Save On Costco's Memberships By Up to 33% - Gift Card Included

Costco Gold Star 1-Year Membership w/ $20 Digital Costco Shop Card

Technically you have to pay the full price for a Gold Star 1-year membership but thanks to the $20 digital shop card, it effectively drops the price to just $40. That's a 33% savings and an excellent excuse to join the warehouse club now. You must redeem the membership by October 31 and the digital shop card will be emailed to you within two weeks of redeeming your membership.

Costco Membership Deals

Right now, over at StackSocial, you can sign up for a Costco Gold Star membership for $60, and get a $20 digital Costco gift card for free. That's basically 33% off, since you'll undoubtedly use that gift card tout de suite. That membership comes with two membership cards, entitling the holders to shop in any Costco warehouse store or online at Costco.com.

If a simple Gold Star membership seems fine, but not quite enough, you can opt for an Executive Gold Star membership: that doubles the upfront cost to $120, but also doubles the gift card value to $40, and earns you a 2% reward (up to $1,000 annually) on Costco purchases, including travel. You'll also get extra discounts on Costco services like check printing and roadside assistance via their auto insurance program.

Be aware that these deals are only for new members, or former Costco shoppers whose membership expired over 18 months ago. Cardholders must be aged 16 or older.

Top Costco Deals

Costco Summer TV and Tech Event: Members save on Sony, Samsung, Apple and more

32 Degrees Men's Cool T-Shirts: 6 for $12 for members

LEGO Super Mario 64 Question Mark Block for $180 for members

Costco Memorial Day Appliance Sale: Extra $300 off over $1,999 for members

$100 in Romano's Macaroni Grill Gift Cards for $65 for members

Shopping at Costco

Costco offers its members savings on a wide range of items, including:

• Groceries
• Home goods
• Clothing
• Personal care items
• TVs
• Electronics
• Gift Cards

This obviously includes their Kirkland Signature brand, which CNN called "perhaps America's weirdest private label", before noting that in Costco's 2021 fiscal year, the brand made up "around a quarter of the company's total revenue". It encompasses everything from groceries, apparel, and household products to pet food and gasoline.

And while Costco might be an immediately attractive option for stocking up on grocery essentials at low prices, and household essentials you can buy in bulk like coffee or detergent, you can also pick up some things you mightn't expect, like gold bars and silver coins. At some point during the purchasing process, you have to call it "the booty", but that rule is a small price to pay, and also probably not too strictly enforced, given that I just made it up.

Costco also offers its members a wide range of services, including:

• Costco Optical: eyeglasses, sunglasses, and contact lenses, with progressive lenses available in warehouses
• Costco Pharmacy: prescriptions, immunizations, pet medications, and back to school vaccinations
• Remember Insurance: auto and home insurance, life insurance, pet insurance, and business health insurances
• Photo Services: prints, photo books, wall art, and more
• Travel: Deals on travel packages, hotels, cruises, and rental cars

Membership Shopping Benefits

Returns

Costco's return policy is famously generous. In fact, the biggest return of all is possible at Costco — if you're not satisfied with your membership, you can cancel it for a refund. It also offers refunds on most items, with some exceptions. As our intrepid Keira Wagner noted, Costco offers its members a 90-day return window on many electronics, including:

• Televisions
• Projectors
• Major appliances
• Computers
• Tablets
• Smart watches
• Cameras
• Drones
• Camcorders
• MP3 players
• Cell phones

Curbside Pickup

While in-store pickup is available on select goods at every Costco location, curbside pickup is only available at select Costco locations.

Holiday Shopping

For a full rundown of Costco's holiday hours for this year, check out our in-depth analysis here. For those in a rush, it's only outright closed on Memorial Day, 4th of July, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas Day.

If you're looking to plan your shopping around Costco's sales, your best bet is to keep your eye on their monthly ads. These come out in the first week of every month, and will give you the skinny on the best deals that'll be available over the next few weeks. (And as a fun extra tip for anyone who's read this far: last year, Costco's Black Friday sale started on...I'm waiting on a drum roll...oh, fine, it started on November 20, which was four days before the big day itself.)

Costco FAQs

Can You Shop at Costco Without a Membership?

While you'll need a membership to shop in-store at Costco, many items can be bought at Costco's website without a membership. You'll pay a 5% non-members surcharge. (If you absolutely need to shop in-store, convince another member to bring you along — a membership entitles you to bring up to two guests.)

How Does Shopping Compare In-Store vs. Online?

There are two main differences between shopping in-store and online at Costco. The first is that, as we mentioned above, you'll need a membership to shop in-store, while anyone can shop online, so long as you don't mind paying 5% extra. (And can see the numerous members-only deals without getting dangerously envious.) The second big difference is prices; Costco doesn't necessarily price-match its online and in-store inventory, so you may see higher prices online than you would at your local Costco.

How to Save the Most at Costco

For starters, keep those peepers metaphorically glued to our Costco store page. Consider signing up for the DealNews Select newsletter, which drops a bunch of handpicked hottest deals into your inbox every weekday. You can also< a href="https://www.dealnews.com/mydealnews/alert/create/" vendor="35">set a deal alert for products you're interested in and receive notification when they go on sale.