Costco getting creative to save costs

An excellent article on how Costco is combating the rising costs in this economy...

Have a great weekend!!!

Costco news around the web 10/7/08

Controversial Costco store proposal - sounds like a Walmart story

Costco effect - interesting

Tiles at Costco - in case you're ever in the market

Self-checkout lanes at Costco - coming soon to yours?

New coupons valid 10/9-10/26

Ripped from FW...



Costco Coupon Book 10/9-10/26/08
$2 off Kirkland Signature Roll Towels
$3.50 off Kleenex Ultra Soft Facial Tissue Uprights
$2.50 off Clorox Disinfecting Wipes
$2.50 Off Tide Power or Tide Liquid Laundry Detergent
$300 Off Toshiba 40" 1080p 120Hz LCD
$3.50 Off Bertolli Complete Skillet Meals
$3.50 Off Crest Pro-Health Toothpaste and/or Rinse
$2 Off Pantene Shampoo and/or Conditioner
$80 Off Vizio 37" 1080p LCD HDTV
$199.99 after $40 Off Garmin Nuvi 205w Portable GPS
$4 Off M&M Variety Pack
$4 Off Orville Redenbacher's Popcorn
$3 Off Nature Valley Granola Bars
$4 Off Kirkland Signature Jelly Belly Jelly Beans
$549 after $100 Off Novaform Purcomfort Deluxe Queen Memory Foam Mattress
$2 Off M&M's
$2.50 Off Progresso Soup Variety Pack
$2.50 Off SunnyD Sport Cap
$2 Off Nestle Toll House Semi-Sweet Morsels
Up to $100 Off per window on Hunter Douglas Window Fashions
$2 Off Triple Chex Cereal
$1.50 Off Cascade Advanced Power and/or Cascade Advanced Gel
$2 Off Nabisco Ritz Crackers and/or Wheat Thins
$2.50 Off Kraft Grated Parmesan Cheese
$749.99 after $100 Off Toshiba A305 15.4" W Intel Core 2 Duo T5800 4GB DDR2 320GB HDD
$2.50 Off Kellogg's Frosted Mini Wheats and/or Frosted Flakes
UP TO $2 Off Your choice of any two: Pepsi, Diet Pepsi, Caffeine-Free Diet Pepsi, Mountain Dew or Brisk $2 Off 36 pk or $1.50 off 24 pk

UP TO $3 OFF Cascade Complete Action Pacs 85ct or $2.50 Off Cascade Action Pacs 90 ct
$3 OFF Dixie 10" Paper Plates
$16.99 after $4.50 Off Splox Multi-Purpose Ream-Less Paper 8.5x11" 2500 ct
$1.50 Off Bounce Dryer Sheets
$3 Off Clorox 2 2x
BOGO Jerky Treats for Dogs
$1.50 Off Dawn Advanced Power Dishwashing Liquid
$1999 after $400 off Marseille 6 pc bedroom collection
$2.50 Off Gain Detergent
$3.50 Off OxiClean Versatile Stain Remover
$2 Off Vanity Fair Luncheon Napkins or Dinner Napkins
$2 Off Clorox Disinfecting Toilet Bowl Cleaner With Bleach and/or Automatic Bowl Cleaner Tabs

$489.99 after $80 Off Viewsone PJ551D DLP XGA Projector
$3 Off Woolite Ultra ProCare and/or Spray n Wash
$3.50 Off Masterpiece Plats and/or Reflections Cutlery
$2.50 Off Ling Ling Chicken Potstickers
$2.75 off Les Plats Du Chef All Natural French Onion Soup
$999 after $200 Off Lorex 15" LCD 4 Channel Triplex DVR
$3 Off Q-Tips Cotton Swabs
$8 Off Huggies Diapers and Huggies Natural Refreshing Baby Wipes
$2.50 Off Always Ultra Regular or Ultra Thin Overnights or Super Maxi
$2 Off Irish Spring Bar Soap
$579 after $100 Off ZT Reliant Desktop Intel Q6700 4GB DDR2 500GB HDD
$4 Off Nexxus Therappe Shampoo
$7 Off Nexxus Humectress Conditioner
$3 Off Glide Deep Clean Floss
$4 Off Oral-B CrossAction Pro-Health Toothbrushes
$599 After $2.50 Off New York Bonded Leather Chairs 2-Pack
$2.50 Off Colgate Total Toothpaste
$5 Off Vaseline Intensive Rescue Lotion
$4 Off Esssenza Reed Diffusers
$5 Off Olay Regenerist and/or Total Effect
s$179.99 After $20 Off Commercial Stainless Steel & Black Patio Heater
$7 Off Olay Regenerist Microsculpting Cream
$4 Off Aveeno Daily Moisturizing Lotion
$2 Off Dove Shampoo and/or Conditioner
$4 Off Playtex Gentle Glide Tampons
$199 after $50 Off Kodak Easyshare 10" Digital Picture Frame W1020
$9 Off Mobil 1 10W30 Synthetic Motor Oil and/or 5W30 Synthetic Motor Oil
$5 Off Any First Alert Fire Safety Product
$100 Off Cellular Phones
$249.99 After $30 Off Kodak EasyShare Z1015 IS 10MP
$50 Off Sony 5.1 Channel 5DVD/CD Home Theatre System
$100 Off Acer 15.4" Widescreen Notebook Computer
$100 Off HP DV7-1133CL 17" Widescreen Notebook Computer
$2499.99 after $700 off Verona 4'x8' Slate Pool Table with Dining Conversion Top
$30 Off Panasonic Lumix FS5 Digital Camera with 4x Optical Zoon
$40 Off Samsung 22" LCD HDTV
$50 Off Magellan Maestro 5310 5" Portable GPS Auto Navigation
$399 after $105 in savings Brother MFC-9440CN Network Color Laser All-in-One
$5 Off Snapware MODs Food Storage
$40 Off Hoover Self Propelled WindTunnel Vacuum
UP TO $35 Off Buy FoodSaver Vacuum Sealing System and/or 6 pk replacement rolls get $30 off sealing system and/or $5 off bags

$2299 after $500 off Preston 4 Piece Fabric Living Room Collection
$30 Off Maxtor OneTouch 4 750GB External Hard Drive
$25 Off Oral-B Professional Care 8950 Rechargable Dual Handle Toothbrush
$4 Off Design Optics Reading Glasses
$5 Off Warner Bros Classic Cartoons DVD Assortment
$1699.99 After $400 Off Cappuccino Modular Office Wall
$3 Off Airborne Original
$15 Off Nicorette 2 or 4 mg, and/or Nicorette Mint 2 or 4 mg, and/or Cinnamon 2 or 4 mg, White Ice 2 or 4 mg, NicoDerm 21,14 or 7 mg, and/or Commit 2 mg or 4 mg.

$3 Off Vicks NyQuil Original or Cherry or NyQuil LiquiCaps or DayQuil LiquiCaps or ThermaCare Back Heat Wraps or Thermacare Neck Arm Heat Wraps or Metamucil Capsule or Sugar Free or Smooth Texture Orange

$200 Off Panasonic 50" 1080p Plasma HDTV
$3 Off Nature Made Folic Acide, Vitamin D, Odorless Garlic, Organic Flaxseed Oil, Vitamin C Liquid Softgels, Multi-Complete Liquid Softgels

$2 Off L'il Critters Gummy Vites, Calcium Bears Omega-3 Gummy Fish
$2.50 Off Kirkland Signture Sugar Free Children's Chewable Multivitamin, Enteric Coated Fish Oil Daily Multivitamin Pack and/or Vitamin C.

$3499 after $600 Off Vineyard 8-Piece Dining Collection

eBay Watch: Costco reusable shopping bag

From what I can remember, they were giving these bags away for signing up for the Costco AMEX credit card.

Someone put this up on eBay and sold it for $4.99 + $5 shipping, further cementing the fact that one can sell almost anything on eBay.

Starbucks & Godiva gift cards at Costco

Another great feature at Costco are discounted gift cards, either to local retailers, or national chains. We've used the $100 value for Asha salons for $79.99 numerous times, and know a few people who've taken advantage of the McCormick & Schmick gift certificates.

New news on the discount gift card front (from October's Costco Connection magazine) is that Costco will soon be offering five $20 Starbucks cards for $79.99, and two $25 Godiva cards for $39.99. So if you are a Starbucker, here's your chance to save some $$ on your habit!

eBay Watch: Kirkland brand jeans

This caught my eye. I've always seen the Kirkland brand jeans, never bought them though. Interesting to see what sort of resale value they have.

Costco news around the web

Washington couple caught stealing $800 worth of merchandise - they had a 3-yr old with them!

Herman Miller chairs, now at Costco - this could be a huge deal for HM, with Costco's distribution reach and consumer reputation.

Huffington Post on Costco and the federal bailout - good analogy.

Costco tires

IMO, I've gotten tires at both tirerack.com and at Costco. The thing that separates Costco from other warehouse clubs, and frankly most all other retail stores is their service. Customer service is excellent in almost every situation, and is no different with tires.

There are a number of benefits with getting tires at Costco:

• They use nitrogen instead of air which better stabilizes inflation pressure in tires, leading to improved fuel economy, slower loss of pressure over time, less moisture in tires.
• One price for everything, none of this extra cost for disposal, road hazard, etc.
• Lifetime services of rotation, balancing, flat repairs, all included in your initial purchase!
• The few drawbacks are there's usually a long wait, they only service tires, no other services.
• Wait, if you can, for the coupon passports, they usually will have savings for tires.

Some more credibility from fatwalleters.

eBay Watch: "Costco" brand playpen and more coupons!

I'm pretty sure this auction for a "Costco" brand playpen is a typo. What do you think?

I've been seeing a ton of coupon auctions, for individual laptop deals, to this. What intrigued me about this one was that it was already bid up to $1.20 (0.60 shipping) with more than 2 days left. I don't know what Strivectin is, but for some apparently it's worth more than I know.

eBay Watch: Costco coupons

FYI, that old Costco membership card, sold as a collectible, didn't sell.

The new September Costco coupons have come out, and as a result, many have shown up on eBay.

It's an interesting phenomenon, auctioning off the coupons. I thought about selling certain big-ticket item coupons, but it seems like most of the auctions are for complete, unused coupon books. The main reason I can think of for buying these online are if you aren't a Costco member and you want to use these coupons? Or if you share membership somehow, and want to get your own coupon book? Any other thoughts?