When I heard CostCo had opened a few branches in the UK, I nearly lost it ! It brought back…read morememories of the USA .. Sweet sweet memories ! CostCo is a large retail store selling items mostly in bulk from toothpaste, drinks, crisp, cereal to singular items such as perfumes/colognes, clothes, TV, jewellery etc. If you want to waste money, go to CostCo! I went to the one in Derby and although it had many items and it was a reasonably humongous store, it's nothing compared to the USA especially the free samples! There is also a Pizza Parlour where one can have freshly made pizza made by CostCo staff. I've heard they're good but never tried any so when you do , let me know! There are too many good things to say about CostCo but that'll fill a few pages. However, the negative is that it's members only and one has to be one of the following as far as I can remember : Occupation: Bank/Finance Education Local government / police force / fire and rescue service Civil service / armed forces Post office Medical health service such as the NHS Airline Insurance Qualified as : Certified or chartered Accountant Doctors / opticians / dentist / pharmacist Chartered architect Chartered engineer / civil etc Chartered surveyor Individual membership costs around £30 including VAT whilst Trade costs £24 a year. The CostCo Gold card would be double the prices at a slight discount. Note: * Be wary of the VAT as it's not included in the prices however, the total sum is always summarised near the product. * The owner and primary user of the membership card can take two people in with them when shopping at a time. If it's children, they have to be under 16 and can go in as two pairs.

Costco is great, and Costco Derby is probably my favourite. It's got everything you would except…read morefrom a Costco but because it seems to get less busy, it's a much less stressful experience than say, Costco Glasgow! Don't forget your hot dog when you leave!

Large, warehouse-style buying in bulk shopping trips are de rigeur in suburban America, especially…read morewhen you have 5 children, like my mother. So Costco and Sam's Club (Costco's arch-rival in the US) shopping trips were a fond part of my childhood; mainly for the food samples and 10-packs of chocolate bars. Costco is the first of its type in Birmingham, if you disclude "cash and carry" stores, which are really another thing all together. It works like this, yo: You go into the store. You fill out a membership application. You can join (often for free) through an employer or union, or on your own. The annual fee is £25 for individuals, and slightly more for businesses. Then you grab an enormous trolley and start shopping. Costco carries an assortment of goods, ranging from electronics to lighting, tobacco to food to 125 paper plates for £2. I would imagine people with large familes could do their weekly shop in Costco, only getting a few miscellaneous items from a smaller shop. My husband and I typically buy things like wine, bread, washing up liquid, loo roll and kitchen roll from Costco. On these items, the prices tend to be very reasonable, and cheaper than buying individually in a grocery store. Bulk buying can go to a shopper's head, however. Who doesn't need a three-pack of curry seasoning?? So as a veteran bulk shopper, I encourage people to do their research, or at least have a think before you buy. If you need a lot of something, Costco is a no-brainer, especially if you can't find it cheaper locally. But not all products bought in bulk are more economical than their individual counterparts. Costco provides labels with price-per-unit and price-per-weight, which should be perused carefully. All the staff at Costco are very helpful, from the fresh deli and bakery counters to the checkouts. It's a really fun shopping experience -- much more enjoyable than getting one's ankles rammed by a hyper child wielding a trolley in Morrison's.

Costco is simply mahooosive!, Its basically a very large wholesale store that sells an enormous…read morerange of goods, from car tyres to TVs to bulk food items and drink cases. There is even a small cafe beyond the tills where you can get a coffee or a slice of pizza, a full pizza and lots of yummy 'american' treats when your shopping is done. It's especially good if you want to buy food and drink for a party or an event where you have a lot of guests. the cakes are huge and very good value, and the drink is cheaper than you'd find elsewhere. If you're lucky and go at the right time, they often have little taster counters set around the store where you can sample different products before you buy. It is a case of buying in bulk, and i understand that not everyone wants to buy a catering-sized jar of mayonnaise or 48 toilet rolls all at once! But if you can share with a friend then it is extremely good value for money. A warning about the prices though the main price you see on the labels doesn't include VAT, so make sure you check the price further down in smaller print, or you could be in for a shock at the checkout. But if you an exclusive business member like me you can claim back you VAT Expenses. and i also get a 2% return on all my spend annually. Yes you do have become a member before you can enter the store its £25 for the cheapest individual membership but a member is allowed to add a second person to their card for half price, so if you know someone who already has a card or can team up to join with a friend then it will work out cheaper. Great Tip is that as long as your a member they have record of all your purchases from the past 5 years. you can walk in with a product u brought years ago and get a full refund.

Have been using Greetings House as the supplier for my business for around a month now and I cannot…read morefault their services at all. The staff are so kind and helpful, the prices are fantastic and top of the market and products are always brilliant quality. I recently decided to switch helium suppliers and have decided to use Greetings house due to their unbeatable pricing. Penny was extremely helpful in finding me the canister that I required. She spent around an hour liaising with my local suppliers to arrange this for me. Checked that I had the correct nozzle attachment and placed the order for me. Cannot thank greetings house & Penny enough!!

Oh wow. I have found crafty heaven and it is a trade…read morewarehouse in the Midlands. This place has every arts supply and events decor piece your heart could possibly desire - sequinned ribbons to artificial peonies to bubble wrap to cards and invitations. Everything comes in 30 different colours and is bought wholesale, so you can buy in bulk if you so desire and also keeps it affordable. We raided it for supplies for my sister's wedding - high quality paper and card for the table plan (home-made by my own fair hand!), a box of 50 wedding confetti pouches (such good value), 15 pretty jars and a tonne of coloured beads for centrepieces, artificial cherry blossom branches (they just fitted the theme), and a lifetime's supply of blu-tack. And that was only the first of several (awesome) trips. Here's the big fat catch though - you can only get in if you're a business owner as it's officially aimed at trade buyers not amateur craft enthusiasts like me. In this case I had a useful aunt with a shop who registered for an account and brought us along. You still can't just wander in though - you need to show ID and leave any bags in lockers. And thus its existence has remained a closely guarded secret ;) Looking forward to any excuse to get to go back!

I'd been looking at switching to e-cigs from smoking for a while and late last year I took the…read moreplunge. There are many e-cig shops near where I live, but lots of people had recommended going to Grey Haze, so I felt that the trip to Digbeth would be worth it. From the start I was very open, letting the chap behind the counter know that apart from knowing that I wanted to buy an e-Go type of e-cig that I didn't know much about e-cigs at all! The staff member was excellent in helping me to make a choice based on my budget and my usual cigarette intake, spending a lot of time to make sure that I had a product that was the best for me. With variable wattage and voltage, and with a long battery life I took the option of an Innoken iTaste. 'And what vaping liquid would Sir like? Berry? Menthol? Custard?' 'CUSTARD?' Yes, the range of liquids is vast. Grey Haze have their own brand and lots of others too. Call me old-fashioned but I opted for Cubano, the nearest thing that you'll get to the taste of a cigar. As well as ecigs, Grey Haze specialize in 'Mods'. These are the vaper'' version of a sports car-Expensive and flashy looking devices that produce huge clouds of vapour. Lots of the products come with fully charged batteries so you can start vaping straight away. A money tip: I managed to haggle an upgrade AND a discount to a round figure. It might have helped that I was paying in cash. Either way, as Dan G. suggests, do take cash with you as the temperamental card machine, (it's hooked up to wifi and is slow when the wifi point is being used by the computer), was still being temperamental almost three months after his review.

Having relatively recently switched from smoking to ecigs/vaping I was somewhat overwhelmed by the…read moreamount of different types of kit and eliquid out there. A couple of people had recommended Grey Haze in Digbeth to me so I popped in to have a look. The staff are great, really friendly and knowledgeable - not at all condescending or patronising to a noob like me! A great selection of stock and competitive prices really set this place apart, there's a shop (who's name I won't mention) just round the corner from me and whilst it's convenient their prices and quality just can't compare. So far I've only tried their own brand of eliquid which I've found to be excellent and reasonably priced (on a par with most online sellers but without the shipping costs and delay of shipping), and it's 3 x 10ml bottles for a tenner on Tuesdays and Thursdays which is an absolute steal - and with 50+ flavours of their own brand and several other brands to choose from as well (which are a bit more expensive) there's plenty to keep me going back. Oh, their card machine was being temperamental when I was in - it's probably worth taking cash as there aren't any free cash points around.

Places like this can be a goldmine for amateur and experienced entrepreneurs. The stock is varied…read morebut falls mainly under the categories of clothing, accessories and jewellery. I admit some of the stock is relatively worthless, however if your visit falls upon the arrival of some stock that is worth something you could be in the money. I have the feeling that you only get what is there when it's there, so it is really an opportunist's heaven, as with a bit of lateral thinking and some acumen potentially you could make a lucrative find - making a million out of some decorative bangles or something . . . perhaps not? But it's certainly venturing down the right road towards such an aim. For those who trade regularly and for those who are resourceful when it comes to earning extra money, here's a place worth looking at.