Bye bye Costco American Express….

[Coronita]

…Hello Capital One Mastercard….

Boy did American Express totally botch that one up.
AXP is down $6/share pre-market…

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/american-express-costco-end-u-130910778.html

Costco to stop accepting American Express cards in U.S. from next April

[an]

I wonder if I would have to get a Capital One card or can I use any Mastercard.

[carlsbadworker]

It didn’t say that you have to use Capital One in U.S. Costco.

[an]

I hope that’s the case.

[scaredyclassic]

Capital one strikes me as a cheesy company. Like loansharks. Maybe that was the old days? I recall getting offers for some bizarrely high interest rates.

[poorgradstudent]

[quote=scaredyclassic]Capital one strikes me as a cheesy company. Like loansharks. Maybe that was the old days? I recall getting offers for some bizarrely high interest rates.[/quote]

Capital One has historically pursued college kids and people with questionable credit as customers, then reaped high interest rates and fees.

Like any lending you can make an argument they are slightly predatory, or you can make an argument they are extending credit to customers other banks aren’t very interested in, but charging a rate appropriate to risk.

If you’re at a point in your life where you can qualify for a mortgage, Capital One *probably* isn’t for you.

[CDMA ENG]

[quote=scaredyclassic]Capital one strikes me as a cheesy company. Like loansharks. Maybe that was the old days? I recall getting offers for some bizarrely high interest rates.[/quote]

Concur on that one… Something just doesn’t feel right about them…

Full disclosure though I have a card from them… It was just to build credit… Used it only a handful of times and the number has been hijacked 3 times already. Its on my get rid of list but my credit is soooo good right now I don’t want to damage it until I’m in the 800s..

But otherwise I would have called quits long ago…

And now they have Costco… Kind of conflicted on that one…

BTW every time there is an false charge on it… Its out of NYC… go figure.

CE

[moneymaker]

I’ve come close to canceling my Costco membership several times, partly because I buy too much there and partly because a lot of bulk food ends up getting trashed, maybe this will push me into canceling, I don’t know because generally going to Costco is always a better experience than going to Walmart.

[poorgradstudent]

[quote=moneymaker]I’ve come close to canceling my Costco membership several times, partly because I buy too much there and partly because a lot of bulk food ends up getting trashed, maybe this will push me into canceling, I don’t know because generally going to Costco is always a better experience than going to Walmart.[/quote]

There definitely is a strategy to proper CostCo shopping. I’m not sure if you’re married with kids; Buying a house with a garage, getting married and having a child who now eats a decent amount of food definitely made CostCo more “worth it” for me.

There are things like Toilet Paper and Paper Towels where there are cost savings as long as you have a place to store them, with the bonus of running out of TP less than you might otherwise!

Obviously my family of 3 goes through eggs and milk a lot faster than I did as a single guy. Their organic food prices are quite good, and with three of us in the house we always go through a full bag of apples, bananas or organges.

The downside is it’s very hard to buy 100% of your grocery needs at CostCo. Some things you just don’t want or need in bulk.

[jeff303]

[quote=poorgradstudent]
There definitely is a strategy to proper CostCo shopping. I’m not sure if you’re married with kids; Buying a house with a garage, getting married and having a child who now eats a decent amount of food definitely made CostCo more “worth it” for me.

There are things like Toilet Paper and Paper Towels where there are cost savings as long as you have a place to store them, with the bonus of running out of TP less than you might otherwise!

Obviously my family of 3 goes through eggs and milk a lot faster than I did as a single guy. Their organic food prices are quite good, and with three of us in the house we always go through a full bag of apples, bananas or organges.

The downside is it’s very hard to buy 100% of your grocery needs at CostCo. Some things you just don’t want or need in bulk.[/quote]

This is all quite true. For many people, there can be that one item that makes membership worth it. Could be coffee, jeans, whatever. For my family, it’s the Nature’s Domain dog food. Huge bags of grain-free food at a far lower cost than a comparable retail product.

Also, from my experience, their produce is actually a terrible deal. We almost always find better prices (and at smaller quantities, obviously) at Northgate Market, to give one example.

I’m mildly annoyed at the upcoming credit card switch, mostly due to another credit hard pull just to switch from the Amex->whatever they come up with. I suppose I’ll still do it as long as the 2% executive member cashback transfers somewhat seamlessly.

[moneymaker]

Speaking of toilet paper, anybody else notice that it is not the same quality paper that it used to be at Costco. It is not as thick, the sheets don’t tear evenly and often I’m left with single ply instead of 2 ply. I know lots of people like organic because i see it in their carts all the time, but I actually don’t, I will not buy strawberry jam there because the only choice is organic, today I had to spend $6.99 for organic croutons (probably would have been half that price if they were not organic), granted I have not tried them yet so I won’t judge them until I do.

0

[Coronita]

[quote=moneymaker]Speaking of toilet paper, anybody else notice that it is not the same quality paper that it used to be at Costco. It is not as thick, the sheets don’t tear evenly and often I’m left with single ply instead of 2 ply. I know lots of people like organic because i see it in their carts all the time, but I actually don’t, I will not buy strawberry jam there because the only choice is organic, today I had to spend $6.99 for organic croutons (probably would have been half that price if they were not organic), granted I have not tried them yet so I won’t judge them until I do.

[/quote]
I’m surprised Costco hasn’t decided to replace the existing stash of lesser quality toilet paper with rolls of Rubles in the bulk isle. It would probably be cheaper at this point…

But anyway. Toilet paper is so low tech…

http://www.costco.com/Brondell-Swash-1000-Bidet-Toilet-Seat.product.11619404.html

[moneymaker]

By the way why is an organic banana selling for 60¢ more?

[Coronita]

Bump…

Looks like Citibank/Visa is the winner… Cool. I don’t need to reapply for a new card.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/costco-strikes-credit-card-deal-133636171.html

Costco says it struck a deal for Citi to be the exclusive issuer of its co-branded credit cards, with Visa replacing American Express as the card network.

The deal is subject to Citi buying the company’s co-branded credit card portfolio, Costco said.

Costco and American Express ended their partnership after failing to reach an agreement on renewal terms. American Express said earlier this month that the relationship, which goes back 16 years, is set to expire March 31, 2016. Costco says the deal with Visa and American Express would take effect the next day.

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