Is a Costco Membership Worth It if You Can Only Shop at Costco.com?

Costco offers great deals to its members. But if you don't live near one of Costco's 875 warehouse store locations, then you may be hesitant to pay the membership fee to join the warehouse club. After all, you can't take advantage of deals you're unable to access.

Costco has a website that you can order many products from. So, even if you don't have a Costco in or around your neighborhood, it's still possible for you to buy from the warehouse club thanks to the magic of the internet.

If you'll only be shopping at Costco.com, though, you need to think carefully about whether a membership is worth it. Here's how you can decide whether that membership fee belongs on your credit card.

Will you spend enough online to justify a membership?

The first thing to know is that you do not have to be a Costco member to shop online. Anyone can go to Costco.com to purchase the items for sale there. However, if you aren't a member, you will pay a 5% surcharge for your online purchases. In addition, Costco does have a selection of members-only items online that non members aren't allowed to purchase.

So for it to make sense for you to buy a membership in order to shop online without this surcharge, you would have to save enough by avoiding the 5% to cover the cost of your Costco membership.

The entry-level cost of joining Costco is $60.00 per year. If paying the 5% surcharge on your purchases is less than $60, it would not make sense for you to join Costco just to avoid it. You'd be better off doing your online shopping as a non-member and paying the slightly higher prices.

So, if you are spending $1,200 or less at Costco.com, the 5% surcharge would add up to $60 or less -- and paying for the membership probably wouldn't make sense if you couldn't visit the store. But if you bought more than $1,2000 a year worth of stuff at Costco.com, paying for the $60 membership fee would be worth it to avoid the 5% surcharge.

Say, for example, you make $2,500 worth of purchases per year at Costco.com. If you weren't a member, the 5% charge on your $2,500 would cost you $125 a year -- more than double the $60 membership fee you'd have to pay to avoid it. Becoming a member in this situation is an easy personal finance decision.

What other alternatives do you have?

You should also consider whether there might be better options out there for your warehouse club needs.

Costco generally charges more for online purchases (both for members and non-members alike) compared to what you'd pay in the club. So, if you are using its website to do most of your shopping, you aren't really getting the best deals or the rock-bottom prices you may have expected.

Sam's Club, on the other hand, does not charge a premium for purchases made online versus in the warehouse club. So if you want to do most of your warehouse shopping over the internet, Sam's may be a better fit.

Before you buy a Costco membership to shop at Costco.com, you'll absolutely need to consider these two issues. You may just find that becoming a member of this warehouse club makes absolutely no sense for you and your personal shopping budget.