Costco is a huge retail corporation with a loyal and large customer base of over 100 million members and more than 800 warehouses across the world. These members all pay an annual subscription, and why wouldn’t they?
Costco is known for selling items in bulk at an affordable price that most competitors can’t contest with. Still, customers want to save every dollar they can and as a result, one of the most widely asked questions amongst members is if Costco takes coupons.
After some research, we’ve found the answer to this popular question. So, if you’d like to find out if Costco takes coupons, continue reading.
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Does Costco Accept Coupons In 2023?
To put it simply, the answer is both yes and no. Currently, Costco does not take any manufacturers’ coupons at check out. These are the coupons you would find in newspapers, magazines, or online, which are distributed by the manufacturers themselves.
Despite that, Costco does accept coupons, which are distributed by Costco itself. These coupons can be found through mailers they send out and booklets that can be collected in-store.
Aside from that, Costco’s coupons will often save you more money than the manufacturer coupons, so it’s a win-win situation for both Costco and its members.
While it may be frustrating that Costco manufacturer coupons are not accepted at Costco, there are still plenty of ways to save a lot of money during your Costco shopping trip.
Why Won’t Costco Take Manufacturers’ Coupons?
Costco will not take manufacturers’ coupons in order to keep the lowest possible price for their customers.
Costco wants to be able to maintain a say in how they price items without pressure from manufacturers. When manufacturers send out a coupon, they will increase the price of the item that the coupon is for to include the price of the coupon in the item’s price.
As an example, if a product has a manufacturers’ coupon for $1.00 off, the manufacturer will have raised the price charged to the retailer of that product by $1.00 beforehand to take the coupon’s discount into account. The retailer selling the product will make the same amount, but the manufacturer will end up making more from people who don’t end up using the coupon and pay the increased price.
For this reason, Costco forgoes manufacturers’ coupons completely in order to have full control over how their items are priced.
How Can You Receive Coupon Savings At Costco?
There are several ways to increase the amount you save when shopping at Costco. The corporation’s special offers will typically give you a discount of $2 to $4, which is much more than you would get from the majority of manufacturers’ coupons.
Costco also offers BOGO (buy one, get one) and other combo deals, which offer savings after purchasing a product at full price.
Store coupons are consistently sent out through mail and email whenever there are new offers. Coupon booklets can also be asked for at the customer service center when shopping in-store. You are able to cut out coupons yourself or download them straight from the Costco app.
To increase convenience, coupons will automatically be searched for when a membership card is scanned at checkout. This way, it is incredibly easy to save money at Costco as you might be eligible for a discount even if you didn’t anticipate it.
A word of caution, in-store coupons typically cannot be applied to online orders. If you’re adamant about shopping online, there are online offers to view. Checking all offers your nearest Costco has to offer is super easy, just follow these steps.
How Does Costco Price Its Products
There is a simple pricing structure Costco uses that is easy to learn and use to get the best savings during your shopping trip. Here are some numbers to look out for when looking at product prices:
- A price tag ending in .99 is a regular price and is not marked down
- A price tag ending in .97 means the item is marked down from the regular price and is now on clearance
- A price tag ending in 9 other than .99, such as .89, .79, .69, .59, or .49, marks a special deal that Costco received from one of its manufacturers
- A price tag with an asterisk (*) means the product will not be restocked and may indicate a significant price reduction
- A price tag with .88 or .00 is a manager markdown and will be reduced greatly
Another great reason to keep an eye on Costco’s prices is because Costco offers cashback for price adjustments. Therefore, if the price of an item you purchased drops within 14 days of your purchase, you will be able to show your receipt in-store to get cashback from your purchase.
This also applies to online orders, which have a 30-day timeline instead. As a quick example, if you purchase a 1.64 kg pack of Pepperidge Farm Goldfish Crackers for $14.99 on February 10th, and the price then drops to $11.00 on February 22nd, you would be able to show your receipt in-store to get $3.99 cashback.
This price adjustment policy is part of Costco’s price matching policy.
Combining this price knowledge with Costco coupons will save you a lot of money while shopping.
Look Into Cashback Apps
Saving money doesn’t have to stop at couponing. Cashback apps are a great way to continue saving money even after your purchase has been made, including while shopping at Costco.
These apps provide several digital rebates that you can take advantage of when you scan your receipt after purchase. This means that instead of a discount when checking out, you will receive your savings after.
When using any cashback app, there are a few things to keep in mind. Make sure to look at all of the offers available. While a majority of offers are for specific products, some discounts can be applied to any brand of a certain product, such as an offer on any 12 pack of toilet paper.
Also, make sure you are buying the correct size and quantity of whatever product is being offered. Sometimes, you will need to purchase more than one item to complete an offer.
When you have made your purchase, you can take a picture of your receipt and submit it to the cashback app. Then, you will simply need to scan the barcodes of any matching products to get your cashback.
Another important thing to remember when using cashback apps is that, unlike coupons, you can typically use an offer up to 5 times. This is really useful when you are purchasing multiple items or buying in bulk, which is what Costco is known for.
Some popular cash-back apps to keep in mind are GetUpside, Ibotta, Checkout 51, and Fetch Rewards. Each of these apps has its own perks. GetUpside also accepts cash back at gas stations, which is useful when taking advantage of Costco’s low fuel prices. Fetch Rewards will automatically find discounts once you scan your receipt, which is very convenient.
Can You Take Advantage Of Costco Coupons Without A Membership?
If you are not looking to get a Costco membership but want to take advantage of the discounts Costco has to offer, you are in luck. You are able to shop at Costco as a non-member. Even though the more than 100 million members of Costco would probably tell you that the membership price, starting at $60 per year, is definitely worth the price, you may want to check out just what Costco has to offer without becoming a member just yet.
All you need to do this is a Costco Cash Card. A membership is needed if you are trying to use cash, credit, or debit at a Costco checkout, but no membership is needed to make purchases with a Costco Cash Card. This way you can make use of all of the discounts and savings Costco has to offer as a non-member.
Do note that a current Costco member will have to buy this card for you as you can’t do that yourself as a non-member. The Costco Cash Card is, for lack of a better word, basically a Costco gift card.
The amount that can be put on these cards ranges from $25 all the way up to $2000. After a member has purchased this card for you, you are free to go in and take advantage of Costco’s low prices, discounts, and exclusive store coupons. Unfortunately, as a non-member, you will have to clip the coupons yourself to use them at check out.
Conclusion – Can You Use Coupons At Costco?
To sum it all up, yes, Costco does take coupons. While they do not take manufacturers’ coupons at any of their stores, they do offer and accept their own exclusive store coupons. These coupons are easy to come across, as they are frequently mailed and emailed out to members.
Coupon booklets can also be found in-store for further discounts and deals.
Remember to keep track of pricing to make sure you are getting the best discounts and deals while shopping at Costco. Not only do the prices themselves give you a hint at what is marked down, but Costco offers cashback when prices on an item you purchased drop within a certain amount of time.
Finally, also remember to take advantage of cashback apps to really get all the bang for your buck. While they may not give you a discount upon your purchase, they will offer savings after you buy the product and the receipt is uploaded to the app.
