23 February 2015

Costco petrol no longer cheaper?

| toadstool
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I filled up at Costco on 22 January at $1.16 per litre. Checking Woolies fuel app on 23 January it would appear that the airport is the same price as most other outlets in the ACT at $112.9.

Does this mean that Costco is no longer offering cheaper petrol than anywhere else? I thought this would happen. They sucked us all in with cheap petrol and have put the price up to match everywhere else in the ACT.

Or has the rest of ACT put their prices down to match Costco? Any thoughts?

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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.

Holden Caulfield9:58 am 25 Feb 15

Costco put their fuel prices up?

O RLY.

Alexandra Craig9:30 am 25 Feb 15

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.

VYBerlinaV8_is_back8:43 am 25 Feb 15

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?

And you are surprised? They only reduced the price for all the free advertising and all the suckers signing up for memberships.

Hi Toadstool,

I am in the same boat as you, went out to fill up on Saturday and was disappointed to see their prices were the same as the Coles and Woolies chains. So yes, CostCo have raised their prices considerably in the past month (4 weeks ago I paid about 96 cents per litre, two weeks ago it was 105 cents, two days ago 116 cents).

As much as I want to continue supporting CostCo for providing a bit of competition to drive Canberra petrol prices down from the ludicrous levels they were at, it’s a long way out to their store from where I live so I don’t think I will be able to justify it any more.

But CostCo petrol station will always have a special place in my heart for giving me the chance to see the dollar figure go up slower than the litres for the first time since 2005… bless ’em.

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