Costco.com Can Save you Money, if You're a Member
Written: Oct 03 '04
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Costco is a discount warehouse club that opened its first shopping site in San Diego, California, in 1976. This company has physical stores all around the U.S, with locations in 36 states. It also operates warehouses in the U.K, Canada, Mexico, Taiwan, Korea, and Japan. And, naturally, the company has a strong on-line presence, at the web site Costco.com. Let’s take a look at the available products and services at this site:
What Does This Service Offer?:
Costco.com is a retail web site with products offered in the following areas:
Appliances
Books and DVDs
Computers
Electronics
Cameras
Furniture
Gadgets
Hardware
Health
Home
Jewelry
Office Products
Pharmacy
Photo Center
Software
Sports, Recreation, and Tickets
Tires
Travel
Wine, Food, and Gift Baskets
Besides these physical products Costco.com also offers personal services like financial planning, life insurance, home equity loans, mortgages, auto loans and more. For businesses, the site offers services like check printing, payroll processing, credit card processing, on- line employee training, etc. These added services are, however, not really Costco.com products. Costco has affiliated itself with other on- line businesses to bring you these services.
You do not have to be a Costco member to shop in the web site, but you do have to set up an account before you can complete your order. Items can be added to your cart, but when it comes time to pay, you must setup an account to proceed. This involves entering your name, address, phone number, and e-mail and creating a password. You do not have to enter your credit card number to setup an account, but you will, of course, need to enter one when you complete your transaction.
Payment Methods/Shipping Charges:
Orders at Costco.com can be paid for by using American Express, Visa, Mastercard, Discover, or the Costco credit card. Shipping and handling is added to each order, and the amount is fairly uniform regardless of the item you purchase. Sales tax is also added and if you are not already a Costco club member, you will have an additional five percent added to your merchandise total. Memberships presently sell for $45, so depending on how much you plan to buy in the next year, it might be a good idea to join the club.
Customer Service:
Costco.com can be contacted either through its web site or by calling the toll- free phone number. The web site is good for finding answers to general questions about memberships, returning items, your personal account, and other things. More detailed or specific questions can be addressed by phoning the call center, 800-774-2678.
Final Thoughts:
Costco is a large warehouse operation that strives to save its members money on essential purchases like food and clothing and also on larger, more expensive and luxury merchandise. Similar to Wal Mart’s Sam’s Club, Costco requires a membership in order to shop and make purchases at its large warehouse clubs. Its on- line presence is like an extension of the warehouse store in cyberspace, with much of the same goods offered for sale.
Items at Costco.com are often offered with prices that are much less than you would pay at other retail stores. I have been using this site for about two years, and I have noticed the greatest savings in the areas of more expensive merchandise, like appliances, furniture, etc. The savings in other areas isn’t quite as impressive and depending on the shipping charges and your status as a member, the price you pay might be higher than you would pay elsewhere. When I first visited this site, I came here looking for books- one of the items I purchase on- line more than any other. I found that many books at Costco.com were indeed less expensive than with other sites. But the $1 to $2 savings was quickly offset by the shipping charges and sales tax. Worse yet, if you’re not a member, you will have to pay another five percent on top of everything else.
Speaking of memberships, establishing one with Costco is essential if you want to reduce costs. These memberships can be purchase on- line for as little as $45 (there are other membership plans that cost more). Knowing that the surcharge for non- members is five percent, this means that your membership fee will be completely paid for once you have purchased $900 in merchandise. Keep in mind that a membership is good for both the web site and for making purchases at an actual location. You don’t need to buy a separate membership for each. One paid membership covers both.
Costco.com offers a pretty good amount of merchandise for sale in some areas, but not in others. I’m satisfied with the offerings in areas like hardware and office products. But other areas, like books and DVDs, are sorely lacking in product selections. And I’m not talking about hard to find books or movies. Even books from the national best seller lists are often not available at Costco.com. Also, don’t come here expecting to find as much as you would at the physical store locations. The web site is good, but it cannot duplicate everything you see at the stores.
Returning merchandise is easy with this site if you happen to live close to a Costco warehouse. Items take a little longer to ship from this company than with other web sites (unless you specifically select a faster shipping method, but it will cost you extra), which is something the company needs to work to improve. But if you need to take something back that was purchased on- line, you have the option of returning it directly to a local Costco warehouse store. If you don’t live near a store, then you will have to follow the return directions on the merchandise receipt. But millions of the people live near a Costco center, so returning merchandise is usually a breeze.
Costco.com will remain a web site that I visit from time to time for more expensive merchandise and for some of its unique products that cannot be purchased in many other places. Without the benefits of membership, this on- line store can prove to be more expensive than shopping at other web sites and at actual discount stores. But if you play it right, Costco.com can save you some cash on big ticket items and some less expensive items, too.
Recommended:
Yes
What product did you purchase or try to purchase? Books, DVDs
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