3 Good Reasons to Buy Your Next Printer at Costco

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Costco’s printers and ink are low priced and come with a generous return policy. Learn what makes Costco a great place to buy your next printer. 

Last Christmas, my wife bought me my first printer from Walmart. We were trying to be frugal, as we had just moved to Portland, Oregon, and for the sake of our personal finance goals I asked her to buy me the cheapest printer I could find — an HP 2700, which at that time was heavily discounted to $40.

Nine months later and I’m looking for a new printer. I don’t know what evil has possessed the HP 2700 but it seems bent on haunting me. It prints when I don’t ask it to print, it doesn’t print when I ask it to print, and, worse, it prints more “troubleshooting” instructions (from its own will!) than I know what to do with. If only there was a poltergeist inside it — I would at least know the problem.

I still want to save money on a printer. But I don’t want to buy one that frustrates me. All in all, I think I might buy a printer from Costco. Here’s why.

1. Generous return policy

Costco lets you return most electronics within 90 days of purchase. However, printers are not named directly among other electronics in its return policy (found on Costco’s customer service page), which means you might get away with returning it after 90 days.

In fact, some users on Reddit claim printer returns are not limited to 90 days and can be returned for a full refund indefinitely. Of course, this is Reddit we’re talking about, which isn’t exactly the conveyor of truth. But the printer’s absence from Costco’s list of electronics may give you some negotiating power if you encounter problems returning it after 90 days.

2. Low prices on ink

Costco sells black ink in packages of two cartridges, while its colored ink is usually sold as a tri-color pack with one cartridge per color. As with most of its bulk goods, buying black ink as a pack of two can help you save between $10 and $20, while its colored ink is priced on par with or slightly lower than other retailers.

For instance, I’m currently looking at the HP 8028e, which takes HP 910XL ink. Costco sells two cartridges of 910XL black ink for $75.98 and 910XL colored ink for $64.98. Together you’d spend about $141 for the set. In contrast, Amazon sells the same quantity (two 910 XL black cartridges and one set of tri-color) for $150. That’s $9 of savings just by buying the same ink at Costco.

3. Promotions make prices hard to beat

Finally, the big reason you should buy your next printer at Costco — its prices are hard to beat, especially when Costco is offering promotions. To give you some perspective, here’s the price difference for a few printers between Costco and other retailers.

As you can see, when Costco is running a promotion, its prices are nearly impossible to beat. When it’s not, however, you might find the printer cheaper elsewhere, as seen in the Epson EcoTank, which Amazon is selling cheaper.

One thing to consider is that these prices were taken from Costco.com, which has a slight upcharge to account for shipping and handling. That means, you might find the same printers cheaper in store than online.

Great service and low prices are why you should buy a printer at Costco

Buying a printer at a low price is a compelling enough reason to buy one at Costco. But don’t forget — you can also call Costco Concierge Service with any troubleshooting or technical problems. This service could really come in handy if your printer is Bluetooth-only and, like mine, begins to develop a mind of its own.

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The Ascent does not cover all offers on the market. Editorial content from The Ascent is separate from The Motley Fool editorial content and is created by a different analyst team.John Mackey, former CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Amazon.com, Costco Wholesale, and Walmart. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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