Welcome to the 2023 Costco Thread. Feel free to share findings here on your adventures.
I for one, just go in and buy relatively the same thing when I visit. However, am happy there’s one constant thing in life and it’s the Costco hot dog + soda combo. When it costs me more than 100NT for that combo, I’ll know the world is ending.
I read somewhere that the CEO of costco decided to keep its price the same no matter what. I think hot dogs and stuff are considered loss leaders.
The hot dog deal is a loss leader for both companies, but it’s a draw. Costco’s CEO has vowed to never increase the price of the combo, saying it would remain at $1.50 “forever” on an earnings call in September.
The popular menu item has remained at only $1.50 since the 1980s.
Yeap, hot dogs and rotisserie chicken, from what I recall.
Sams Club gets the same deal. Big salty dog and coke. Get your weekly sodium/ sugar fix in one sitting.
Just got a weird service call from Costco asking me to return a bottle of wine I had bought last week for a refund, not because there’s anything wrong with the wine, but allegedly because they used the wrong code on the product, or the wrong code when ringing it up, not sure I understood which. Neither reason made any sense to me. I asked repeatedly why I should return a bottle just because there’s something wrong with their code, and she couldn’t give me a reason that made any sense to me. I got the feeling that they weren’t supposed to have sold it for some reason, but she wouldn’t say why, or maybe I missed something in her explanation in Chinese.
Here’s the bottle in question. Definitely planning on drinking it now. Hope it doesn’t give me botulism or something.
That’s odd. Presumably they can’t force you to return it if you can’t be bothered? I wonder what would happen if you just took back the empty bottle. 
Was it sold at the wrong price? I’d tell them to come and collect it
Anyone here have the Executive Membership with 2% cashback?
It seems to be worth it. Given that the standard Gold Star annual fee is $1,350, and the Exec membership is $3,000.
With a 2% rebate, the $1,650 difference would be paid for after spending $82,500/year.
With the $30,000 rebate cap, you reach that after spending about NT$1.5M. May be reachable for a family of four.
You have to be almost exclusively shopping at Costco for a family of 4 for it to be worth it. The shop needs to be close for your convenience. Or have a business to purchase a lot of stuff.
I’ve just arrived in Taiwan, what are some must have items from Costco in your opinions?
I was shocked to find out how much smaller the rotisserie chickens are in Taiwan compared to the states. I would say they are at least 20% smaller if more. Guess they only mandate the price, but not the size.
To be fair, the average Taiwanese is probably at least 20% smaller than the average American, so it probably all works out in the end.
Kirkland Scotch
Also, I’m a fairly large guy. Do they stock US size clothes or bigger than typical Taiwan?
No. A lot of stuff just goes to XL. Sometimes 2xl.
I feel you’ve done your research on the matter
No, they only have the smaller US sizes. Nothing in 3XL or above.
The rotisserie chickens at Costco in Taiwan also have their heads still intact… For that reason, I don’t buy them.
Also, the chicken bake and the bulgogi pork bake here are nasty. The chicken bake in the US is much better.
