SEGMENTS (Details) (USD $)	3 Months Ended										12 Months Ended
	Aug. 31, 2012 Country		May 31, 2012	Feb. 29, 2012	Nov. 30, 2011	Aug. 31, 2011		May 31, 2011	Feb. 28, 2011	Nov. 30, 2010	Aug. 31, 2012 Country		Aug. 31, 2011		Aug. 31, 2010
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Number of countries	13										13
Segment Reporting Information
Revenue from external customers											$ 2,050,745,000		$ 1,714,247,000		$ 1,395,891,000
Intersegment revenues											0		0		0
Depreciation and amortization											23,739,000	[1]	21,154,000	[2]	15,260,000
Operating income											107,926,000		88,556,000		73,360,000
Interest income from external sources											908,000		852,000		553,000
Interest income from intersegment sources											0		0		0
Interest expense from external sources											5,283,000		3,916,000		2,723,000
Interest expense from intersegment sources											0		0		0
Provision for income taxes											35,053,000		27,468,000	[3]	22,787,000
Net income attributable to PriceSmart	17,706,000		15,706,000	20,220,000	13,989,000	12,690,000		16,290,000	17,917,000	14,853,000	67,621,000		61,750,000		49,315,000
Long-lived assets (other than deferred tax assets)	384,263,000					354,551,000					384,263,000		354,551,000		321,087,000
Goodwill	36,886,000					37,361,000					36,886,000		37,361,000		37,471,000
Investments in uncolsolidated affiliates	7,559,000					8,063,000					7,559,000		8,063,000		8,091,000
Identifiable assets	735,712,000					664,328,000					735,712,000		664,328,000		572,565,000
Capital expenditures											52,705,000		47,033,000		50,207,000
United States Operations
Segment Reporting Information
Revenue from external customers											15,320,000		8,892,000		4,199,000
Intersegment revenues											766,462,000		638,684,000		487,042,000
Depreciation and amortization											1,782,000	[1]	1,171,000	[2]	953,000
Operating income											30,750,000		25,251,000		16,443,000
Interest income from external sources											220,000		117,000		135,000
Interest income from intersegment sources											2,430,000		2,946,000		3,378,000
Interest expense from external sources											25,000		77,000		28,000
Interest expense from intersegment sources											62,000		0		120,000
Provision for income taxes											10,720,000		5,357,000	[3]	6,742,000
Net income attributable to PriceSmart											20,220,000		22,753,000		12,882,000
Long-lived assets (other than deferred tax assets)	17,781,000					38,601,000					17,781,000		38,601,000		27,484,000
Goodwill	0					0					0		0		0
Investments in uncolsolidated affiliates	0					0					0		0		0
Identifiable assets	87,467,000					63,154,000					87,467,000		63,154,000		65,635,000
Capital expenditures											1,972,000		4,979,000		4,283,000
Latin American Operations
Segment Reporting Information
Revenue from external customers											1,341,688,000		1,081,830,000		856,994,000
Intersegment revenues											40,000		0		0
Depreciation and amortization											11,655,000	[1]	11,683,000	[2]	8,341,000
Operating income											57,657,000		48,796,000		41,885,000
Interest income from external sources											611,000		624,000		306,000
Interest income from intersegment sources											386,000		1,076,000		1,057,000
Interest expense from external sources											4,148,000		2,648,000		2,288,000
Interest expense from intersegment sources											464,000		1,164,000		1,900,000
Provision for income taxes											18,226,000		18,539,000	[3]	11,466,000
Net income attributable to PriceSmart											33,264,000		30,471,000		27,294,000
Long-lived assets (other than deferred tax assets)	249,925,000					192,594,000					249,925,000		192,594,000		173,968,000
Goodwill	31,760,000					32,152,000					31,760,000		32,152,000		32,247,000
Investments in uncolsolidated affiliates	7,559,000					8,063,000					7,559,000		8,063,000		8,091,000
Identifiable assets	441,857,000					388,325,000					441,857,000		388,325,000		305,429,000
Capital expenditures											42,116,000		28,940,000		15,400,000
Caribbean Operations
Segment Reporting Information
Revenue from external customers											693,737,000		623,525,000		534,698,000
Intersegment revenues											4,726,000		4,875,000		3,923,000
Depreciation and amortization											10,302,000	[1]	8,300,000	[2]	5,966,000
Operating income											19,519,000		14,509,000		15,032,000
Interest income from external sources											77,000		111,000		112,000
Interest income from intersegment sources											536,000		290,000		417,000
Interest expense from external sources											1,110,000		1,191,000		407,000
Interest expense from intersegment sources											2,826,000		3,148,000		2,832,000
Provision for income taxes											6,107,000		3,572,000	[3]	4,579,000
Net income attributable to PriceSmart											14,137,000		8,526,000		9,139,000
Long-lived assets (other than deferred tax assets)	116,557,000					123,356,000					116,557,000		123,356,000		119,635,000
Goodwill	5,126,000					5,209,000					5,126,000		5,209,000		5,224,000
Investments in uncolsolidated affiliates	0					0					0		0		0
Identifiable assets	206,388,000					212,849,000					206,388,000		212,849,000		201,501,000
Capital expenditures											8,617,000		13,114,000		30,524,000
Reconciling Items
Segment Reporting Information
Revenue from external customers											0	[4]	0	[4]	0	[4]
Intersegment revenues											(771,228,000)	[4]	(643,559,000)	[4]	(490,965,000)	[4]
Depreciation and amortization											0	[1],[4]	0	[2],[4]	0	[4]
Operating income											0	[4]	0	[4]	0	[4]
Interest income from external sources											0	[4]	0	[4]	0	[4]
Interest income from intersegment sources											(3,352,000)	[4]	(4,312,000)	[4]	(4,852,000)	[4]
Interest expense from external sources											0	[4]	0	[4]	0	[4]
Interest expense from intersegment sources											(3,352,000)	[4]	(4,312,000)	[4]	(4,852,000)	[4]
Provision for income taxes											0	[4]	0	[3],[4]	0	[4]
Net income attributable to PriceSmart											0	[4]	0	[4]	0	[4]
Long-lived assets (other than deferred tax assets)	0	[4]				0	[4]				0	[4]	0	[4]	0	[4]
Goodwill	0	[4]				0	[4]				0	[4]	0	[4]	0	[4]
Investments in uncolsolidated affiliates	0	[4]				0	[4]				0	[4]	0	[4]	0	[4]
Identifiable assets	0	[4]				0	[4]				0	[4]	0	[4]	0	[4]
Capital expenditures											0	[4]	0	[4]	0	[4]
Restatement Adjustment
Segment Reporting Information
Depreciation and amortization													2,300,000
Provision for income taxes													3,100,000
Net income attributable to PriceSmart													800,000
Restatement Adjustment | United States Operations
Segment Reporting Information
Provision for income taxes													(3,200,000)
Restatement Adjustment | Latin American Operations
Segment Reporting Information
Depreciation and amortization											313,000		2,000,000
Restatement Adjustment | Caribbean Operations
Segment Reporting Information
Depreciation and amortization											$ 1,100,000		$ 235,000

[1] Includes a $1.1 million error that increased expenses in the Caribbean operations and a $313,000 error that increased expenses in the Latin America operations both of which were related to prior periods. See Note 1- Company Overview and Basis of Presentation.

[2] Includes a $2.0 million and $235,000 error that increased expense in the Latin America and Caribbean operations, respectively, related to prior periods. See Note 1 - Company Overview and Basis of Presentation.

[3] Includes a $3.2 million error that decreased expense in the United States operations related to prior periods. See Note 1 - Company Overview and Basis of Presentation.

[4] The reconciling items reflect the amount eliminated on consolidation of intersegment transactions.