Should You Get a Costco Membership Just for Black Friday Deals?

For anything with a membership fee, be it a credit card or Costco, you need to know whether what you're getting is worth that cost. (If you're paying more for something than it's worth, it's time to rethink your personal finance decisions.)

A basic Costco membership, for instance, costs $60 a year. So you need to get at least $60 in value from your membership to make it worthwhile.

While it's easily possible to make up that value in little savings throughout the year, Black Friday offers an opportunity to get your $60 in value -- or more -- with a single deal.

Black Friday deals worth $60 or more

Alright, so Costco is not the biggest, baddest place for Black Friday deals. (The normal prices are already so low, the brand probably doesn't feel it needs to do blowout deals for our beloved capitalist holiday.)

That said, you can definitely find a few deals that could make a membership worth the price.

$150 off the Vitamix Ascent 2300 Blender Super Bundle

If you want awesomely smooth smoothies, a Vitamix is a must-have appliance. (Mine was worth every expensive penny.) And you could definitely do worse than picking it up from Costco.

The Vitamix Ascent 2300 Blender Super Bundle normally goes for $649.99 on Costco.com (which is already a good deal since it's currently $814.95 on the Vitamix website). But on Black Friday, you can get it for $499.99 from Costco.com, a discount of $150. Even if you subtract the $60 membership fee, you're still saving $90 on the bundle.

It's worth noting that the machine by itself goes for $450, which is less than even the sale price for the bundle. So make sure you actually need the additional items before paying the extra $50 for the Costco bundle.

$200 off Dyson V15 Detect Total Clean Extra Cordless Stick Vacuum

Much like Costco, Dyson seems to have its share of dedicated fans. I haven't tried them, so I can't speak to quality, but if you're of a mind to pick one up, this is a solid offer.

The Dyson V15 Detect Total Clean Extra Cordless Stick Vacuum has a normal warehouse price of $699.99. For Black Friday, you can get it for just $499.99, both in-warehouse and online. By those numbers, that's $200 off the cost; minus the $60 membership fee, you're still $140 ahead.

That's also less than you'll pay at any other retailers, as far as I can uncover. Even Dyson itself (well, Dyson.com) wants $749.99 for the same mode. That said, I did see that Dyson sells what seems to be a nearly identical model that's currently on sale for $549.99 if you'd rather skip the Costco route.

Keeping membership cost in mind

I looked at two examples of individual deals that could be worth the cost of membership, but some smaller deals could also add up to big savings. Just make sure you're always including the cost of membership in your savings calculations.

For example, the Bose QuietComfort 45 SE Noise Canceling Headphones Bundle is going for $179.99 on Costco.com right now. That's a $120 discount over the normal price, which is great at first glance. However, you could get the same item from Bose.com for $199.99 right now. When you consider the $60 cost of a Costco membership, you're better off going with Bose.

More value all year long

While there are some good deals going on for Black Friday, you don't necessarily need to pay for your entire membership in savings right now. That is, you don't need to do so if you intend to shop at Costco for anything else in the next year.

There are several ways to get value from your Costco membership, as any fan can tell you. You could enjoy $1.50 hotdogs from the food court, for example (a Five Guys dog will run you more than $6 where I am!).

And don't forget the immensely popular Costco house brand, Kirkland Signature, which features tons of everyday products that are highly reviewed -- and generally a really good value. Saving $5 a month on toilet paper and paper towels would pay for your membership right there.

Oh, and being a member makes you eligible to apply for the Costco Anywhere Visa® Card by Citi. While it's only a so-so card for Costco, it's a competitive gas rewards card with 4% back on up to $7,000 a year in gas and EV charging. I've already shown how an average driver can make up their Costco membership in gas rewards alone with this card.

Now, all this isn't to say a Costco membership is a slam dunk for everyone. If there is no Costco nearby, you'll be missing out on most of the best prices (online prices are typically much higher than in-warehouse prices, and often come with shipping costs). But it's certainly worth checking out the holiday sales ads to see if there are any deals that may make a membership make financial sense.