Found a Food Co-op in the Area and Questions

thew8isover

Has anyone joined their co-op?  If so other than helping out the community, do you think it was worth it financially?

I'm not sure if all co-ops are the same, but this one is only $100 to join, that's lifetime, and you get anywhere from 2-20% off the items you buy. 

Now product questions.  Has anyone used Ecover's laundry detergent?  This co-op has a lot of 7th Gen and Ecover products.  I was originally going to get Green Shield's disposible wips and laundry detergent, but wanted to get reviews n Ecover.  Lastly, they have anti-static reuseable dryer cloths.  It says you could use it for hundreds of loads.  Has anyone used these?

 Thanks

kelbrian

Our co-op is $500, but they allow a payment plan.

I think that it's worth it for the discounts. It's right down the street from us, and we shop there often. They put different items on discount for members each week, and you get an automatic 10% discount every time you shop there.

I like Ecover dish soap, but that is all I've used of theirs; I like it. I use Seventh Generation laundry detergent and love it. 

brideofaussie

Wow.  That is really cheap.  I think the one in my city is $350.

papiercherri

Our co-op is only $90 for a lifetime membership.  It used to be $250 (which is what I had to pay, damnit) but I think they realized that this is such a small rural area that not many people could quite fathom $250.  It's been much easier to get more people to come into the co-op with the smaller fee.

I get 10% off bulk orders (special order items they don't carry but will order) and a monthly newsletter with member specials.  They also send a monthly newsletter with sale items that are on sale for the general public also.

I do think it's worth it.  Some of the items I order in bulk I go in with other people....like my mom and sister....they give me 1/3 of the total and we all split it.  The monthly member specials are good prices also. 

My favorite thing at my co-op is the bulk bins...grains, spices, nut butters, pasta, etc.  It's pretty much the same price as the regular crap at Kroger.  Especially if they have a member special, I wonder why I ever bought the regular stuff at big name stores.

 

GRKaters

We belong to our co-op. It's $35/year. Never tried the laundry products--they are locally made--since we use it mostly for fresh local produce.

 

chw57

Ours is $25/year or $300 lifetime (either way after 12 years you stop paying).  We get 3.5% off everything, all the time, and one day a month we pick a day and get 7% off everything we buy that day. 

I've never tried Ecover laundry detergent (just their dish soap, which I love)...we use 7th Gen laundry detergent

flame

Our is only $15 a year, or $300 lifetime. After 21 years they count you as a lifetime member, either way.

Our co-op is definitely worth it.  We get member-only discounts on specific items (they change every week), plus a booklet of coupons every month and case discounts.  But we also get a 5% rebate back every year.  i like our co-op because most of their meats are local and 50% of their produce is local.  They also stock local dairy items and prepared foods. They do a lot of work in the state on community agriculture issues and help incubate companies, so we have lots of small local businesses that do a lot of business with them - farms, dairies, jam makers, bakers, etc. Plus, our co-op sells a lot of garden supplies and seedlings.

We use Ecover dishwashing detergent and cleaners.  I've never used their laundry detergent - we use Ecos for that. And we line dry, so dryer sheets are a not used in our house. 

michiganderrd

Ours is $35/yr with a 5% surchange on what we order. 

The Mrs.E

My co-op is $90 for life.  I questioned whether it was worth it until they told me that you have the option of selling back your shares for a full refund at any time.  With that option it is absolutely worth it.

thew8isover

I forgot about that option.  Thanks