Costco and Amazon Prime memberships are a growing option across the country, with alternatives that are losing influence and we have discussed elsewhere. However, many people are opting to double up on them, which is becoming more popular. We’ve analyzed the implications and it’s clear: it’s not a good idea, and now we’ll explain why.
Amazon Prime and Costco membership: are they compatible? The truth you should know
Amazons Prime and Costco have a lot to offer to Americans who want to make savings and the ones looking for the convenience offered by these services. The visitor numbers in these membership programs go up yearly as Amazon Prime tops with over 200 million members worldwide and being among the largest Costco members estimated at 105 million.
Doing away with the fact that almost every household is paying for one or two subscriptions makes one still think you can make sure everything that is of value and convenient is there by joining Amazon Prime and Costco. Despite that, the possibility of that could turn out to be even more monthly fee expenses, subscription fatigue, and ethical dilemma.
High functionality of Costco warehouse makes you feel like a lottery, an urge of overspending and impulse buy becomes obvious. Warehouses are huge enough to expose shoppers to a full library of items; many customers walk in the store to buy a specific item but then might get attracted by some of the other products that they are not yet aware of.
The cost of Amazon Prime and Costco´s memberships, unveiled: that what you will pay
The cost of an Amazon Prime membership is $139 per year. This gets you free two-day shipping on many items, free streaming of movies, TV shows, and music, discounts at Whole Foods, and other benefits.
A basic Costco membership costs $60 per year. The executive membership is $120 per year and gets you additional rewards and discounts.
Having both an Amazon Prime membership and a basic Costco membership costs $199 per year. Upgrading to the Costco executive membership brings the total annual cost to $259 for both memberships.
Overlapping benefits between Costco and Amazon Primer, at detail
Amazon Prime, Costco, and other discount service-providers have very similar features. This makes many people tend to ask whether it’s worthwhile to keep both of them. There is a huge variety of overlaps found in streaming platforms. Amazon Prime is Prime Video, the component of the Prime offering which lets you watch online movies and original series.
In continuation, through Costco membership, members can have benefits of Costco’s videos online service – Movies & TV. It gives an inclination of becoming type of service which is same in both ways. One on one has a library of shows as well as the movies to watch on the net.
When it comes to free shipping offerings, there is also significant overlap, meaning the same players tend to dominate. Perhaps the most beneficial thing about Amazon Prime is its free two-day shipping with millions of items being eligible for it. In addition to scheduled delivery of orders to home or office, for a membership fee, Costco also includes free shipping on many ordered products on Costco.com.
As you can see, doubling up Costco and Amazon Prime memberships is not necessarily necessary, although it is a strategy that thousands of families in our country opt for. The key is to take advantage of the benefits, but with special attention to those who are in both plans so as not to lose money. In any case, remember that there are other alternatives that we will continue to review as we have done in other ocasions.