CostCo

[kiisu]

Does CostCo have all the US products that one would normally find at a CostCo in the US, or is it a mixed bag? Specifically, I'm wondering about deodorant. Otherwise I think I'll have to do my own importing which will probably be just as economical considering the price of deodorant here.

[westsan]

yup... and I want one of them apple pies right now!!
Deodorant??? American Pharmacy in Hibuya/Yurakuchou has a limited assortment of it.
the J-stuff works for crap

[smallworld]

No, Costco doesn't carry deodorant.
Your only choice is to order from FBC or get someone from home to send you a supply.

To tide you over in the meantime, look for a Japanese antiperspirant, not just deodorant. There are only a few, so look for a product that says this:

制汗･デオドラント

That means antiperspirant/deodorant and should appear somewhere on the front. I don't know if you're a guy or a girl, but if you're a girl a brand called 'Rexena' has a stick type that is an antiperspirant. Doesn't work as well as the stuff from back home, but much better than other Japanese brands.

[westsan]

Doesnt Don Quixote have antiperspirant/deodorant from the US now?

If they dont just go to the American Pharmacy in Hibuya. they have the major brands.

[hypertokyo]

FYI, the American Pharmacy in Hibiya has closed. They have other branches in the basement of the Marunouchi Building near Tokyo station, in Ueno, and in Tachikawa.

[madison]

I was at Costco last week with a Canadian friend who said that it was just like the Costco they have in Canada. I don't remember seeing deodarant though. They had alot of other stuff though, like canned foods, tuna in water, washing powder etc. I often buy from the foreign buyers club as well but I tell you what, Costco goods are often half of the foreign buyers price!!! I saw things that were 900 yen in Costco but are over 2000 yen in foreign buyers. Anybody that is planning to go there remember 3 things: first, they don't take credit card unless it's their own card, so remember to take plenty of cash (believe me, I've never been to one of these stores so I only took 25,000 but I could have spent twice that much if I'd had it), also there is a fee for joining. I think it was about 4,000 yen for one years membership. If you take your business card you save about 800 or so yen, making the membership about 3,100 yen. Happy shopping!!

[Anonymous]

try theflyingpig.com

[Anonymous]

how can I get to Costco in Machida City from Tokyo or Yokohama besides driving? Is there any public transport?SB wrote:

[person]

Author: joe12345 (---.netvigator.com)
Date: 09-16-03 07:57

how can I get to Costco in Machida City from Tokyo or Yokohama besides driving? Is there any public transport?


Just wondering if someone could answer this last question (about directions). I'd like to swing by when I'm in the Tokyo area, but am not that familiar. Can someone advise? I looked at the location listings for Japan, but it doesn't really give specific directions.

[person]

Thanks for the information. I appreciate it.

I don't have a membership yet; however, I was planning on getting one when I go. If it's the same as Sam's Club, you can shop the same day with a temporary membership card. Hope it's the same.

Thanks again -

[OnceWritten]

TheFlyingPig ( Costco products) definitely has men's and women's deoderant sticks. I've used them a few times (and will continue to) and their service is very quick and good and they COD to your door.

[steeny]

Costco has been carrying real deodorant lately.

[kurogane]

Costco has been carrying real deodorant lately.

By "real deodorant", do you mean soap?

I hate to regurgitate my anti-deodorant-ism, but WHY on earth would anyone stick that crap on their tickly parts?? It is nothing but a capitalist conspiracy to numb our brains with aluminium sulfate poisoning.

I ahve a better solution:
it's called Kome-nuka sekken.
WASH, Peeple, WASH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
:p

[MJA]

i joined up on the day i went in and got in no problems. i went to the one i am not sure how describe it exactly, where you get off at sachiura in yokohama. when you join up the dudes in the carpark who do the initial stuff will spend a fair bit of time trying to flog you their visa. as payback i suggest going about lunchtime and eating lots of freestuff and have a smoothie. i dont know why they call it smoothie cause there is no milk in there it is just like a slurpee. last month is was guava flavour and this month is mango. bloody good - join up just for a slurpee. you cant go wrong. sorry to hijack the deodrant thing.

[steeny]

Has anybody else noticed that Costco prices have been creeping higher and higher? It doesn't seem like an all around good bargain anymore (though you do still save on a few products). Still nice to get hard-to-find treats though.

[Monty Cristo]

I went to costco the other day for the first time and was utterly floored by what I saw. I don't know which is worse: rampant Japanized American scale consumerism or the hordes of pushy people obivious to the surrounding shoppers pushing oversized carts wherever they please and not thinking twice when stopping in the middle of everyones way.
Is it just me or is the average size of the costco shopper close to double that of the standard individual?

end of rant

[Sage]

I went to costco the other day for the first time and was utterly floored by what I saw. I don't know which is worse: rampant Japanized American scale consumerism or the hordes of pushy people obivious to the surrounding shoppers pushing oversized carts wherever they please and not thinking twice when stopping in the middle of everyones way.
Is it just me or is the average size of the costco shopper close to double that of the standard individual?

end of rant

Hahaha. Only fat people shop at Costco? hahaha. How American! ^_^

[Basic]

I get out to Costco somewhat regularly as they stock a number of items that are hard or impossible to find anywhere else in Japan. Prices generally are very good.

But they do not stock exactly the same items as in the US. A lot of foodstuffs are difficult to import into Japan and even if they did there is not that much a market for them here.

One issue I have with Costco is that they are not set up to always have in stock everything they offer. They will often run out of some items and have no more in stock. Granted it takes a lot of effort and cost to ensure your international supply chain never runs dry of all items so I expect that this is one place where they are saving a lot of money which they pass on to the customers. It's a trade off they have accepted.

[Monty Cristo]

Hahaha. Only fat people shop at Costco? hahaha. How American! ^_^

I hope you are not insinuating that I am an American.

[jemii]

i have a membership card to costco from the states. does anyone know if it will work here or if i'll need to get a new one?

[steeny]

i have a membership card to costco from the states. does anyone know if it will work here or if i'll need to get a new one?

no problem, you can use it

[auyongtc]

Is the return/refund policy as good as of the states' costco?

anyone have any experience to share?

[Sterling]

I think ordering from the Foreign Buyers Club is a better solution to getting the deodorant that you want:

http://www.fbcusa.com

I was able to find out that I could order hard to find supplements like melatonin and DHEA (albeit a few week leadtime). Items that are otherwise unavailable except at prices 5-10 X what one would pay for back home.

Costco Japan information including locations is here:

http://www.costco.co.jp/eng/index.htm

And, regarding steeny's comments about prices appearing to creep up -- they'll either be due to exchange rate changes and/or increases in shipping costs. As a wholesaler, Costco is fanatic that they only hold to a 14% margin.

And, if you cannot get to a Costco, then as other have suggested, order from the Flying Pig (they simply add on a 10% margin).

The selection of deodorants at Costco is not great (which is why I recommend FBC) but if you are happy with MENNEN brand, you can order from Flying Pig:

http://www.theflyingpig.com/tfp/List.asp?SC=250&LN=1&sid=6AC9C2D673D38EA60E85

[Emulator]

Is it just me or is the average size of the costco shopper close to double that of the standard individual?

end of rant

This is very true.

I recently got a membership to the Costco in Amagasaki. I can understand that american goods are going to cost more at a costco here, but many of the items, including Japanese ones, were ridiculously expensive. Or if not stupid expensive, just nothing special in terms of deals. Maybe I'm a bit spoiled as there are some grocery stores where I live that have great deals. I can buy cereal, peanut butter and many other items in smaller sizes at better prices per weight than at costco. Maybe it's cheaper to shop there for the average lazy shopper who would usually just go to a co-op, but if you're good at finding deals, you'd be better off avoiding costco for the most part. Of course, if you need certain products that can't be found in most Japanese stores, then the premium at costco isn't too horrible, just nothing worthwhile of being a bulk type store.

That brings up another point. Is it just me or do the Japanese not understand the concept of buying in quantity? I'm sure this has been touched on before, so forgive me. I was buying some of those baked/toasted red bean filled fish shaped things the other week. It was 76 yen each, two for 152 and three for 230. Ummmmm.....somehow the math on that doesn't seem to work out. Buy more, pay more per unit. I have heard this applies to cases of beer as well.

One last thing about Costco. They have really reasonably priced slices of pizza at the snack bar just past the checkout. If nothing else go there for a 280 yen slice of pizza that tastes like real pizza (the kind of cheap greasy kind, but it still tastes like the authentic cheap places back home). That and if you cancel your membership within the year you can get the membership fee back.

[bobk]

Someone asked earlier about directions, to get to the Costco in Machida City, take the Keio line from Shinjuku to Tamasakai station (you might have to change at Chofu depending on what train you take). After you get to Tamasakai, walk up + out of the station on Tamasakai Dori in the direction of the McDonalds and Sushiro, you will probably walk for 10-15 mins and it is on the same sisde of the street. There's a Gainz Home Center right before the Costco, that I usually stop at also to pick up cheap kitchen and home stuff that Tokyu Hands wants 3x as much for.

HTH

P.S. I agree the pizza is pretty good (was raised on New Jersey + New York pizza) and the bulgogi roll isn't bad either.

[B1-B2]

I used to be a member at costco. I stopped after one day I asked my wife if she wanted the 1kg of meat halved or quarted to be frozen, she said quarted. i got out the scales and ended up with 3 packs of 250grams and 1 pack at 140grams. after checkig and rechecking I went back to costco the next day. I asked for the manager,Kevin, and ased why this had happened, as costco sells so much meat it must be making huge profits. I told Kevin that should it happen again I will pull my busness membership and tell as many people as I can to not shop there. I got all of my money back for all the meat I had bought about 4000yen and bought more went home weighed it went back got my money back again and pulled my membership got my money back for that too and havn't been back since. I didn't even have to prove that I had been given less meat than what I paid for. But Kevin just gave the money back no questions \. Great policy huh?

[Monty Cristo]

The last time I went to CostCo my wife wanted to buy the biggest bottle of maple syrup I had ever seen. It was more than enough to keep the entire Canadian military sweet and sticky for a year. Did we buy this syrup? No. The reason? Three little words "Refrigerate after opening".
Who the heck would have a refrigerator large enough to hold such a monstrosity?

And yes, sometimes you do end up paying more per unit buying in bulk. That makes no sense to me.

[nymphett]

I think ordering from the Foreign Buyers Club is a better solution to getting the deodorant that you want:

http://www.fbcusa.com

I was able to find out that I could order hard to find supplements like melatonin and DHEA (albeit a few week leadtime). Items that are otherwise unavailable except at prices 5-10 X what one would pay for back home.

Costco Japan information including locations is here:

http://www.costco.co.jp/eng/index.htm

And, regarding steeny's comments about prices appearing to creep up -- they'll either be due to exchange rate changes and/or increases in shipping costs. As a wholesaler, Costco is fanatic that they only hold to a 14% margin.

And, if you cannot get to a Costco, then as other have suggested, order from the Flying Pig (they simply add on a 10% margin).

The selection of deodorants at Costco is not great (which is why I recommend FBC) but if you are happy with MENNEN brand, you can order from Flying Pig:

http://www.theflyingpig.com/tfp/List.asp?SC=250&LN=1&sid=6AC9C2D673D38EA60E85

Mr Chuck in FBC is sitting comfortably on his ___ and a smiling face with the profit he's making! Another thing also, I bought something with a default. Wrote him an email on it together with pictures, expecting an exchange or a replacement, but never hear from that guy.

[Sterling]

It probably helps to understand that although it appears that Costco's primary target is retail shoppers, it is technically a wholesaler ... which includes a lot of SME's, restaurants and the lot in its client base. For that reason, some items like the jumbo maple syrup might seem wholly inappropriate for an individual consumer, but probably not out of place for a restaurant owner.


On average, for the kind of household purchases I make on a monthly basis, a once a month Costco run makes a lot of sense for me. My purchases generally include the basic necessities like detergent, cleaning supplies, toiletries, paper towels, rice, beer, wine, cheese, home office supplies, sparkling water, tools, socks, other groceries and the occasional rotisserie chicken.

Yamaya, http://www.yamaya.co.jp/en/core.htm I found, is quite competitive when it comes to wine, beer and bottled water -- and given that it doesn't require a drive to Chiba or Machida like Costco, a lot more convenient.

[eku]

the rotisserie chicken, the detergent, softeners, cheese, ceres cherry juice, the bagles, the frozen aussie pies, the italian sliced salami, and maybe the few odd other thing are the reasons we make a monthly run to costco

for meat we hit the brazilian shop in fukaehama where we get steak at 700 yen a KILOGRAM and dried beans, lentils and split peas at reasonable prices... we also buy terribly expensive dulce de leche there

for the rest
JA veggie stalls, gyoumu super, Pro Foods (bread flour timtams etc) and my friend's tanbo for fresh veggies.

for guinness and tequila slammas >> Japan discount stores

[letsgetfizicool]

I used to sweat almost constantly from my armpits. It never smelt, but the discomfort from all-day sweating - not to mention ruining my clothes over time - really got to me. No amount of anti-perspirant would help.

Until... I found Perfect Potion. It's totally natural (the harshest ingredient is alcohol, no aluminium) and I don't sweat at all anymore, by far the most effective thing I've ever used. And I've used almost everything out there.

http://perfectpotion.com.au/

I know this is sus, my first post to promote something, but whatever :D

[Glen Twenty]

I used to sweat almost constantly from my armpits. It never smelt, but the discomfort from all-day sweating - not to mention ruining my clothes over time - really got to me. No amount of anti-perspirant would help.

Until... I found Perfect Potion. It's totally natural (the harshest ingredient is alcohol, no aluminium) and I don't sweat at all anymore, by far the most effective thing I've ever used. And I've used almost everything out there.

http://perfectpotion.com.au/

I know this is sus, my first post to promote something, but whatever :D


i had a look at that site which product stops excessive sweating could not find it.


Please advise which is the best one as I need a good one for the shocking summer heat here in Japan

Thank you

Glen Twenty

[letsgetfizicool]

http://perfectpotion.com.au/cart/customer/product.php?productid=17698&cat=&page=1

Hope this helps, it's called "Active Deodorant", comes in a 125ml spray bottle.

[j0shi]

some one asked about a costco near yokohama. its in kawasaki.
take the keihin tohuku or tokaido like to JR kawasaki. If Keikyu is fine with you. thats also ok. Keikyu and JR Kawasaki are very near.

Then take the 21 or 40 # bus. Get down at Ikegami-Shinmachi or tell the driver you want to get down at Costco. There is a huge overbridge just in front of Costco. Remember it as a landmark. Its about 15-20 mins from Kawasaki JR eki.

I think the bakery section is real value for money, especially the cakes are real good and a deal at around JPY2400.

[MJA]

There is one in Yokohama as well as Kawasaki. Near Bayside Marina.

[Fujay]

And another in Hashimoto.

[NickW]

So which of the Costco stores is the best bet from Roppongi?

I ask because I headed to the one in Machida today (which is thirty-something kilometres apparently) and bugger me if the experience wasn't awful.

The actual shopping was OK -- although you can see how small Japanese children turning into teenage bicycling menaces by their total failure to have any awareness of the world around them -- but getting there and getting back was just dreadful.

I ended up on the roof parking, and it took literally 30 minutes to get down to the road. Half an album from my iPod. The local roads were slow and awful, the expressway was jam packed; there were a ton of other outlet-style stores there too and that multiplied the problem. Between the tolls and and the gas I probably barely broke even despite an entire car full of shopping.

Weather was shocking too. Rain, lightning etc. Very heavy rain. So bad the drivers were actually obeying the speed limit on the Shuto Expressway.

The Kanazawa Seaside location looks like it might be a better bet. Anyone know what the deal with parking / local roads is there?

[kotoha]

Don't bother... honestly. I live pretty close to the Iruma one... its maybe a 30 minute drive depending on traffic... but I'm not renewing my membership next year. They dont have the only two American things I really miss (deodorant and sunscreen, I HATE that oily Japanese sunscreen) well... they HAVE it but only Japanese brands. They have some INTERESTING things (pomegranate juice, Thai curry mix, some different brands than you see at the regular supermarkets) but the prices aren't good. I can get sliced pork for 89-99 yen/100 grams at the local supermarkets if I go to the right place on the right day, but at Costco it's like 120yen/100grams. And you have to buy two kilos of it.

I was going for one thing... the "artisan bread." DELICIOUS, we could polish off two loaves in a weekend.... but the last time I went they didnt even have it, there wasnt even anyone IN the bakery, just prepacked stuff. :(

VERY disappointed...