Is a Costco Membership Worth It? (Pros and Cons From 10 Readers)

Written by |
Advertisement

I love Costco. Money expert Clark Howard loves Costco. And we have heard that many —though not all— of you love Costco too.

I’ve been a Costco member for ten years, and I feel that it is excellent value for money. In addition to my personal opinion, we will share the views and feedback from real readers later in this article.

Why I’ve Been a Costco Member for 10 Years

Gas

Costco is famous for many things. Chief among them is their Kirkland Signature gas. Purchasing fuel from Costco is great for your wallet and your vehicle. Costco has competitive prices and only uses Top Tier gas, which is great for your vehicle’s engine. 

Pair the fuel savings by purchasing gas with the Costco Anywhere Visa® Card by Citi, and you can earn 4% cashback on up to $7,000 in fuel purchases per year (and 1% thereafter).

Tires

Among the variety of services offered by Costco are its Tire Centers. You may have noticed cars up on lifts as you walked toward the store and wondered if it was worth it vs. the many other places where you can shop for tires. 

I have purchased tires for my Toyota Highlander over the years at the Costco Tire Center. The price vs. the competition initially drew me to them as well as the fact that I could shop while waiting.

It wasn’t long before I realized other benefits to purchasing tires at Costco, such as the included 60-month road hazard warranty and free lifetime tire balancing and rotations.

Travel

This is my favorite category and my first stop whenever I plan a trip. The Costco Travel website has many cost-saving services, such as theme park planning, cruise planning, and even a tool to help shop for a rental car.

Whenever I need a rental car, I price compare between Costco Travel and car rental comparison sites. Nine out of ten times, Costco is cheaper. And since I am an Executive Member at Costco, I get 2% back on my rental costs. Paired with credit card rewards, this is a fantastic deal. 

But it doesn’t stop there. Sometimes, Costco offers promotions such as offering a Costco Shop Card or resort credits for shopping with them. If you travel frequently and are considering joining Costco, their travel arm could save you enough money in one purchase to make the membership worth it.

Advertisement

Return Policy

Costco is known for having one of the best return policies out there. Many items that Costco sells can be returned months or even years later. While I am in no way recommending that you return something a couple of years old, I am suggesting that if you are like me and don’t always remember to take the return with you as you head out the door, there is always next time. Even if you forgot your receipt, it’s not a problem. They can look up the transaction with your membership card. Just knowing that Costco has my back makes it worth being a member.

Optical

Another area that I love to visit on my frequent trips to Costco is the optical department. While I don’t necessarily change out my glasses that often, I do like to take note of what is currently being offered. Online Costco only sells their house brand of eyeglasses from Kirkland Signature. In the store, however, you have a much more extensive selection. 

Time and time again, Costco Optical ranks as one of the best places to purchase glasses, as reviewed by Consumer Reports. Costco shines in price, frame quality, and more. Having a doctor on hand also makes the club so much more valuable for me as a member. I can schedule my annual visit and also shop. It is a two-fer for your time and your wallet. 

We decided to ask our Clark.com readers about what they think of their Costco membership and if the cost to join was worth it. Here are some of the responses. 

Why Costco Is Worth It 

Terryc: “Costco is definitely worth it. Pizza $10 and chicken $4.99. My husband get pizza for over $20 a pie. Me I love Costco pizza. I have a freezer from Costco and buy items on sale. I love Panko shrimp, Coconut shrimp, wings, French onion soup, Szechuan shrimp from Royal Asia, coffee etc all on sale. Costco has great prices on furniture and appliances. They have great return policy. Fast checkout unlike Walmart. Employees helpful. Great shopping experience.”

JohnnyD: “Costco is worth the cost of membership for us for several reasons:

  • Extra warranty on electronics has paid for the membership alone
  • No hassle return policy
  • There are some items we can only get at Costco that save us money and make us happy – especially the food, both fresh and frozen
  • The cash back on the Visa is excellent
  • Our cash rewards from store purchases has been excellent also
  • We take advantage of gasoline while we are there but don’t make special trips
  • We feel safe and the employees are happy and helpful – the experience of shopping is fun instead of a chore”

Joseph: “I found it to be worth it for the Vision center, I have quality Kirkland brand glasses that hold up way better then the ones from the Dr’s office, and the gas station is worth filling up at when I am there to shop.”

David: “A COSTCO membership with the COSTCO Visa card is what I found to be useful. There are some items that I can buy in bulk like paper products. I have noticed some food items have a shorter Best by date so always look at this before buying.”

505badgolfer: “I’ve been a Costco and Sam’s Club member for many years. Both memberships are worth it just for the gasoline savings.”

rekameohs: “Yes. Where else can we go to see products that we didn’t know we needed ??? For those that says it doesn’t work for small households, get a vacuum sealer. Rule #1 when shopping at Costco – if you think you may want it, but it now, because it won’t be there when you come back.”

Advertisement

mjross: “I saved $500 renting a vehicle through Costco Travel for ONE WEEK while on vacation in Colorado. We wanted a minivan and did extensive research, and Costco beat the best deal we found by $500. They ended up not having a minivan, so we got a Toyota Sequoia 4×4 SUV for the same price. It ended up being a lifesaver as I’m sure we would have gotten stuck in a minivan trying to get to one particular trailhead.

We also booked a Walt Disney World trip through Costco Travel and saved over $3,000 from the best prices we could find elsewhere, including direct from Disney.

Besides the fact that nothing at Costco is marked up more than 14%, my favorite thing is the fact that while they won’t have a big selection of any one type of item, you can be pretty sure that Costco’s buyers have selected one of the best of that item that’s available on the market. They do the homework for you. And you know you’re getting a pretty good deal.

I always check their website too before buying anything major online to see what they have to offer.

We just had a refrigerator replaced FOR FREE by General Electric even though it was out of warranty because they wanted to keep the folks at Costco Technical and Warranty Services happy. The folks at Costco stayed on top of the local service company and GE Corporate throughout the process. I was very impressed and will definitely be buying appliances from Costco in the future, wherever possible. And it’s always free delivery and haul-away of the old item.”

Why Costco May Not Be Worth It

MelloCello: “For a small household, no, Costco not worth it at least where I live. 1) Pay to shop there 2) limited choices in personal care products, grocery staples, etc 3) proprietary packaging makes comparison shopping very difficult, eg. paper towels 4) parking lot is like NASCAR-bump ‘em cars hybrid 5) long lines 6) can buy, eg., large package of Bounty paper towels at Target where I shop for free, with larger selection of most everything. 7) Amazon has the largest selections of all, reviews (which I evaluate), free shipping and 5 or 6% cash back with Prime and Prime Visa, and zero time and gas wasted driving around.”

OU812: “It is maddening to go in and have to look all over for the few items you need. We wanted reading glasses and at Sams they are, logically, by the glasses. At Costco, they were over by the TVs!! What??? We asked 3 employees where they were and we got 3 different answers. The other thing I wish they had is “Scan & Go” like Sams where you use the Costco app to scan items, skipping the checkout lines. You still have to show them a bar code at the exit, but it is much faster to get in and out. They have implemented it at the gas pumps at my Costco but not inside.

But the positives are:

  • Excellent return policy.
  • Generally great prices overall
  • Extended warranties
  • Cheap top tier gas with lots of pumps
  • Great cheap hotdog lunch!
  • More organic foods than Sams”

Rascal: “Costco membership is not worth it for me. We are a family of 2. Many of their grocery items are sold in bulk. If an item cannot be frozen – or will not fit it into the freezer- it will likely expire before it can be used. Also, the closest Costco store is about 45 miles away. Definitely not worth the trip, cost, and membership fee just to feed the majority to the compost pile.”

Costco Membership Pros and Cons Overview

Here is a quick at-a-glance chart to help decide if a Costco membership is worth it as expressed by our Team Clark members and Discussion Community members.

Advertisement
ProCon
Optical Services: Price, and SelectionMaybe not worth it for a small household
Gas: Top Tier, Convenient Locations and Competitive PricesStore layout
Tires: After Installation ServiceBulk buy leads to sooner food expiration
Travel: Travel Packages, Rental CarsSteep membership fee
Food Court: Cheap LunchInconvenient checkout process
Executive 2% rewards
High food quality
Helpful employees
Costco Anywhere Visa® Card by Citi cash back

Final Thoughts

Joining a wholesale club makes a lot of sense for many people, including me, but it is not for everyone. Only you can decide if buying in bulk is the right for you or if these services appeal to your daily needs. 

Are you interested in learning more about the three big wholesale clubs? Be sure to see where Costco stands vs. Sam’s Club and also where Costco stands vs. BJ’s Wholesale Club

This is just a reminder that membership sharing is a no-no, and Costco is cracking down on sharing membership cards

If you do decide to join, remember: At any point throughout the year, Costco will issue a full refund on your membership should you decide it isn’t for you. You have nothing to lose. 

Is a Costco membership worth it? Be sure to share your thoughts in our Clark.com community.

Advertisement