Shopping Online at Costco Without a Membership? Here's What It'll Cost You

For many people, joining Costco is an easy decision. Although you'll spend $60 a year for a basic membership and $120 a year for an Executive membership that gives you 2% cash back on your purchases, the savings you'll reap will often be enough to pay for your membership and then some. But if you're someone who doesn't expect to visit Costco very often -- say, because your closest warehouse club store is far away -- then a membership may not make sense for you financially.

The bad news is that you need a Costco membership to shop at the stores. When you go there, you'll be asked to show your membership card at the door. And if you don't have one, you'll be denied entry unless you happen to have a Costco Shop Card to spend (that's Costco's version of a store gift card).

But Costco.com is a different story.

Costco.com is open to non-members, though there are certain items that are marked as member-only exclusives. But there's still a wide range of products you can purchase online from Costco as a non-member, from grocery items to paper goods.

However, shopping online at Costco without a membership will generally result in a higher credit card tab. So if you plan to shop at Costco.com pretty often, a membership could make sense.

What not being a Costco member will cost you

If you're not a member of Costco, you'll generally face a 5% surcharge over posted prices for members with the exception of prescription drugs. The reason?

Costco uses the fees it charges members to help offset its costs. And it's because of those fees that it's able to offer a wide range of products at affordable prices. But if you're not paying for a membership, you don't get to benefit in quite the same way.

That's why it could pay to join Costco even if you don't expect to set foot in the store very often. Let's say you place one online order a month at Costco that would cost members $120 but costs you $6 more due to the aforementioned surcharge. All told, you're paying $72 a year in added charges. But a basic Costco membership only costs $60.

So even though it might initially seem silly to get a membership simply to shop online, in this example, you actually save yourself $12 a year. That's not a life-changing sum, but you might as well save that money and buy yourself a few lattes or whatever little treat makes you happy.

Run the numbers

It's easy enough to assume it doesn't pay to join Costco when you only want to shop online. And if you're only placing one or two orders a year, then yes, skipping the membership might make sense. But before you make that call, crunch the numbers. You may find that it's worth forking over $60 for a basic membership.

And also, a basic membership gives you access to member-only items online. So that's something to factor into your decision as well.