Why I Love My Costco Executive Membership
A few years ago, Costco came to my neighborhood and planted itself within 5 minutes from my house. So after hearing all the rave reviews about the great deals and excellent customer service Costco offers, I decided to join. For the last 3 years, I had a Gold Star membership for $50 a year that gave me access to buy high quality items at competitive prices and a lot of times in bulk. I bought my SLR camera, my bedroom furniture and many other big ticket items from Costco. One day when I was checking out at the register, the cashier told me I had spent more than $3000 already and I would benefit from upgrading to an Executive membership that offered cash back rewards. I told her I would think about it and upgrade if I felt it was a good idea.
How does a household of 2 manage to spend so much money at Costco? Well, like I said…we bought bedroom furniture off Costco.com.
After looking through our previous year’s expenses, I decided that upgrading my Costco membership was very much worth the extra $50 a year. I plan on spending at least $2500 this year at Costco so that I can get my $50 cashback reward! Here are great things about Costco and the Executive Membership benefits.
1. High quality items at great prices. I try to be frugal but I will very rarely skimp on quality so I can save a few bucks. I would much rather have a good quality shirt I can wear over and over again than a poor quality inexpensive shirt that will rip in the wash.
2. Easy to make back what you spend on membership. So you might think that spending $2500 a year for a 2 person household is ambitious. I thought so too at first but now I know it’s not a stretch at all. Costco sells just about everything you could ever need at home -household products, groceries, office products, electronics, sporting goods, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals….everything. When you combine all these categories, do you spend a total of at least $2500 a year? Probably.
3. Costco gas. Very very rarely do I ever find a gas station with gas that is cheaper than Costco gas. Costco gas is usually .10 to .20 cents cheaper per gallon than other gas stations.
4. The food court. A gargantuan slice of pizza for 99 cents. A hot dog and soda for $1.50. These are 2 examples of very tasty food for very cheap. I don’t recommend eating this everyday, but each weekend when my husband and I shop at Costco, we will have a filling lunch here for $2.49.
5. Clothing. Ok, so if you are the fashionista type, maybe Costco is not for you. But if you are looking for comfortable stylish clothing that will not go out of style in a few months, this is the place! I got a Calvin Klein tunic sweater today for $19.99. The hubby got a Nike golf fleece jacket for $26.99. Not bad at all! I also saw men’s Citizen jeans for under $100. I consistently see great deals on fleeces and jackets at Costco.
6. They have organic food and eco friendly products. No, you don’t need to go to Whole Foods if you want organic food. I regularly buy my organic milk, organic orange juice (which btw is the best orange juice I have found in any store so far), organic rice and organic chicken from Costco. They have many many more products which I occasionally buy too. They also have lots of great health foods like pomegranate juice, fruit juices, Cliff bars, etc. I’ve also seen eco friendly cleaning products and laundry detergent too which I have yet to use but will try one day.
7. Free samples. OK so I usually steer clear of processed foods as much as possible but I will admit…there are days when I go to Costco on an empty stomach and am quite satisfied by the time I leave the warehouse.
8. Revolving/seasonal products. If you go to Costco today, you will very likely find Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas decorations. In January…I guarantee you’ll find something else. I noticed that Costco will change around their products and have random items in their stores I have never seen before. They’ll be there for a few weeks and then be replaced with another new and random item. One week you’ll see golf clubs, the next week it’ll be a massage chair, then maybe a vanity and so on. It keeps things exciting.
9. Excellent customer service. It’s not a secret that you can return anything you bought and there will be no questions asked. I have a friend who said he bought his SLR camera there then brought it back in the box a year later and traded it in for a newer model. I’m not saying you should do this but its an example of good customer service.
10. Costco.com. If you’ve never been to Costco.com, go now. An enormous number of products, and reviews you can check before your purchases.
11. Coupons. I love coupons. Every month members will get a new booklet containing several pages of coupons on popular products. I look forward to receiving these coupons every month as they offer very good discounts (you can get Charmin toilet paper for almost the same price as the crappiest cheapest toilet paper at your local supermarket).
Things you should know as an Executive Member:
- The 2% cash back is on pre-tax amounts
- You won’t get cash back rewards for cigarettes, alcohol, gasoline, stamps, food courts, membership fees, costco travel, insurance services. But yes, you do get rewards for purchases made through Costco.com. Click here to look at additional info on the costco site.
- At the end of your membership year, you will receive your cashback rewards in the form of reward certificates. You can use these at the register at your local warehouse on merchandise only.
- The cap on your annual cashback reward is $500. That means if you spend over $25,000 that year in Costco, you will still only receive $500 back.
- If you want to upgrade but you just paid for your gold star membership a few months ago, Costco will give you the upgrade at a prorated price.
….and if you are a die hard Costco fan…..
….then sign up for the American Express Costco True Earnings Card.
- no annual fee
- 3% cashback on dining and gas, 2% back on travel and 1% back on everything else.
This is actually a great deal especially for those of us who shop at Costco a lot, drive around a lot and eat out a lot!
Now, back to the Executive Membership. If you do sign up for this membership, be sure that you are committed to spending that $2500. I now buy all my household products and the majority of my groceries from Costco. If there is anything out there that I plan on purchasing, I will check Costco.com before I make a purchase to see if it is available through them. If you want to buy a plasma tv, a camera, a laptop, or any kind of electronic, I recommend getting it from Costco. If you don’t like it, if it’s broken or you simply have buyer’s remorse, all you have to do is return it for a full refund. I’m not so sure you can do the same when you buy an expensive gadget from Best Buy.
If you do sign up for the Executive Membership and decide you don’t want it anymore or realize you aren’t able to spend the $2500 to make up for the membership fee, all you have to do is cancel your executive membership and ask for your full refund.
