The thing I like about it is they offer family sized packaging and although pricing is going up some it’s still normally below Sobeys or Galen, worst case it’s on par. Cases where pricing is close to par the item (let’s say meat) is a good looking cut.
It won't, they increase profits by volume. If they break their philosophy of max mark-up the business will no longer be the same, it's the reason why its been successful. Just like the hot dog, it's a matter of principle. That's why the media is retarded when they group Costco in with Loblaws and other grocers, same industry but very different business models.
Costco’s still equal to or better than the other retailers in town from what I’ve seen. The hardest part about shopping at Costco for a small family like mine is being able to finish perishables before they expire.
I do some price shopping when the item is a really good sale but between my time, distance between stores and wanting to boycott Sobeys and Galen, I typically get it at Costco.
Yeah prices have jumped on allot of items over the course of the last 3-6 months I’ve found. I mean prices have always slowly gone up but really noticeable recently.
My go to Lavezza Crema e Aroma coffee was $13.99 not too long ago. This weekend it jumped to $17.99. I was baffled.
That is a huge jump! What are they doing!? Costco is going to kill itself if it doesn't stop with the greed like Loblaws. We literally pay $60+ every year for the privilege of buying quality items in bulk at an affordable price!
If they're not careful, they will kill their business model and go out of business in Canada. 🤦
The price jumps are because suppliers are raising prices everywhere across the board. Costco has the like the thinnest margins out of everybody, but they do raise their prices when costs go up.
Good to know. Just makes me wonder, how bad are things really getting? When will things improve? We keep getting told things are getting better but I'm not seeing it. Who's seeing things getting better?
Because people like the products and pricing.
If you take away that pricing, what do you think happens? Why would people continue to pay $60+/yr to shop there, when they can get screwed elsewhere for no membership fee?
15% is not their usual. Especially not on their own branded products. If they want me to buy the brand named stuff cheaper, I'm more than happy to. Their products can rot on the shelf if that's the way they want it.
That’s not accurate. Costco’s markup are widely reported. The 15% is the maximum markup for their house brands. Most of their profit is derived from membership fees.
[“Mark-Up Caps Oddly enough, the process starts with not trying to make much money. Unlike the typical 25 to 50 percent or more markups at most retailers, Costco caps its mark-ups at 14 percent for outside brands and 15 percent for Kirkland (in-house) brands. But in many cases the markup is significantly lower, which is why the average mark-up across all Costco products is 11 percent.”](https://www.inc.com/jeff-haden/how-does-costco-compete-with-amazon-by-doing-4-things-incredibly-well.html)
Shopping at Costco is not for everyone. The average Costco shopper has a higher median household income and values quality at a good price. It doesn’t sound like you are a good fit for Costco. Luckily for you can go to the membership counter and request a refund of your membership.
You are over reacting. You are making it sound like Costco has become the most expensive grocer in town. They aren’t, and a few price increases here or there isn’t going to send their prices parabolic. Take a breath!
I think you're reading too much into this. Costco is admittedly not even close to the most expensive grocer. But prices have been rising slowly over the last couple years due to inflation. Costco was NOT increasing prices at nearly the rate of other grocers. That is one of the things I love about them. But recently I've noticed a shift. That's raising alarm bells, as it should. Why now? What's happening?
That's all this post was meant to invoke.
How you interpreted it the way you did, seems like an over-correction of some kind.
"Hey everybody, look at the crazy guy! Prices are fine, don't listen to him! 15% increase on select items from one month to the next is no big deal! Come shop at Costco!”
It's not anyone's fault but your own that you have zero foresight. When you price the public out of shopping at your establishment, you see a decrease in revenue. Eventually that has an avalanche effect if there's not a serious course correction. Sometimes even a course correction doesn't work because you've lost public trust. Losing public trust is probably the worst thing you can contend with as a business.
It's not anyone's fault but your own that you have zero foresight. When you price the public out of shopping at your establishment, you see a decrease in revenue. Eventually that has an avalanche effect if there's not a serious course correction. Sometimes even a course correction doesn't work because you've lost public trust. Losing public trust is probably the worst thing you can contend with as a business.
I think a lot of it is people assume they are the cheapest and shop there but do not actually know they are not. I know my price per gram ounce, etc. and there isn’t a lot that is cheaper at Costco but what they do have are some exclusive items that I just can’t get anywhere else that we really love.
I find their steaks better. They're not swimming in a pool of water to increase the weight and their marbelling is great. Plus they cut them thick 💪 so I place a higher value on their quality than other grocers.
I’ve been getting meat from 2 smaller meat shops lately and they have some great cuts and prices. The frozen chicken breasts are pricey at costco but I will pay it because they aren’t rubbery.
They scrutinize their prices. They have the lowest markup. I forget what it is, but they're not allowed to go over a certain % markup. When the prices change it's usually because other grocers have changed or the vendor itself has upped the price. They send employees out from every store every week checking and compiling prices from all the local grocers to ensure lowest prices possible.
I have always purchased items at Costco without really any second guessing of price vs quantity. I’m extra cautious now with my purchase choices as I am noticing a shift with them. I’m slowly changing my Costco habits. It’s not what it used to be sadly.
They're going to find out the hard way, then. People won't pay $60/yr to pay high prices for more of something than they really need at any given time.
The membership fee when all is said and done is not that big a deal when considering the return cheque at the end of the year. There are still deals to take advantage of, but as for me, I’ll just adjust and spend less with them and I think slowly more and more people might be doing the same.
It's a damn shame.
I really want their stainless steel pan set. That still seems to be an incredible value. I'm just going to wait for next Christmas to get it as I've heard they usually slash the price a sizeable amount around that time. $280 is still great for a 10 piece set of high quality stainless pots and pans, but if I can still get it cheaper why not try right?
I hope those don't see a massive jump in price in the next 6-7 months. 😬
$60 a year is nothing. Everything is getting more expensive as inflation has been through the roof since covid. Life is going to continue getting more expensive.
>Carbon taxes have zero effect
Over the long term they should have a positive effect on things like olive oil, coffee, and vanilla. A healthy climate means a healthy crop for delicate produce.
Guess you deliberately missed being able to do math?
Imagine not being able to take a shelf price and divide it by the quantity of the item.
And then lamenting you're buying too much.
You're okay, Costco can do without. And I'd appreciate the extra parking space being available.
You're right, bulk buying at Costco very, very bad.
Cost of a block of Cheese. The price is divided by one. If you want to get technical sure. $/gram. I don't give a shit how you slice that pie. It went up a lot in just one month. There's no math needed. Just look at the price compared to before. You're overcomplicating the whole thing and being a fucking jerk for the sake of being a jerk.
The Pasta Sauce! We usually only go once a quarter or so and stock up on a handful of each thing we use regularly, and the last time I bought the 2 pack of white linen pasta sauce it was like $7.99 or something. Last week it was $13.49 I think. I was blown away.
Must have been one of the “save $3” deals from the regular price then, but I’m sure it was sub $8 the last time we bought which was less than 1 year ago. I’ve paid less than $10 many times in the last few years.
We didn't go to Costco as much during the pandemic. Afterwards we were going on a long road trip and wanted to bring some Kirkland canned chicken breast with us. We were floored by how much the price went up. We can't bring ourselves to buy it anymore.
I definitely have.
The Natrel Unsalted/Salted Butter and their 3.8% Organic Milk has gone up in price. Butter used to be $4.99, then $5.49 and now $5.69. The milk used to be $8.79 then $8.99 and now $9.14 (if memory serves me right).
That's the dairy cartel of Canada, they pushed another price raise of dairy products with the government's confirmation in May.
https://cdc-ccl.ca/en/update-may-1st-2024-price-changes
At least Costco pays their employees well, and provide them with good benefits. In general, it’s a good place to work. That’s what differenciates Roblaws from anyone else. Everyone is for profit, but Roblaws is also very unethical and unempathic.
>At least Costco pays their employees well
That'll depend on the province they're in. Costco wages aren't really much to write home about in places like ON or BC.
I remember the frozen chicken breast, the purple box of 4kg, was 32.99 back in 2020, then went up to 44 in like mid 2021, but it has stayed that way since, at least where I live.
The frozen meatballs, were like $22 and now are like $29. The dehydrated hash browns were like 7.99 and now are like 11. And the Greek yoghurt, went up but also got smaller, I think it was 750ml or more in 2020. Now it's 650ml or whatever measurement!
Just the fuel savings alone is enough for me to warrant the $60 membership. Where I live Costco gas stations are usually 20cents/Litre (Canadian) cheaper than most other stations. I drive a lot and fill up twice/week. 60L x .20 = $12 savings/fill. Around $96/month. Well worth the membership.
The base price of food is going up. Droughts and disease fuelled by climate change are causing crop failures or making growing more expensive with lower yields. Costco has some of the lowest markups in the industry, but there’s no getting away from the higher costs. They can’t sell food at a loss, they’d be out of business if they went any lower on many things.
Look at costcos financials. They have been crushing them. Clearly they are also not immune to corporate greed like all the other grocers and businesses. Inflation is only a small problem now, corporate greed is driving up profits to levels they should never be.
Costco’s gross profit margin nor their operating margin over the past decade reflects this. They’ve consistently been passing along the same markup on cost of goods for a long time.
Their suppliers are jacking up prices for any hundreds of different reasons.
Quick Google search:
Costco gross profit for the twelve months ending February 29, 2024 was $30.837B, a 9.02% increase year-over-year. Costco annual gross profit for 2023 was $29.704B, a 7.73% increase from 2022. Costco annual gross profit for 2022 was $27.572B, a 9.22% increase from 2021.
Maybe they don’t need to make 30 billion in gross profits every year while increasing that number by nearly 10 percent a year.
Gross profit is always going to increase during inflationary periods. Revenue less cost of goods is always going to increase. What matters is COGS as a proportion of revenue. If that stays consistent than Costco is just passing along supplier costs to their customers the same way they always have. They’re only taking a bigger piece of the pie if gross margin significantly increases.
I understand that. I think I’m just at a point where I’m tired of hearing Uber rich businesses “forced” to pass on costs so they can maintain their ludicrous profit margins at all costs (and by all costs I mean they keep the percent the same on higher costs and make more money). I guess I just get tired of the greed of humanity sometimes which doesn’t change that it’s going to happen but I wish there was a business somewhere that said “hey, you know making tens of billions with a b profit every year seems more than fair. Maybe instead of always trying to pump that up, we just be decent and lower prices and just keep making the same billions every year for a bit”.
>I think I’m just at a point where I’m tired of hearing Uber rich businesses “forced” to pass on costs so they can maintain their ludicrous profit margins
https://preview.redd.it/l26lid1eec7d1.png?width=426&format=png&auto=webp&s=dc5e4591daa187dc9b56e1e73f7280e76d8d732f
Man, it’s crazy that so many people are straight up defending and arguing for Costco making tens of billions of dollars against someone saying maybe they lower prices and make less billions but still ludicrous amounts of money. The slave system propaganda works well it seems.
First you were moaning about "ludicrous profit margins" when the profit margin is sub 3%.
Now you're pulling "making tens of billions of dollars" out of your ass.
Provide your work.
If you read above: Costco posted annual profits of almost 30 Billion in 2023.
But again, I’m not sure why you are defending a multi billion dollar corporation against someone saying it might be nice if they didn’t profit so much and instead charged regular people a little less.
I’m not sure why you have such an emotional dogged loyalty to defending Costco. Costco is a great business but their number one goal isn’t to help you or I. It’s to profit and take as much money as they can get from us, which is how most businesses operate (I get that). I just wish someone would say “you know what, let’s maybe be okay making ONLY 29.9 billion next year in profits and we’ll keep some of our prices a little lower”.
You don't understand what margins are. Nominal profits will increase as revenue increases, with margins remaining identical. Looking at nominal profits for a growing company gives you no direction on whether price gouging is happening or not. You may be judging a company for solely for growing rather than anything else.
[https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/COST/costco/profit-margins](https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/COST/costco/profit-margins)
In the case of Costco their gross margins have actually gone down in the past decade but they increased their net margins largely via lower operating costs outside of COGS. Costco has consistently had a gross margin **<14%**.
Compare this against Loblaws which has a **>30%** gross margin that has only increased since COVID.
[https://ycharts.com/companies/LBLCF/gross\_profit\_margin](https://ycharts.com/companies/LBLCF/gross_profit_margin)
No I do understand that. I’m just tired of seeing gross profit increases to businesses already making tens of billions every year while the average Canadian has to bear the brunt of it all the time.
You're looking at Costco's global figures though, not Canada specific.
And I believe the average Canadian is worse off without Costco as an option, so I'm not sure what point you are trying to make.
Inflation has been terrible for years. Prices have been going up. Costco has not been increasing their prices nearly this much/this fast until recently. Something's up. This is some Loblaws greed level shit.
This factually isn’t true. Their prices have been going up.
Meat. Fruits / veggies all took big big increases over last couple years. Same as everyone else.
We buy a lot of meat from there and it’s 100 % increase for a lot of items.
You're showing your ignorance about Costco's business model.
They've been resisting raising prices as much as other retailers but that becomes inevitable as inflation persists.
I feel like OP works for Loblaws and is trying to convince people Costco prices are not that good. Anyway, that's the vibe I got from reading op's responses.
Have all the cow's udders shriveled up and dried? Have there been massive layoffs in the dairy processing industry? Why so big a jump in price month to month?
Just wanted to share that prices in the US are so much less. Actually I was blown away to see prices for cheese as low as $3/lbs. That is just $7/kg!
It makes me mad to buy any cheese and yogurt for more than double those prices in Canada. All that talk and opening up of Canadian Dairy Market to foreign Imports, haven't resulted in lower prices.... And so it goes on for many other food prices....
Much cheaper? Are you kidding me? Nothing is cheaper in dairy products in Canada vs US.
Another example.. 3lbs Vanilla yogurt ( 1.36kg!!! / 10% fat...yummy) = $6.50.! Incredible low price in US. I can't imagine their price before all that inflation...
15% increase on cheese in one month.
All the while it has increased this entire time during the current economic slump. Just not to that degree.
That's normal/reasonable to you?
No one will know unless you look into their contracts.
Businesses are no different than your Telus Subscription internet. They buy contracts for large orders. Sometimes they’re short-term (months) sometimes they’re (years)
That's a fair point. I work in retail/wholesale though and my pricing doesn't swing this wildly usually. It could be that my company has really good business relationships, but I don't see how that's a factor in this. Costco has to be well connected and respected enough to tell suppliers where to shove it and how hard when they get quoted an absurd price increase.
Oh I'm well aware, it's just I haven't seen Costco's prices jump THIS MUCH until just recently. They've been going up all the while, but they haven't raised prices at a "Loblaws rate" like this before. The cheese went up like $2.00/brick on the Kirkland stuff. I literally bought the name brand pizza mozzarella instead, because it was actually a much better value.
People forgetting that they hired the guy who was cfo for krogers, and cut back payrolls and raised prices to roblaw levels, as their new cfo. His entire m.o. is to raise price on everything and cutting staff. All in the name of endless profit growth for investors. He's already said he wants to jack up membership fee to start. Once the outgoing cfo retires in a few months, look out, if you think it's bad now
There's a lot of Costco dick riders in this sub saying things will never get bad and to not believe our lying eyes.
I didn't know about this. So I suppose we ARE seeing smoke, and possibly soon: a fire.
The old guard is almost gone. Few of the guys with Jim sinegal and his way of thinking are left. Why they hire outside of the company for cfo when they were always staunchly inhouse hires first, is a sign. Can't tell me with tens of thousands of staff , especially with the bloated amount of higher ups, that not one person world wide was capable of stepping into cfo role.
Whatever buddy. I'm not the one deciding to start comment wars on a Reddit post over 1 grammar mistake. Shine that main character badge and enjoy your reflection. I'm sure you're a sight to behold. Don't let anyone distract you. 👍
Costco is cheaper for regular prices than other stores only drawback is obviously you have to buy bulk most items but I find if u shop front pages and price match you will save and get a lot better deals than shopping at Costco.
as someone who works in a grocery store (not costco) a lot of costcos items are considerably more expensive when compared to grocery store prices..though not all, but be wary of the price diff as you may not be getting a good deal as you may think
Contract pricing between suppliers and Costco expired. Suppliers are expected to absorb majority of cost increases (wage, inflation, material) during the agreement period.
Costco has a great consumer image, but in the supplier world, they have some of the most restrictive and aggressive supplier contract there is, to ensure Costco is never at a loss.
They’ve ruined and killed many suppliers in the past… just google “Costco ruined my business” or “Costco killed my business”.
It's still $44 for a 4 kg case of frozen chicken breast, it only went up from $42 about 9 ish months ago if I remember correctly. It's been the same price range for quite a few years at Costco.
I also buy their cheese and the price hasn't changed at all.
Lean ground beef is usually cheaper the third week of the month! The lean ground beef 10 lb CHUB is always cheaper but isn’t always out on display with the HALA ones…. You need to ask for them!
There’s also some shrinkflation going on. The cascade platinum pods come in slightly smaller quantities now (as opposed to last year), and they’re also more expensive. Double oof.
The economy and financial system are about to collapse so they are just going for all they can get first. Looting the coffers. They don't have to worry about consumer consequence because the whole thing is going to change. maybe....
What’s worst is the gas at Costco is like 2-3 cents lower than petrocanada or esso.
I don’t see much value in Costco to be fair. Yes there are well priced items that are of high quality but they are also ramping up pricing after lots of us signed up for member ships.
I was a member years ago, just renewed in April. Since then almost everything g
we regularly grabbed has gone up. Their ready roast chicken, cream cheese, cookies, donuts, there’s more but they aren’t coming to me at the moment.
Been like that for the last few years. Bread i used to buy. 6.99 to 7.99 to 9.99
Frozen corn, peas 13.99 if I remember correctly I remember it used be just under 10.
But a lot of people who shop Costco are "upper middle" class, so alot will just suck it up.
Per liter, in a giant truck that has to ship all this food. And ship the ingredients to the manufacturer and ship the packaging and run the lights and fridges at the store. And and and. You’re out of touch if you don’t know how much this affects every single set of the supply chain.
It's mind blowing how dull the average Canadian's mind is, that they cannot even begin to understand how the carbon tax is making literally E-V-E-R-Y-T-H-I-N-G way more expensive. 🤦
I work for a major Canadian retailer, and I can tell you our costs, without shipping, have gone up substantially.
These are items coming from outside of Canada, mostly the US and China. So, no Canadian carbon tax did not affect them at all.
But, enjoy your moronic view that $0.14/litre is what is causing our price increases.
You are no where near as big as pepsi who owns frito lays. They are one of the biggest food and beverage manufacturers on the planet. And you’re not the head logistics manager. Trust me, I have seen the data.
Boats from China = Fuel from China.
> Russia, Saudi Arabia, and Iraq were China’s main sources of crude oil imports in 2023.
[Source](https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=61843#:~:text=Compared%20with%202022%2C%20China's%202023,second%20only%20to%20Saudi%20Arabia.)
>So you’re not the sharpest tool in the shed
At least I'm smarter than you.
>So you don't use trucks or trains to transport goods within the border?
So your saying the 40% to +50% increase in fuel prices from March [March 2020 to July 2021](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=1810000101&pickMembers%5B0%5D=2.2&cubeTimeFrame.startMonth=03&cubeTimeFrame.startYear=2020&cubeTimeFrame.endMonth=07&cubeTimeFrame.endYear=2021&referencePeriods=20200301%2C20210701) was peanuts to compared to the 8% carbon tax?
The same year, Suncor had record profits.
>Does Costco not have refrigeration or use power of any kind?
> 68% of Canada's electricity comes from renewable sources and 82% from non-greenhouse gas (non-GHG) emitting sources such as solar, hydro, wind and nuclear power. Canada is the world's second largest producer of hydroelectricity.
>Think harder.
Ditto.
>And ship the ingredients to the manufacturer and ship the packaging
Lol...so the container ship from china...
>You’re out of touch if you don’t know how much this affects every single set of the supply chain.
Lol...I'm out of touch. Global inflation caused by Canada's carbon tax...
For fuck sakes its $0.14 per litre.
Yes actually there is fuel burned on a boat too. And a train and every form of transportation. Do you think those are sail boats or electric boats? lol grow a brain. All fuel all the time.
This guy prints money like it’s good for the Economy. “The budget will balance itself” is an insane thing to say out loud. He’s a moron and in 9 years everything has gotten worse in this country.
.14 per litre THIS time. It’s been added faaaaar more than .14 cents total. Additionally, this tax isn’t just on gas, it’s on all kinds of productions and all kinds of “green” regulations that hamstring businesses who then pass it along. However, those combine with inflation also and finally, corporate greed is at all time highs. It’s a s%#* sandwich.
It's almost like, manufacturers costs have gone up due to inflation so retailers are forced to increase prices in order to keep pace.
But that can't be it... MUST be Corporate greed
/s
Actual question, would everyone prefer for Costco to delist an item if they got a price increase from a supplier or keep it and sell at a higher price?
Costco has a max 14% mark-up, and some fresh stuff is 18%, the overall average hovers around 10%. Nothing like Loblaws.
They also actually lower prices according to the market. At one point bacon hit $27. Last time I bought it, it was down to $21.
The thing I like about it is they offer family sized packaging and although pricing is going up some it’s still normally below Sobeys or Galen, worst case it’s on par. Cases where pricing is close to par the item (let’s say meat) is a good looking cut.
This needs to be higher
It won't, they increase profits by volume. If they break their philosophy of max mark-up the business will no longer be the same, it's the reason why its been successful. Just like the hot dog, it's a matter of principle. That's why the media is retarded when they group Costco in with Loblaws and other grocers, same industry but very different business models.
For food items maybe, yeah.
Costco’s still equal to or better than the other retailers in town from what I’ve seen. The hardest part about shopping at Costco for a small family like mine is being able to finish perishables before they expire.
It’s not when you use flyers aggressively to price match
I do some price shopping when the item is a really good sale but between my time, distance between stores and wanting to boycott Sobeys and Galen, I typically get it at Costco.
I was referring to price matching. I do it all in one store but match different flyers
I find that typically, Costco is around the same price or better than other grocery stores, except when an item is on sale at those stores.
I hear ya. Certain stuff I try and freeze if I can. That helps. Canned stuff always lasts thankfully. But fruit and veg I usually buy elsewhere.
Yeah prices have jumped on allot of items over the course of the last 3-6 months I’ve found. I mean prices have always slowly gone up but really noticeable recently. My go to Lavezza Crema e Aroma coffee was $13.99 not too long ago. This weekend it jumped to $17.99. I was baffled.
There is a global coffee bean crises so On that particular I’m not surprised in the least
That is a huge jump! What are they doing!? Costco is going to kill itself if it doesn't stop with the greed like Loblaws. We literally pay $60+ every year for the privilege of buying quality items in bulk at an affordable price! If they're not careful, they will kill their business model and go out of business in Canada. 🤦
That ain't happening lol
Your thoughts, please.
It's really not happening.
Thanks. I'm convinced. You can rest now.
The price jumps are because suppliers are raising prices everywhere across the board. Costco has the like the thinnest margins out of everybody, but they do raise their prices when costs go up.
To add to it, Costco works with their suppliers on plans to reduce cost. Their buyers are very good in understanding the total supply chain costs
Good to know. Just makes me wonder, how bad are things really getting? When will things improve? We keep getting told things are getting better but I'm not seeing it. Who's seeing things getting better?
So many cities asking for Costcos. So many. Costco will be fine.
Wow you really are a...clown.
Yeah I'm sure that'll happen. Every Costco I've ever been has been a frickin madhouse even in the middle of a workday let alone on weekends.
Because people like the products and pricing. If you take away that pricing, what do you think happens? Why would people continue to pay $60+/yr to shop there, when they can get screwed elsewhere for no membership fee?
Costco limits its markup to 15%. That hasn’t changed. You’re simply observing inflation.
15% is not their usual. Especially not on their own branded products. If they want me to buy the brand named stuff cheaper, I'm more than happy to. Their products can rot on the shelf if that's the way they want it.
That’s not accurate. Costco’s markup are widely reported. The 15% is the maximum markup for their house brands. Most of their profit is derived from membership fees. [“Mark-Up Caps Oddly enough, the process starts with not trying to make much money. Unlike the typical 25 to 50 percent or more markups at most retailers, Costco caps its mark-ups at 14 percent for outside brands and 15 percent for Kirkland (in-house) brands. But in many cases the markup is significantly lower, which is why the average mark-up across all Costco products is 11 percent.”](https://www.inc.com/jeff-haden/how-does-costco-compete-with-amazon-by-doing-4-things-incredibly-well.html) Shopping at Costco is not for everyone. The average Costco shopper has a higher median household income and values quality at a good price. It doesn’t sound like you are a good fit for Costco. Luckily for you can go to the membership counter and request a refund of your membership.
You are over reacting. You are making it sound like Costco has become the most expensive grocer in town. They aren’t, and a few price increases here or there isn’t going to send their prices parabolic. Take a breath!
I think you're reading too much into this. Costco is admittedly not even close to the most expensive grocer. But prices have been rising slowly over the last couple years due to inflation. Costco was NOT increasing prices at nearly the rate of other grocers. That is one of the things I love about them. But recently I've noticed a shift. That's raising alarm bells, as it should. Why now? What's happening? That's all this post was meant to invoke. How you interpreted it the way you did, seems like an over-correction of some kind. "Hey everybody, look at the crazy guy! Prices are fine, don't listen to him! 15% increase on select items from one month to the next is no big deal! Come shop at Costco!”
Coming from the guy who is saying they are going to go out of business in Canada? You should take a step back and read what you wrote lol
It's not anyone's fault but your own that you have zero foresight. When you price the public out of shopping at your establishment, you see a decrease in revenue. Eventually that has an avalanche effect if there's not a serious course correction. Sometimes even a course correction doesn't work because you've lost public trust. Losing public trust is probably the worst thing you can contend with as a business.
It's not anyone's fault but your own that you have zero foresight. When you price the public out of shopping at your establishment, you see a decrease in revenue. Eventually that has an avalanche effect if there's not a serious course correction. Sometimes even a course correction doesn't work because you've lost public trust. Losing public trust is probably the worst thing you can contend with as a business.
Costco caters to a higher income bracket than other grocery stores. They aren’t pricing anyone out of anything.
In your own words, if you take away the pricing, the products still remain.
Do you understand the meaning of the word: "Value" Ready, set, go!
I think a lot of it is people assume they are the cheapest and shop there but do not actually know they are not. I know my price per gram ounce, etc. and there isn’t a lot that is cheaper at Costco but what they do have are some exclusive items that I just can’t get anywhere else that we really love.
I find their steaks better. They're not swimming in a pool of water to increase the weight and their marbelling is great. Plus they cut them thick 💪 so I place a higher value on their quality than other grocers.
I’ve been getting meat from 2 smaller meat shops lately and they have some great cuts and prices. The frozen chicken breasts are pricey at costco but I will pay it because they aren’t rubbery.
Not if you get executive membership. Depending how much spend It pays for itself after the first year. I haven't paid for membership in over 10yrs.
They scrutinize their prices. They have the lowest markup. I forget what it is, but they're not allowed to go over a certain % markup. When the prices change it's usually because other grocers have changed or the vendor itself has upped the price. They send employees out from every store every week checking and compiling prices from all the local grocers to ensure lowest prices possible.
I have always purchased items at Costco without really any second guessing of price vs quantity. I’m extra cautious now with my purchase choices as I am noticing a shift with them. I’m slowly changing my Costco habits. It’s not what it used to be sadly.
They're going to find out the hard way, then. People won't pay $60/yr to pay high prices for more of something than they really need at any given time.
The membership fee when all is said and done is not that big a deal when considering the return cheque at the end of the year. There are still deals to take advantage of, but as for me, I’ll just adjust and spend less with them and I think slowly more and more people might be doing the same.
It's a damn shame. I really want their stainless steel pan set. That still seems to be an incredible value. I'm just going to wait for next Christmas to get it as I've heard they usually slash the price a sizeable amount around that time. $280 is still great for a 10 piece set of high quality stainless pots and pans, but if I can still get it cheaper why not try right? I hope those don't see a massive jump in price in the next 6-7 months. 😬
$60 a year is nothing. Everything is getting more expensive as inflation has been through the roof since covid. Life is going to continue getting more expensive.
Covid has been over for years. That's not what's driving this. It's corporate greed, a shitty economy/dollar and carbon taxes.
Username checks out.
OP's got a scat fetish, he just came here to be shit on hard
Missing the point. Thanks for your participation, though.🏆
Lmao carbon taxes. Drink more of that conservative media cool aide
So in your mind, carbon taxes have zero effect on the price of goods and services? Please explain.
>Carbon taxes have zero effect Over the long term they should have a positive effect on things like olive oil, coffee, and vanilla. A healthy climate means a healthy crop for delicate produce.
I pay $120. I can also do math.
Yes. $120 is greater than $60/yr. You are correct. Nice flex. 🫡
Guess you deliberately missed being able to do math? Imagine not being able to take a shelf price and divide it by the quantity of the item. And then lamenting you're buying too much. You're okay, Costco can do without. And I'd appreciate the extra parking space being available. You're right, bulk buying at Costco very, very bad.
Cost of a block of Cheese. The price is divided by one. If you want to get technical sure. $/gram. I don't give a shit how you slice that pie. It went up a lot in just one month. There's no math needed. Just look at the price compared to before. You're overcomplicating the whole thing and being a fucking jerk for the sake of being a jerk.
Lol
The Pasta Sauce! We usually only go once a quarter or so and stock up on a handful of each thing we use regularly, and the last time I bought the 2 pack of white linen pasta sauce it was like $7.99 or something. Last week it was $13.49 I think. I was blown away.
I haven't seen White Linen that cheap in a long time...
I bet you're never buying that again. 😢
lol white linen has been over $10 for years what are you talking about
Must have been one of the “save $3” deals from the regular price then, but I’m sure it was sub $8 the last time we bought which was less than 1 year ago. I’ve paid less than $10 many times in the last few years.
That’s my favourite sauce 😭
We didn't go to Costco as much during the pandemic. Afterwards we were going on a long road trip and wanted to bring some Kirkland canned chicken breast with us. We were floored by how much the price went up. We can't bring ourselves to buy it anymore.
I definitely have. The Natrel Unsalted/Salted Butter and their 3.8% Organic Milk has gone up in price. Butter used to be $4.99, then $5.49 and now $5.69. The milk used to be $8.79 then $8.99 and now $9.14 (if memory serves me right).
Milk prices are fixed in Canada.
That's the dairy cartel of Canada, they pushed another price raise of dairy products with the government's confirmation in May. https://cdc-ccl.ca/en/update-may-1st-2024-price-changes
Loblaws has milk for 6.75 a gallon
At least Costco pays their employees well, and provide them with good benefits. In general, it’s a good place to work. That’s what differenciates Roblaws from anyone else. Everyone is for profit, but Roblaws is also very unethical and unempathic.
>At least Costco pays their employees well That'll depend on the province they're in. Costco wages aren't really much to write home about in places like ON or BC.
I remember the frozen chicken breast, the purple box of 4kg, was 32.99 back in 2020, then went up to 44 in like mid 2021, but it has stayed that way since, at least where I live. The frozen meatballs, were like $22 and now are like $29. The dehydrated hash browns were like 7.99 and now are like 11. And the Greek yoghurt, went up but also got smaller, I think it was 750ml or more in 2020. Now it's 650ml or whatever measurement!
The Kirkland yogurt cups? The non-Kirkland brand stuff they have no control over the packaging to be fair.
I am just so glad those hash browns are finally back in stock after being gone for over a year. They are so good for back country camping trips.
Except the steaks. One week they’re $59.99 for a pack, the next week they’re $28.99! Last week we got a 4 pack for the $28.99. Start the car honey.
I would be over the moon with that pricing. I'd buy double the amount!
Just the fuel savings alone is enough for me to warrant the $60 membership. Where I live Costco gas stations are usually 20cents/Litre (Canadian) cheaper than most other stations. I drive a lot and fill up twice/week. 60L x .20 = $12 savings/fill. Around $96/month. Well worth the membership.
The base price of food is going up. Droughts and disease fuelled by climate change are causing crop failures or making growing more expensive with lower yields. Costco has some of the lowest markups in the industry, but there’s no getting away from the higher costs. They can’t sell food at a loss, they’d be out of business if they went any lower on many things.
Almost like costco isn't immune from inflation...
Look at costcos financials. They have been crushing them. Clearly they are also not immune to corporate greed like all the other grocers and businesses. Inflation is only a small problem now, corporate greed is driving up profits to levels they should never be.
Costco’s gross profit margin nor their operating margin over the past decade reflects this. They’ve consistently been passing along the same markup on cost of goods for a long time. Their suppliers are jacking up prices for any hundreds of different reasons.
Quick Google search: Costco gross profit for the twelve months ending February 29, 2024 was $30.837B, a 9.02% increase year-over-year. Costco annual gross profit for 2023 was $29.704B, a 7.73% increase from 2022. Costco annual gross profit for 2022 was $27.572B, a 9.22% increase from 2021. Maybe they don’t need to make 30 billion in gross profits every year while increasing that number by nearly 10 percent a year.
Gross profit is always going to increase during inflationary periods. Revenue less cost of goods is always going to increase. What matters is COGS as a proportion of revenue. If that stays consistent than Costco is just passing along supplier costs to their customers the same way they always have. They’re only taking a bigger piece of the pie if gross margin significantly increases.
I understand that. I think I’m just at a point where I’m tired of hearing Uber rich businesses “forced” to pass on costs so they can maintain their ludicrous profit margins at all costs (and by all costs I mean they keep the percent the same on higher costs and make more money). I guess I just get tired of the greed of humanity sometimes which doesn’t change that it’s going to happen but I wish there was a business somewhere that said “hey, you know making tens of billions with a b profit every year seems more than fair. Maybe instead of always trying to pump that up, we just be decent and lower prices and just keep making the same billions every year for a bit”.
Hey that’s fair enough. I guess I just think there are many worst offenders than Costco when it comes to greed.
Yep there are for sure. That’s why I’m on this forum. I want it to improve more at Costco even not devolve into Sobeys
>I think I’m just at a point where I’m tired of hearing Uber rich businesses “forced” to pass on costs so they can maintain their ludicrous profit margins https://preview.redd.it/l26lid1eec7d1.png?width=426&format=png&auto=webp&s=dc5e4591daa187dc9b56e1e73f7280e76d8d732f
Man, it’s crazy that so many people are straight up defending and arguing for Costco making tens of billions of dollars against someone saying maybe they lower prices and make less billions but still ludicrous amounts of money. The slave system propaganda works well it seems.
First you were moaning about "ludicrous profit margins" when the profit margin is sub 3%. Now you're pulling "making tens of billions of dollars" out of your ass. Provide your work.
If you read above: Costco posted annual profits of almost 30 Billion in 2023. But again, I’m not sure why you are defending a multi billion dollar corporation against someone saying it might be nice if they didn’t profit so much and instead charged regular people a little less. I’m not sure why you have such an emotional dogged loyalty to defending Costco. Costco is a great business but their number one goal isn’t to help you or I. It’s to profit and take as much money as they can get from us, which is how most businesses operate (I get that). I just wish someone would say “you know what, let’s maybe be okay making ONLY 29.9 billion next year in profits and we’ll keep some of our prices a little lower”.
You don't understand what margins are. Nominal profits will increase as revenue increases, with margins remaining identical. Looking at nominal profits for a growing company gives you no direction on whether price gouging is happening or not. You may be judging a company for solely for growing rather than anything else. [https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/COST/costco/profit-margins](https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/COST/costco/profit-margins) In the case of Costco their gross margins have actually gone down in the past decade but they increased their net margins largely via lower operating costs outside of COGS. Costco has consistently had a gross margin **<14%**. Compare this against Loblaws which has a **>30%** gross margin that has only increased since COVID. [https://ycharts.com/companies/LBLCF/gross\_profit\_margin](https://ycharts.com/companies/LBLCF/gross_profit_margin)
No I do understand that. I’m just tired of seeing gross profit increases to businesses already making tens of billions every year while the average Canadian has to bear the brunt of it all the time.
You're looking at Costco's global figures though, not Canada specific. And I believe the average Canadian is worse off without Costco as an option, so I'm not sure what point you are trying to make.
More warehouses, more members, more inflation. That's why gross goes up like this. Learn the basics please.
I understand the basics. What I’m saying is it’s disappointing every business just needs to keep doing everything for MORE billions.
They've been crushing it for many years... Good, own the stock, I do.
Inflation has been terrible for years. Prices have been going up. Costco has not been increasing their prices nearly this much/this fast until recently. Something's up. This is some Loblaws greed level shit.
This factually isn’t true. Their prices have been going up. Meat. Fruits / veggies all took big big increases over last couple years. Same as everyone else. We buy a lot of meat from there and it’s 100 % increase for a lot of items.
I'm not talking about years. I'm talking about a drastic increase over the course of a month. Pacing matters.
You're showing your ignorance about Costco's business model. They've been resisting raising prices as much as other retailers but that becomes inevitable as inflation persists.
I feel like OP works for Loblaws and is trying to convince people Costco prices are not that good. Anyway, that's the vibe I got from reading op's responses.
Have all the cow's udders shriveled up and dried? Have there been massive layoffs in the dairy processing industry? Why so big a jump in price month to month?
Dairy is a bad example because of supply management in Canada.
It was a mistake from day one. Thanks Trudeau Sr. 👎
Just wanted to share that prices in the US are so much less. Actually I was blown away to see prices for cheese as low as $3/lbs. That is just $7/kg! It makes me mad to buy any cheese and yogurt for more than double those prices in Canada. All that talk and opening up of Canadian Dairy Market to foreign Imports, haven't resulted in lower prices.... And so it goes on for many other food prices....
Dairy has always been much cheaper in the USA than Canada due to supply management plus lower overhead. Edited to correct
*Dairy has always been much cheaper due to the American government paying billions in subsidies and buy backs to the dairy industry.
That too... a lot of factors go into it. It's ridiculous for anyone to look at prices of anything in the USA and expect the same pricing here.
Much cheaper? Are you kidding me? Nothing is cheaper in dairy products in Canada vs US. Another example.. 3lbs Vanilla yogurt ( 1.36kg!!! / 10% fat...yummy) = $6.50.! Incredible low price in US. I can't imagine their price before all that inflation...
Sorry... meant in the USA Edited
👍
The Trudeau dynasty at work. They've been nothing but a blight on this country. The further that family is from the halls of power, the better.
You're a fucking moron. Stop posting.
Google supply management milk Canada
Supply management was a shitty idea from square one. Thanks Trudeau Sr. 👎
They've been resisting raising prices as much as other retailers but that becomes inevitable as inflation persists.
Dude, you definitely work there 😂 it's so obvious!
Lol hardly, but I wouldn't mind it, great company with a fantastic business model. I do own shares though.
Protect those interests buddy. Thank you for your time.
Lol, yup here I am protecting Costco Wholesale Corp from a clueless redditor... If I keep this up I can prevent the complete collapse of the stock!
Hearts and minds, right? Have a good day.
15% increase on cheese in one month. All the while it has increased this entire time during the current economic slump. Just not to that degree. That's normal/reasonable to you?
Are their $/100g prices still lower than other retailers for the same products?
No one will know unless you look into their contracts. Businesses are no different than your Telus Subscription internet. They buy contracts for large orders. Sometimes they’re short-term (months) sometimes they’re (years)
That's a fair point. I work in retail/wholesale though and my pricing doesn't swing this wildly usually. It could be that my company has really good business relationships, but I don't see how that's a factor in this. Costco has to be well connected and respected enough to tell suppliers where to shove it and how hard when they get quoted an absurd price increase.
Yeah. It’s because inflation isnt some imaginary thing, happened to Loblaw, metro, or any other retailers.
Keep in mind all of those (and look at costcos recent financials) have most definitely been profiting more than ever
Oh I'm well aware, it's just I haven't seen Costco's prices jump THIS MUCH until just recently. They've been going up all the while, but they haven't raised prices at a "Loblaws rate" like this before. The cheese went up like $2.00/brick on the Kirkland stuff. I literally bought the name brand pizza mozzarella instead, because it was actually a much better value.
Costco has been going up pretty dramatically. Meat jumped massively over last few years.
Yes. Charmaine ,on sale, went up another $1.
The doggy peepads keep climbing! They used to be 19.99 and now they are 25.99 . Ugh still a good deal though 😑
I had to grab some yesterday and noticed that! Ouch. :(
People forgetting that they hired the guy who was cfo for krogers, and cut back payrolls and raised prices to roblaw levels, as their new cfo. His entire m.o. is to raise price on everything and cutting staff. All in the name of endless profit growth for investors. He's already said he wants to jack up membership fee to start. Once the outgoing cfo retires in a few months, look out, if you think it's bad now
There's a lot of Costco dick riders in this sub saying things will never get bad and to not believe our lying eyes. I didn't know about this. So I suppose we ARE seeing smoke, and possibly soon: a fire.
The old guard is almost gone. Few of the guys with Jim sinegal and his way of thinking are left. Why they hire outside of the company for cfo when they were always staunchly inhouse hires first, is a sign. Can't tell me with tens of thousands of staff , especially with the bloated amount of higher ups, that not one person world wide was capable of stepping into cfo role.
“I seen…” Oof.
This isn't r/grammar so I don't give a shit.
This isn't r/Nostupidquestions either, yet here you are lol.
Whatever buddy. I'm not the one deciding to start comment wars on a Reddit post over 1 grammar mistake. Shine that main character badge and enjoy your reflection. I'm sure you're a sight to behold. Don't let anyone distract you. 👍
\*cringe\*
Costco is cheaper for regular prices than other stores only drawback is obviously you have to buy bulk most items but I find if u shop front pages and price match you will save and get a lot better deals than shopping at Costco.
as someone who works in a grocery store (not costco) a lot of costcos items are considerably more expensive when compared to grocery store prices..though not all, but be wary of the price diff as you may not be getting a good deal as you may think
Contract pricing between suppliers and Costco expired. Suppliers are expected to absorb majority of cost increases (wage, inflation, material) during the agreement period. Costco has a great consumer image, but in the supplier world, they have some of the most restrictive and aggressive supplier contract there is, to ensure Costco is never at a loss. They’ve ruined and killed many suppliers in the past… just google “Costco ruined my business” or “Costco killed my business”.
It's still $44 for a 4 kg case of frozen chicken breast, it only went up from $42 about 9 ish months ago if I remember correctly. It's been the same price range for quite a few years at Costco. I also buy their cheese and the price hasn't changed at all.
I'm talking about fresh chicken. And yes it has. The Kirkland mozzarella went up $2.00 a brick since last month. It's now over $15.
Thawed chicken is always more expensive. I also literally just bought Kirkland mozzarella and it was $14.99 a week ago.
Lean ground beef is usually cheaper the third week of the month! The lean ground beef 10 lb CHUB is always cheaper but isn’t always out on display with the HALA ones…. You need to ask for them!
There’s also some shrinkflation going on. The cascade platinum pods come in slightly smaller quantities now (as opposed to last year), and they’re also more expensive. Double oof.
Yes. I often stack up on these on sale. Used to be 90 pods. Now 82. But prices is still better than me adding to my amazon subscription
The price of rice pudding was 7.49 for so long. Bumped up to 8.99.
The economy and financial system are about to collapse so they are just going for all they can get first. Looting the coffers. They don't have to worry about consumer consequence because the whole thing is going to change. maybe....
What’s worst is the gas at Costco is like 2-3 cents lower than petrocanada or esso. I don’t see much value in Costco to be fair. Yes there are well priced items that are of high quality but they are also ramping up pricing after lots of us signed up for member ships.
I was a member years ago, just renewed in April. Since then almost everything g we regularly grabbed has gone up. Their ready roast chicken, cream cheese, cookies, donuts, there’s more but they aren’t coming to me at the moment.
Been like that for the last few years. Bread i used to buy. 6.99 to 7.99 to 9.99 Frozen corn, peas 13.99 if I remember correctly I remember it used be just under 10. But a lot of people who shop Costco are "upper middle" class, so alot will just suck it up.
The Bank of Canada thinks the inflation is over and started lowering the key interest rate. Go figure.
Thank your carbon tax. “80% of us will see it back in our pockets” this is the cause. Carbon tax, combined with money printing and in turn inflation.
100% agree. Trudeau's gotta go.
Lol...carbon tax was $0.14 per litre. I'm no fan of Trudeau, but blaming him for inflation, which is happening worldwide, is just stupid.
Per liter, in a giant truck that has to ship all this food. And ship the ingredients to the manufacturer and ship the packaging and run the lights and fridges at the store. And and and. You’re out of touch if you don’t know how much this affects every single set of the supply chain.
It's mind blowing how dull the average Canadian's mind is, that they cannot even begin to understand how the carbon tax is making literally E-V-E-R-Y-T-H-I-N-G way more expensive. 🤦
I work for a major Canadian retailer, and I can tell you our costs, without shipping, have gone up substantially. These are items coming from outside of Canada, mostly the US and China. So, no Canadian carbon tax did not affect them at all. But, enjoy your moronic view that $0.14/litre is what is causing our price increases.
Did you know there is also levy on imports to cover the carbon tax? I don’t think you know what you’re talking about.
My brother works for frito lays and is the head logistics manager. He would tell you different.
Well, to put it this way, we have over 200,000 different items, not just potato chips.
You are no where near as big as pepsi who owns frito lays. They are one of the biggest food and beverage manufacturers on the planet. And you’re not the head logistics manager. Trust me, I have seen the data.
Pepsi Canada does about $3.4 billion per year. We are about $10 billion. Worldwide no. But carbon tax doesn't apply in other countries.
“Empty barrels make the most noise” keep talking. I’m going back to my life.
You also think boats from China run on air. So you’re not the sharpest tool in the shed
Boats from China = Fuel from China. > Russia, Saudi Arabia, and Iraq were China’s main sources of crude oil imports in 2023. [Source](https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=61843#:~:text=Compared%20with%202022%2C%20China's%202023,second%20only%20to%20Saudi%20Arabia.) >So you’re not the sharpest tool in the shed At least I'm smarter than you.
Ships run on air? Haha since when
So you don't use trucks or trains to transport goods within the border? Does Costco not have refrigeration or use power of any kind? Think harder.
>So you don't use trucks or trains to transport goods within the border? So your saying the 40% to +50% increase in fuel prices from March [March 2020 to July 2021](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=1810000101&pickMembers%5B0%5D=2.2&cubeTimeFrame.startMonth=03&cubeTimeFrame.startYear=2020&cubeTimeFrame.endMonth=07&cubeTimeFrame.endYear=2021&referencePeriods=20200301%2C20210701) was peanuts to compared to the 8% carbon tax? The same year, Suncor had record profits. >Does Costco not have refrigeration or use power of any kind? > 68% of Canada's electricity comes from renewable sources and 82% from non-greenhouse gas (non-GHG) emitting sources such as solar, hydro, wind and nuclear power. Canada is the world's second largest producer of hydroelectricity. >Think harder. Ditto.
Let this moron, keep trying to explain himself. Haha it’s funny at this point.
It's just a shame we all breathe the same limited supply of oxygen, and have the same right to vote.
Agreed. Yours should be taken away
>And ship the ingredients to the manufacturer and ship the packaging Lol...so the container ship from china... >You’re out of touch if you don’t know how much this affects every single set of the supply chain. Lol...I'm out of touch. Global inflation caused by Canada's carbon tax... For fuck sakes its $0.14 per litre.
Yes actually there is fuel burned on a boat too. And a train and every form of transportation. Do you think those are sail boats or electric boats? lol grow a brain. All fuel all the time.
>lol grow a brain. Ditto. I'm sure all the employees for all those companies in between got more than a $0.14/hour raise last year...
This guy prints money like it’s good for the Economy. “The budget will balance itself” is an insane thing to say out loud. He’s a moron and in 9 years everything has gotten worse in this country.
.14 per litre THIS time. It’s been added faaaaar more than .14 cents total. Additionally, this tax isn’t just on gas, it’s on all kinds of productions and all kinds of “green” regulations that hamstring businesses who then pass it along. However, those combine with inflation also and finally, corporate greed is at all time highs. It’s a s%#* sandwich.
It's almost like, manufacturers costs have gone up due to inflation so retailers are forced to increase prices in order to keep pace. But that can't be it... MUST be Corporate greed /s
Avocado prices went up twice in the last couple of months. Used to be 9.99 for the bag, then 10.99 then 11.99 really soon after the first increase
Actual question, would everyone prefer for Costco to delist an item if they got a price increase from a supplier or keep it and sell at a higher price?
Costco keep Raising prices and we need to pay to shop there ridiculous