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Here’s the deal.
Costco is known for bulk buying at low prices — but its annual membership fee may turn budget buyers away. The retail giant charges $65 per year for its Gold Star Membership and $130 per year for its Executive Membership, leading many to question whether or not it’s actually worth it.
One potential new member posed the question on Reddit, asking, “What items (other than gas) do you get to justify the membership if you’re not a bulk buyer?”
“Are the basics enough of a discount that makes the membership worth it?”
Along with Costco shoppers’ responses to the post, Business Insider crunched the numbers to find out which items make the $65 membership essentially pay for itself.
To do so, they focused on shelf-stable items that are typically used throughout the year and compared them to prices at traditional retailers, such as Walmart, Target and Amazon. They asked ChatGPT to estimate how much of each item would be used in a two-person household over a year.
BI also calculated a “payback score” for each item to show how much of the membership fee is accounted for in relative savings after one year of shopping for that item only at Costco.
A payback score of 100 would mean the savings and the fee are equal, while a score of 200 means the savings were twice the fee. A score of 50 means that half the fee was offset by that one product.
According to their analysis, pet food is one item that makes the membership worthwhile. A 38-pound bag of Blue Buffalo dog food goes for $65 at Costco, while it would cost $111 at a typical retailer — meaning the membership fee would be canceled out in less than two purchases.
This pet food got a payback score of 713, so the savings would cover the membership fee plus six times the cost of the item.
Diapers and baby wipes also cancel out the membership fee with a payback score of 373 — a major plus for parents. At Costco, a jumbo pack of Huggies diapers sells for $50, in comparison to about $70 somewhere else. Savings would offset the membership fee in less than four purchases.
Also a big purchase for parents, savings on baby formula would counterbalance the membership after just five purchases, earning a payback score of 240. A large container of Similac sells for $55 at Costco, compared to $68 at other major retailers.
Costco sells two-pound bags of Starbucks Pike Place roast coffee beans for $8.40 per pound, which typically goes for about $12 per pound. If a household consumes 30 pounds of coffee a year, the payback score would be 166, canceling out the membership after 18 pounds of coffee.
Cheese lovers will also want to run to Costco. Assuming a household consumes 25 pounds of cheese a year, the membership would be almost equally offset with a payback score of 102. The retail giant sells 2.5-pound blocks of Tillamook cheddar cheese for $4 per pound — almost $3 less than other places.
Costco is well-known for it’s wide selection of paper products, such as toilet paper, and this is no exception to what makes it’s membership worth it. Their 30-packs of Charmin toilet paper comes out to about $1.10 per roll, which is 37 cents cheaper than a pack purchased elsewhere. If a household buys four of these large packs per year, the payback score would come out to 67.
However, Business Insider noted that “this analysis assumes no other purchases at Costco, which in our experience is extremely unlikely.”
It’s been previously reported that Costco shoppers are spending money with each minute they spend in the store.
Business news site Morning Brew and Phil Andrews of @maxinomicsmb, a YouTube channel that explores spending habits, once revealed that from the moment someone walks into a Costco, they’re set to spend about $1.75 per minute.
Andrews explained that the average person spends about 37 minutes wandering around Costco, which will bring the shopper to spend about $64.75.
