We have been a member of Costco since 1995 and have really taken advantage of all the savings because of buying stuff in bulk plus a few instant manufacturer’s rebate and coupons to add to that.

However, even with all the savings that we talked about, some people would still not be able to justify coughing up that $55 or $110 for Costco membership fees because they probably have a small family and bulk buying will cost them more (by throwing away the extras).

But if you still need to go shop at Costco, here are the few ways on how you can get around it:

1.Shop At Costco.com Website

If you do not know it yet, you can actually shop at the online store Costco.com even without the membership. Unlike the physical warehouse stores, the use of credit card to pay for purchases is not limited to just American Express as you can use Visa, MasterCard, or you can even have it billed. However, there is a 5% surcharge on your purchases if you are not a Costco member.

2. Use A Costco Cash Card

What it is

The Costco cash card is a prepaid card and you can use this to shop  at the store. What I like about the cash card is that it is not limited for members as NON-MEMBERS can use this as well at any location in the United States and even at Costco.com.

The amount that you can load the card for varies from a minimum of $10 up to a maximum of $1,000. The card does not have an expiration and is rechargeable at any Costco stores. You can access the balance by going to Costco.com

How Can Non-Members Acquire One?

Well, this is the tricky part. If you are a non-member, you cannot just get one for yourself because only Costco members can prepay on the card. However, if you know a Costco member, you can ask that person to purchase one for you. This is good if you just want to try shopping at Costco without  having to pay for the membership fees.

And if you do not know any Costco members, there are Costco cash cards that are being offered at eBAY but beware when you go this route since some of them may not be legitimate.

The Costco Membership card only allows up to a maximum of two people who live in the same household. So this is perfect for huge families to allow non-Costco family members to shop at Costco. As an example, you can have your kids shop at Costco or buy gas and limit their spending with the Costco cash card.

Caveats for Non-Members:

• Recharging the Card – When the card runs out of money, you cannot recharge it yourself. You have to ask the Costco member to do it for you. This is quite a hassle, in my opinion, and if you really like shopping at Costco, you might as well just purchase the $55 Gold Membership. Itâ€s really a big inconvenience for you to be asking your friend or relative to recharge it for you every time it runs out of money.
• Return Policy – As great as the return policy at Costco, I think this only applies to members. So non-members may not be able to avail the same return policy that are reserved for the members. Unless of course you ask the member to return it for you.

3. Shop With A Costco Member

This is probably the most common one. Whenever I go to Costco, I always see non-members who are piggy backing on their friend’s or relative’s membership. Again, the caveat is you have to be with a Costco member and you can only pay by cash. If a Costco member is also shopping, the cashier will ring up your orders separately.

4. Items or Services You Can Buy Without The Membership

There are certain items at Costco that you can buy even if you do not have a membership. Alcohol and pharmacy are two common ones because these are mandated either by the federal or state laws.

• Alcohol – You would need to let a Costco employee that you are only purchasing alcohol. Usually, they would provide you a temporary shopping pass but it is only good for alcohol purchase and you have to pay in cash. This is a good way for non-members to take advantage of the wholesale alcohol prices that members usually can avail.
• Pharmacy – You do not need to have a Costco membership in order to purchase from their pharmacy centers.
• Optometrist – These are usually independent optometrist so you do not need to have memberships to see one.

5. One Day Free Shopping Pass or Trial Membership ( Update from Comments Below)

As mentioned in a comment by our readers, you can actually ask for a one day free shopping pass or trial membership. I don’t think all Costco stores offer this so the best bet is to call the warehouse store directly and ask if they offer this. One caveat is that they may charge non-member surcharge for the purchases. With online shopping, the surcharge is 5% so you can expect the same surcharge or even higher percentage at the physical locations.

Related Articles:

• How to get free membership at Costco
• 5 Ways to shop at Costco without being a member
• Where to find Costco Membership discounts
• How to become a member of Costco: 4 Ways to Sign-up
• How to save at least 20% on your next restaurant and entertainment using Costco
• Costco Anywhere VISA Card by CITI: A Few Things You Need to Know or Watch Out For
• Shopping At Costco: The Good and the Ugly
• Costco Return Policy: 5 Things You Need to Know
• Why Buy Tires At Costco

Well, it will be nice if there is a true discount for the memberships fees especially for selected groups such as students, military, professional (doctors, engineers, accountants, nurses, etc),  senior citizens (hello AARP) like most organizations or stores do, but unfortunately there is none or at least not a direct reduction on the membership fees, so to speak.

Most of the discounts offered does not reduce the membership directly but rather comes in the form of coupons or Costco Cash card. In doing so, you can treat the equivalent offer you receive as a discount on the Costco memberships. Costco is smart enough to give you the cash card provided that you  only have to use it at their store!

Below are the 6 ways where you can find discounts on Costco membership fees:

1. New Mover Membership Special Offer

Currently, Costco is offering new mover special offer to welcome you home. For New Executive Membership, you can receive a $20 Costco Cash Card while new Gold Star members can receive a $10 Costco Cash Card when you sign-up. When you sign-up online, you need to use the coupon code NHMEXEC for Executive Membership and NHMBASE for Gold Star membership before finalizing your payment. If you want to purchase your membership at the store, you have to click here, print the web page and bring to your local Costco warehouse.

2. Association Discount

Some professional organizations offer various discounts to stores or vendors because of the bulk buying power of the organization. Costco usually partners with these organizations as one of the marketing strategies of expanding the network. By being a member of  these organizations, you may be entitled to a receive this special discount.  One organization that comes to mind is the NEA or the National Education Association.

Back in the days when I was a member of Price Club (before they merged or bought by Costco), you can only sign up as a member of Price Club if you are a member of selected group. For the most part, federal employees like the postal service employees were one of the few who have given opportunities to be a member. I was not any of those but I was an employer of a member of the Chamber of Commerce for which Price Club was also a member and they did provide membership to those as well.  But now, almost everyone can be a member at Costco.

3. Online/Web Deals and Coupon Sites

Costco membership is often featured on some of the online deals or coupon sites such as MyPoints or Fatwallet. When you sign up for the $55 Gold Card Membership at Costco (or upgrade to the $110 Executive Members for current Gold Card Member) using the Mypoints offering, you usually don’t get a discount but will receive $55 worth of coupons but the caveat is you have to be a member of My Points.

 4. Costco Anywere VISA Card By CITI

If you are a Costco member, you can sign up for the Costco Anywhere VISA Card by CITI at no additional charge. With the Costco Credit Card, you get cash back when you use the card on purchases, gas, travel, and restaurants. Depending on the promotion, you may sometimes end up getting a $25 initial sign-up cash back when you first use the card to shop at Costco. So in essence, this is just like getting a $25 discount on your membership.

5. Membership Discount From Costco Stores

From time to time, various Costco stores offer special membership promotions directly to customers in-store but this vary by locations. Offers usually come in the form of free pass for the day or cash cards that you have to use when you shop at the store.

6. Employer Discount

If you are fortunate enough to work for a company affiliated with Costco, you may be able to avail discounts when you sign up as a new Costco member. Usually you will need to pay for the full price of the membership and the discount comes in the form of a $20 Costco Cash Card, which you can use when you shop at Costco.

How about you, do you have any other suggestions on how you can get Costco membership discounts? Please provide this on our comment section!

Related Articles:

• How to get free membership at Costco
• 5 Ways to shop at Costco without being a member
• Where to find Costco Membership discounts
• How to become a member of Costco: 4 Ways to Sign-up
• How to save at least 20% on your next restaurant and entertainment using Costco
• Costco Anywhere VISA Card By CITI: A Few Things You Need to Know or Watch Out For
• Shopping At Costco: The Good and the Ugly
• Costco Return Policy: 5 Things You Need to Know
• Why Buy Tires At Costco

One of the biggest benefit of the membership is that you can get a 2% rebate on qualified purchases and if you make purchases of at least $5,500, you are essentially recovering the full membership fee, thus, technically getting the Costco Membership for free. This was mentioned as one of the ways on how you can get free membership at Costco.

In addition, Executive Members can avail lower prices on services such as check printing, auto buying, one-year free roadside assistance for vehicles covered through the Auto Insurance program and additional travel benefits. Executive Members also receive a monthly edition of The Costco Connection magazine.

Is there a limit on the amount of the rewards?

Yes, the rewards amount is limited to only $750 per 12-month membership period. So, you will no longer receive a rebate on anything over $37,500 of qualified purchases.

What happens if I downgrade back to Gold Star after trying the Executive Membership?

Costco allows you to try the Executive Membership at no risk to you if you want to upgrade from a Gold Star membership. If it does not work for you, you can downgrade and get a refund of the difference of your 2% Reward and the amount you paid for your Executive upgrade fee. For example, if you receive a rebate of $20 from the Executive Membership, Costco will refund you ONLY $35 ($55-$20) and not the whole $55 upgrade fee if you wish to downgrade back to the Gold Star membership.

What purchases qualify for the rebate?

The purchases that qualify for the rebate are basically anything you purchase at the front-end registers at Costco Warehouses,, with the exceptions listed next, and Costco.com.

Pharmacy and over-the-counter medicines apply to the 2% Reward. However, only the amount not covered by insurance (co-payment/deductible) is calculated as part of the 2% Reward.

Purchase of tires qualifies but not the installation, balancing and disposable fees.

Purchase of bottled and canned drinks/beverages but not the bottle deposit/recycling fee such as the CRV or California recycling value.

What purchases do not qualify for the rebate?

The following items do not qualify towards the 2% rewards

• Selected Front-End Register Purchased Items – This include cigarettes, tobacco-related products, postage stamps, alcoholic beverages in certain states (including Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Ohio, and Michigan),
• All Non Front-End Register Purchases – This includes Costco food court purchases and gasoline.
• Membership Related – This includes payment for membership fees, purchases of the Costco Cash Card, and purchases made by anyone other than the account’s primary or household cardholder.
• Transactions done through websites not hosted by Costco even if accessed through Costco.com – This includes  all business, consumer, and insurance services, the online photo center, Costco Travel, and the My Publisher website.
• Others –  This includes miscellaneous fees, donation to charities done at the registers, optical exams, deposits and taxes, including sales tax, shipping fees at Costco.com; where prohibited by law or regulation;  on certain other categories as determined at Costco’s discretion, which may change without notice.

When do I receive the rewards certificate?

The Reward certificate is mailed with the Executive Member’s annual renewal notice. Rewards totaling less than $1 will not be sent.

How do I  use the rewards?

Unlike credit card rewards where you can use it at various selected stores, the executive membership rebate can ONLY be used at the Costco local warehouses.

Using the rewards has the same limitations as the qualified purchases described previously. This means you cannot use the rewards for alcohol, cigarettes or tobacco-related products, gasoline, and food courts. Also, you cannot use it as payment on Costco Credit Card accounts, and purchases of third party services such as travel, auto, insurance, business services, etc.

Although some purchases at Costco.com qualify for the rebate, the rebate itself cannot be use if you are purchasing at Costco.com.

What happens if I lose or someone steals my Rewards Certificate?

Unfortunately, reward certificates will not be replaced if lost or stolen.

Do I get both the Costco Anywhere VISA Card CITI and Executive Membership Rebates?

If you have both the Costco Anywhere VISA Card by CITI and the Executive Membership, you can have both the rebates; it is not either or since these are two separate offers. So technically, you are getting more rebates for the same purchases you made at Costco.

For qualified purchases, Costco Anywhere VISA Citi card gives you 2% and Executive Membership gives you 2%. In addition, you can get a 4% rebate on gasoline with the Costco Anywhere VISA while Executive Membership does not give you any rebate at all (see the restrictions previously). There are no limitations on how you’ll get rebates from Costco-Anywhere since you can still get rebates even if you use it outside of Costco.

Usually, the Costco Amex rebates are sent in February while the Executive Membership reward certificates are sent around the anniversary date of your membership.

Reference:

For additional or the most current information, please visit Costco.com Rewards section.

Related Articles:

• How to get free membership at Costco
• 5 Ways to shop at Costco without being a member
• Where to find Costco Membership discounts
• How to become a member of Costco: 4 Ways to Sign-up
• How to save at least 20% on your next restaurant and entertainment using Costco
• Shopping At Costco: The Good and the Ugly
• Costco Return Policy: 5 Things You Need to Know
• Why Buy Tires At Costco

What’s good about the membership is that all Costco cards can be used WORLDWIDE and at Costco.com. So you may have membership here in United States and you can also use that if you go to Costco in  Japan,  Canada,  Taiwan,  Spain,  South Korea,  Mexico, Australia, Puerto Rico, or United Kingdom.

Gold Star Membership

The Gold Star cost is $55 annually and the card can be used for personal use purchases only and you can add a member of your household as an additional card holder

Business Membership

Cost is $55 annually and the card can be used for personal, business, or resale purchases. Business identification (business license, resale certificate, or three pieces of business ID) is required when applying for a Business Membership.

The card member can also add a member of his/her household as additional cardholder. In addition to this, Business members also may add up to six additional cardholders (add-ons) as Business Members to their membership at $55.00 each per year, which includes one household card per add-on.

Executive Membership

This is the highest type of Costco Membership offered at the warehouse club and this one cost $110 annually. The Executive Membership card can be used for personal, business use or resale purchases and you can also add a member of your household as an additional card holder.

The extra advantage of this is that Executive Members earn a 2% Annual Reward on most Costco purchases with a maximum cash back of $750. Moreover, you can receive additional benefits on other member services such as lower prices on check printing, payroll services and identity protection; an account bonus for money market and online investing accounts; free roadside assistance for vehicles covered through the auto insurance program; and extra travel benefits.

For additional information on the rewards program, please see the article Executive Membership 2% Rewards: Top consumer question.

But how good is the Costco CITI Anywhere Rewards Visa Card? Will this be the right card for you? Here is a closer look of the good and the bad aspects to determine if this is right for you before signing up or opening a new account!

The Good – Costco CITI Anywhere VISA Card

1. Costco and Credit Card Into One

Well, it is a credit card and a Costco Membership card at the same time. This allows you to carry just one card when you go to Costco to shop. The card shows both the credit card and membership numbers and a photo of you.  This is also very convenient when you use this at Costco gasoline stations since you only have to slide the card once.

2. Pay Annual Costco Membership Automatically Using the Card.

You also have the convenience of paying the annual Costco membership automatically using the True Earnings card. One reason that I have this done is to avoid missing the rewards because of not having have a valid Costco membership as discuss later on the “The Bad” side.

3. No annual fee 

There is no annual fee for the card with a paid Costco membership.

4. Cash Back on Purchases

The rewards is tiered into four rates: from 1% to 4%. The biggest cash back is 4% but it only applies to gasoline purchase of up to  $7,000 and  the rate is reduced to 1% thereafter. It offers 3% cash back when you use it on restaurant (including cafes, bars, lounges and fast food restaurants) and eligible travel purchases worldwide, including airfare, hotels, car rentals, travel agencies, cruise lines and Costco Travel. 2% cash back can be received on all other purchases from Costco and Costco.com and 1% cash back on all other purchases, including the non-qualifying purchases.

When compared to the AMEX True Earnings Rewards Card, the CITI card rewards is much better when it comes to the rates of the rebates.

5. No Limit On The Cash Back

Unlike the Costco Executive Membership that limits the cash back to just $750 (November 1, 2011), there is no limit to how much cash back rewards for your purchase.

6. Rewards can be converted to cash

The rewards coupon can be redeemed at the Costco warehouse stores for Costco merchandise, cash, or cash equivalent. The coupon has no value if not redeemed in person at a Costco Warehouse before the expiration date (usually December 31 of the year of issuance). If you do not use the entire coupons on a Costco purchase, any unused portion of your reward coupon may be issued in cash or cash equivalent at the Costco Warehouse.

7.Travel Protection

You can avail additional travel protection such as trip cancellation and interruption protection, worldwide travel accident insurance, worldwide car rental insurance, travel and emergency assistance.

8. Purchase Protection

You can shop with more confidence as it provides damage & theft Purchase protection, which may cover you for repairs or a refund if purchases made with your Citi card are damaged or stolen within 120 days of purchase (90 days for New York residents). Also, the card provides additional warranty on your purchase by extending the manufacturerâ€s warranty.

9. Low Price Guarantee

The card provides lowest price guarantee through the Citi Price Rewind, which searches for a lower price on the registered items you pay for with your Citi card at hundreds of online merchants. If the same item is found at a lower price within 60 days of your initial purchase date, you may receive the difference between the price you paid and the lower price found by Citi Price Rewind. Citi Price Rewind does that hard work for you.

The Bad – Costco Anywhere VISA Card by CITI

1. Cancellation and Forfeiture of Rewards With No Valid Costco Membership

The problem with the earned rewards is that you must have a valid Costco membership at the time of receiving the rewards. Your CITI Anywhere VISA account will be cancelled and your annual rewards forfeited automatically if you cancel your Costco membership. So if you have this card and you intend on canceling your Costco membership, make sure that you review your reward statement to see if you still have cash back rewards available before canceling. In addition, if you inadvertently forgot to pay for your membership, you may end up not receiving the rewards. One convenient way to ensure that your Costco membership stays active is to have your annual membership fee automatically billed to your CITI Anywhere Card. Please contact Costco at 1-800-774-2678 to enroll in the auto-bill feature if you are not already enrolled.

2. Forfeiture of Rewards When VISA Card is Closed

If your Card Account is closed, you will no longer be able to earn or redeem your Costco Cash Rewards, and you will forfeit any accumulated Costco Cash Rewards. If you close or convert your Card Account prior to receiving the credit card reward certificate in your February billing statement, any earned Costco Cash Rewards will be forfeited.

3. Annual Rewards Expire on December 31 on the year of issuance

The rewards expire really soon. Usually, the cash back rewards are issued on February of each year and must be used by December 31 of the same year. Otherwise, it will be forfeited.

4. Need To Replace Both Cards When Lost

It inherited the same feature of the AMEX True Earnings card when your card is lost. When I lost my True Earnings card, I have to call AMEX to cancel the card and to send me a new one. Little that I know that my Costco membership card was canceled as well. When I went to pay using the old Costco membership card, it was not working as the old number was no longer recognized so I ended up getting a new Costco membership card with the new number.

5. Limitations on the Additional Cardholder

Because the Costco CITI Anywhere VISA card is tied to your Costco membership, you cannot just add any other card holder unless he or she is also the “additional household member” card holder for the Costco membership card.

6. Rewards Are Not Transferable

The coupons may only be redeemed by either one of the card members listed on the account (the main member or the additional Cardmember on the CITI Anywhere VISA account). However,  additional Costco card holder Household Membership Card holder cannot redeem the Annual Reward Coupon of the costco member unless he or she is also a Cardmember on the CITI Anywhere VISA account.

7. Interest Rate Is Really High

The annual interest rate is at least 15.49% aon purchases and 25.99% on cash advances nd they do not offer anything lower even if you have excellent credit history.  So if you do not pay off your card after the purchase, then any rebates that you’ll get will be offset by the interest that you’ll pay in the long run.

8. Other Limitations:

• Rewards coupon may not be used to pay for the outstanding balance on your Costco Anywhere VISA card
• Rewards coupon cannot be redeemed at Costco.com, only at the stores.

The Verdict

I own the card and the cash backs are a thing of beauty since I do get quite a bit. Using the card for purchases really add up to the savings. The limitations, in my opinion, are very minor compared to the overall benefits of having one.

Related Articles:

• How to get free membership at Costco
• 5 Ways to shop at Costco without being a member
• Where to find Costco Membership discounts
• How to become a member of Costco: 4 Ways to Sign-up
• How to save at least 20% on your next restaurant and entertainment using Costco
• Shopping At Costco: The Good and the Ugly
• Costco Return Policy: 5 Things You Need to Know
• Why Buy Tires At Costco

Currently, Costco is offering discounts on Quickbooks Online but only for their Executive Members.

This is not a review of QuickBooks Online so you will not find any pros and cons of using the service itself. This is just a comparison between the direct purchase vs the Costco purchase of the online service/subscription.

Recouping the cost of $110 Costco Executive Memberships

Previously, we’ve discussed ideas on how you can get free membership at Costco and one of them is getting the Executive Membership. If you are a business owner who is not a member or who has Costco Business or Gold Star membership, then it is highly recommended to purchase or upgrade to the Executive Membership.

Come to think of it, if you are going to buy Quickbooks Online outside of Costco at regular price, wouldn’t it make sense to purchase the Executive Membership for $110 and get the discount of $144 using the Costco QuickBooks Online services? You are practically getting your Executive Membership for free!

Previously, we’ve discussed about the benefits of Executive Membership such as getting a 2% rebate. Unfortunately, the payment for the Quickbooks Online is not included in the the 2% rebate.

Below are the most common questions tackling the similarities and differences when purchasing QuickBooks Online at Costco vs. Direct:

1. What plans are offered at Costco vs. Direct?

If you purchase Quickbooks Online directly, you will find 4 Pricing Plans: Self-Employed, Starter, Essentials and Plus.

The plans at Costco are limited to Plus and Essentials only.

2. Is there a free-trial?

There is a 30-day free trial on QuickBooks Online whether you purchased it directly or through the Costco Business Services.

3. How much is the Costco Quickbooks Online discount?

As mentioned before, the discount in purchasing through Costco is very substantial and you can save a minimum of $84 per month vs purchasing it directly.

a. Plans without payroll

Comparing it apples to apples, where the payment method is monthly, the savings using Costco is actually $12/mo ($144 annual) on Essentials plan and $18/mo ($216 annual) on the Plus plan.

When you purchase direct from QuickBooks, they have a special discount if you pay annually. For the annual payment, the equivalent monthly bill is reduced to $21 per month from $27 per month for the Essential plan. However, you still come out ahead with Costco QuickBooks Online with the convenience of paying on a monthly basis!

b. Plans with Payroll

If you are signing up for service with a payroll feature, then you can save $84 per month at the minimum (again we are comparing apples to apples where you pay on a monthly basis). You can see the big difference when you use the payroll service since the Costco Services offers you a $2 discount (50% off) per employees. So if you have 10 employees, that’s $20 per month ($240 per year) in discounts.

Costco is currently offering a 33% discount for the first six months of using QuickBooks Online with a payroll feature so this should provide you additional savings on top of the other ones we previously discussed!

Conclusion

Aside from the pricing differences, the rest of the terms and conditions are pretty much the same for both the Costco QuickBooks Online and direct purchase and you can check them here if you need additional information: Costco QuickBooks Online terms and conditions and QuickBooks Online terms and Conditions.

As stated previously, if you are going to purchase QuickBooks Online anyways, it is best to become an Executive Member at Costco and utilize the savings. You are pretty much getting the membership for free if you do so!

UPDATE:

As stated in the Costco website, this offer has EXPIRED!

Because of this, people are searching for ways to get free Costco membership or to get any kind of discounts  so they can test shopping at the store.

But a lot of people will argue and have ask this question: “Is paying for the Costco membership really worth it?”

Six Ways to Get Free Costco Membership

Just to let you know, Costco does not really provide free memberships but you can actually recover the full cost of memberships, thus, making this look as if you have gotten the membership for free. For the most part, Costco or other affiliates will provide some sort of incentives such as Costco cash card, cash back rewards, or third party coupons. This is how we can show you how you can get those incentives and cash back in order to offset the cost of Costco membership fees.

1. Get Cash Back from Executive Membership

As mentioned earlier, the Executive Costco Membership provides 2% cash back on most items purchased at Costco stores. Simple math tells us that if you purchase $5,500 annually, you’ll be receiving cash back of $110, thus, offsetting the cost paid for the membership fees. For smaller families, this may not be a good route if you can’t reach the break even point of $5,500.

2. Savings at Costco Pays For The Membership

If you buy often enough in bulk and with the instant rebate and coupons provided, the savings that you’ll get more than pays for the Costco membership.

• Gasoline – In my area, the cost of gas at Costco is usually $0.30 cheaper. I have a 15-gallon tank car and I usually fill out every two weeks so in a month, the savings to me just with gas alone is $9 per month ($0.30 x 30 gallons per month) or comes out to $108 annually, which pays off my $110 Executive Membership!  Some of you probably fill out gas more often which yields to more savings. If you add the 4% rebate when you use the Costco Anywhere Visa Card by CITI , you pretty much recovered the cost of the membership fees even if you have the Executive Membership.
• Coupons and Instant Rebates – Costco have instant rebates and coupons as well that you can use. On average, I usually save around $10 per month with those coupons ($120 annual savings). If you buy big ticket items, of course the instant rebates are much higher. Examples are $60 instant manufacturer’s rebates on tires or $100 rebate on TV. Even the small coupons or rebates add up and can help you recoup the $55 Gold Star Membership easy!
• Wholesale Savings – I think this is pretty much self-explanatory that you can save around 20% to 50% on your purchase when you buy in bulk and the savings varies on how big is the family. But if you add all of them up, you can at least get the equivalent of the cost of membership.
• Store Gift Cards or Certificate – Most gift cards or certificates offer you 20% and people usually buy this not only as a gift but also for personal use. Lucille BBQ, Elephant Bar, California Pizza Kitchen, Coffee Bean cards worth as much as $100 only cost $79.99 at Costco. If you are already going to those restaurants anyways, why not stop by at Costco . During Mother’s day, we treat our mom to Lucille’s BBQ and spend $300 worth of food. Well, we only paid $240 just by buying gift cards at Costco. The $60 savings covered the $55 Gold Star membership.

 3. Third Party Offers and Incentives

If you do not know it yet, there are actually a lot of third party organizations that offer incentives when you sign-up for a Costco membership. However, the biggest Costco Membership discount is probably just $50 so if you get the Gold Card membership, you can offset the cost of that and essentially get the membership for free.

4. Get Cash Back from Costco Anywhere VISA Card by CITI

If you are a member of Costco, you should also try to get the Costco Anywhere VISA Card by CITI as this provide additional cash back to offset the Costco membership cost. At the end of the year, the cash back really add up and may end up making you money in the long run.

5. Costco Membership Money Back Guarantee

Costco has a 100% satisfaction guarantee on their memberships. If you are not satisfied with your membership, you can get a full refund at any time. Some people have suggested to use the Costco card for the full year and right before you reach the 365th year, you cancel the card and then re-sign again. It’s a slick and dishonest way of getting a free Costco membership and it’s not really recommended. But hey, this is legal and Costco allows it so I guess you can do this if you wish. I just don’t understand why you would cancel this if you can get your money back a number of ways which I have stated above.

6. You Do Not Have to be a Member of Costco to Shop In The Stores

This is really a separate discussion so rather than repeat myself here and lengthen this article, I prefer to direct you to the article about: Don’t Have A Costco Membership? See How You Can Still Shop At Costco!

How about you? Do you have any ideas of how you can get free Costco Membership that are not mentioned here? Please feel free to provide this in our comment section.

Related Articles:

• How to get free membership at Costco
• 5 Ways to shop at Costco without being a member
• Where to find Costco Membership discounts
• How to become a member of Costco: 4 Ways to Sign-up
• How to save at least 20% on your next restaurant and entertainment using Costco
• Costco Anywhere VISA Card By Citi: A Few Things You Need to Know or Watch Out For
• Shopping At Costco: The Good and the Ugly
• Costco Return Policy: 5 Things You Need to Know
• Why Buy Tires At Costco

One area where Costco’s popularity can be seen is how potential members have been searching the internet. One of the most searched items related to Costco memberships is for free trial  or one day temporary guest pass.

Costco free trial membership or one day temporary guest pass were offered back in the days. With Costco’s growing popularity, these offers have come less as the years pass by. In addition, these trial memberships were greatly abused by some consumers as they just use them over and over without actually buying the memberships.

My advice is to STOP WASTING YOUR TIME trying to find a free one day trial membership or temporary guest pass because nowadays, you will rarely find one and if you do, not all Costco warehouse stores participates. This could be a per store promotion only. My best bet is to call your local stores and ask if they offer one if you insist on trying to get one.

BIGGEST COSTCO OFFERING – ONE YEAR FREE COSTCO TRIAL MEMBERSHIP!

Here is a known fact but being completely ignored by potential members: Costco has been offering a better membership trial for years and all you have to do is to ACT NOW!

How is this possible? Costco offers a risk free membership that allows you to purchase your  membership now and  if you are not happy with it, you can get a full refund at anytime before your first anniversary date. Costco is very lenient with giving out refunds because all they want is your total satisfaction so they always stand behind their risk free membership policy and they are not going to make you jump through hoops. However, please keep in mind that if you have a history of asking for a membership refund every year, then that’s a different story. Costco will figure out that you are just gaming the system to get free membership every year.

So you  are actually getting a better deal – one year free trial membership instead of just one day. This will give you a chance to shop for a year and experience the tremendous savings at Costco!

So again, I just want to repeat myself to stop wasting time and just purchase the Gold Star membership NOW and just ask for a refund later if you are not satisfied with the membership!!

The rules are quite different now since anybody can be a member. Back in the days when I joined i 1995, the membership are limited to select individuals. The store was still called Price Club in my area and the memberships were available to certain groups (like members of the Chamber of Commerce, federal employees, credit unions, etc.). There have been so many changes and this all because of competition from other warehouse stores, I would assumed.

So if you are interested in becoming a member, here are the 4 ways that you can sign up for a Costco membership:

1. Buy a Costco Membership at the Store In Person

You can buy a Costco membership at the store in person and ask for their customer service. The section is usually closer to the entrance. If you are not sure, you can always ask the sales clerk on where to sign-up for membership. There are three types of Costco Membership that you can sign-up for with the cheapest at $55 and the most expensive at $110.  Your membership will be issued immediately when you apply in person and you can shop immediately as well!

2. Apply Online at Costco.com

You can go online at Costco.com and apply for a Costco Membership there by adding it to your shopping cart if you are shopping for the first time. Your membership card will be mailed to you within 7-10 days but you can actually shop at the online store immediately. As mentioned before, you do not have to be a costco member to shop at Costco.com but you will need to pay a 5% surcharge for doing so. You can also renew your memberships online and pay for your purchases and membership together.

3. Mail A Membership Application

You can call the customer service center at 1-800-774-2678 to fax or mail you an application. The application can be brought to the Costco stores in person or you can mail it at this address:

Costco Membership
P.O. Box 34535
Seattle, WA 98124-1088

You will receive your membership card within 7-10 days in the mail.

4. Ask for A Gift Certificate From Friends And Relatives

Holiday is coming up so you can actually ask your friend or relatives to give you a membership gift certificate from Costco. If they are going to give you a gift anyways, it does not hurt to give recommendations on what you want for Christmas, your birthday or anniversaries. This is what we gave to our co-worker when her birthday came up. All of us pooled together some money and gave her a package worth a $105 – $50 for the Costco gift Certificate and another $55 for the Costco cash card. She’s been wanting to shop at Costco and become a member at that time so giving her the Costco membership gift certificate was the perfect gift. It also made our life easier since we do not have to think what we have to give her because we know that this is what she wanted. See, sometimes it does not hurt to just ask and remind them of what you really want as a gift as you’ll never know that they may just do that.

So those are your choices to join or sign-up if you want to become a member of Costco Warehouse.

Related Articles:

• How to get free membership at Costco
• 5 Ways to shop at Costco without being a member
• Where to find Costco Membership discounts
• How to become a member of Costco: 4 Ways to Sign-up
• How to save at least 20% on your next restaurant and entertainment using Costco
• Costco Anywhere VISA Card by CITI: A Few Things You Need to Know or Watch Out For
• Shopping At Costco: The Good and the Ugly
• Costco Return Policy: 5 Things You Need to Know
• Why Buy Tires At Costco

This is perfect for anyone who enjoys apps, games, music, movies, TV shows, books, and more. This can be used on the App Store, iTunes Store, iBooks Store, and toward an Apple Music membership. This is also perfect as a gift to someone you know that enjoys downloading from iTunes!

The multipack can be purchase online at Costco.com but it is only available to Costco members. If you do not know it yet, non-members can actually purchase at Costco.com. The iTunes discount may also be available at your local Costco store so it is best to check it yourself to see if it’s available.

What are the available denominations?

The gift cards are only available in denomination of $100 and $60 comprising of 4 gift cards as indicated below:

$100 Worth – 4 x $25 – Receive a $10 Manufacturer’s discount

If you go to Costco’s website, it indicates that this is priced at $84.49 after the $10 off. So it seems that you are getting an additional $5.51 discount on top of the $10 off.

$60 Worth – 4 x $15 – Receive a $6 Manufacturer’s discount

If you go to Costco’s website, it indicates that this is priced at $50.49 after the $10. So it seems that you are getting an additional $3.51 discount on top of the $6 off.

Is there a limit of how many I can purchase?

There is a limit of 15 multi packs per member.

How much is the shipping fee if I purchase this at Costco.com?

Currently, Costco offers FREE standard shipping of the iTunes gift cards if you purchase them at Costco.com. There will be additional fee if you want it expedited using the express UPS delivery.

What is the delivery time frame?

Standard Shipping: This is via UPS Mail Innovations and the estimated delivery time will be approximately 5 – 7 business days from the time of order.

Express Shipping: This is via UPS and the estimated delivery time will be approximately 2 – 3 business days from the time of order.

Can I use the iTunes Gift Card to make purchases in another country?

No. The gift card is only valid on purchases made in the U.S. from the U.S. iTunes Store. You are required to have an active iTunes account & prior acceptance of license & usage terms before you can use it. The gift card is not redeemable for cash, for resale, for shipments outside the U.S., & no refunds or exchanges (except as required by law). It is void where prohibited.

What are the return policy?

Nowadays, iTunes discounts are hard to come by so Apple users usually take advantage of deals like these. In fact, Apple usually does not offer discounts on most of their products. So even though this is a good deal, you may have your own reasons if you want to return them.

As discussed in the article, Costco Return Policy – 5 Things You Need To Know, you can return your purchase at any of the Costco physical locations to receive  an immediate refund (including shipping and handling). If you are unable to return your order at one of the warehouses, you will need to email customer service or call their customer service center at 1-800-955-2292 for assistance. To expedite the processing of your return, please reference your order number.