No, since I go to Costco about once a week, I just like to get the 50 lbs bag in store. I hardly ever order online from either Costco or Sam’s. Sam’s has been really wanting their customers to go online more with enticing promotional discounts like “order $50 and get $10 back” deal. Also 5% reward for checking out at the store using their app until end of Dec. I have yet to see Costco offering such deals. Our two Costco’s don’t even have a self check out and their regular check out lines are always long, so I tend to go to Sam’s more frequently.
@Midwest67
If you have a Costco nearby, I would say just the savings on gas would be worth the membership fee, (and the rebates I get covers the membership fees ten times and more). Our Costco is selling more and more organic produces/meat too.
Our Costco has self checkout. But I’d rather employees have the jobs rather than do self checkout, to be honest. They are a great employer - good pay and benefits.
I’m neutral on the concept of self-checkout but it can be a mess in an area like ours where the population isn’t as consistent as in other areas. In some of our area stores, self-checkout is great because it’s a huge time saver but in other stores it’s a frustrating mess. We don’t have self-checkout at Costco yet so no idea on how that will play out. Our Costco can be frustrating to begin with because of our disproportionately large population of seniors and tourists. It’s never fun to stand for a long time behind a person who seems befuddled that she is going to actually have to pay some money, roots around in her gigantic, junk filled purse trying to find her wallet and then laboriously counts out exact change to the penny. There are times of the year here where we just don’t buy any frozen goods because you can’t reliably know you’ll be though the checkout lines before they melt. Sigh.
I honestly think the non-self check out is so efficient and fast here that self check out can take longer unless you have only a couple of items.
The problem with our Costcos is that the lines are often so long, they literally block the shoppers from crossing the area, not to mention having to actually wait in the aisles to be checked out. A great solution is like the Sam’s app with which you just scan and exit.
Sounds like they need more cashiers!
A couple of recent improvements to the Costco phone app I really like - 1) your membership stored in your phone can now be used on your phone to flash for entry and also for checkout. I wish it could be used for entering the membership for gas, but not yet. 2) the app now shows gas prices not only at my local Costco but anywhere in the country. I do a lot of driving on weekends all over the place these days in my empty nest years and it’s part of my planning now to see how much Costco charges for gas. And there can a big variation, upwards to 50 cents/gallon from a location to somewhere else say 10 miles away. (Of course, once you cross the border outside of California, gas prices drop by $1/gallon).
I see the “small” Costco near me has self check out but it literally has locals who pop in there for shopping, it sells individual milk (new to me) and many shoppers don’t even have a cart. It seemed the self checkout was being orchestrated but I didn’t pay enough attention to how it works for a decent cart load? I would say that for this location, it is a good choice. Do you empty one cart into a waiting cart? Otherwise I don’t see how it works?
Local Costcos tried self-checkouts a few years ago, and those were quickly removed. Why? People buying booze needed an employee to check their IDs… and by the time someone was available to do this, the checkout would jam or something would happen…
We occasionally have employees with scanners who prescan items in your cart so all you have to do at the checkout is pay for the load. Moves the lines quicker. Our newer Costco has a very efficient parking lot layout, so even on a busy day, there aren’t any giant jams in the parking lot.
Looks like I can buy an Rx online for $30/month, cash, that now costs me $48/month with insurance. Not bad! I could get 50 pills for $38.
Our Costco recently put in self service kiosk at the food court. You select your items on the screen, pay, and then take your ticket to the counter. We were there close to closing, so don’t know how efficient it is.
FWIW, no Costco in Maine, Rhode Island, West Virginia, Wyoming and not so surprisingly Arkansas. Everywhere else, including Hawaii and Alaska and all the provinces in Canada bordering the US.
Vodka, sheets and gift cards to local restaurants. I also really like their frozen Indian food and their chocolate covered almonds.
I dream of going to one of the Costcos in London. Imagine the tea aisle? And the biscuits? What fun!
Costco in Cancun had a ton of locally grown produce and Mexican snacks and - no surprise here - a couple of isles of tequilas. 
Have to say that we have been to Costcos in every US state we visited (that had a Costco) and also one in Canada and one in Mexico. Got North America covered. ?
I am not going to repeat everything that has been said, maybe also included the Casket Costco sells. Just wonder if they take that back as well?
I want to say is that visiting Costco at international locations such as Taiwan and Japan could be an eye-opener. So much locally sourced items that I have not seen here in the states.
Friends for dinner tomorrow. May go to Costco for a standing rib roast, potatoes and asparagus.
I think BB could be an advertisement for Costco. She’s the only person i know who has Costco as a destination vacation.