Even if you shop at Costco regularly, there are certain sections of the store you might largely pass by. And who could blame you? Those warehouse club stores are huge, so it stands to reason that there are certain areas you won’t get to visit each time, or most of the time.
But in the course of buying your groceries and household essentials, there’s a lesser-known aisle of Costco it pays to visit. Doing so could result in a lot of savings.
Don’t pass up the gift card aisle
You may not have realized that Costco sells gift cards — and not just to the store itself. You can buy a host of gift cards at Costco, from restaurant gift cards to entertainment gift cards. And the best part? You’re guaranteed savings.
Costco prices its gift cards below their face value. At a normal store, when you’re looking for a $100 gift card, it’s going to cost you $100. At Costco, a $100 gift card might only cost you $75 or $80, depending on the deal at hand. So it not only pays to check out Costco’s gift card selection when you need an actual gift, but it also pays to see if you can buy gift cards to use yourself.
For example, right now, you can buy $100 worth of IHOP gift cards from Costco for only $79.99. If your family goes to IHOP every weekend for breakfast, this is a deal worth grabbing.
Similarly, let’s say your child’s birthday is coming up and you want to buy them some Nintendo products. You can purchase $100 worth of Nintendo eShop gift cards through Costco for only $89.99, thereby saving yourself $10 if you expect to spend $100 on Nintendo purchases anyway.
Oh, and here’s another tip. If you can’t find the gift cards you’re looking for at your local Costco store, check Costco.com. The website might have an even wider selection of options for you to choose from.
The one thing you need to know before buying a gift card from Costco
A big benefit of shopping at Costco is getting to return almost any purchase at any time for a full refund. But you should know that gift cards purchased through Costco cannot be returned — period. So if you’re going to buy one, make sure it’s one you’re confident you’ll use yourself or one you’ll be able to give as a gift to someone else.
There are websites that allow you to trade unused gift cards for cash if you make a purchase you regret, but you won’t get all of your money back.
For example, if you have a $50 gift card you no longer want, you might only be able to get $30 for it as a trade-in. Even though Costco sells gift cards below their face value, you might still lose money if you end up with one you don’t use and you have to trade it online. So think through your purchases carefully. As long as you do, though, you’re likely to get a fantastic deal that’s hard to beat.