Costco: $60 for New Membership and get Free $20 Cash Card and $25 Online Coupon

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• I purchased new Costco membership on 3/15 via DCG One for Costco with $10 Costco shopping card as a promotion. But I haven't received the shopping card by now (almost 4 months). Is it a common issue?

• I purchased costco membership certificate but want to cancel now. How can i get it cancelled and get the refund?

• In case anyone else was wondering, this membership certificate counts as a wholesale club for Chase Freedom, even though it's sold by DCG One for Costco.

  • My Discover statement closes after offer expires. Any trick to share my results before this offer ends?

    • Unfortunately, "DCG One for Costco" only earned Discover 1% CB.

  • I was wondering this, thank you DP!

• Seems incredibly stupid to have an online only offer and require people to go in store to activate.

  • Not really. You need to go to a warehouse anyway to get your photo taken.

• My wife has a Costco membership and I have the second card under her account. Could I apply for membership and receive this bonus?

  • Yes you can. Thats what we did this year. I had an account that expired in May this year. I got the Groupon a few weeks ago and my wife went in and signed up under her name and added me as a secondary member.

• I just bought one, and it says "You must print and present this email ..". Does one *really* need to print it out?

  • No but if your membership just expired you wouldnt qualify for this to begin with

    • Cool. I don’t have a current membership and haven’t had one in years.

• My membership is expiring soon. Would I be able to buy this now and activate as a 'new' member a few weeks after my current membership expires?

  • If you're married (or have a partner or roommate or friend - i assume it has to be the same address or someone you trust), the other person can sign up and add you as a secondary member

  • No, It has to have expired for 1.5 years. When we type in the info the computer with find your old account

    • Mr Costco,

      Why the hell did y'all get rid of the polish sausage??

      Sincerely,

      All Costco customers.

    • Appreciate the answer my man! Thanks!

• I'm waiting for it to come around on Groupon again, because that deal typically has the $20 off plus some free items that I value more than I value the UPS offer items. Costco's prices aren't necessarily better for groceries and supplies, but I plan to buy eyeglasses and a car battery from Costco in the next year, and I will save enough on those two items to make the membership worth it. I will likely also use Costco car rental for as long as I have the membership.

• I can’t see any reason to pay for Costco. Kroger and HEB generic brands are much cheaper and in less quantities. Aldi is definitely cheaper n great quality as well.
  Meat in HEB and Kroger is close to one third of prices of meat in Costco and even Sam’s.

  • Costco sells more than meat. It's in-house brand is very good and you can't beat the rotisserie chicken or $1.50 hot dog and soda. It's also a one-stop shop for a lot of people and browsing the aisles there is enjoyable. It's largely subjective whether those factors make the membership fee worth it for someone.

    • The rotisserie chicken is a huge staple for us. Chicken one night, tacos another. Can make soup with the rest too.

  • As someone who just moved from Houston, I would have agreed with you a few months ago. However I'm learning that a lot of different places in the US do not have the wonderful HEB. Prices in other areas make Costco a lot more reasonable.

    • It definitely depends on where you live. Overall, though, I am amazed that "warehouse clubs" are as popular as they are. I sometimes wind up with "free memberships" in them which I periodically use for various gift card deals. Everytime I walk into one of these stores, I'm generally appalled by the high prices and large quantities that need to be purchased for the vast majority of items sold. In most cases, you can get much lower prices, with less likely waste, by just routinely shopping the obvious and frequent sales at local supermarkets and such. Warehouse stores are really only good for folks who need large quantities who are unwilling or unable to pay attention to supermarket sales. They are also good for people who live in places with above-average supermarket prices, like Alaska and Hawaii (Costco tends to sell for the same price everywhere).

      I will say that when friends and family bug me for car rental deals, I tell them to look at the prices on Costco's travel website. For the casual traveller, the prices quoted there are usually better than average.

      • I agree with you on the "large quantities that need to be purchased". We were ardent, regular members of BJs for a while (read as renewing annually with/without deals) but i realized that we wanted 1 bottle of mouthwash which typically lasts us a few months but ended up with 3, we wanted 2 bottles of ketchup but ended up with 6 (or had to but it with mustard and relish which we dont use) and it then became a problem of waste and where to store them.

        However this is not to say they aren't useful, their gift card deals are good (especially to meet the quarterly Freedom/Discover deals when available) and occasional online deals as well

      • There's A LOT more to these warehouses that can fit a lifestyle need than just food.

        As far as food goes, I spend maybe 5 minutes a week scanning the weekly adds for meat on sale at the expensive stores. Basically their loss leader to get you in the door. I buy large amounts and freeze. Smaller things I'll get from Walmart/Target. Other things like generic Tylenol/Motrin, toilet paper and paper towels all come from a warehouse.

        Sam's has a generic prescription option (if Plus membership) that is cheaper than with insurance. This alone pays for the upgrade from the basic membership (which is typically free anyways since the wife and I rotate yearly).

        Just yesterday I had to buy a new car battery. $130 for the 3+ year highest level battery elsewhere was $129+. At Costco? It's $79 and they use Interstate so I know it's quality.

        We keep a small, energy efficient chest freezer and will prepare many meals ahead of time so that our family of 4 can save money on food costs. No waste.

        We bought our kids bedroom set a few years ago for 1/4 the price elsewhere and it'll last another decade at least. Couches came from here too. There's a ton of other things they offer at warehouses that you can't get elsewhere but the point remains. You only need to be a buyer of a few items to more than offset the yearly membership cost. Throw in deals like these and it's even better.

• The UPS deal is $15 better in terms of overall value, although you have to want the items they give you for free or at a discount.

  • I don't think so, this offer gives you more flexibility while the UPS one it is basically a trap.

    • Which is why I said "you have to want the items they give you for free or at a discount." Anyway, not sure how the UPS deal could be a "trap" when it's fairly easy to find out what the coupons are before you sign up.