Shopping at Costco is one thing. Understanding how to shop at Costco is another. I’m going to share all the insider secrets I’ve uncovered during my years of being a Costco pro. PLUS, I found a hack to make sure I NEVER pay for my Costco membership again! Let me tell you how!!

This is going to be a long one so grab a drink and let’s get to it!

10 COSTCO SECRETS

Recently, I posted a video on YouTube sharing 10 Costco Secrets that you need to know about in 2022 and I’m going to break it down for you.

1. CHOOSING THE RIGHT MEMBERSHIP

So… What if I told you there is a way to get your membership completely free?! Well first, you need to know which membership is right for you. Costco has three membership options to choose from:

1. GOLD ($60/year)- you get 2 cards, most affordable & allows access to shop in warehouse & online
2. EXECUTIVE ($120/year)- you get 2 cards, exclusive coupons, monthly magazine, annual 2% rebate on purchases plus allows access to shop in warehouse & online
3. BUSINESS ($60/year)- best for businesses and shop in warehouse & online

*All prices are listed in CAD (Canadian Dollars).

I’m a proud executive member and have been for over ten years. Costco pretty much had me at exclusive coupons and annual rebate on purchases. This is a pretty pricy membership, double the cost of the other two options, but in my opinion a very valuable membership.

2. SHOPPING AT COSTCO WITH A FREE MEMBERSHIP

In order to get your executive membership for free, you’ll need to spend a minimum of $1,000/month. Once you spend this amount or more, you’ll notice that your rebate cheque will be around the $100 amount which is already a great help for covering the cost of a membership.

The coupons come in handy for buying your staples or trying new products. They always arrive in the magazine which is a great resource to know what will be available in the warehouse each month. What I love about the coupons is that they usually run for two week periods so you’ll get coupons for the first half of the month and then the second half. This is great for “trying to stay on budget” but not missing opportunities to plan and save on your purchases.

In 2021 I received a rebate of $133.33! Oh hello free membership for 2022! 

Okay so I know by now you’re probably getting excited or feeling like “well that’s never happened for me” so if it hasn’t happened for you… Here’s another opportunity to save on your membership cost. Grab a friend and head on over to your local warehouse and sign up together. For executive memberships each friend will get a $50 voucher and a $25 voucher for gold memberships. CHA-CHING!

But wait… What if you have no friends? Thats cool, sometimes Costco offers exclusive vouchers for getting a membership. Always ask if there are any ways to save when you’re signing up! And if all fails just ask someone to gift you a Costco shop card.

3. SHOPPING WITHOUT A MEMBERSHIP

Costco Shop Cards are basically gift cards that allow you to shop at Costco. They cannot be used anywhere else! Members can use and purchase as many shop cards as they want.

I mean.. Why would Costco limit how much you spend when they know you can easily spend it all in their warehouse anyways. 

If your’e not a Costco member, the same rules do not apply. Although you will have access to shop with the shop card and without a membership, you will not have unlimited access to do so. At some point, you’ll have to use your shop cards to purchase a membership.

Why would you do that?

Because non-members are only allowed TWO shops with their shop card and then they won’t be allowed to shop after without purchasing a membership. (This has never happened to me because I’ve always had a membership). 

How do I know? I asked a Costco employee and this is the information they gave me!

So have you ever wondered when is the least busiest time to shop at Costco? I used to wonder that but long story short… It’ll always be busy at Costco! The only way to beat the crowd is to be one of the first to enter. But even then.. There will be a line!

4. GETTING IN THE WAREHOUSE BEFORE THEY OPEN

You can easily get into Costco before the open by showing up before they open. For example: if your local warehouse opens at 10am, get there at 9:30-9:45am. Costco pretty much always allows their members to hop in the warehouse before the time they actually open.

By the time you’re well into your shopping trip you’ll notice more and more people are arriving. But luckily, you’ll be almost ready to go (unless you’re me and spend hours in the store filming content to share with amazing people on the internet)!

So let’s backtrack, so far I shared…

1. membership options
2. free membership hack
3. how to get in the warehouse before opening time

Now, let’s talk about returns and Costco’s return policy in short.

5. KNOW THE COSTCO RETURN POLICY

At Costco, you can pretty much return anything. Literally, ANYTHING.

The best part is that returns are pretty much a no questions asked policy because if you aren’t happy with a product that’s all you need to say in order to get your return processed. You don’t even need your receipt! All you need is your membership card, the product(s) and your reason for return.

Did you notice that I didn’t say anything about your RECEIPT?!

Well, that’s because you don’t necessarily need your receipt. They look up your purchases which are linked to your membership card. If the item wasn’t purchased on your card then you might end up needing the receipt in that case.

Now let’s talk couponing.

6. USING COUPONS AT COSTCO

Costco does not accept coupons from outside retailers like your local grocery store might. They don’t offer price matching either. In fact, the only coupons Costco accepts are their own. Yup, ONLY COSTCO COUPONS!

Remember earlier when I mentioned that I’m an OG Executive member? Well, the coupons are a big reason why! And the icing on the cake is that if you didn’t bring your coupon in (maybe you’re forgetful like me) usually they’ll scan the coupons for you at the register. Just make sure you communicate that with your cashier and are nice about it.

That YES can easily turn into a NO if as a consumer you aren’t being respectful. So remember to be kind, it’s free and we need more of it in this world!

Next up, let’s talk prices.

7/8. UNDERSTANDING THE SALE PRICES

When shopping at Costco, you can almost always guarantee that you’ll get the best value for the most amount of product. But that doesn’t mean that everything is on sale!

Here’s a breakdown of the prices and what they actually mean.

• .99- regular priced items
• .97, .88, .89- sale prices
• *- when you see an asterisk, or a star, that means the item will be discontinued

Here are my tips about prices:

• always grab the items with an asterisk that you’ve been meaning to get because it’s likely not going to be available for much longer
• always grab the items with an asterisk + a .97 price point which means it’s going to be discontinued AND it’s an actual sale price

Are you wondering where to find the best deals? They’re basically everywhere and I’ll explain how to find them.

9. FINDING THE BEST COSTCO DEALS #COSTCOFINDS

The best deals at Costco start at the entrance. There’s usually a wall of products that are on some sort of promo or Costco is trying to convince you to buy a specific item.

Next, you’ll want to head to the middle section of the store which will have the items that sell faster than the items on the outer sections. I cannot count the amount of times I’ve featured products from the middle section and within the same week at the same location (sometimes the same day), those items are gone and a new items have taken it’s place.

Literally, it happens after every Costco Shop video I post! It never fails!

The middle section is also the most dangerous section for your budget. If you’re trying to stick to a budget I would recommend only taking a peek because once you deep dive into to centre of the warehouse I guarantee you’ll find something you didn’t plan to get and just like that there goes your budget! This is also the home of most things seasonal.

There’s a ton a savings and sales on the outer aisles too and you might end up having to choose which items you will get on one trip. Or, if you have an endless budget you can get it all, including affordable gas for your car!

10. GETTING GAS AT COSTCO

One of my amazing subscribers mentioned a while back that I should share that gas is affordable at Costco. To be honest, initially I was skeptical because gas seems to be expensive EVERYWHERE.

(You know you live in Canada when gas is always expensive)

Well, I had to try it out anyways and see for myself if it was worth sharing and I am happy to report that gas is ABSOLUTELY more affordable at Costco vs most gas stations! I couldn’t believe it!

It’s no wonder the gas line is always longer than the checkout lines inside the warehouse and the return line itself. I definitely recommend trying the Costco gas, the line actually moves faster than you’d think and there’s an employee navigating the traffic to speed along the process.

BUT WAIT! I HAVE ONE BONUS SECRET TO SHARE WITH YOU BEFORE YOU GO!

Bonus Secret- Kirkland Signature products are a great option to save on your regular brand named products.

Kirkland Signature (KS) is an amazing option to get the best value known to mankind! The KS line of products are tested and approved by consumers to make sure Costco members get the best value on the best products possible. They never skip out on quality, comfort or cost (QCC) and I am a huge KS fan! I always test products for QCC before I consider spending my money. If it doesn’t pass my test or live up to my standards then it simply won’t make the cut.

I’ll talk more about QCC later in an upcoming video and blog post. So, stay tuned for that!

Thank you so much for reading and levelling up your Costco shopping game! These secrets will help you to become a Costco pro like me and help you to make the best shopping decisions to assure you get the best deals you can. Now, go check out my latest Costco adventures over on YouTube and my hauls so you can see

• my current product faves
• must-buy products
• a virtual walkthrough of latest sales
• and SO MUCH MORE

Here’s my first shop of 2022!

-Dee