You May Be Shocked at What You Can Return to Costco

Shopping at Costco will often result in a smaller credit card tab than shopping at a regular supermarket. And on top of that savings, if you pay for an executive membership, you can snag 2% cash back on all Costco purchases.

But savings aside, another perk of shopping at Costco is getting to benefit from the retailer's extremely generous return policy. In fact, you may be surprised at how flexible Costco is when it comes to accepting returns.

You can easily return items due to quality issues

Costco will take back any item that clearly doesn't work the way it's supposed to or suffers from a clear quality issue. For example, if you buy pants at Costco and notice a rip or stain, you can bring the item back, even if you've already taken the tags off. If you buy an electronic toy that doesn't work (say, it's supposed to make sounds but doesn't), you can return it. 

You can also return food items to Costco when they're spoiled ahead of their printed expiration date. This holds true for perishable items and non-perishables alike.

You can return opened, partially eaten food

You might assume that if there's a quality issue with a food item you've bought, you can take it back to Costco for a refund as long as it's unopened. But Costco will actually accept opened items that are partially consumed if there are quality issues. 

The general rule is that to get a refund, you need to be returning 50% of the item. So if you bought a two-pack of melons, cut into one, and found it bland, you can generally, in that situation, get a refund even with one of the melons being partially eaten.

You can even return a food product to Costco on the basis of not liking its taste. But you'll need to be reasonable when doing this. That means you can't buy a box of 24 Costco bakery cookies, eat 20 of them, and then return the box with the remaining four, all the while claiming they just didn't taste good.

There are key Costco rules you'll need to follow

Although Costco strives to be flexible with returns, some items come with specific rules. Electronics, for example, must be returned within 90 days. And if you're returning a diamond over 1.00ct, you must also present all original paperwork associated with that purchase. From there, you'll have to wait for a Costco gemologist to inspect your return for authenticity before you're issued a full, unrestricted Costco credit or refund. 

You should also know that you generally cannot return cigarettes or alcohol purchased at Costco. And certain products, like batteries and tires, may come with a specific limited warranty only. 

You also cannot get a refund for custom-ordered Costco products unless there's a clear quality issue, such as if the item fails to meet specifications. And you can't return tickets you buy through Costco to a live performance event.

But for the most part, you can return many, many things to Costco without a problem. And that's yet another reason to do your shopping there.