Makro or Costco
Author
Discussion

David A

Original Poster:

3,725 posts

280 months

Sunday 14th December 2008
quotequote all
What's the difference between the two ? Is Makro a wholesalers and costco a discount club type of thing or are they both the same selling much the same stuff?

Rico

7,917 posts

284 months

Sunday 14th December 2008
quotequote all
Never been to Makro... but...

Costco is basically a cash and carry where you need to be a member. They claim to be strict, but there are sooo many job roles that qualify, its pretty easy to get a card. Or find someone with a card and pay for an additional card on their account.

I've found it can be hit and miss bargain wise. They have the reputation as being stupidly cheap, but a lot of their stuff is just reasonably priced.

They only take cash, cheque (to a limit) or debit cards though. No credit cards.

Food wise they're spot on though. Their steaks are absolutely superb. Not cheap (£20 for 4 sirloins I think) but very very good! lick

robinhood21

31,123 posts

261 months

Sunday 14th December 2008
quotequote all
Makro used to be a wholesalers, well it still is, but it is now very easy to get membership more or less with no questions asked. They also sell a lot of tat. Costco only sell good quality goods and it is not as easy to gain membership. Oh, and quite often, their prices are cheaper than Macro's too.

SS HSV

9,646 posts

287 months

Sunday 14th December 2008
quotequote all
robinhood21 said:
Makro used to be a wholesalers, well it still is, but it is now very easy to get membership more or less with no questions asked. They also sell a lot of tat. Costco only sell good quality goods and it is not as easy to gain membership. Oh, and quite often, their prices are cheaper than Macro's too.
Agree, but you have to be careful in Makro as a lot of stuff is more expensive than you can buy in the shops. Costco is far better IMO.

RemaL

25,102 posts

263 months

Sunday 14th December 2008
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used to use Makro but as said anyone now can join. found out about Costco a few years ago and never looked back.

m vote goes to Costco by a mile

coolcatmaz

3,521 posts

231 months

Sunday 14th December 2008
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Costco better then Makro. Used to be a member with Makro, it's OK, some of the stuff I found to be a bit cheap quality, depends what you want and how much you're paying.

Baby Huey

4,881 posts

228 months

Sunday 14th December 2008
quotequote all
As above I've not been to Makro, but I am a member at Costco. They only sell decent quality stuff, as said above, it's not particularly cheap but very good quality. The food products seem to be sold in large portions, ideal for families, but not so good for me and the o/h. Elecrtical products I've seen there can generally be bought cheaper on the net.

Costco are very good for tyres too.

MrV

2,748 posts

257 months

Sunday 14th December 2008
quotequote all
SS HSV said:
robinhood21 said:
Makro used to be a wholesalers, well it still is, but it is now very easy to get membership more or less with no questions asked. They also sell a lot of tat. Costco only sell good quality goods and it is not as easy to gain membership. Oh, and quite often, their prices are cheaper than Macro's too.
Agree, but you have to be careful in Makro as a lot of stuff is more expensive than you can buy in the shops. Costco is far better IMO.
+1 on that

I have cards to both and would say that Costco offers far more than Makro's 90% of the time

That saying Makro's is free membership iirc so it doesn't hurt to have both cards smileeven better if you live in an area where both are close to each other.


Edited to add theres also the free 5yr guarantee on electrical goods at Costco

Edited by MrV on Sunday 14th December 13:20

Nickyboy

6,824 posts

263 months

Sunday 14th December 2008
quotequote all
SS HSV said:
robinhood21 said:
Makro used to be a wholesalers, well it still is, but it is now very easy to get membership more or less with no questions asked. They also sell a lot of tat. Costco only sell good quality goods and it is not as easy to gain membership. Oh, and quite often, their prices are cheaper than Macro's too.
Agree, but you have to be careful in Makro as a lot of stuff is more expensive than you can buy in the shops. Costco is far better IMO.
I found buying Coke etc when on offer in Tesco/Sainsburys works out cheaper, quite a lot cheaper. Its only really their own brand or stuff you can buy in supermarkets that is actually worth buying.

wiffmaster

2,622 posts

227 months

Sunday 14th December 2008
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Our Costco membership pays for itself after buying a few 5 litre packs of Castrol oil. Also car batteries (Bosch) and tyres tend to be much cheaper than elsewhere.

Brilliant place - the meat and food in general is fantastic quality and as long as you have plenty of storage space you can save £££s by buying toilet roll, drinks, etc in bulk

Mr_B

10,480 posts

272 months

Sunday 14th December 2008
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My Dad has a Costco card and he added me as a member yesterday for £13.80. The food is great, especially the meat section and tyres are a good price too. Mobil 1 oil was about £24 IIRC, so about £16 a can cheaper than Halfords, etc. Just one can paid payed for the membership. I did try and resist buying their nice alloy jack at £80.
One good thing,which can be a pain though, is no credit card payment. I guess it stops those impulse buys though.

B16JUS

2,386 posts

266 months

Sunday 14th December 2008
quotequote all
as above mostly have to look at the prices some things are much much cheaper but some are more than tesco so just be casefull

J

Chainguy

4,381 posts

229 months

Sunday 14th December 2008
quotequote all
Mr_B said:
My Dad has a Costco card and he added me as a member yesterday for £13.80. The food is great, especially the meat section and tyres are a good price too. Mobil 1 oil was about £24 IIRC, so about £16 a can cheaper than Halfords, etc. Just one can paid payed for the membership. I did try and resist buying their nice alloy jack at £80.
One good thing,which can be a pain though, is no credit card payment. I guess it stops those impulse buys though.
Impulse buys? hehe

The day I walk out of Costco having spent less than £200 I'll put a blimmin' notice in the paper.

s3fella

10,524 posts

216 months

Sunday 14th December 2008
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costco rules!

Microfibre cloths, oil, power tools, tvs all excellent value.

Meat is good too.

bigburd

2,670 posts

229 months

Wednesday 17th December 2008
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s3fella said:
costco rules!

Microfibre cloths, oil, power tools, tvs all excellent value.

Meat is good too.
Heard you like the Meat! Personally I describe costco food as M&S/Waitrose Quality at almost Tescopoly Prices

+1 for microfibres

Let's not forget the cheap in-store cafe and of course the tastings


cardigankid

8,879 posts

241 months

Wednesday 17th December 2008
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Costco are good for tyres, but for real value check out Booker Cash & Carry.