Job Discussion Forums

[freddie's friend daniel]

Can anybody give me the lowdown on Costco? It has been mentioned in different postings on different forums but I've never been to one. I see from their website that membership is required. What I wanted to ask is, do you need membership to go in and have a look around or just to buy. I wouldn't want to fork out the 4000 yen and leave empty-handed. Also, is it really much cheaper than ordinary supermarkets? Do they have international goods (or only American brands)? What sort of prices do they charge for delivery? My local branch is Amagasaki but I'm in northern Osaka so it's a wee bit of a hike. Any info would be appreciated.

[Gordon]

Can't tell you about the actual Costco store, but go to www.theflyingpig.com and you can order things from Costco there. They charge 800 yen for shipping (up to 30 kgs) and fast service.

[canuck]

You have to have a membership card to enter.

They have all sorts of foreign foods. Similar to Costcos in America and Canada with a little Japanese twist. They will also deliver for a small fee.

[JimDunlop2]

[canuck]

[Sage]

I love misinformation!

Enter the Misinformation Buster!!

-----

Costco does deliver; at least they do at the Amagasaki Costco. How the heck would people without a car (a whole hell of a lot of people in Japan) spend hundreds of dollars a trip and then get it home?

Amagasaki Costco will deliver to anywhere in the Kansai area for 600 yen a box or a bit more for cold / frozen items. And the best part is that the weight of the box doesn�t matter! We got 16lbs of popcorn, 3 giant bottles of BBQ sauce, 8 cans of tuna, and 4 giant bottles of Prego Sauce sent in a single box (big box too) and it weighed a ton - 600 yen.

Hell, I don't remember the price but the Amagasaki Coscto will ship to any location in Japan - even Hokkaido!

And one more thing I should add about shipping: If you buy a large item like a TV or a chair or something you can have your food items grouped with it and have everything sent for a much lower price. Hell, you can even haggle with the delivery people to have your order converted to a large item shipment even if you don�t have something big to ship (I only did it once cause I had six big boxes of stuff to ship and it was kinda expensive for it to go by their normal delivery rate)...

Finally... Costco is the BEST place to shop for food for an American (at least) in Japan. We live over an hour away but we make the trip by train every few months and we always spend a few hundred bucks each trip.

Things to buy that I can't find in Japan or don�t want to spend 304985098 yen for a 1oz size in an import store: BBQ sauce, bagels, tuna packed in water, Prego sauce, a whole roasted BBQ chicken for $5 (godly...!) ~~~ all in large packs and for a very cheap price!

Costco rocks!

[drdo]

We just came from the COSTCO in Chiba. We asked that exact question about "just checking it out", not wanting to pay the $$ for a membership if we really didn't think we'd use it. They told us to sign up, pay, get the card and then if we didn't want to join afterall, we could get a FULL REFUND. In the end, we were pleasantly surprised with the price of shampoo, toilet paper, bagels--yum, V8 juice, etc. The biggest surprise though came when we appraoched the area of BOOKS. Almost all of them were in English! Excellent kids ones too. But don't go on a Sunday. The place was packed!

[Speed]

Costco members can bring up to two guests with them. If you know a member, become their friend and check it out.

I had my fridge delivered by them for 2,000 yen.

A hint on getting to the one in Amagasaki:
- From either Hankyu Sonoda Station or JR Amagasaki Station take bus #24 (200 yen) and you'll be dropped off right in front of Costco and CarreFour in 8 minutes.

From Hankyu Sonoda on foot it's about 15 minutes and 20 minutes on foot from JR Amagasaki. Pretty far to walk if you've got a lot of stuff to carry.

PS. Eat the pizza at the food benches inside! They're American sized and priced. A large 16 inch pizza for 1,500 yen! A giant slice for 280 yen! It tastes just like American pizza. Importing American obesity. Dig it!

[SEndrigo]

Any Costco in Japan will deliver; I've been to the Machida Costco as well as the one in Chiba, and they both deliver for around 600 yen.

[JimDunlop2]

Ok... Sorry. My bad. I guess they do deliver. I was sure they didn't. I've corrected my original post for the sake of the archives.

[ava77]

Costco is a great place, if you purchase a membership you can use it at any costco worldwide.
If you are unsure about the products check theflyingpig.com for a small selection of what they have to offer. The prices are a bit higher than going to Costco yourself.
If you have a roomate or close friend you can get a membership card for each of you and split the cost by saying you live at the same address.
The carry also carry some clothes coats, socks, tshirts etc they are usually good brand names as well.
You can buy ink cartridges, film, cds etc for much cheaper.
Meat is way cheaper and they even carry alcohol.
The delivery is pretty cheap and is usually delivered within 2 days.

[Dominique]

What if you have a Costco Membership for Canada, will it work in Japan?

[JimDunlop2]

That I CAN answer for sure... Yes, Costco's memberships are global. But once your Canadian one expires, having been in Japan for a year, you will not be able to renew your Canadian membership card, but rather, apply for a brand new Japanese-issued one.

What's the diff? None. Either way, it's 4000 yen.

[freddie's friend daniel]

Thanks, everybody, for the info. I'm still a bit undecided. I'm not North American so I am not hankering after "stuff from home" and I'm not even that bothered about having a regular supply of my lovely British baked beans should Costco have them. I'm just trying to decide if I would be likely to make a regular shopping trip there and because it's probably the best part of an hour away from where I live, the answer is probably "no". Any savings I would make would be cancelled out by train fares and delivery costs, in all likelyhood.
For those few items that I might need in the future (hubby did some of his own packing and arrived in Japan three months ago with one deo stick to last him two years- honestly, you trust them with one thing..! ), I'll look to The Flying Pig or Foreign Buyers Club (do any of you have a preference for one of these services over the other? Cost-wise they are similar, aren't they? But FP seems to require less bulk-buying)

[Gordon]

Only you can decide which is better flyingpig (which is Costco) or foreign buyers. Personally, I hate FB because I think it is a rip off. The prices are ludicrous and I do not need anything that badly. FP prices seem more reasonable, but then it could be what you are most interested in buying.