We headed to the Costco in East Lansing, Michigan, to compare in-store prices to what we found on Instacart. James Brains/Insider; InstacartWhen you buy through our links, Insider may earn an affiliate commission. Learn more.
There are two ways to shop at Costco without a membership: Costco. com and Instacart. Both methods deliver your order to your home but come with additional fees and surcharges.
With the added fees, you may find it’s more cost-effective to join Costco, which starts at $60. Why should you pay to become a Costco member when you can get in the door at so many other stores for free? You may think buying a Costco membership is equally silly after we outline how to use Instacart and Costco. com to shop at the major retailer without a membership.
However, using these services comes with an added cost, and in the long run, you may save money by simply buying a Costco membership. Below, we will show you how to shop without becoming a member and when it might be better to join. You can shop at Costco without a membership using InstacartThe product selection on Instacart reflects the items that are available at the nearest Costco store.
InstacartNon-members can order from Costco using Instacart if there is a store in their range. The product range includes about 2,000 items, such as electronics, household items, nonperishable foods, health and beauty, alcohol, fresh and frozen foods, and some big and bulky items, including mattresses and office chairs. While you don’t need to be a member to use this service, the prices are lower if you enter your membership number.
Whether you have a membership or not, you will still need to pay Instacart service and delivery fees, but you can have the items delivered to you in as little as two hours. You can shop on Costco. com without a membershipCostco.
com includes a grocery section, but its offerings are more limited than Instacart. CostcoCostco. com is also available to non-members, but you will be assessed a 5% surcharge on your order.
Also, there are some items that are only available to members, so non-members can’t access everything that’s available. This includes vacuums and many large appliances, like refrigerators, washing machines, and HVAC equipment. Costco.
com charges members and non-members a shipping and handling fee for many items, a fee you don’t have to pay if you’re shopping as a member in-store. Browsing the site, some of the items that incur a shipping charge are beverages, vacuums, and paper products. Looking around Costco.
com, the selection is different from Instacart. For instance, you can’t get popular fresh items like eggs, rotisserie chicken, and steaks on Costco. com, but they are available on Instacart.
On Costco. com, you can get some larger items, like entertainment centers, sofas, and generators, that aren’t available from Instacart. Non-members who receive a Costco gift card (known as the Costco Shop Card) can also shop in-store and on Costco.
com without joining. Price comparisons on popular Costco itemsWe filled up our cart at Costco with all the products we used for our price comparison. James Brains/InsiderI polled members of two large Costco Facebook groups about their favorite products.
Then I compared the prices of the products for non-members versus members using Instacart, Costco. com, and in-store member prices. This is the price of each item in my area (Lansing/East Lansing, Michigan) at the time of this writing (October 2022):ItemInstacart non-member / memberCostco.
com non-member / memberIn-store memberToilet paper (30 rolls)$24. 87 / $21. 85$25.
19 / $23. 99$19. 99Rotisserie chicken$6.
21 / $5. 46unavailable$4. 99Sanders Caramels$24.
86 / $21. 84$49. 34 / $46.
99$19. 98Eggs (24 count)$5. 96 / $5.
24unavailable$4. 99Dog food (40 pounds)$46. 02 / $40.
44$57. 74 / $54. 99$36.
99Water (16. 9 oz – 40 count)$5. 21 / $4.
58unavailable$4. 19Fees and 6% tax$17. 97 / $8.
90$8. 16 / $7. 92$5.
47Total$131. 10 / $108. 31$140.
43 / $133. 89$96. 60Instacart’s non-member prices came in lower than Costco’s non-member prices.
And with a Costco membership, you save $22. 79 on Instacart, making it a less expensive option than Costco. com.
After three Instacart orders like this in a year, a Costco membership would pay for itself. Yet, if you’re a member, you would save another $11. 71 by going to the store yourself rather than using Instacart.
Costco membership fees start at $60It’s easy to sign up for a Costco membership in store, but you can sign up online as well. James Brains/InsiderWhen considering how much more it costs non-members to buy Costco products, you might want to consider paying the $60 annual fee for a Gold Star membership. This membership will unlock savings on Instacart and Costco.
com, while also allowing you to shop in-store. I make Costco trips a family event. We take our time going up and down the aisles, filling up on the plentiful food samples.
Costco also has an Executive membership that costs $120 annually and comes with a 2% in-store refund on qualifying purchases along with other benefits. Whichever membership you choose, you can cancel anytime and get a full refund if you are dissatisfied. The bottom lineOur writer gets the best prices when he shops in store.
James Brains/InsiderWhile you can use Instacart and Costco. com to shop at Costco without a membership, it tends to cost more. If there are specific items you want from Costco, evaluate how much extra they cost without a membership.
You may find you actually save more if you just join. Read the original article on Insider.
From: insider
URL: https://www.insider.com/guides/home/how-to-shop-at-costco-without-a-membership
