Merry Christmas or how to buy a flat iron

Wishing all the Costco fans out there a Merry Christmas!

Speaking of Christmas, here's a gift idea for the woman in your life. I recently noticed a new item on costco.com, the Chi 1" ceramic flat iron, a professional styling iron!

This is probably one of the best flat irons out there. It's not just a flat iron, but can also curl hair. If you do a search on youtube, there are tons of videos showing how people use the flat iron to curl. I got one for my wife last year for her birthday and she loves it. The $74.99 price is very competitive. So if your woman is itching for a new iron, either to straighten or curl hair, check this one out!

Best Stock for 2009?

You guessed it. Costco.

Best time to jump in the market is now. COST is trading at around $54/share. We bought our shares a while ago at $67, but we're in it long term. Go buy some stock!

eBay Watch: Kirkland brand diapers

I know I've mentioned diapers before, but seeing this auction on ebay sparked another thought.

There are tons of diaper brands out there, and everyone has their opinion on which is the best. We've tried Pampers, Huggies, Walgreens generic, but have yet to try the Kirkland brand. We haven't bought diapers in months b/c of gifts, stocking up on diaper deals beforehand, etc. I would like to "sample" the Kirkland, but don't want to commit to buying the whole box of 200+ diapers. There was a sample a month back for the new Kirkland Supreme diapers, which we sent away for, but if you want a bit more of an extended trial, might be worth it to check eBay and see if someone is selling a smaller batch of the brand that you want. That way you can try a certain brand w/o committing to a large box. This probably only works for Kirkland brand or other club store generics.

Nothing completely novel, just a thought for you parents out there.

25% off at Walmart if you use your AMEX

Yes, I know, this is not a Costco-related post. But smart shoppers who are Costco fans are generally Walmart shoppers as well. There are a lot of opinions about Walmart and its employment practices, impact of stores on other retailers, etc, but one cannot beat their prices on most goods. So if you're anti-Walmart, ignore this, otherwise take advantage of this deal!

It's a deal that's been around a while, if you troll the forums of slickdeals, fatwallet, or other deal sites. If you enroll your AMEX in this Walmart promotion and spend at least $40 in 2 separate transactions at Walmart, you will get a $20 statement credit within a few days in your AMEX account. In other words, spend $80 at Walmart for only $60, a 25% savings.

If you're like us, and can't think of $80 worth of goods to buy, buy 2 gift cards of $40/each and spend it as you need it! You can enroll multiple AMEX cards in this promo, and get the $20 credit. I bought two $40 gift cards on Sat, and the $20 credit posted today!

Skeptical? Read the fatwallet posts for testimonials of others who have received this credit. The fine print does mention that it's not valid for gift card purchases, but it does work, and there's no way that AMEX will know that your $40 purchase was for a gift card.

Life hits...

Apologize for the light posting. Things have been a bit busy at work. I have been to Costco at least 3 times this week though mostly for a quick trip to pickup some cash cards.

Update on the cash cards: live.com cashback for eBay is over for now.. It was at 30% for a few days last week during Thanksgiving, went back down to 25% on Mon, then 20%, then 15% as of yesterday. Let's hope it comes back to 30%! It was a great deal for me, both buying and selling on eBay.

What new things have you noticed at your local Costco?!?!

Pie rush at Costco!

Costco has pumpkin pies down to a science
-1 million pies in a week?!?!?! On our visit to Costco this crazy day-before-Thanksgiving, we did see a whole lot of apple pies being pushed out the door too.

Costco vs. Sam's vs. BJ's

From TheStreet.com,
Did you know, on average, consumers visit Costco 2.8 times/month, compared with 2.37 times/month for Sam's and 2.1 visits/month for BJ's.

Additionally, shoppers spend $92.82 each time they visit Costco, 55% more than Sam's, 59% more than Walmart, and 70% more than BJ's.

What does this say? It tells me that Costco shoppers are more loyal to Costco, and they spend more there than shoppers at other comparable club stores. Just an interesting tidbit for you Costco fans!

Lowepro Slingshot 200 AW DSLR camera bag now at Costco!

In today's Costco treasure hunt, I saw that they are now carrying the Lowepro Slingshot 200 AW camera bag (item #224765) for $67.99!! I have this bag for myself and love it! It carries my D80, 50mm f1.8 lens, 18-200 VR lens, sb-600 flash, extra battery, charger, and all my accessories.

They don't yet have it on costco.com, but here's a link to amazon, so that you can see it. It's listed for $89.95 on amazon, and a quick search reveals a lowest price of $68.99 at rei.com.

The only con I can think of for this bag is that it can be a bit bulky. It's designed such that you can keep it on your back as a sling, and be able to swing it around to access what you need, but it can be a bit cumbersome. With a DSLR, lenses, flash, I don't know if you can avoid cumbersomeness anyway.

If you're in the market for a DSLR camera bag, check this out on your next trip to Costco!

Winner of the $10 Costco cash card...

is Sharon Yim! Used random.org to generate a random integer between 1-9 (total # of entries) and on the 9th iteration, it came up with #5 which corresponded with Sharon's comment on the original post!

Congrats to Sharon, and keep checking back for future promotions!!!

A store that thinks like a customer?!?! Brilliant!

"I try to approach the visits from the standpoint of a customer. Does the building have the right goods out? Is it well-stocked and clean and safe? Nothing is a bigger turnoff than poor housekeeping, most particularly in a place where you have food. Also, when you have a sloppy building, I can guarantee you're going to have high shrinkage [pilfering and shoplifting]."
-Jim Sinegal, Costco CEO

Finally. A retailer that thinks like a customer. That's why we all love Costco. They know what the consumer wants and models everything around that. Good article that gives you a glimpse into the vision & mindset of Costco's leader.

I counted 8 entries (including the two on my facebook notes feed) for the $10 Costco cash card promo. Drawing will be conducted sometime this weekend via unbiased, independent means and winner will be posted on Monday!!!