6 Ways To Get Free Groceries and Home Items at Costco in 2024
The country’s biggest warehouse membership club is not a charity that’s in the business of giving away its inventory. However, the strategic use of Costco’s many bonuses, incentives, programs and rewards can let you cash in on free home and food purchases both in stores and online. Whether you’re in the market for fruit or a futon, kale or Kitchenaid, Costco offers opportunities to get it from their store to your house at no cost.
See: 9 Costco Items To Stock Up On for the End of Winter
Learn: 6 Genius Things All Wealthy People Do With Their Money
Here are a few ways to get free stuff, as well as cash and credits to exchange for merchandise or food. If all else fails, you’ll also learn how to scour for some of the deepest discounts Costco has to offer.
Earn While You Shop With an Executive Membership
A standard Gold Star membership costs $60. You’ll pay $120 to upgrade to an Executive membership, but the extra $60 buys you 2% back on eligible Costco purchases for up to $1,000 every year, which you can put toward homeware, groceries or anything else. Executive members also get same-day or two-day grocery delivery.
Tack On a Sign-Up Bonus
If you’re already considering buying a membership, Costco is currently offering an easy way to score even more free stuff. Join through StackSocial, and your Executive membership will include a $40 Costco Shop Card or a $20 card with a Gold Star membership. Please note that this is for new members only, though.
Related: The Single Best Thing To Buy at Dollar Tree in February 2024
Cash In on Cash-Back With Costco Anywhere Visa
Costco’s store credit card gives you 4% cash back on gas and EV charging, 3% back on restaurants and travel, 2% on Costco purchases and 1% on everything else. There’s no annual fee and you can redeem your rewards for cash or Costco merchandise.
Grocery purchases count toward your 2% with both the Executive membership and the Visa card, which means you can earn free groceries while you shop for groceries no matter which you choose.
Buy Discounted Food-Themed Gift Cards
Instacart is Costco’s partner for grocery delivery, and the warehouse club is currently selling $100 Instacart e-gift cards for $79.99. You can redeem them on Costco Same-Day or Instacart, but there’s a two-per-member limit.
You can also buy a $100 Nutrisystem, Kahala Brands or Pete’s Coffee e-gift card for $79.99. The same deal applies to several restaurant gift cards, too.
Trade-In or Trade-Up Old Electronic Devices
CostcoTradeIn.com offers Costco Cash Cards for Windows and Mac laptops that are less than five years old and are undamaged beyond “reasonable wear and tear.” Desktops and Chromebooks are excluded, and all devices must power on and come with a power cord.
In partnership with Phobio, Costco also offers the Trade-Up Program, which gives out Costco Shop Cards for a broader range of devices. Answer a few questions about your device and get an instant quote. They’ll send shipping supplies, then mail in your device and, once it’s accepted, you receive your card which you can spend on groceries, home items and nearly anything else.
The amount you’ll get varies on a case-by-case basis, but Offers.com says you can receive up to $1,000.
Two Words: Free Samples
Shopping at Costco.com is always convenient, it’s often cheaper and you can do it from your couch. But the in-store experience brings one timeless tradition that online shoppers miss out on — Costco’s famous free samples.
According to Reader’s Digest, store associates know that shoppers come back for seconds, thirds, fifths and beyond — and that’s totally OK. While that’s not exactly free groceries, filling up can help you avoid the cardinal sin of food shopping while you’re hungry, which invariably leads to overspending.
In 2023, Parade reported that Costco was changing its format for dishing out complimentary morsels. The store phased out its famously pleasant human servers, who doled out free samples with a smile, in favor of impersonal kiosks labeled “free samples.” The good news is that “just like before, there is no limit to how many you can take.”
If Free Isn’t an Option, Take the Biggest Bargain You Can Find
No matter what you need for your house, check the pages where Costco hides its deepest discounts before you make the purchase. You won’t find home items for free, but savings of one-third, half or even more are common.
For example, the In-Warehouse and Online Savings page profiles some of the steepest price reductions Costco has to offer on a calendar-based rotation. Now through Feb. 25, you can save $110 on a Dyson stick vacuum, $500 on a $1,500 sectional, up to $1,000 on LG kitchen and laundry appliances and $100 off a $300 bidet seat.
You should also check Costco’s Treasure Hunt discounts page, Warehouse Hot Buys page and Daily Deals page.
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