Good deal on a composter

I was at the Lincoln Park Costco yesterday and they had 80 gallon tumbling composters for $99. It's the same as this one in their online catalog.

I bought one last year and have been very happy with it. I had some issues with rodents getting into my compost pile, and this took care of the problem, and the compost finishes off much faster in the tumbler than it did in the pile.

they actually switched it out, are you sure the $99 price was for the one in the picture? i went two weeks in a row and one week they had the one you mentioned but it was $179. the next week they had a cheaper $99 one in the same exact spot in the store, i wonder if there was a lag in updating the sign? at any rate, they now have the "cheaper" model which still seems fairly sturdy (and because it's costco, if it falls apart you can just return it...)

and you can get it for $50 after rebate... the city of chicago has a rebate program on composters that'll give you $50 back. right now the rebates aren't out but they are coming out again in the next few weeks i'm told.

as of right now they haven't updated it to include the 2011 rebate forms, but the lady at the city who e-mailed last week said the new forms should be up mid-april. from the text in both her e-mail and the site it sounds like you can buy them now and get the rebate when forms come out ...

http://www.cityofchicago.org/city/en/depts/doe/provdrs/nat_res/svcs/how_can_i_get_a_rainbarrelorcompostbinrebateform.html

I haven't looked extremely closely at the ones on display this year, but they are the same brand and in the same box as the one I bought there last year for the same price (which is the one I linked to - without the tools). I'll take a closer look next time I'm there, but the one on display was virtually indistinguishable from what I bought last year. If they have switched them out I'll have take a look at the differences between the models, the quality of the one that I got is good enough for me to like the manufacturer in general.

Great info on the rebate!

the one you're referring to is the Lifetine one that looks very durable... the one they had replaced that with as of this past weekend looked vaguely like this: http://tinyurl.com/62fscjw but i don't know what brand it was. I don't see it on their site. If it's the same brand as that amazon link i'd say it's probably not even that great of a deal from costco, other than the fact that you can return it at whim. Reviews on amazon are pretty mediocre too but it sounds like it's the assembly process that people are not happy with more so than the product.

Oh yeah - that's not the one I saw. That does look kinda cheap.

They had loads of the one I posted a link to right by the front entrance 3-4 weeks ago and then moved them towards the center of the store (in that seasonal row over by the chicken, deli meats, etc.). There were about a dozen or so left as of last Thursday.

I bought the Suncast tumbling composter at the Melrose Park Costco today. The shelf price was $99, but it rang up as $86.99.

The reviews at Walmart were very good:
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Suncast-Tumbl ... revshr_001

But, as mentioned above, according to the reviews on Amazon, the assembly is very bad:
http://www.amazon.com/Suncast-TCB6800-C ... 585&sr=8-1

My husband is exceptionally handy, so I will consult with him before taking it back. I'm off to explore the rebate next...

Cheers, Jen

Edited to add: my husband found the assembly involved, but not particularly difficult. It took him about an hour and a half, which includes some "help" from our 6-year-old. There are lots of parts, but the instructions are easy to follow. He said the construction was good, but not superb (the plastic parts are made in Batavia, the metal parts are made in China). I'm loading it today.

The rebate forms for composters are up on the City of Chicago website. Happy Composting!

Jen

http://www.cityofchicago.org/city/en/de ... eform.html

i ended up picking up the suncast composter @ lincoln park last night... it's $86.. the durable black one seems to be long gone.

this one actually looks a lot more durable than i expected.. it actually feels quite solid, but in looking at it i can see why people say it's a PITA to assemble. a bunch of bolts/screws, but at least they look like they're all one of two types so it's just tedious not mind numbing too :p

still, though, with the city rebate at half off it's a good deal.

i just got the check for the rebate from the city on the composter on Friday... signed by Rahm himself! ;p

Picked up the black Lifetime composter at the Lake in the Hills Costco for $69 last night. (They had 3 or 4 left)

I have a compost bin I would like to rehome. Thought I'd offer here before freecycle. It is similar to this one. http://www.townofgreenfield.org/pages/g ... pw/compost

Pick up near North and Harlem. Pm if you are interested. I'll post when it's gone.

Marmish wrote:I have a compost bin I would like to rehome. Thought I'd offer here before freecycle. It is similar to this one. http://www.townofgreenfield.org/pages/g ... pw/compost

Pick up near North and Harlem. Pm if you are interested. I'll post when it's gone.

Composter has gone off to live in it's new home. Thanks Pat!

Marmish wrote:

Marmish wrote:I have a compost bin I would like to rehome. Thought I'd offer here before freecycle. It is similar to this one. http://www.townofgreenfield.org/pages/g ... pw/compost

Pick up near North and Harlem. Pm if you are interested. I'll post when it's gone.

Composter has gone off to live in it's new home. Thanks Pat!

Thanks Beth. It will soon be making many earthworms happy!