Exactly ....that is the company’s intent

If one drives to, parks at and negotiates the crowds at a Costco....just to get a $1.50 hot dog and not spend a dime in the store itself.....it may be more of a clinical issue !
I remember when Dave Portnoy did a Barstool pizza review at Costco and basically took one bite and Gronk spiked the rest into the pavement . This stuff is not worth the effort.

I tried the Costco hot dog combo once. On the basis of volume of food vs. cost, it was an awesome deal. On the basis of how good the hot dog tasted, it was pretty bad. I burped so much afterwards that it felt like I'd eaten a balloon full of gas rather than an actual hot dog. I've never bothered with one again. Their frozen yogurt, on the other hand, is quite good and you get a ridiculously large cone (more than my wife and I can eat) for a very reasonable fee.

I had read a few years ago that they introduced a good-sized hamburger in their food stand and was looking forward to trying it but I've never seen one offered in any of the various Costco locations I've shopped. Oh well!

Count the wife and I among those looking forward to having Costco in The Villages. Yes, it will be crowded and busy but we generally find we like them more than Sam's Club (of which we are members) or BJ's Warehouse (of which we have been members in the past). They just seem to have a bigger variety of stuff we like, slightly better prices and much more enthusiastic and helpful employees. The latter is no doubt helped by the fact that they pay their employees substantially better than the other two companies.

yet, here you are.

:coolsmiley:

Not so fast! When Sam's (or Costco) sells a package of hot dogs and buns, they are priced to have a certain profit margin, so that cost of $1.30 you calculated has a profit already built in. I don't know what the profit margin is, but I'd bet it's enough to pay for the soda and food preparation labor. Doubt that they're losing money.

Absolutely there is profit built in. A typical store markup is 15% and a net profit margin of 2.2%. This means the $1.30 price that I pay for the hot dog and bun started as a $1.13 cost to the store and resulted in a $0.03 profit for the store. Now, that was for a package of 12 dogs so the profit per dog is $0.002.

Do we think costco (or sam's) has a higher profit margin than Publix or WInn Dixie?

They sell the hot dog combo for $1.50 but that also includes a soda. If the store makes $0.002 if I simply pay $1.30 for the dogs and buns and walk out of the store, then the additional $0.20 has to pay for the soda itself, the supplies I used (the cup, the straw, the napkins, and the condiments), and all the labor that went into cooking the hot dog, placing it into the bun, wrapping it, and handing it to me.

I suspect any of those three (the soda, supplies, or labor) would amount to more than $0.20. Certainly, all three combined add up to more than $0.20. I don't see how they
*aren't* losing money on this. But they certainly know that and choose to do it anyway.

In looking into this I saw an analysis that claimed that the combo that cost $1.50 in 1985 should cost over $4 today.

There’s an old saying, you get what you paid for!

Here comes that popsicle headache!

I buy an 8 pack of Fenway Franks for 3.99 and a .99 cent 8 pack of hot dog rolls at a major grocer ‘up north’! Coupled with a 2 liter of whatever at about $1.59. I believe that’s about .82 cents a serving...at home. Plus they sell a snack size of Frito Lay products 4 for $1 if I really wanna complete the trifecta. But....I get it... nothing says living TV dream like driving in extreme heat, battling like minded patrons for a 1.50 combo deal of mystery meat on a saw dust delivery instrument! Costco...like most majors....always wins

Keep going to that store, those prices are much lower than here!

I actually like Sam's hotdogs. I don't eat them on the way in. I pick one up on the way out. From the pharmacy, where I get some of my prescriptions. I'm not a member of Sam's club, I can't get there by golf cart (legally) and I pay less for gas at BJ's, where I /can/ get to (legally) by golf cart.

I did have a Sam's membership one year because they had a special. That was before I used their pharmacy. I might've gone there five times the entire year. It just wasn't worth the membership fee for me to continue. Mostly when I did shop, it was to get a pack of their hotdogs.

BJ's dogs aren't as good, and hubby actually likes Parkland, which are dirt cheap at Aldi's. But BJ's does have the frozen coke machine, so once in awhile I'll get a hotdog combo with a frozen coke upgrade.

The profit margin takes into account the cost of processing returns, sending merchandise back to the manufacturer or liquidating defective items and all the administrative and paperwork that go with it. Who returns hot dogs? I believe the margin on most of the foods is much more than 2.2%. Costco often has sales on their food items, sometimes a 25-30% discount, and they're making money even on the sale price. They used to use the Hebrew National dogs, but then switched to their own Kirkland brand, which would have an even higher margin. Whatever the case, I wish Costco would find a bun that matches the size of the hot dog!!

Costco, Sams and BJ chickens all are about 3 pounds and to me they taste about the same

Have never had a hotdog at HD, or Costco, but not on my list of foods to consume from hot water bath. Only time I will consume is a coney dog, mustard and onion, with coney cheese fries.

But will get a frozen mocha, and battle with sugar high for hours on end.

As far as chickens, Had to return twice to BJs undercooked, unusual for that issue but not again.

I do miss Costco chicken Caesar salad in the snack area

Sam’s chicken has less seasoning than Costco, and Costco does weigh slightly more.(yes I use a scale to make cat food)

I don’t eat hot dogs anymore, but when I lived in Pennsylvania, the hot dog and soda combo at the local Sam’s Club was also $1.50, and last year, I read, it dropped to $1.38. And those Sam’s Club hot dogs were huge, juicy, and delicious. Certainly better than the supposedly gourmet hot dogs sold at one restaurant in Pinellas Plaza that mostly tastes like salt. If they sell the same ones at Sam’s Club here, try one! They are to die for. Literally.

No disrespect of Costco intended.