I love Costco. I remember, as a kid, going to Price Clubs in Setauket, New York; and being marveled at how massive the store was.
Turbotax Home And Business 2015 Costco is a free windows 10 a scam no 3d option in photoshop cc Visio Standard 2010 Price.
Price Club would merge with Costco in 1993, becoming PriceCostco, and then finally becoming Costco in 1997. Many years later, we would take our kids to marvel at these massive warehouse stores. Our family loves Costco. We love the prices. Our kids love the churros (and the samples!).
П™‚ Over the years, I've picked up a few tips and tricks that have made our Costco experiences more enjoyable and affordable. Nowadays, Costco pays us to be members! To get you the best of the best Costco hacks, we have friends at Costco headquarters in Issaquah, WA who've assisted us on bringing the most accurate inside money hacks to our readers.
WE HAVE INSIDERS!!! П™‚ Without further ado, here are our favorite Costco money hacks.
Table of Contents. Chase Freedom 5% Cashback Costco now accepts all Visa cards and when they replaced their old American Express card with the Costco Anywhere Visa Card. It's a pretty good card but it's not the best card to use. The Chase Freedom card, for the rest of 2016, offers 5% cash back on wholesale club purchases, which includes Costco, Sam's Club and BJ's. This is on top of the existing bonus categories of restaurants in the third quarter and holiday shopping in the fourth quarter. It's rare to see warehouse club purchases included in the 5% bonus category.
If you don't have the card, you can also earn a $150 Bonus after you spend $500 on purchases in your first 3 months from account opening. It's a nice juicy to get your day going!
If you already have this card, you'll need to activate it by going to the. Enter your information, click Activate, and you're all set. Enjoy the bonus cash back! Be an Executive Let's quickly recap how much a Costco membership costs:. Gold Star Membership: Gold Star costs you $60 a year and gets you two membership cards, which you can give to a spouse/partner or family member. The Gold Star gives you access to all Costco warehouses worldwide (yes, they are international!) as well as access to their gas stations and Travel portal.
Business Membership: Business costs $60 and also comes with two membership cards, but you can add up to six extra cards if you need them for various employees. It's really the Gold Star membership with more cards. Executive Membership: Executive is $120 a year and an upgrade to Gold Star and Business. You also get two cards but the kicker is you get 2% rewards on purchases. Is Costco Executive Membership worth it?
How much did you spend at Costco last year? If the answer is “more than $2,750” then you need to be an Executive Member. Executive Membership is just like the regular membership except you get 2% back on nearly all purchases (. If you spend $3,000 a year, that's $60 back. That's the difference in the membership fee between the regular and the Executive membership. If you spend $6,000 a year, that's $120 back.
That's the cost of an Executive Membership. We spend over $6,000 a year at Costco so we always end up getting a check!
$5,500 sounds like a lot but it's only a little more than $450 a month. When you get the check, you can use it to pay or get it cashed out at a register. Not sure if you'll spend enough to get a rebate of more than $55? (the difference between Gold and Executive Gold) If you don't, you can go to the customer service desk and get the difference back.
So if you only earn a $20 rebate, you can get $35 from Costco. It is a win-win situation. Know Costco's Lifetime Return Policy Costco has a lifetime return with a few exceptions, including their memberships! You can cancel and refund the membership fee in full at anytime. Costco will accept returns within 90 days of when you received the product for televisions, tuner-free displays, projectors, major appliances (fridges above 10 cubic feet, freezers, ranges, cooktops, over-the-range microwaves, dishwashers, washers and dryers), computers, tablets, smart watches, cameras, aerial camera drones, camcorders, MP3 players and cell phones. They will not accept unless they are 1.00ct or larger, then you need to present it with all the original paperwork and you'll get a Jewelry Credit memo. A Costco gemologist will inspect it within 48 hours for authenticity.
Finally, they can't accept returns of cigarettes and alcohol if it's prohibited by law as well as anything custom. What Credit Cards Does Costco Accept? Years ago, they only accepted Discover Card.
Then they partnered with American Express. Now, it's Visa's turn. In the store, you can use any Visa card or debit card. No other card is accepted, so use the best Visa card you can find! On Costco.com – you can use any credit card except American Express!
This also means that you can use any credit card to buy a Costco Cash Card and use that card in the store to get around the payment limitations. Use the one that gives you the greatest in rewards! Shopping Without a Membership – Costco Cash Cards. This baby is your ticket in! Don't have a membership but want to buy something? Have a friend who is a member buy you a Costco Cash card – only members can buy or reload them but non-members may use them to shop at any Costco location or online. They even say so on their!
You might run into trouble if an employee doesn't know the corporate policy, but stand firm. (honestly, the membership is totally worth it!) You Don't Need the Coupon Book Costco sends out the monthly coupon book to all members but you don't need the coupon book to get the discount. In past years, the coupons all had a barcode on the back (the same exact barcode!). If you look today, there are no bar codes anymore. Every coupon now says “Instant Savings” at the top — the booklet is just a brochure that lists the monthly discounts. You don't need it to get the savings, it'll be automatically applied. Forget Your Card but Need Gas?
The attendant at the gas station has a generic gas card that you can use! You still need to pay with an approved method, like a debit card (no cash!), but you won't need your member card. The attendant may ask you for your name and log it to prevent abuse so if you're not a member, I wouldn't recommend pretending to be one to get cheap gas. Costco Gasoline is one of the best.
It has the and Consumer Reports has written that the detergents and additives within Top Tier gas makes a difference. I wish I knew this a few weeks ago when I forgot my card! (and yes, I waited in line too!) Generous Price Drop Policy It might surprise you to know that Costco does not have a set policy on this and each warehouse manager decides how he or she will handle price drops.
The “unspoken” price drop rule for an adjustment is about two weeks. The reality is that because of the liberal return policy, you could conceivably return it at regular price and re-purchase at the sale price. This creates hassle for everyone and could create havoc in vendor relations. Costco would much rather offer an adjustment. If the price drops for any reason, including if it's been given an Instant Savings coupon, you can get a price adjustment at the Membership Desk (bring your receipt to facilitate!). So if you see a product will be eligible for instant savings in a week but you need it now, buy it now. Wait for the Instant Savings to activate, then return to the Membership Desk to ask for the adjustment.
Shop Without Being a Member If you want to buy something at Costco without paying the membership, get a member to get you a Costco Cash Card. Diane at The Penny Hoarder and the page on the that explains that non-members can use it to shop at Costco! Get a friend to buy you a card and shop without regrets! (max value is $1,000 on a Costco Cash Card and you can use it on gas too) If you don't want to do that, you can always for $95 a year or $4.99 per order, plus 10% on your order. If you are a Costco member, the 10% access fee is not applied. The sign outside a Costco in Houston, TXThere are a lot of Costco services and products you can buy without being a member, including:.
Optometrist: You can get your eyes checked by appointment, though you won't be able to buy any glasses, contact lenses, etc. Without a membership. Pharmacy: and immunizations do not require membership, which is great because a. Alcohol & Cigarettes: Many states have laws against “alcohol clubs,” so you can often buy alcohol without membership (in those states, the alcohol section will likely be segregated).
Food Court: You can buy food without a membership card, so outdoor food courts are fair game. The inside ones will require some creativity to get into the store, but once you're in you can buy all the hot dogs and pizza you want. FYI, food court only takes cash. Decipher the Pricing Codes It's all about the cents:.
An asterisk. on the sign (top right) means this was a seasonal order and it may not be re-ordered until next season. Once they sell out they're gone. An plus sign + on the sign (top right) means this item is discontinued.
99 cents means regular member price. 97 cents means it's a clearance/markdown by the warehouse manager. Often has an asterisk too.
x9 cents (59, 69, 79, etc) is a special offer from the manufacturer, it reflects competitive pricing over other discount retailers. My contact didn't know why the price in the image above is 85, but she thinks it might be a local price adjustment to compete with local retailers.
Costco will send out an hourly employee to comparison shop to make sure the warehouse is the lowest price on certain foods and big ticket items. You literally drive around town for two days filling out a clipboard of hundreds of items. 00 or 88 cents is something they want to clear out of inventory, a decision made by warehouse management.
Two things to keep in mind — Costco pricing is based on “cost plus.” They only mark up products by a maximum of 14% from their own cost, most prices are 8-10% markup. The exception is Kirkland Signature brand with a 15% markup. What's good to know is that during Valentine's Day, when the roses are more expensive than at other times of the year, Costco isn't jacking up the price on you just because you waited until the last moment. The cost they're paying is up too — so you know you're never paying more than that markup.
Plus, if you've ever gotten flowers on Valentine's Day Costco is still a LOT less. Like multiple times less. П™‚ Most of the products at Costco will end in 99 cents but even then the markup is at most 14% at “full price.” I use this coding scheme to know when to buy seasonal items.
Costco often sells seasonal items ahead of the season (so swim trunks in late winter), so I want to wait until they're about to discontinue them before I buy summer apparel. Treasure Hunting – YMMV One of the big parts about the Costco experience is the idea of the “treasure hunt.” Costco's product lines are based on the idea of triggers and treasures. Triggers are staples – products you'll buy all the time and these don't often change.
Toilet paper, tissues, coffee, you get the idea. Then you have the treasures. The stuff that rotates and whose discovery gets you excited. Almost crazed. The best of the best? Returned but saleable items since Costco has a great return policy, people will naturally return stuff!
And some of that will be discontinued, seasonal, or other otherwise no longer being sold in the store but Costco doesn't want to return it to the vendor when it could just sell it. A few years ago, Costco started realizing that they could devote a small section of the warehouse to shelves “saleable” items rather than sending them back to the vendor or a liquidator.
There are enormous price cuts on these returns and you might even find something you missed before it was sold out! The special section in most Costcos will be in the hardline items, near automotive and household goods.
That's where it is in our local Costco though surprisingly that's next to the bread, which is not hard. П™‚ Go find the shelf in your Costco and see if you can find any gems! (one of our friends at the mothership reported being able to buy a returned $39.99 product for just $9.97!).
Seafood Road Show dates are always posted above the meat case.Another piece of the treasure hunting experience is the “Road Show.” Unfortunately, those are not on fixed schedule. The demo folks don't even know (you can ask, they won't know) because it's based on sales data. You could ask the warehouse management team about new events and road shows but a lot of times they are only told a short period before a vendor is given the “green light” to set up shop at a warehouse. The regional offices make these determinations and then it flows down to the warehouse level.
The only exception is the Seafood Road Show, the dates of the next Seafood Road Show are posted in signs above the refrigerated meat cases. Health Screenings Costco offers Healthy Heart, Diabetes, Osteoporosis, and Lung Health Screenings throughout the year – free to members. Just go to the and look for Health & Wellness Clinics in the lower left (below the plane and to the left of the pharmacist — here's a but check the webpage if the link is broken). Click on View Schedule and it'll download a PDF with a list of the screenings. Free Technical Support If you buy something electronic, you get free technical support.
Anyone who has ever bought a TV, computer, tablet, projector, camera, camcorder, MP3 player, home theater system, DVD or Blu-ray player, standalone printer, standalone monitor, router, pressure washer OR security camera system will have seen the free technical support sticker right on the box. You'll also have probably ignored it. But you can call anytime from 5AM to 10PM Pacific any day of the week, except holidays, and get help. No charge but have your name, Costco membership number, item number, model, serial number and purchase date handy. 2nd Year Warranty on TVs, projectors, computers Oh yeah, and Costco extends the manufacturer's warranty on TVs, projectors, and computers (excludes tablets; refurb computers get one year warranty) for two years after purchase. Usually the manufacturer gives you up to one year, Costco will make it an even two. Call the same number, 1-866-861-0450.
A few more quick hitting Costco hacks. Split Your Membership: – Each membership comes with two cards, you can split a membership with a friend.
The second card is supposed to be for a household member but they've never checked whenever I shared a membership with a friend or relative. Buy Online, Use Any Credit Card – If you buy something online, you can often get on eligible items and you can use any credit card you want. Kirkland Signature Brand is Name Brand Rebranded – Costco doesn't make it's own products, they rebrand other company's product while requiring it to be equal or better quality than that name brand. Often times you'll see name brands sell their lower quality products as store brands, not so with Costco! When you buy Kirkland Vodka, that's actually Grey Goose. Their tuna is Bumble Bee. Their beer is Gordon Biersch and the dish washing detergent is Cascade.
The easiest way to tell is look at the manufacturing location, it'll often match one of the other name brands. Rotisserie chicken is da bomb dot com – Not a hack but worth mentioning, I love the rotisserie chicken. Jim Wang is a thirty-something father of three who has been featured in the New York Times, Baltimore Sun, Entrepreneur, and Marketplace Money. Jim has a B.S. In Computer Science and Economics from Carnegie Mellon University, an M.S. In Information Technology - Software Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University, as well as a Masters in Business Administration from Johns Hopkins University. One of his favorite tools is, which enables him to manage his finances in just 15-minutes each month.
They also offer financial planning, such as a Retirement Planning Tool that can tell you if you're on track to retire when you want. He is also diversifying his investment portfolio by adding a little bit of real estate. But not rental homes, because he doesn't want a second job, it's diversified small investments in a mix of properties through. Worth a look and he's already made investments that have performed according to plan. Well that wasn’t very nice!
П™‚ FWIW, Costco has a ton of unprocessed foods – fruits, vegetables, meat, fish, etc. You can easily get non-processed foods there, in fact the vast majority of our food purchases are from that area of the store.
The only exceptions are party type foods, chicken nuggets and mac and cheese, which are treats that come out for parties, not every day eating. But it’s easier to toss folks into buckets and insult them without knowing anything about them. Thank you for your concern!
For those who want to see our little fatties,! They do allow cash/debit/partner credit if you go over. П™‚ I know a non-member who was given a Costco cash card, and she not only used it to get in the store and shop for what she needed, but at checkout, they asked her whether she wanted to buy another Costco gift card. I don’t know whether the cashier was just a little off her game that day or what, but the non-member was able to go to Costco many times by getting new gift cards each time. Also, the roadshow calendar is usually available on the Costco website.
I discovered this by mistake once. You can click on your area, and it tells you who’s coming to your local Costco locations and when. Regarding the.99 trick on pricing, lower price point items (like 5# of apples, bread, or 2 gallons of milk) may not follow that rule and instead follow a generic.x9 or.x5 rule. Like other retailers, costco tries to be price competitive but not the low price leader on everyday staple items (and seasonally relevant items like tax software). The specific prices in each store will be partially determined by their comparison shops and partially determined by price rounding and profitability algorithms (to make the price look pretty and to save on store workload and also be sure they don’t lose too much money). You’re killing me Jim.
You’re now giving me MORE reasons to frequent my local Costco. Not really a hack, but whenever we can, my wife and I try not to use a cart so that it limits what we actually buy.
A lot harder lately with a toddler and we want to buy a years worth of diapers whenever the coupon books say Huggies is $6 off. I try to tell my wife that Kirkland is the same thing, but ya know, the wife wants what the wife wants. П™‚ Costco gas is awesome. One thing I do is drive their first thing in the morning on the weekends to fill up.
Otherwise you’re waiting a half hour. Hi, I just found your site today – wonderful site! Thank you so much for the tips! Just to reply to a few things: 1) Kirkland Baby wipes are NOT the same as Huggies Wipes (sadly – wish they were!). I am sure they are good (I’ve used them before) but it’s not the same in this case; we use the wipes for BEAUTY and they do not remove makeup the way the HUGGIES wipes do. 2) The Kirkland Brand Basil Pesto is great and it’s actually GIOVANNI RANA which costs way more for way less in grocery stores. 3) I called my local costcos (yes, I will trek to a few) and none of them, very depressingly, have this SALE SECTION of returned but saleable items.
I am so bummed about this – maybe they stopped? It sounds like an amazing deal! Thank you so much for sharing this information with us! I’ve put in my app a couple times for our brand new Costco here in Kingwood Tx because I’ve heard from quite a few that they are just as great to their employees as they are to their customers. I’m a licensed cosmetologist of 12 years and love providing beautification services, so my interest in getting hired means completely changing careers should reflect how wonderful the things I’ve bn told truly are. So, why am I sharing this info? Well I’d like to know what the “price comparison” position is titled please.
Sounds like the position was designed for me and could possibly help in transitioning from the salon life. Also, if you could share special or specific experience requirements would be highly appreciated.97 is a markdown coming from the regional/corp office.00 would be Warehouse manager.97 will be a very good price on whatever the original great price was but.00 may as well be a fire sale. Usually seen on open box, last one or two left of item or on inventory that needs to be moved from floor to make room for new product. An asterisk is item that will not be replenished as you said, but also means a corporate.97 markdown or in-house markdown could be coming in the very near future since the product will be replaced by another product soon. For the most part great article and positive for Costco but don’t agree with promoting a couple of “hacking” techniques to a company that has made a genuine effort to provide honest and truly great value, while paying their employees top of the line pay and benefits for their industry. Costco bottom line profit is usually close to equal to the revenue from memberships.
Costco exists due to these memberships. If you enjoy Costco then you should consider supporting the company and purchase a membership because without the memberships COSTCO DOES NOT EXIST. The Costco here doesn’t carry organic meat, and I refuse to support factory-cruelty farms, so that means I’m only down to the whole plant foods and I have to buy meat elsewhere. Because of that, it’s not worth it for me to have a full membership on my own.
I wish they had an mini-membership, like a limited spending card or something, so I could shop there even though I don’t spend enough to warrant the purchase of a membership. If it cost me $20 to get a card that would allow me to spend up to $1,000 a year in there, that would be good. I’d happily pay for that “mini-membership”.
I learned to my great disappointment that some big brands sell cheaply made items, not up to their normal standard, through Costco. Two years ago, as a new Costco member, I spotted Calvin Klein packable down jackets for a very reasonable price. A quick phone search showed that a nearly identical CK jacket was priced much higher elsewhere.
Well, said item went on to shed/molt tiny feathers through the winter, messing up dark jeans as well as fabric car seats. Within months of that experience I read an article confirming that big-name companies make lower-grade items for Costco, so.lesson learned:/.
I don’t know how they are owned, who makes the rules but in Lancaster, PA and Glen Burnie, Maryland unless you’re a member, you may not enter the food court. Those are the two Costcos that I frequent and it’s been that way for about 4 years. I used to work for an armored truck company and when we had meetings we would actually order the pizza from there and they would remind us that someone who was a member needed to pick up the order or we wouldn’t be able to gain entrance to the food court. I have never heard of someone NOT wanting to make money. No one said a word about Costco’s Food Court Hot Dogs and Polish Sausages, nor the Chicken Bake or Pizza or Parfaits and let’s not forget the sammies they’ve got now!!!
That is a MUST when ever we go to Costco (45 minutes away from our home btw) I bought a bag of the dawgs and buns in the store for a gaggle of kiddos at our home once and ya know, they just didn’t taste the same as in the Food Court. Do I need one of those cool small ovens that they use or what?
Alls I know is the Churros aren’t the only good eats at Costco’s Food Court!! Bring your card on long stay vacations. Many of my families favorite vacation destinations are located near or within reason of a Costco. Now as I stated, long stay is really where this makes sense. And further more, traveling to Hawaii, did you know most everything there is imported and as such gets a transportation tax that often makes it cost “too” much.
Well not sure how they do it, but Costco does not, I bought a gallon of milk for $3 or so, where the local grocery store was $5-$6 or more! We even were able to pickup additional luggage for all the over purchase, then returned the luggage when we got home. Otherwise, great tips!
So lots of false things here. Guess it depends on the store. Firstly, you CANNOT sign up with just any old friend, you must provide proof of shared address to join together. Yes you DO need a membership to even go to the food court or we will shoo you back out. No we do not cash out the executive checks, they must be used towards merchandise or renewals. Our store doesn’t and has never had a special return rack selling at a discount. If its saleable, it goes back to the floor at original price.
Yes you can get a price adjustment within 30 days WITH your original receipt. If you forget your card at the gas station, we will still ask for your ID and call inside to membership to verify that you are a member. Lastly, if you spend $2750 a year, at the most, you will break even and it would still not be worth it to have an executive. Spending atleast $3000 a year is where it would benefit you to be executive. Have a great day! One tip I received from a cashier during checkout was that if I want to estimate the total before checkout, just consider each item as $10. Initially, I was trying to calculate each item as I went along (due to not being able to go over a certain amount).
However, this is practically impossible with little ones in tow and so I did the math with the $10/item tip and it was pretty accurate! Definitely a much more efficient way to figure out the total when buying groceries. Hope this tip helps someone, especially the mamas of littles who are on a budget!!? I am not a financial adviser. The content on this site is for informational and educational purposes only and should not be construed as professional financial advice.
Please consult with a licensed financial or tax advisor before making any decisions based on the information you see here. Advertising disclosure: I may be compensated through 3rd party advertisers but our reviews, comparisons, and articles are based on objective measures and analysis. For additional information, please review our.