Not the hostel in Amsterdam
If you live near a Costco, are a member, and shop there regularly, this post is not for you. Go back to your oversized and happy life.
If you are missing one of those conditions, you may be interested in the Flying Pig delivery service.
I’ve been a customer for over ten years now, and overall I am pretty happy with the service. The Flying Pig has always treated me well, and has regularly supplied me with coffee, frozen fruit, meat, Christmas turkeys (before I discovered The Meat Guy), and bread products. On rare occasions when we’ve had a problem, they always dealt with it quickly and satisfactorily.
So what is the Flying Pig? It’s basically a service where people will go to Costco, buy stuff for you, and ship it to you.
The main advantage is convenience. You don’t need to go to Costco or live near one, and you don’t need to be a member.
The main disadvantage is cost. The Flying Pig increases the price of everything on their website (I think by 20-30%) over the Costco price, and also charges for delivery. I presume they don’t feature everything you might find in Costco on their site either, which is probably a mixed blessing (no random extra purchases on impulse).
Basically the only thing I need from Costco is coffee beans. I get the Kirkland Starbucks Espresso Roast 1-kg bags to fuel my 5-cup a day habit.
Last year a Costco opened about fifteen minutes’ drive from my house. I haven’t been there yet, but I’m considering it. The markup and shipping on a big coffee order would probably pay for my membership. On the other hand, I would probably buy several times that in random unnecessary items that then won’t fit in my fridge.
If you don’t live near a Costco, though, you might want to take a look at The Flying Pig. If you’re happy paying their prices the service should satisfy you.
Anyone else a customer? How have you found the service so far?
Hello Mr Shearon!
I discovered your site recently, and it is very interesting to say the least!
Thanks to you I discovered two new service today.
I’ve looked for way to decrease my grocery bill, however it seems The Meat Guy is kind of expensive. It’s a good service for holidays and parties I guess!
As for the The Flying Pig, I haven’t looked at every product but the margin of the operating company seems to make what’s worthy of Costco (the price), kind of obsolete. What’s your take on that? Do you think on the long term it’s still a good investment or not?
Hi Alexandre
Thanks for the kind words. I completely agree with you. The Meat Guy is for special occasions for me, and the Flying Pig makes sense for some items only (especially coffee beans and frozen fruit/vegetables).
If you want to save money on groceries, try going to the supermarket about an hour before it closes. You can often get great discounts on meat, fish, bread, and other perishable products.
Hi Ben,
In a similar vein, shopping for healthy food I use iherb.com. Besides the usual supplements, they sell a variety of organic coffees, grains, nut butters and jams, and other groceries — orders over $60 are shipped FREE to Japan.
One caveat, don’t order over ¥16,000 or you’ll have to pay customs duties. With the free shipping just make sure to split large orders.
If you have Amazon Prime, there are lots of products on Amazon Japan, too, including the Costco ‘Kirkland’ brand, though don’t know how the price compares to Flying Pig.
Can’t help with meat ideas, been a vegetarian since ’69<grin>…
Om Tao,
Steve
Have you tried YoYo Mart? They also provided Costco items and I think the prices are okay – of course there is a mark-up! Also, FBC also stocks a limited range of Costco Food.
Hi Vikki
Tried them a long time ago when they first opened and wasn’t impressed enough with them to switch -they may have gotten better though 🙂
They’re now called Hilo Market. They often have things that FlyingPig doesn’t (although the reverse is also true), and they charge differently for shipping — I usually fill similar or identical “shopping carts” on both sites to see which is cheaper. Sometimes it’s minimal, sometimes pretty dramatic.
Foreign Buyers’ Club is more expensive, but a good bet for getting really hard-to-get items. Lately I’m also getting a ton of use out of iHerb.com.
Interesting. You’re the second person to mention iHerb.com. Time for me to check them out, methinks!
Hi Steve
That sounds great! I will definitely check them out 🙂
Ditto for the Kirkland coffee on Amazon. That may solve my dilemma…