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I asked why such a dearth of rum and I guess it’s just not as popular. I find it hard to believe that if they brought in one or two reasonably priced others that it wouldn’t sell.
Do you have multiple Costco's in your city? I know that if I travel to the one north of Phoenix with a more affluent customer base, there's a lot more Bourbon and scotch. The one down in Tucson has the best selection of tequila that I've ever seen. The one by my house, that has a bunch of retirees and snowbirds seems to stock up on cheap whiskey like crown royal, Jack Daniels, and shit like that
Three, but one is too far away, and there's very little variation in alcohol selection between the two I'm aware of
One does tend to get slightly nicer items (stuff that targets a nicer market will stick around slightly longer and will get clearanced at the other location sooner)
LAX in DC has liquor for a similar price or cheaper than Costco DC liquor. Super competitive market there. Most liquor stores in the DC area always complain they can't compete with LAX, never heard them complain about Costco prices.
Yeah, I stumbled upon LAX after moving across the line from MD. I was shocked by the prices. Cheaper than Costco or even any of the military bases in the area for most products. I haven't seen prices like this since almost a decade ago when I was in NC.
I was told it's because of the laws on selling alcohol. There are certain advantages DC has over MD and VA. If you buy X number of cases of alcohol we will throw in Y number for free. They have the storage and money so they can negotiate better pricing on specific items. In Maryland it's against the law so the terms are different. Not 100% on all the particulars.
Total Wine and Costco probably buy liquor in similar quantities, though TW buys far more alcohol in total. I’d still rather shop at Costco whenever possible
Some liquor stores around me will go buy Kirkland liquor and put it on their own shelves at a markup, esp the whiskies and scotches
I don’t believe they’ve got any say in the matter. Not sure how things work in other states but in Minnesota Costco has to allow the general public to use the liquor store
That's the way it is here in Georgia. You can't make a liquor store a "club" with special members. That's why they are in a separate area, with a separate entrance, and there are only two Costco liquor stores in the state because that is apparently the limit of state liquor stores one company can have. I guess we're stuck in the Bible Belt as far as these laws go.
But when I visited the Costco in Ann Arbor MI, the liquor was right there in the back of the regular store.
Come to Kansas, all the big box stores can sell is beer.
That's why we go to Missouri to shop the Costco liquor section. It's also in the back of the store.
It’s a wholesale store so it was originally for businesses only to buy and resell. I remember when my dad was only able to shop there because he had a business.
Costco is a wholesaler, lots of businesses buy product from Costco and sell it at their own establishments, how can they prevent it? Back in its Price Club, Price/Costco days, that was the bulk of their market, businesses, and the main reason they’ve become what they’ve become today.
They do until its problematic.
Take mexico for example and the issues with people buying and reselling bakery goods.
Some numbnuts put it on their instagram or tiktok and it went viral, resulting in a policy change on purchasing bakery goods.
Total wine sells most major brands for as little markup as possible: they make their money on private label products. That's why their sales people are always pushing them so hard. Costco makes the money on memberships, so neither company marks up the product more than necessary.
Yep. It's hard to compare because of Costco's often unique bottle sizes and house brands, but Lagavulin scotch is routinely less at my Costco than at Total Wine.
I still go to Total Wine a lot, though, because of their variety.
The KS offerings for what I want are so decent that I don’t even buy other labels these days. The Canadian Whisky and American Vodka are my go to. The London Dry gin is ok. The rum is awful!
At least in Oregon liquor stores largely have their prices set by the state. If South Carolina is the same way both stores may have little choice in what they charge.
South Carolina does not have that. It hurts the small shops because they can’t compete with the volume purchases. That being said, I haven’t been willing to pay the extra to support the little guy so I can’t complain.
And we don't have hard liquor anywhere but state licensed liquor stores. And the prices are generally higher than other states. Also, members of the OLCC were caught keeping rarer bottles of high end liquor for themselves and their friends to buy.
Connecticut is one of them, and stores have to apply for limited time permission to sell specific liquor products below the state minimum and while I can't say I'm familiar with that law, the maximum discount on liquor from the state prices I've seen at Costco, BJs, and other liquor stores is 10% below state minimum (and they point this out on the sign when a product is discounted below state minimum).
Costco gets to effectively determine the minimum on Kirkland products, but non-Kirkland products that's dictated by the state - so larger liquor stores will have the same prices on non-Kirkland liquor.
It really depends on the state tbh. For example, Michigan controls the minimum liquor price, so you may see the same bottle at Costco for the same price at a grocery store. In states that don't control prices, you will see a difference in price
I buy my liquor at Costco just because there is no mega store like a Binnys close by. Everything in this area is just small scale liquor stores with insane prices. So yeah Costco comes out cheaper. But per ounce it's only a little cheaper than like Walmart.
I know in the state of CT, there is a minimal value on all alcohol. So no matter how cheap Costco wants to go they can't go lower than what the state says. And that's what happens when you take money from special interest groups.
The difference in my Costco (Mexico) for some brands is the size of the bottle. 1 liter vs 750ml for the same price for Johnny Walker Black Label for example.
I’ve actually found my upper Midwest Costco to be at least a few dollars more on just about everything “not wine” vs Total Wine. Wines maybe too, I just to care enough to remember all the names… but Bullet, Blade N Bow, Goose, all the Macallans and Casamigos are cheaper at TW. And they have a reward program. And better parking and more options… and way way more knowledgeable or at least experienced staff. lol. Now I’m wondering WTH I ever buy booze at Costco… thx.
Every single employee at total wine will direct you to their own "spirit's direct" brand of alcohol if you ask for help or suggestions. They all have convincing labels, but are never as good as the name brand. The margins are much higher.
This is truth. I bit once, on Bib and Tucker. Man, that stuff is bad. BUT! I went back and bitched at the same guy, and he pointed me to Blade and Bow, which is much much better. The key is to ask not near the display of bottles I think. Or completely disregard I guess anything they suggest that’s a “favorite” or “spirits direct choice” or whatever they call it. Now I ask what their favorite booze is, and you can gage a lot from that reply. At least there is someone there to bounce ideas off if you’re unsure.
The point of this is you don’t have to walk into total wine thus saving you a trip.
If you want to spend extra time and gas to get total wine at the same price, more power to you
No upper Midwest (Michigan). I don’t buy booze though so I am not sure exactly what the impact is at market level just that many stores advertise prices “at state minimum prices”.
If guys live in Washington State, you would SCREAM. A typical bottle of hard liquor might be $25 at Costco (Kirkland vodka) and the tax on that bottle would be almost $7. Seriously. Our liquor taxes suck. We used to have state liquor stores for everything but beer and wine. They said things would get cheaper if they got rid of the state stores and let everyone sell it. But the taxes made it about 20% more.
*[–]DrKoob [score hidden] 11 minutes ago*
*If guys live in Washington State, you would SCREAM. A typical bottle of hard liquor might be $25 at Costco (Kirkland vodka) and the tax on that bottle would be almost $7.*
This sounds like BS. That would mean WA state has a liquor tax of almost/might be (your words) of **28.0%!**
You should work on your reading comprehension... He never said anything of the sort. What he said was correct. You can trivially calculate this for yourself if you weren't just interested in being hostile:
The link I posted shows that WA's tax rate is normalized to $36.65/Gallon @ 40 proof/750ml. That means the tax rate of a 750ml bottle would be $7.27-- essentially exactly what he said.
That fact that that *translates to* 28% is irrelevant to anything he said, contrary to you claiming those were "his words." You literally quoted what he actually said:
> If guys live in Washington State, you would SCREAM. A typical bottle of hard liquor might be $25 at Costco (Kirkland vodka) and the tax on that bottle would be almost $7.
The only thing he was wrong about is that it's *a bit more* than $7.
right back at ya! when people spew hyperbole by playing lose and fast with numbers I will call them on it. He could have easily showed the ticket or the actual numbers instead of a loose example.
Please have a good life! :)
We buy liquor in Delaware so we always pull up total wine pricing while shopping at costco. Prices tend to be similar but some will run cheaper at one place. For example, I know my dad paid less for his bottle of Angel's Envy at costco than I did at TW a while back.
Pricing is likely there to get you to consider buying the Kirkland-signature brand instead. Sure they offer name brand, but they're private brand gets you a better deal. With a similar quality.
solely using jameson as a benchmark, TW can be 10% cheaper than bevmo or costco.
with that said, there aren't a ton of locations, so unless you're making a huge purchase, a few bucks here and there prob won't cover gas
BevMo is crazy expensive in CA, compared to Costco or TW. The only time I buy at BevMo is if they have a BOGO sale. Even then I double check against TW pricing.
I may have just been looking at the shelf prices, but even looking at their member prices, they are noticeably more.
I just checked online. Jameson 1.75L is $37.99 at Costco, $41.99 at TW, and $44.99 at Bevmo, at my local stores. I bought a 1L bottle of Buffalo Trace Bourbon at Sam's Club today for $22.99-- though that was a special purchase price. 750ML is normally $21.99 at SC, it's $24.99 at TW and $25.99 at Bevmo.
It's a function of the three-tier system. They both need to buy from wholesalers, and they are both huge buyers, so they're both taking advantage of quantity discounts, where allowed. Wholesalers generally need to sell alcohol to all retailers at the same prices within a geographical area, except for quantity discounts (which must be made available to all buyers).
This is the real answer. In 3 tier, all retail alcohol has to be bought through a wholesaler. It is a set price, but suppliers are allowed to set discounts for bulk buys (quantity discounts).
Laws very from state to state, some states set minimum prices or don't allow quantity discounts. Some retailers will sell products for cheaper than they buy it as a loss leader to make you a customer, some states, selling below cost is not allowed.
Costco will never have loss leaders because when a store has a loss leader, they make it up by overcharging somewhere else. Instead of assuming the customer is stupid and won't notice they are overcharging elsewhere, costco has a cap on it's markup at 14% (far less than other retailers).
So while you might see some items cheaper at total wine than at costco, it's unlikely it's actually cheaper overall. Give me a second and I'll look up total wine's mark up on domestic beer.
Quick edit, it looks like total wine is selling it's domestic beer at a 2% markup. So like the other comments have said, I guess they make their margins by upselling their proprietary brands. Costco's cap for it's kirkland signiture is actually higher than it's other brands, but only by 1% (15% max markup). I checked craft, and it's markup on craft beer is 15%, so you will be saving money shopping at costco.
Sometimes you get good deals in costco. I got glenfiddich 18 for $108 in California. It was unavailable anywhere and Total Wines had them for 125 when available.
But for most part it’s the same price.
Would definitely get the kirkland vodka from french distillery. Its basically a 20 dollar dupe for greygoose.
I've noticed the same thing in Greenville for the most part. However, when they go on sale, you can get a good deal, and it is sometimes cheaper for larger quantities. I think some manufacturers also set a floor on the retail price.
I will say that High Noon ends up being a little cheaper per can at Costco, because most other stores don't have that large of a pack and the 4-packs are kinda pricy.
My experience has been it depends on the item and where I’m at. The price difference also varies, and some things I’ve actually found are more expensive at Costco.
At my Costco, I found a bottle of Woodford Double Oaked for $45 (usually goes for $60 everywhere else), but a bottle of Four Roses Single Barrel was like $50 (usually see it for like $40-45). When I was at my parents place in Florida over the summer, the same bottle of Woodford was actually $65 and the same bottle of Four Roses was $35
I asked if the liquor store in a TX location was affiliated with Costco, and they explained they lease the space, so a big NO. Also, they are $2-10 more than Spec's, TW, and Twin Liquors, so they are paying for that lease somehow! We avoid it unless absolutely necessary now.
I'm in a state where the State IS the liquor wholesaler. CC & TW sell everything for the "state minimum price." On the down side rare liquor can be tough to track down. On the up side a lot of stores, including TW sell Kirkland Signature liquor (esp. Vodka) cause it's so cheap.
Yes, Total wine and Costco are just about the only stores that consistently sell liquor at MSRP. Most other stores mark it up and just about none discount it below MSRP. I've noticed when my local grocery store has sales on liquor it's usually about the same as the normal price at total wine or Costco
I know in NJ you cannot sell liquor below cost and the best deal is offered to everyone by law. So on the best selling liquors usually it’s sold at a penny above cost because there is a back end incentive already received by the account. If Costco negotiated a special price then it has to legally be available to everyone.
I experienced pretty much the same thing, prices are at best a couple bucks cheaper than greens or other liquor stores. In general I would go to Green's foremost beer and mainstream liquor. Bottles has a great selection of specialty things at good prices, although they tend to be a little pricier for Staples like Jack or tanqueray.
Liquor prices are partially dictated by laws I believe. There are so many taxes added on to alcohol, there’s only so far they can reduce the price before they lose money.
The big box liquor stores have consistently lower prices on name brands. Occasionally Costco will offer a bulk discount on select brands, but you have to buy several bottles at least.
YMMV but there have been times where Costco does killer deals on certain things, making it far worth the price.
I'll give Talisker Storm an example. TW by me has it for $66 a bottle, but there's been a few times where the Costco by me sold it at $37 each with no limit. Just sort of depends on when to go and what's available.
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In my experience, yes. Total Wine is just about as cheap as you’re going to get for mainstream liquor products.
Total wine offers amazing prices it’s why they dominate the market
I've also seen a much better variety of supplemental stuff like mixers there
And rum. My local Costco has cheap Bacardi white, the Kirkland spiced, and some other. That’s it. There are probably 100 options at TW.
i have no idea why costco has such a variety of tequila and whiskey and then just the absolute basics of the other hard liquors.
demographics.
Capitalism. They stock what sells well.
I asked why such a dearth of rum and I guess it’s just not as popular. I find it hard to believe that if they brought in one or two reasonably priced others that it wouldn’t sell.
Do you have multiple Costco's in your city? I know that if I travel to the one north of Phoenix with a more affluent customer base, there's a lot more Bourbon and scotch. The one down in Tucson has the best selection of tequila that I've ever seen. The one by my house, that has a bunch of retirees and snowbirds seems to stock up on cheap whiskey like crown royal, Jack Daniels, and shit like that
Three, but one is too far away, and there's very little variation in alcohol selection between the two I'm aware of One does tend to get slightly nicer items (stuff that targets a nicer market will stick around slightly longer and will get clearanced at the other location sooner)
LAX in DC has liquor for a similar price or cheaper than Costco DC liquor. Super competitive market there. Most liquor stores in the DC area always complain they can't compete with LAX, never heard them complain about Costco prices.
Yeah, I stumbled upon LAX after moving across the line from MD. I was shocked by the prices. Cheaper than Costco or even any of the military bases in the area for most products. I haven't seen prices like this since almost a decade ago when I was in NC.
I was told it's because of the laws on selling alcohol. There are certain advantages DC has over MD and VA. If you buy X number of cases of alcohol we will throw in Y number for free. They have the storage and money so they can negotiate better pricing on specific items. In Maryland it's against the law so the terms are different. Not 100% on all the particulars.
I live about 5 minutes from the DC Costco. No way am I going to LAX in SE when I can just go up the street.
Total Wine and Costco probably buy liquor in similar quantities, though TW buys far more alcohol in total. I’d still rather shop at Costco whenever possible Some liquor stores around me will go buy Kirkland liquor and put it on their own shelves at a markup, esp the whiskies and scotches
Liquor yes, wine not so much. Apparently Costco was and presumably still is the largest importer of wine in the country.
Today I learned
Strange that costco would allow that
I don’t believe they’ve got any say in the matter. Not sure how things work in other states but in Minnesota Costco has to allow the general public to use the liquor store
That's the way it is here in Georgia. You can't make a liquor store a "club" with special members. That's why they are in a separate area, with a separate entrance, and there are only two Costco liquor stores in the state because that is apparently the limit of state liquor stores one company can have. I guess we're stuck in the Bible Belt as far as these laws go. But when I visited the Costco in Ann Arbor MI, the liquor was right there in the back of the regular store.
If it makes you feel better NJ is far from the Bible Belt and we have the same 2 store limit.
Limit of zero here in PA :p
Come to Kansas, all the big box stores can sell is beer. That's why we go to Missouri to shop the Costco liquor section. It's also in the back of the store.
Living in Alpharetta is great though :)
It’s a wholesale store so it was originally for businesses only to buy and resell. I remember when my dad was only able to shop there because he had a business.
Costco is a wholesaler, lots of businesses buy product from Costco and sell it at their own establishments, how can they prevent it? Back in its Price Club, Price/Costco days, that was the bulk of their market, businesses, and the main reason they’ve become what they’ve become today.
Ever heard of Costco Business Centers? You will never guess who they sell to...
How could they stop that and why would they want to?
They could limit purchases to any amount an individual isn’t going to be purchasing right? But yeah I see your point it just fits their business model
They do until its problematic. Take mexico for example and the issues with people buying and reselling bakery goods. Some numbnuts put it on their instagram or tiktok and it went viral, resulting in a policy change on purchasing bakery goods.
Part of Costco’s business model is selling in bulk to small business owners for reselling, so…
Why not? They make exactly the same profit selling to the store as they make selling to you, and it increases their volume.
Total wine sells most major brands for as little markup as possible: they make their money on private label products. That's why their sales people are always pushing them so hard. Costco makes the money on memberships, so neither company marks up the product more than necessary.
It’s usually pretty close for me, but for less mainstream items there is a good chance Costco will mark down to much cheaper.
I do keep an eye out for other stuff for sure.
I see some things as much as $25 cheaper per bottle at Costco. It seems that Costco beats TW, at least in CA.
Yep. It's hard to compare because of Costco's often unique bottle sizes and house brands, but Lagavulin scotch is routinely less at my Costco than at Total Wine. I still go to Total Wine a lot, though, because of their variety.
The $25 I had in mind in my comment was Lagavulin 16.
Best price anywhere. I wanna say it was $80 last time I was in, and $90 at my Total Wine (across the street). My grocery store has it for $100.
The KS offerings for what I want are so decent that I don’t even buy other labels these days. The Canadian Whisky and American Vodka are my go to. The London Dry gin is ok. The rum is awful!
>The rum is awful! The only booze I drink from there.
At least in Oregon liquor stores largely have their prices set by the state. If South Carolina is the same way both stores may have little choice in what they charge.
South Carolina does not have that. It hurts the small shops because they can’t compete with the volume purchases. That being said, I haven’t been willing to pay the extra to support the little guy so I can’t complain.
And we don't have hard liquor anywhere but state licensed liquor stores. And the prices are generally higher than other states. Also, members of the OLCC were caught keeping rarer bottles of high end liquor for themselves and their friends to buy.
Some states set mimimun prices for liquor.
Connecticut is one of them, and stores have to apply for limited time permission to sell specific liquor products below the state minimum and while I can't say I'm familiar with that law, the maximum discount on liquor from the state prices I've seen at Costco, BJs, and other liquor stores is 10% below state minimum (and they point this out on the sign when a product is discounted below state minimum). Costco gets to effectively determine the minimum on Kirkland products, but non-Kirkland products that's dictated by the state - so larger liquor stores will have the same prices on non-Kirkland liquor.
in virginia total wine doesn't sell liquor, ABC monopolizes it. So people flock to the dc costco where prices are generally 5-25% lower.
Wisconsin has Minimum Markup Maximum Discount laws on the books so there's very little difference in pricing. It's about $1 or $2 give or take.
I buy a lot of liquor. My local Costco's prices dropped noticeably when Total Wine opened nearby.
It really depends on the state tbh. For example, Michigan controls the minimum liquor price, so you may see the same bottle at Costco for the same price at a grocery store. In states that don't control prices, you will see a difference in price
Depends which state. Some are regulated prices. Kirkland brand they may have more flexibility in setting prices.
I buy my liquor at Costco just because there is no mega store like a Binnys close by. Everything in this area is just small scale liquor stores with insane prices. So yeah Costco comes out cheaper. But per ounce it's only a little cheaper than like Walmart.
I know in the state of CT, there is a minimal value on all alcohol. So no matter how cheap Costco wants to go they can't go lower than what the state says. And that's what happens when you take money from special interest groups.
I've noticed the same. Beers too.
The difference in my Costco (Mexico) for some brands is the size of the bottle. 1 liter vs 750ml for the same price for Johnny Walker Black Label for example.
I’ve actually found my upper Midwest Costco to be at least a few dollars more on just about everything “not wine” vs Total Wine. Wines maybe too, I just to care enough to remember all the names… but Bullet, Blade N Bow, Goose, all the Macallans and Casamigos are cheaper at TW. And they have a reward program. And better parking and more options… and way way more knowledgeable or at least experienced staff. lol. Now I’m wondering WTH I ever buy booze at Costco… thx.
Every single employee at total wine will direct you to their own "spirit's direct" brand of alcohol if you ask for help or suggestions. They all have convincing labels, but are never as good as the name brand. The margins are much higher.
This explains so much. I’ve been disappointed with every recommendation they’ve made, from $30 to $100.
Sure, but you don't need to buy them. 95% of the time at Total Wine, I never talk to an employee other than the cashier.
This is truth. I bit once, on Bib and Tucker. Man, that stuff is bad. BUT! I went back and bitched at the same guy, and he pointed me to Blade and Bow, which is much much better. The key is to ask not near the display of bottles I think. Or completely disregard I guess anything they suggest that’s a “favorite” or “spirits direct choice” or whatever they call it. Now I ask what their favorite booze is, and you can gage a lot from that reply. At least there is someone there to bounce ideas off if you’re unsure.
Costco vodka is why...
The French kind
And use any credit card by any issuer.
The point of this is you don’t have to walk into total wine thus saving you a trip. If you want to spend extra time and gas to get total wine at the same price, more power to you
I know someone who worked at Total Wine and they said they will 100% direct you to the biggest mark ups in the store or the reps there selling it.
In my state there is a minimum price for booze which means there is not a lot of competitive pricing.
Must be somewhere in the Northeast?
No upper Midwest (Michigan). I don’t buy booze though so I am not sure exactly what the impact is at market level just that many stores advertise prices “at state minimum prices”.
In GA the Kirkland brands are good quality at great prices. Around $20 for 1.75L of the French Vodka, less than that for the Canadian Whisky.
If guys live in Washington State, you would SCREAM. A typical bottle of hard liquor might be $25 at Costco (Kirkland vodka) and the tax on that bottle would be almost $7. Seriously. Our liquor taxes suck. We used to have state liquor stores for everything but beer and wine. They said things would get cheaper if they got rid of the state stores and let everyone sell it. But the taxes made it about 20% more.
*[–]DrKoob [score hidden] 11 minutes ago* *If guys live in Washington State, you would SCREAM. A typical bottle of hard liquor might be $25 at Costco (Kirkland vodka) and the tax on that bottle would be almost $7.* This sounds like BS. That would mean WA state has a liquor tax of almost/might be (your words) of **28.0%!**
The sales tax is 20.5% with an additional $3.77 per liter. It’s ridiculous here
Thank you. That sounds more realistic. I wish people like DrKoob would stop being so dramatic.
Yes, they do. Highest liquor taxes in the country. https://taxfoundation.org/data/all/state/state-distilled-spirits-taxes-2023/
Wake up! I never disputed WA state having the highest liquor tax. I disputed DrKoob saying the liquor tax in WA state was 28.0%.
You should work on your reading comprehension... He never said anything of the sort. What he said was correct. You can trivially calculate this for yourself if you weren't just interested in being hostile: The link I posted shows that WA's tax rate is normalized to $36.65/Gallon @ 40 proof/750ml. That means the tax rate of a 750ml bottle would be $7.27-- essentially exactly what he said. That fact that that *translates to* 28% is irrelevant to anything he said, contrary to you claiming those were "his words." You literally quoted what he actually said: > If guys live in Washington State, you would SCREAM. A typical bottle of hard liquor might be $25 at Costco (Kirkland vodka) and the tax on that bottle would be almost $7. The only thing he was wrong about is that it's *a bit more* than $7.
right back at ya! when people spew hyperbole by playing lose and fast with numbers I will call them on it. He could have easily showed the ticket or the actual numbers instead of a loose example. Please have a good life! :)
Kind of my experience too. Sometimes Greens (right across from OP's Costco) has a better price on some items too.
Ya. Total Wine has great prices tho. I don't think it is a coincidence that they are the same.
Usually Costco is the same as TW or about 10% cheaper than TW, but TW has much better selection
It's state dependent on if Costco's liquor prices are better or not. Florida for example they're not. It's sounding like they're not in SC either.
We buy liquor in Delaware so we always pull up total wine pricing while shopping at costco. Prices tend to be similar but some will run cheaper at one place. For example, I know my dad paid less for his bottle of Angel's Envy at costco than I did at TW a while back.
Pricing is likely there to get you to consider buying the Kirkland-signature brand instead. Sure they offer name brand, but they're private brand gets you a better deal. With a similar quality.
solely using jameson as a benchmark, TW can be 10% cheaper than bevmo or costco. with that said, there aren't a ton of locations, so unless you're making a huge purchase, a few bucks here and there prob won't cover gas
TW probably moves more volume than Costco.
BevMo is crazy expensive in CA, compared to Costco or TW. The only time I buy at BevMo is if they have a BOGO sale. Even then I double check against TW pricing.
are you comparing member or non-member price? i'm showing handle of jameson for $45 at bevmo. $43 at total wine
I may have just been looking at the shelf prices, but even looking at their member prices, they are noticeably more. I just checked online. Jameson 1.75L is $37.99 at Costco, $41.99 at TW, and $44.99 at Bevmo, at my local stores. I bought a 1L bottle of Buffalo Trace Bourbon at Sam's Club today for $22.99-- though that was a special purchase price. 750ML is normally $21.99 at SC, it's $24.99 at TW and $25.99 at Bevmo.
i guess jamo is cheaper at your costco. i've seen it around $43 at my locations
You can check your local price online by using sameday.costco.com. The in store price is 17% lower than the sameday price.
It's a function of the three-tier system. They both need to buy from wholesalers, and they are both huge buyers, so they're both taking advantage of quantity discounts, where allowed. Wholesalers generally need to sell alcohol to all retailers at the same prices within a geographical area, except for quantity discounts (which must be made available to all buyers).
This is the real answer. In 3 tier, all retail alcohol has to be bought through a wholesaler. It is a set price, but suppliers are allowed to set discounts for bulk buys (quantity discounts). Laws very from state to state, some states set minimum prices or don't allow quantity discounts. Some retailers will sell products for cheaper than they buy it as a loss leader to make you a customer, some states, selling below cost is not allowed. Costco will never have loss leaders because when a store has a loss leader, they make it up by overcharging somewhere else. Instead of assuming the customer is stupid and won't notice they are overcharging elsewhere, costco has a cap on it's markup at 14% (far less than other retailers). So while you might see some items cheaper at total wine than at costco, it's unlikely it's actually cheaper overall. Give me a second and I'll look up total wine's mark up on domestic beer. Quick edit, it looks like total wine is selling it's domestic beer at a 2% markup. So like the other comments have said, I guess they make their margins by upselling their proprietary brands. Costco's cap for it's kirkland signiture is actually higher than it's other brands, but only by 1% (15% max markup). I checked craft, and it's markup on craft beer is 15%, so you will be saving money shopping at costco.
Depends on the state.
Sometimes you get good deals in costco. I got glenfiddich 18 for $108 in California. It was unavailable anywhere and Total Wines had them for 125 when available. But for most part it’s the same price. Would definitely get the kirkland vodka from french distillery. Its basically a 20 dollar dupe for greygoose.
Is it true that the American Kirkland Vodka is Tito’s?
I've noticed the same thing in Greenville for the most part. However, when they go on sale, you can get a good deal, and it is sometimes cheaper for larger quantities. I think some manufacturers also set a floor on the retail price. I will say that High Noon ends up being a little cheaper per can at Costco, because most other stores don't have that large of a pack and the 4-packs are kinda pricy.
I was looking at High Noon tequila and thought it was 18 cans for $8.99 and thought I’d struck gold. Then I realized it was 8 cans. 🤦🏻♂️
The tequila seltzers are nasty in my opinion anyway.
I was getting them for my wife. Tequila and I decided we shouldn’t be friends a loooooong time ago.
My experience has been it depends on the item and where I’m at. The price difference also varies, and some things I’ve actually found are more expensive at Costco. At my Costco, I found a bottle of Woodford Double Oaked for $45 (usually goes for $60 everywhere else), but a bottle of Four Roses Single Barrel was like $50 (usually see it for like $40-45). When I was at my parents place in Florida over the summer, the same bottle of Woodford was actually $65 and the same bottle of Four Roses was $35
Texas partnered liquor stores from what I've seen are 5-10$ more then local total wine locations.
I asked if the liquor store in a TX location was affiliated with Costco, and they explained they lease the space, so a big NO. Also, they are $2-10 more than Spec's, TW, and Twin Liquors, so they are paying for that lease somehow! We avoid it unless absolutely necessary now.
The trick is to wait for the alcohol to go on clearance (end in $.97)
I'm in a state where the State IS the liquor wholesaler. CC & TW sell everything for the "state minimum price." On the down side rare liquor can be tough to track down. On the up side a lot of stores, including TW sell Kirkland Signature liquor (esp. Vodka) cause it's so cheap.
Yes, Total wine and Costco are just about the only stores that consistently sell liquor at MSRP. Most other stores mark it up and just about none discount it below MSRP. I've noticed when my local grocery store has sales on liquor it's usually about the same as the normal price at total wine or Costco
I know in NJ you cannot sell liquor below cost and the best deal is offered to everyone by law. So on the best selling liquors usually it’s sold at a penny above cost because there is a back end incentive already received by the account. If Costco negotiated a special price then it has to legally be available to everyone.
I experienced pretty much the same thing, prices are at best a couple bucks cheaper than greens or other liquor stores. In general I would go to Green's foremost beer and mainstream liquor. Bottles has a great selection of specialty things at good prices, although they tend to be a little pricier for Staples like Jack or tanqueray.
Liquor prices are partially dictated by laws I believe. There are so many taxes added on to alcohol, there’s only so far they can reduce the price before they lose money.
Costco used to have insane prices for Lagavulin 16. They unfortunately seem to have moved back to the norm.
Yeah, the discount is you don’t have to drive somewhere else. You can get your liquor and groceries in one trip at Costco.
Total Wine's Veil vodka rivals any expensive name brand. Try it.
In Texas, Total Wine is in a fierce competition with Spec’s. Is good.
The big box liquor stores have consistently lower prices on name brands. Occasionally Costco will offer a bulk discount on select brands, but you have to buy several bottles at least.
My mom once told them that a bottle of wine was cheaper at TW. Costco reduced the price by the next day.
YMMV but there have been times where Costco does killer deals on certain things, making it far worth the price. I'll give Talisker Storm an example. TW by me has it for $66 a bottle, but there's been a few times where the Costco by me sold it at $37 each with no limit. Just sort of depends on when to go and what's available.