane is cheaper.  
 
If you get a set of tires from them, it is nitrogen filled. You get balancing and rotation free for as long as you own the tires. free tire repair and the list goes on.

Good to use 1/4 tank of the wife's car, and still get 400.00 worth of stuff. Buy mostly bulk items, which usually lasts for months. Good to get away from Brandon for a day... totally worth it.

They have giant bags of Pop Chips for way cheaper and other types of healthy snack chips that are much better priced than what you can buy the little bags for in Brandon  
 
Their Kirkland jumbo peanuts are fabulous as well. We always buy at least one can when we are there.  
 
Their meat is always great and I always stock up on gum and granola bars there.  
 
 
And where else can you get basically a whole meal just from walking around the store and stopping at all the sample stations?  

I recently bought a membership even though my husband and I rarely make it into the city, the particular membership i bought has this great plan where if you don't get a certain amount in rebate at the end of the year then you get a refund to a certain extent for the membership, kinda a win-win situation because costco is super awesome

Costco is our favorite store.  
 
Gas is always cheaper but you have to go to a Costco that sells gas.  
 
Hellman's Mayo - 1.8 litre, you can get it in the tub too.  
 
Budweiser BBQ sauce - 2 x 1.2 Litre  
 
Ketchup, mustard, relish pack - 750 ml. 7.99 on special for 5.49  
 
Salmon, steaks, hamburger, sausages, - all meats we buy there.  
 
Fresh fruits and vegetables. The cherries have been excellent.  
 
From September on is great to shop at Costco as the Christmas stuff starts coming out.  
 
They are always giving out free samples to try of the products they carry.  
 
You can go online every Monday to find what the specials are.  
 
Here is the information for memberships.  
 
http://www.costco.ca/service/featurepage.aspx?productno=10324109

We truly feel costco is worth the trip and wish theris one in Brandon soon save some miles. Rye bread is a big savings 2 loafs for the price of 1 here. Meat we just started getting take a cooler with 3 thick rib eyes and they were awesome for the same price of thin ones 1/2 thickness at the coop. Go executive membership and get 2% of your sales back and some times pays for the membership or close. If not they pay you membership upgarde back. Some items are 2 of not all super sized as stated some items are but not all. Dill salad dressing awesome. Also pancake mix and garbage bags good. Bathroom supplies tissue and paper towels etc. lots of bargains on some items you have to keep an eye out and no coupons auto price drop at the till never caught a missed sale yet. Baking supplies cheap and also some frozen food but watch your prices as with any store. Produce always fresh. Clothing some great deals and lots of selection in all dept. Electronics great and I hear with Costco card extra year warranty after manufactures but never checked that out? Gas a must yes 5 cents per litre savings. If you make 3-4 trips a year worth the card easy to stock up at $400-$600+ on items at a great price.

The biggest saving for us has been work jeans for my hubby. He has to wear dark brown. Marks sells dark brown work jeans for $60 pr.. Costco sells them for $17. We have grandkidlets to visit with when we go to Wpg so the fuel doesnt really count , but even taking fuel into consideration ,, 4 pr jeans @ $17 = 68 + $50 fuel = 118  
divided by 4 works out to $30 pr for the jeans. Still half of what they cost in town.

Then you know what is a good deal and what is not.  
 
Quite often the Premium Plus soda crackers are $2.99 - I have never seen them anywhere around here for that price.  
 
As for big packages - not always. Sure you can buy vats of ketchup or spagetti sauce - but you can also buy cases of the regular jars at often they are at better prices than local. Sure - local store have sale prices that are the same or better. It all comes down to knowing what the regular and sale prices are and price shopping.  
 
If you go into Winnipeg regularly - sure it is worth it. Since we got our membership I have shaved a few hundred of of our grocery bill in the year - and that does take into account the price of the membership. We have the executive membership as well because we own a business - so that pays us back 2% of what we spend in the year.  
 
If we had a gas bar here imagine the extra savings we would be getting?  
 
You can get a membership and get a full refund of it if you find after a few trips it is not worth it for you - that info is on their website and I have been told that on a couple of occasions by their membership department.

We have a costco membership. We enjoy it. Some things do come in same size but in bulk and others come in larger containers.  
 
We like Costco for the meat and fish. I will buy roasts, steak, ground beef, ground turkey (exceptionally cheap!), and the frozen unseasoned fillets of cod. Then I just portion everything and freeze it.  
 
I rarely buy fresh produce as there is just two of us and we just can't eat it before it goes bad. I do love buying their canned stuffed and stocking up. Cheese is a decent price. They also sell clothes for a really good price, as well as toiletries. We go about every other month and spend about $250.  
 

Can you not buy from Costco without a membership, if you pay with cash?

pays cash. You must have a member ship to enter the store even if you don't buy anything.

I need to correct you hermoine - yes you have to have a membership to enter the store however if you are the cardholder you can use your debit card, cash or if you have the costco american express (i belive is their credit card). If you are a guest along with a cardholder you can only pay with cash.

Thank you, AEM.

AEM said "I need to correct you hermoine - yes you have to have a membership to enter the store however if you are the cardholder you can use your debit card, cash or if you have the costco american express (i belive is their credit card). If you are a guest along with a cardholder you can only pay with cash. "

Ya, you're right, I think of debit as cash, haha. (didn't know about the american express)

going get costco in Brandon we are big enough to have one about time they came here

costco accepts coupons ?  

Coupon King said "costco accepts coupons ?   "

i dont believe that they do.

sammy said "    Coupon King said "costco accepts coupons ?   " i dont believe that they do. "

ty for reply

hermione said "    AEM said "I need to correct you hermoine - yes you have to have a membership to enter the store however if you are the cardholder you can use your debit card, cash or if you have the costco american express (i belive is their credit card). If you are a guest along with a cardholder you can only pay with cash. " Ya, you're right, I think of debit as cash, haha. (didn't know about the american express) "

You can pay with their Costco American Express. Only 24% interest.

do have coupons for things when you first walk in.

You do not require the "coupons" they hand you at the front door. When they scan the item that is on special that week, it scans in at the regular price and then automatically deducts the "coupon" price.  
 
The only time one requires to hand in the "coupon" is if you receive them in the mail.

You can shop at Costco without a membership (to see what you think of everything) if someone buys you a gift card. You can buy however much you want, example, you can buy $200 worth of items, use the $25 costco gift card, then pay cash for the rest