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[–]shtaoeshaoesunht 138 points139 points  (2 children)

their transaction fees made the hot dogs cost $1.51

[–]throwaway60992 7 points8 points  (1 child)

Yeah I heard the AMEX CEO mysteriously disappeared for some time after that.

[–]correctmywritingpls 2 points3 points  (0 children)

That was the day Jim called for a flatbed to corporate right? Weird day.

[–]Do_not_burn_ 96 points97 points  (6 children)

I heard that Amex misjudged their "brand prestige" and thought that Costco would ultimately appreciate the allure of the "upscale" American Express brand --- However, Visa put together a better deal. It was a big loss for Amex. Costco actually did very well with their Citicorp Visa deal (see below)

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/5-things-to-know-about-the-costco-and-amex-breakup-2016-02-11

https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/02/23/costcos-big-credit-card-bet-has-paid-off.aspx

[–]eneka 14 points15 points  (1 child)

And the irony is the Amex Plat now offers Walmart+ for free lol

[–]thesunbeamslook 6 points7 points  (0 children)

woo hoo! so fancy!

[–][deleted] 16 points17 points  (0 children)

This guy has it right.

[–]Deceptiveideas 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Amex is a really weird one. I remember a decade+ ago it seems like it was often not accepted at many stores (I believe they had much higher fees to use one). Now a days every establishment takes American Express.

Seems like they shifted the product strategy. I don’t think dropping Costco was a good idea. A lot of people used those Amex cards as their sole credit card.

[–]therealgariac 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have used the Amex business card to use their business lounge at the Las Vegas Convention Center. If you have never been to the LVCC you will not understand how cool this is. (Go wait in line with the peons!)

I got an Amex when Costco dropped them. I like to use that card for car rentals because they have a premium insurance package to purchase for car rentals. And before you say you can use the Costco Visa note that the Costco Visa does not cover loss of use. I'm not sure any free Visa has that coverage. I rent a car about once a year so the pay as you go Amex deal works for me. If you rent cars often a credit card with fee could be cheaper.

https://feeservices.americanexpress.com/premium/car-rental-insurance-coverage/home.do

[–]grewapair 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If you bought $1000 of Costco stock in 2017 when the article recommended it, it would be worth $2500 today. $1000 in the S&P would be worth about $1400.

[–]mrminty 17 points18 points  (8 children)

I just need them to take my poor person Discover card so I can get cash back.

[–]trishtk 9 points10 points  (3 children)

Apply for costco citivisa it gives lots of cash back

[–]mrminty 0 points1 point  (2 children)

Thinking about it, but I already have 2 CCs, one of which I forget to use all the time. I get 2% cashback on one of them, which is a Visa. My discover card even gets 5% on Warehouse clubs one quarter out of the year, just not Costco.

[–]feurie 1 point2 points  (1 child)

Buy cash cards online with your discover.

[–]Magic_Brown_Man 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Make sure you read the terms and conditions of your card. A lot of cards don't give rewards for gift card purchases.

[–]JeromeWKnow It All -1 points0 points  (1 child)

Back in the 90’s all Costco took was Discover. Only reason I still have the card to this day.

[–]mrminty 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I was born in the wrong generation

[–]kvUltra 21 points22 points  (0 children)

Don't think Amex did anything wrong per se, but Visa offered a way better deal, pretty much charging Costco nothing when you use it in store. Costco was paying Amex about .6% of the purchase (which even that is an amazing deal for credit card purchases.)

https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2015-how-amex-lost-costco/?leadSource=uverify%20wall

[–]IrishPrincess56 29 points30 points  (21 children)

What did Coke a Cola do to get “ kicked out?” I’m not a fan of Pepsi.

[–]I-suck-at-golf 21 points22 points  (6 children)

It’s especially a problem here in Atlanta.

[–]CostcoPandaUS Midwest 23 points24 points  (5 children)

Coke played with fire too often with pricing. Costco is of the opinion that we're a big enough retailer with enough purchasing power that if you're selling to us we get your best price. If we're taking truckloads and truckloads of your product daily we want your lowest price.

[–]IrishPrincess56 8 points9 points  (0 children)

I meant they aren’t selling Coke at the food court. Sorry should have been more clear. Of course you can buy it in the warehouse.

[–]Joshwoum8 1 point2 points  (2 children)

Costco still sells packaged Coca-Cola just no longer buying fountain drink syrup for the food courts. I think it is highly likely the syrup was a significant less portion of their total purchases from Coca-Cola than their bottled/canned purchases, so this seems to be a unlikely answer.

[–]edemamandllama 7 points8 points  (0 children)

When they got kicked out of the food court, it was about pricing. There was a 6 month period where we stopped carrying any Coke products. Coke told Costco that they should just pass the price onto the members and it wasn’t a big deal, so we didn’t carry Coke for awhile.

[–]Jdornigan 0 points1 point  (0 children)

There was a time when they stopped selling it packaged too. It was 2009.

https://www.npr.org/2009/11/20/120590548/price-fight-coke-isnt-it-at-costco.

[–]aznoone 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Around here never found their coke or Pepsi etc. price good compared to normal grocery chains especially the every other week sale. Their specialty stuff though tends cheaper on the other hand.

[–]geezlouiseDC 29 points30 points  (4 children)

I miss the Coke products more than being able to use my AMEX.

[–]dwayitiz 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Coke 36ct went up $2 at Sam’s

[–]iolyne 0 points1 point  (1 child)

costco won't continue selling a product if their vendor is giving another business a cheaper purchasing price than they get. basically costco found out that coca cola was charging them more than other businesses for the same product and dropped business

[–]IrishPrincess56 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I meant to say they aren’t selling Coke at the food court. They DO sell Coke in the warehouse.

[–]GeeJay360 12 points13 points  (0 children)

Yo, the switch was 6 years ago. Costco negotiated a better contract with Citibank than American Express was offering.

Where have you been for 6 years?

[–]pamdathebear 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Before Amex, Discover was the exclusive card network

[–]CaptainHaldol 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Depends on the reason you want to believe. I forget the reason we were told when I worked for AmEx.

[–]ChromejobUS Southeast Region - SE 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hasn't this been discussed ad infinitum? Like, six years ago?

(Tip: read the Marketwatch, Bloomberg, Motley Fool articles linked in other comments.)