10 Reasons Not to Shop at Costco: Save Money, Time, Space and More

Sometimes shopping at Costco has surprising costs and other downsides.

Kris Osborne is a writer, recipe developer, digital storyteller and professional home economist who has written about food, lifestyle, beauty, shopping, parenting, health and wellness for over a decade.

Emily Lachtrupp is a registered dietitian experienced in nutritional counseling, recipe analysis and meal plans. She's worked with clients who struggle with diabetes, weight loss, digestive issues and more. In her spare time, you can find her enjoying all that Vermont has to offer with her family and her dog, Winston.

Shopping at Costco is an experience. The retail giant offers a large variety of discounted bulk food items, household products and more to its members who pay for exclusive access to the store. But when you dig deeper into what shopping at Costco really entails, the apparent savings may come with their own costs—monetary and otherwise—creating more hassle than they're worth. Here are 10 reasons you might want to skip that Costco membership.

If you've ever gone into Costco with just a few things on your list and walked out with a cornucopia of new purchases, that was by design. Costco has their behavioral economics strategy down to a T. By using research focused on human behavior and decision-making, they strategically map out the store, set up displays, offer samples and advertise their prices in a way that influences customers to buy more (and more, and more!).

This practice is not new, and certainly not limited to Costco. Retailers rely on behavioral economics research to make sales and grow their business all the time. But since Costco focuses on selling bulk items, this may lead to a bigger final price tag at the store. We spoke to Rachel Coons, a grocery budgeting expert, who teaches people how to save hundreds on their monthly grocery bill and, in fact, she advises her students to avoid the big box store altogether for this very reason. "Most of the time someone will go into Costco with a list of a couple items and come out with 15," she explains. One of the staffers I spoke to for a story about the best time to shop at Costco put it well, saying, "Be prepared to spend more than you think. Costco tells you what you need!" We've all had that experience before!

Buying in bulk also means there will inevitably be more food waste. And Coons notes that "most families can't eat through all the bulk food they buy in time," leading to a lot of food being thrown away. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, Americans wasted about 66 million tons of food in 2019. Annually, the EPA says, wasted food costs an estimated $218 billion or 1.3% of the gross domestic product.

Wasting food throws away our hard-earned money, and we certainly don't need that with the additional stress inflation is putting on our grocery bills. But it also contributes to environmental harm. When we waste food, we not only waste the water, resources and energy required to produce it, but when it decomposes in a landfill it produces methane gas—a greenhouse gas that's 25 times as potent as carbon dioxide at trapping heat in the atmosphere, according to the EPA. If it'll be a struggle to get through the food you buy in time, then it might be better to shop small.

The sale prices at regular or discounted grocery stores can offer better deals than what's available day-to-day at Costco. So if you don't mind keeping an eye on the flyers and shopping for specific items only when they're on sale, you can definitely save more at regular grocery stores.

Meanwhile, some items are about the same price even without a sale (for example, the price of Wegmans Mediterranean Blend Extra Virgin Olive Oil clocks in at the same price per ounce as Kirkland Signature Extra Virgin Italian Olive Oil). Other stores, like Trader Joe's, offer items like olive oil at a significant discount already. But when those items are on sale, the prices will be even lower. And you can buy what you need and even stock up, if the idea of having some items in bulk still appeals to you.

Kirkland Signature is the private label for all of Costco's "generic" products. But, generic couldn't be further from the truth. Costco partners and even co-brands with well-established brands. And yes, these partnerships can offer customers significant savings. As Costco's website itself says, you can "enjoy low warehouse prices on name-brand Kirkland Signature products."

But the important thing to note is that the savings are only on name-brand products. Costco simply doesn't sell generic products. As Coons says, "when comparing [the] price per ounce of generic options you can buy in other stores, you are going to spend way more at Costco." A quick look-up of Honey Nut Cheerios proved this point. Costco offers this at 40 cents per ounce whereas Aldi's brand-name O's, Honey Nut Crispy Oats, cost only 13 cents per ounce. So if brand names aren't important to you, shopping elsewhere will save you a lot more money.

The pandemic changed the game for how many of us did our regular shopping. With online ordering and curbside pickup available at most chain grocery stores for free, it's easier than ever to shop only for what you need. But there's no curbside pickup at Costco. The retailer does offer pickup in the warehouse, but that still requires going into the store, which poses a risk of impulse buying.

Missing out on the benefits of curbside pickup alone could be a deterrent to would-be Costco customers. Placing your order online, then pulling in and popping your trunk means you don't need to navigate large store aisles, stand in long checkout lines or decode the self-checkout system. If you or your loved ones are immunocompromised, this also helps mitigate contact with potential pathogens. And let's be real: you can even show up in your pajamas if you're having one of those days. (Though we stand by the benefits of a good morning routine.)

Most household items and fresh foods sold at Costco can only be bought in bulk. This can lead to overbuying and over-consuming in many cases. Instead of buying two cans of tomatoes, for example, you're forced to buy eight. Couponing and bulk-buying may be lauded as a great way to save money, but buying in excess means you have more products to transport, sort, store, keep track of and plan for using up before the expiration date.

The time it takes to manage these systems can easily take a couple of hours a week, conservatively speaking. And that doesn't include the time spent shopping for them. Two hours a week translates to more than 100 hours a year! That's time that could be spent on other things you find more valuable, like spending time with family and friends, staying active, cooking healthy meals (including trying fun new recipes), relaxing or even working. If you paid yourself your hourly wage for the hours you spend simply dealing with the additional work that bulk-buying creates, you'd likely find that you were losing money.

But of course, it's not just the time savings. Buying in bulk requires having the physical space to store the products, including appropriate shelving or cabinets, and possibly even food-safe containers. Most people don't have a spare room to support their shopping habit, let alone the extra money for the organizational paraphernalia required to keep their bulk purchases in good order. Time and space savings are important considerations to work through before buying in bulk.

We've covered the time it takes to manage the products, but time needs to also be a consideration for simply shopping at Costco. Depending on how close your local store is, travel to and from the warehouse can be extensive and costly (e.g., gas, wear and tear on your car, etc.). Most warehouses are located on the outskirts of cities, resulting in commute time to travel there and back. Once you're in, you'll also spend time navigating the large warehouse space, walking down long aisles to get the one item you need, and dealing with large crowds and long lines. Costco may offer variety, but it can be a major time suck.

Coons suggests checking out other large-format stores or warehouses before picking up a membership. She shops at both Sam's Club and Walmart. "I love the affordability and quality … [and] I shop online … so I can price-compare each item and get the best bang for my buck." If you prefer to shop at a warehouse store and have the time and space to buy in bulk, she highly recommends Sam's Club. She notes that they offer smaller bulk options than Costco and free online ordering and pickup. Plus, she says, "every item is a couple dollars cheaper."

Coons notes that Costco seems to be switching a lot of their items to organic, "which comes with a hefty price tag." Meanwhile, she says that Sam's Club still has a lot of nonorganic options. In her opinion, "If you don't need to shop organic, there is no reason to be forced to buy it at Costco."

If any of these reasons speak to you and you want to break it off with Costco, you can always cancel your membership. Costco offers a 100% satisfaction-guaranteed policy, after all. But before breaking it off, consider the overall picture and if there are additional benefits to having a membership that might make it feel more worthwhile. Costco is a great option for many people. Wherever you land, remember the old hack—membership-free Costco shopping is possible! Just be sure to shop with care and intention.