Special Report

5 Reasons To Avoid Costco Today

Andrew Dupont

Published: December 1, 2023 2:53 pm

Walking through a Costco (NASDAQ: COST) makes you feel like you’ve entered a whole new world. The ceilings are stocked to the very top with food. You can find some of the biggest bulk items in the world. The free samples they offer can fill you up and be used as an entire meal. And best of all, the hot dog combo is still $1.99.

However, it’s not all glitz and glam when you take a trip to Costco. We think that Costco is the best deal around town, and other than gas, it isn’t at all. There are more negatives than positives to shopping at the local store. If you’re a person who shops at Costco, this is why you should reconsider where you go to the store.

You Need a Membership to Shop at Costco

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Even though the membership fee for Costco is only $60 annually, it feels wrong to charge people just to be able to walk into your store. Imagine Target all of a sudden charging you an annual fee just to walk in. That wouldn’t happen in a million years. It’s one of the reasons Target has become such a popular place to shop and hang out.

You feel like you’re welcome, no matter what. There’s a certain feeling of not being good enough if you don’t have a Costco card. With how things are trending thanks to Millennials and Gen-Z, these types of shops will have to either change or go out of business. It’s not worth putting money into something you aren’t sure is going to continue to be a thing.

You’ll Waste Tons of Food

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Costco has made its name by selling wholesale bundles of food. While this might feel like you’re getting a good deal, unless you’re shopping for a party or massive get-together, you’re probably going to waste tons of food. You’d have to only get a certain amount of food each trip to ensure it doesn’t go bad before you can eat it. At that point, why not just shop at a regular grocery store? There are times when you can eat all the food you get from a Costco trip, but it’s rare and not worth the membership price you pay each year.

You’ll Spend More Money Than You Need to

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If there’s anything we’ve learned over the last few years, it’s to only spend money on things that are necessities. While groceries are necessities, the average Costco trip can cost over $100. Now that might seem comparable to a regular store, but imagine buying everything you need to cook at home from Costco. You’d spend close to $300 or $400 per trip. Costco has great prices because they wholesale their items, and it is cheaper to buy them in bulk here.

But odds are, you’re not going to use it all and will end up spending more than if you bought the regular amount of what you needed from the grocery store. There are also a lot of other things Costco has that aren’t food-related that you’ll be tempted to buy whenever you’re there. It’s best to just remove yourself from the scenario.

It Takes A Lot Longer to Shop at Costco

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This might not seem like a huge deal, especially if you’re single and don’t have kids to worry about at home. But even if you don’t, do you want to spend up to three hours trying to park, walking around a massive warehouse, and trying to load up everything you bought? Probably not. Shopping at Costco takes a lot longer than it does at other grocery stores, and this is on purpose. The longer you spend in there, the more you’re likely to buy.

The parking lot also serves as another way to spend money. You feel like you want your trip to be worth it, so you stock up on whatever you can. This can even include impulse purchases and things you didn’t intend on buying. You have a life that’s worth living, not where you have to plan your whole day around the trip to the store.

They Don’t Have Curbside Pickup

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We didn’t realize how great and important curbside pickup would be even just five years ago. Being able to comfortably pick what you need from your couch can save a lot of time. All you have to do is drive up and have the store associate pack your truck with what you’ve purchased. Costco is one of the few places that doesn’t offer this option at any of their stores.

You have to walk in and shop around for what you want. Now this might not seem as bad, but as we stated before, this is when impulse purchases happen. Curbside pickup is a great way to save money and make sure you’re not buying anything you don’t need.