One Costco Department You Should Stop Ignoring

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Costco carries a wide variety of home improvement products. Here’s why you might want to pay more attention to them. [[{“value”:”

My husband is nothing if not predictable. Every time we walk into a Costco, he finds his way to the home improvement aisles. I sometimes follow behind, trying to be a good sport. I have never understood how he can find so much pleasure in looking at toilet seats, security lights, and plank flooring.

While I’m sure some shop at Costco solely to protect their household budgets, my husband is lured to the warehouse store by the thought of examining the latest selection of screwdrivers and lightbulbs.

In all fairness to him, he recently installed great motion sensor lights near our front and back doors, and we never (ever) run out of lightbulbs. And if there’s ever a zombie apocalypse, we’ll be able to corner the market in batteries. He almost always picks up a pack before leaving those aisles.

Costco’s home improvement offerings

It was not until our last shopping excursion that I realized what a fool I’ve been for not taking greater advantage of Costco as we’ve remodeled our home. While we were fortunate to find a home to buy in the summer of 2022, we knew buying it meant having our hands full with home improvement projects. Everything, from flooring and cabinets to installing a patio and adding a privacy fence, required our attention — and money.

And yet, after years of solemnly following my husband up and down his favorite aisles at Costco, I made most of our major remodeling purchases elsewhere. Honestly, I’m not sure what I was thinking. An essential piece of financial literacy is shopping smart — looking for the highest-quality products we can find at a price we can afford. I do believe I have failed on that front, at least with this home improvement project.

Recently, I’ve been looking at Costco’s home improvement offerings and comparing them to my purchases. Here’s where we would have been money ahead by buying what we needed from the warehouse giant.

Flooring

Costco offers numerous options, including luxury vinyl planks, foam flooring for playrooms and gyms, and attractive garage flooring. To give you a better idea of potential savings, I compared Costco’s prices to those of other flooring retailers on several different flooring types.

Golden Arowana Beach House Waterproof Engineered Wood Flooring with attached 1mm Pad

Costco price per 16.68 square feet: $65RJP Unlimited price per 16.68 square feet: $76

Mohawk Home Waterproof Luxury Vinyl Plank Flooring (15.65 sq ft/ctn)

Costco price per 15.65 square feet: $45ShopEZ price per 15.65 square feet: $59

Norsk Reversible Foam Flooring for Gyms and Multi-use

Costco price per 48 square feet: $65Amazon price per 48 square feet: $109

Interior lighting

Our main floor consists of three bedrooms, two baths, a long hallway, a kitchen, dining area, and living room. In other words, it’s where guests are most likely to hang out when they visit.

Because so much of it is open, it’s pretty noticeable if installed lighting fixtures don’t match. I’ve never had to replace so many fixtures before and was surprised at how much they cost. Again, I might have felt differently if I’d shopped at Costco. Here’s a comparison of a couple of fixtures.

Carter Long 8-Light Pendant By Artika

Costco price: $140Home Depot price: $180

Hunter Astwood 4 Light Chandelier Ceiling Light Fixture

Costco price: $160Lamps Plus price: $300

Exterior lighting

We also changed the exterior lighting because we wanted everything outside to match. At this point, I’m really regretting missing out on these Costco prices.

Feit Electric 12″ LED Coach Light Lantern, 2-pack

Costco price: $50eCrater price: $70

Tommy Bahama Square Solar Bollard Lights – 20 Lumen, 5-pack

Costco price: $49Walmart price: $60

Security

One downside of moving as often as we have is needing to depend on our real estate agent and crime maps to tell us how safe an area is. One of the first things we usually do after moving into a new home is install a basic security system. Here’s how Costco prices compare.

SimpliSafe 10-Piece Home Security Kit

Costco price: $200Walmart price: $300

Don’t get me wrong; I couldn’t have found everything I needed for the house at Costco. However, I do wish I’d checked there first. It just goes to show that no matter how much you research, write about, and think about personal finances, getting it right every time is not always in the cards.

Hopefully, you’ll learn from my experience. The next time you’re in Costco, challenge yourself to see if there’s anything in a home improvement aisle that blows your hair back. If so, I’m sure my husband sends his greetings.

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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. Dana George has positions in Amazon and Walmart. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Amazon, Costco Wholesale, and Walmart. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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