4 Signs You Should Cancel Your Costco Membership

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Costco membership may seem worth it, but that’s not necessarily the case for everyone. Watch for these four signs that membership isn’t worth your money. 

Costco is a popular warehouse club, and many people opt to pay the membership fee out of their bank account to join. But, if you’re a Costco member, it’s worth taking the time to think about whether this is paying off for you or if you should cancel your membership.

Not sure how to decide? Watch for these four signs that suggest you should cancel your membership.

1. You aren’t shopping there enough to make your membership fees worth it

The cheapest Costco membership costs $60. If you only go to the store once or twice a year, you are likely not getting your $60 worth.

There’s no hard-and-fast rule for exactly how often you need to go to Costco for your membership to pay off. If you just go once per year but you buy a ton of bulk meat to put in your freezer that saves you $100 off your grocery store’s prices, then the membership may be worth it for that alone.

But, in general, if you don’t think you are getting at least $60 of savings because you buy things infrequently or rarely visit the store, then why pay a membership fee that isn’t paying off?

2. You’re splurging every time you visit

Costco has tons of tempting products, from fun snacks like Butter Toffee Cashews to a bakery full of scrumptious treats. The problem is, these items can prompt you to break out your credit cards and buy items that are not on your list.

If you are adding even a few extra items to your Costco cart that you don’t need, and that you wouldn’t buy if you just went to the grocery store instead, then giving up your Costco membership may be your best bet.

3. You’re already a member of other warehouse clubs

Costco, BJ’s, and Sam’s Club offer similar opportunities to save on gas, groceries, and household items. There’s very little reason to be a member of multiple warehouse clubs.

Instead of maintaining memberships at multiple places, consider which is closer and more convenient to your house or which offers more products that you regularly buy. Then, commit to keeping that membership and dropping the others.

You could also opt to pool your resources with others in your network. For example, maybe you’ll decide to keep your Sam’s Club membership and cancel Costco while your neighbor or coworker will do the reverse. You can pick up Sam’s stuff for them and they can pick up Costco stuff for you and you can both save money.

4. You’re throwing out a lot of stuff because bulk buying doesn’t work for you

Costco saves you money because you buy in bulk. But, buying in bulk doesn’t make sense for everyone. That’s especially true if you have a small family and don’t consume a ton of products. If you end up tossing stuff out that you bought from Costco because it expires before you can use it, canceling your membership is the right move.

Say, for example, you opted to spend $12.99 for a five pack of Colgate toothpaste from Costco because the toothpaste comes in at around $2.59 a tube that way — rather than about $6.29 at CVS.

Seems like a good deal, right? But if you can only use two tubes before they go bad because you’re not brushing your teeth 12 times a day, you’ve actually spent a little more than the CVS price — and you wasted those other three tubes.

If you spot any of these four signs, you may want to say goodbye to your Costco membership and use your $60 (or more) you were spending on something else instead.

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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.Christy Bieber has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Costco Wholesale. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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