Buying in bulk

[Georginazn]

Does anyone have any good experiences of buying in bulk - are there savings and is the saving worth the storage space?
We have a great independent supermarket locally and I can buy 5lts of white vinegar and Ecover washing up liquid at a great price. They do sacks of wild bird food too, which I store outdoors in metal dustbins. I am wondering about buying high quality dog food online, but the savings on 25Kg as opposed to buying 2.5Kg bags doesn't seem worth the space - but then again watching the pennies helps the pounds!

 

[Chutzpah]

One of my close friend's dad is a civil servant so has a membership card for Costco, which means my friend has a membership card too. Certainly, some things there are VERY cheap. For example, we picked up a commercial tub of Ainsley Harriot's cous cous for a couple of pounds and it supposedly contains 25 servings (but in reality is closer to 50 as their serving is calculated for two people). Considering the shop cost for a couple of sachets would be a couple of pounds it's a huge saver.

However, you can usually only get a membership card if you are a company. I did consider registering a company and putting through zero accounts every year (wouldn't be too difficult as my boss is a qualified accountant) but they actually need proof of trading too....

 

[TracyG]

Buying in bulk can sometimes save a good amount of money, especially (as Chutzpah says) if you can get your hands on a warehouse card. I like to buy some things in bulk, mostly non-food items such as shampoos, soap powder, soap, aluminium foil etc. I only buy items that I would normally use, and I only buy in bulk when I can make a good saving, not just pennies. I don't think it's worth the hassle, storage or initial expense otherwise.

 

[Tony]

You need to be careful when buying from wholesales as you may have fewer consumer rights. Not much of an issue for cous cous, but it might be if it is a big ticket item. I need to check my facts, but by being a member you are essentially saying you are not buying as a consumer but as a business etc.

 

[Chutzpah]

I agree with that, but from my experience of being in CostCo the high value items aren't that much cheaper, especially once you've added VAT

 

[Rachelle]

I'm going to start bulk buying pet food and nappies although I'm not sure how much 'bulkier' nappies get. But if I could buy 200 of those in one go I very definitely would.

 

[Chutzpah]

I've done exactly that Rachelle. It was great but we did have to make sure we used them all before he grew out of them!

 

[Georginazn]

That did make me laugh Tony - "not such an issue for cous cous"!! Still chuckling now!

 

[Chutzpah]

I'm considering asking my boss if he's planning to get a wholesale card for the new business (he did for the old one). If so I'm going to offer to pay the twelve odd quid for the second card you can get on the account. I would probably make that back in two shops.