Costco petrol no longer cheaper?

John Moulis said :

I’m paying 114cpl at Mawson 7-Eleven which is a lot better than the 159cpl I was paying six months ago. That’s the Costco legacy.

Great to see competiton impacts but what can explain the 5-7 cents difference in petrol prices seen in Belconnen versus Tuggeranong. I paid $1.24 in Tuggeranong valley yesterday when the same company was charging $1.30 in Belconnen

I’m paying 114cpl at Mawson 7-Eleven which is a lot better than the 159cpl I was paying six months ago. That’s the Costco legacy.

98 Ron is still 20 cents/ litre cheaper at Costco

Bear in mind Costco is continuing to sell fuel below the Terminal Gate Price from the Mobil depot in Sydney – for regular unleaded that price today is 119.3c/l, and Costco are selling it for 115.7c/l.

I think it’s more a case that the majors (Coles/Shell, Woolworths/Caltex, 7-11/Mobil and BP) have (finally) reduced their margins in Canberra to meet the Costco level. Three weeks ago Sydney had a price cycle hike up to the low 130’s but Canberra has – amazingly – remained steady under 120.

I’ve not been to costco yet. The fuel didn’t tempt me, because when you drive a small car or own a motorbike, neither costs a lot to run. In fact riding to work saves me a lot more. At least $60 a week on parking and probably $30-40 on petrol vs my small 1.6L car.

I’ll be there for Ikea though, I need some more things from Ikea.

Costco put their fuel prices up?

O RLY.

Maya123 said :

I considered joining Costco, at a friend’s suggestion, until I walked through their shop and saw the HUGE size of everything for sale. There’s a big potential waste issue problem there, not to mention the storage problem. Plus I don’t like buying foreign, and most things there are imported. I have read 40% of food is wasted, and Costco appears set up to add to that. Very pleased I didn’t join.

I’m a Costco member but I joined because the televisions there are way cheaper than JB Hi-Fi, Harvey Norman etc. We’re in the market for a new one and compared a few the other day – Costco had one for about $750 cheaper than elsewhere! The rest were about a $400-$300 saving.

One thing Costco is good for is…. brie! You can get a massive wheel of King Island Brie for less than half the price you’d pay at a supermarket. Perfect if you’re having a party or if you just love cheese.

But I agree re storage – I think the people who would get the most out of Costco would be big families (or organisations even) that will use and have room to store a million nappies or rolls of toilet paper etc.

The other thing with Costco is you have to be quite careful as some things are actually more expensive than in the supermarkets. People get caught up in the idea of buying something in bulk and end up paying more. Whenever I’m there I have Coles Shop Online open on my phone and I work out the prices that way.

Jerrabomberra Woollies servo was cheaper than Costco all last week.

I considered joining Costco, at a friend’s suggestion, until I walked through their shop and saw the HUGE size of everything for sale. There’s a big potential waste issue problem there, not to mention the storage problem. Plus I don’t like buying foreign, and most things there are imported. I have read 40% of food is wasted, and Costco appears set up to add to that. Very pleased I didn’t join.

It is a shame that Costco opened when they did, it coincided with a drop in crude oil prices that brought fuel prices down nation wide. It was therefore difficult to judge the correct impact on that Costco fuel had on Canberra fuel prices. I think Coscto beat the crude drop by a week or two, when prices dropped to around $1:28 in early Dec, but by early/mid January they were down to close to a $1.

I was in Sydney 3rd week of Jan and paid $.98 for unleaded at Tempe, nowhere near the Casula Costco fuel outlet and cheaper than Canberra’s Coscto at the time. 2 weeks later however Tempe was back up to $1.16

It is a shame that Costco is not keeping their fuel prices down ($1.16 is still pretty good), or is it that Woolies have finally woken up?