Costco pays its hourly employees an average of 22 dollars an hour.

[Red Storm]

They're evil evil evil blah blah blah, I still save more shopping at Walmart. To me paying money for a membership makes little sense when the shit I buy will still end up costing me more. Also the hours of Costco sucks, I can shop at Walmart at 3 in the morning if I feel like it. Walmart is A LOT cheaper and the selection difference between the 2 is night and day.

Maybe if you're only shopping for yourself, but when you have to buy food for multiple people Costco is the better option.

 

[KB]

That $22/hr average may be because they include higher paid supervisors in the numbers?

According to this website it looks like most positions start at around $10. To get to the $22/hr wage, they would need to work many years and get raises. Its still great though that they could double their salary if the stick around long enough.

http://www.glassdoor.com/Salary/Costco-Wholesale-Salaries-E2590.htm

 

[xBiffx]

Yes I agree prices aren't close and neither is the quality of goods you get. Costco wins in spades in both departments. Keep shopping at Wal-Mart with your fellow toothless comrades.

Nice. I don't shop at either but I used to shop at Costco all the time when living with others.

Simple fact is you don't shop at either store for the same products. One is good for some products/needs, the other is good for other products/needs. They really don't compete head to head with each other.

Keep trying to insult me seeing is how you have nothing much of substance to argue.

 

[QueBert]

Yes I agree prices aren't close and neither is the quality of goods you get. Costco wins in spades in both departments. Keep shopping at Wal-Mart with your fellow toothless comrades.

Outside of the meat department, they sell the same brands. Are Frosted Flakes bought from Costco magically higher quality? Every thing I buy at Walmart is a brand you can buy at a place like Target, Costco or somewhere else. Same produce, much cheaper = win. As far as store brands go (which I don't buy) Walmart doesn't make their own, they get them re-labled from another company. And I'd bet money a lot of the store brands from different stores come from the same plants.

 

[spacejamz]

I think I figured it out....Costco doesn't Master Card/Visa/Discover and only accepts debit cards/American Express.

It the fees....It has to be the fees....LOL

 

[nehalem256]

I wonder how many walmart employees would be laughed out of Costco's if they applied?

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

They're evil evil evil blah blah blah, I still save more shopping at Walmart. To me paying money for a membership makes little sense when the shit I buy will still end up costing me more. Also the hours of Costco sucks, I can shop at Walmart at 3 in the morning if I feel like it. Walmart is A LOT cheaper and the selection difference between the 2 is night and day.

My membership is free. Yes its $100 annually but I'll get a $100 refund at the end of the year. And I pay considerably less to shop at Costco. Look for yourself sometime. Two identical looking items. Wal-Mart bag weighs half the amount yet is 80% of the cost of Costco version which is giving you 100% more. The toothless Wal-Mart consumer fails at math so it's an easy sell to them cause it be cheapest.

 

[xBiffx]

I wonder how many walmart employees would be laughed out of Costco's if they applied?

Roughly 92% or them, strictly speaking.

 

[xBiffx]

My membership is free. Yes its $100 annually but I'll get a $100 refund at the end of the year. And I pay considerably less to shop at Costco. Look for yourself sometime. Two identical looking items. Wal-Mart bag weighs half the amount yet is 80% of the cost of Costco version which is giving you 100% more. The toothless Wal-Mart consumer fails at math so it's an easy sell to them cause it be cheapest.

Ignorance is bliss. You really should do some looking sometime. When was the last time an item went on sale at Costco? There are many products that are consistently more expensive at Costco.

 

[mshan]

Costco only carries a few choices of particular item, then sells in bulk packaging where even the shape of the box has been specifically tailored for Costco so they can get it shipped from manufacturer as cheaply as possible.

IIRC, their margin is something like 15% (even slightly less than that on their own brand), and they make most of their profit from renewing memberships and ever increasing the number of members at ever increasing new warehouses opening in U. S. and in other countries. Super market markets are about 25%.

Walmart has to stock so many different items (100,000), and many different brands of particular item. Costco only stocks 4,000 items.

I kind of suspect that even though both are retailers, the Walmart and Costco business models are an apple to oranges comparison in terms of how they make profit.


http://www.hulu.com/watch/368405 (start around 6:15 mark; average salary of $20 / hr, plus benefits (health for 90% of employees is around 19 minute mark. I assume that this is for their full time employees, a job which is very, very hard to get because of pay and benefits.)

 

[spacejamz]

That $22/hr average may be because they include higher paid supervisors in the numbers?

According to this website it looks like most positions start at around $10. To get to the $22/hr wage, they would need to work many years and get raises. Its still great though that they could double their salary if the stick around long enough.

http://www.glassdoor.com/Salary/Costco-Wholesale-Salaries-E2590.htm

According to the article, "The workers hold similar positions at these companies." Not really sure how that affects the average salary calculation they used.

I thought several of the richest Americans are from the Wal-mart family....guess they didn't use their salaries as part of the average....LOL

 

[spacejamz]

Ignorance is bliss. You really should do some looking sometime. When was the last time an item went on sale at Costco? There are many products that are consistently more expensive at Costco.

items go on sale all the time at Costco....check Hot Deals, Fat Wallet, Slick Deals, etc...

 

[Red Storm]

Ignorance is bliss. You really should do some looking sometime. When was the last time an item went on sale at Costco? There are many products that are consistently more expensive at Costco.

And there are many things they sell that consistently give you not only more of that product, but at lower cost as well. The savings are real.

 

[QueBert]

My membership is free. Yes its $100 annually but I'll get a $100 refund at the end of the year. And I pay considerably less to shop at Costco. Look for yourself sometime. Two identical looking items. Wal-Mart bag weighs half the amount yet is 80% of the cost of Costco version which is giving you 100% more. The toothless Wal-Mart consumer fails at math so it's an easy sell to them cause it be cheapest.

And Costo shoppers go "ZOMG I got TWO HUGE bags of cereal in 1 box for $11 I'm a uber shopper!" What they fail to realize is at Walmart you could get 5 smaller boxes that are actually bigger for less $$$. Costo's more expensive, if you don't like Walmart fine, but please at least be honest and just say "I hate Walmart and I'm okay with spending more at Costco because I like it better there" People who shop at Smart & Final have the same stupid "bigger sizes I'm saving more monies!" math.

 

[techs]

That $22/hr average may be because they include higher paid supervisors in the numbers?

According to this website it looks like most positions start at around $10. To get to the $22/hr wage, they would need to work many years and get raises. Its still great though that they could double their salary if the stick around long enough.

http://www.glassdoor.com/Salary/Costco-Wholesale-Salaries-E2590.htm

According to the article, "The workers hold similar positions at these companies." Not really sure how that affects the average salary calculation they used.

I thought several of the richest Americans are from the Wal-mart family....guess they didn't use their salaries as part of the average....LOL

The article states "hourly" employees which would exclude management.

 

[Phantomaniac]

According to the article, the Costco employee is 37 years old and has worked at Costco for 19 years....No such information was given about the Wendy's or Wal-mart employees.

The article states "The workers hold similar positions at these companies. Levels of experience vary but the wages are representative of the average worker we interviewed."

Something doesn't sound right with that sentence....Working 19 years at the company doesn't have an impact to the average salary? So new hires make about the same as someone who has been there 19 years?

Seems like there was some cherry picking going on when this story was written. I don't disagree that the morale of Costco's employees is much better than Sam's. I have memberships to both clubs...

Yeah I don't think the Costco employee mentioned is representative of the average employee there given his 19 years with them. Quick check on Glassdoor shows that average wages of non supervisor positions are about $12 to $16 an hour, which is still well above average. Hell I was only making $15 an hour at my first IT job.

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

Ignorance is bliss. When was the last time an item went on sale at Costco?

Actually about every 3 weeks I get a new flyer with the sale items. What were you saying about ignorance? Keep shopping at Wal-Mart you belong there.

 

[xBiffx]

And there are many things they sell that consistently give you not only more of that product, but at lower cost as well. The savings are real.

They aren't when you have to pay to get them. Plus, for many people, they can't take advantage of bulk because they aren't able to consume the products in a timely manner. Any savings is lost or can't be realized in that case and they are better off not shopping at a bulk retailer like Costco.

Again, the two serve different markets and comparing them really isn't apples to apples.

 

[xBiffx]

Actually about every 3 weeks I get a new flyer with the sale items. What were you saying about ignorance? Keep shopping at Wal-Mart you belong there.

I know they have a flyer. I also know their "sales" are a joke. Often times you are better off with getting things regular price or even on sale elsewhere. Also, very often it seems the items they place on sale are never needed, at least by me. Having a sale on something I'm not buying isn't very helpful.

 

[Red Storm]

So I guess the consensus is if you're married and/or have a family, go to Costco. If you're still shopping for just yourself, go to Walmart?

 

[xBiffx]

The article states "hourly" employees which would exclude management.

Not 100% true. There are many middle managers that aren't salary. Salary is generally reserved for the main store managers (front end and back end as well) themselves and of course execs.

Have a friend who fits into this category. He does make $24/hr as well.

 

[IEC]

Items constantly go on sale at Costco. Usually denoted by "instant rebate" on the price tag, or listed in the coupon books they mail out to members...

I'm not sure in what world Wal Mart is cheaper, either. For the same quantity of the same item, Wal Mart is 90% of the time MORE expensive where I live. Making my decision to shop at Costco simple math.

 

[crownjules]

I think I figured it out....Costco doesn't Master Card/Visa/Discover and only accepts debit cards/American Express.

It the fees....It has to be the fees....LOL

AmEx has higher merchant fees than V/MC/D. And I believe they also charge a monthly fee on top of it as well.

 

[MixMasterTang]

Since a couple people here seem so convinced that Walmart is so much cheaper for the same products I will offer up a challenge. Post the prices of milk, Cheerios, tide detergent and a brand name tooth paste. Please do not post "well I bought xxx on sale for 99 cents last year", post the "every day" low Walmart price and include the package size.

I will post prices of the same products at Costco and we can compare prices.

 

[diesbudt]

The article states "hourly" employees which would exclude management.

Not true. Maybe the top chain sure, but I know many places that have management be under hourly and not salary. And if that is the case here, it could shift the wage value higher than it should be.

Friend in college started working at Costco at $14/hr. They start people around $12-$15/hr depending on what position you are hired into. They do however give better raises, and are willing to promote hard workers if a spot opens, instead of looking outside the company.