Costco’s Price Adjustment Policy: Everything You Need to Know to Make It Happen
If you’re not regularly taking advantage of the Costco price adjustment policy, you’re absolutely leaving money on the table. While most loyal Costco shoppers are already aware that they don’t price-match other retailers, they absolutely do offer internal price adjustments if the price of an item drops after you purchase it. Here’s everything you need to know to take advantage of this great, yet often forgotten, Costco perk.
First Off, What Is a Costco Price Adjustment?
A Costco price adjustment is when you buy something from the Costco warehouse (or online) only to have the price of the item drop later.
In this case, you’re eligible for a price adjustment and refund for the difference in price.
Costco is known to lower their prices often, especially around Black Friday and December in effort to keep pricing competitive with places like Best Buy, Target, and Walmart.
Be sure to take advantage of this policy moving forward and get some significant money put back in your pocket.
See Also: Skip the Membership: All The Stores That’ll Price Match Costco
How Many Days Do I Have to Get an Adjustment?
30 days.
You have 30 days from the date of your original purchase to request a price adjustment.
What If I’ve Gone Past the 30 Days?
According to several comments on this article, you might NOT be out of luck, especially if it’s just a week or two beyond the 30 days.
Specifically, “K Van” informed me that she actually got $500 back on a bedroom set that went on sale over 2 months after she purchased it.
Moral of the story…always ask politely and you just might get a price adjustment on items 30 days beyond your purchase date.
PRICE ADJUSTMENT WORKAROUND
If for some reason Costco gives you grief about giving you a price adjustment you still have an option. You can simply return the item and purchase it again at the lower price. Because of Costco’s liberal return policy, which pretty much gives you unlimited days to make a return (90 days for Electronics), it’s easy to just return the item and buy it again.
A scenario where Costco might refuse your price adjustment is with a cheaper TV that’s a slightly different model than the one you bought. The Costco employee might decline your price adjustment request for this reason, so simply return your TV and purchase the similar model at the lower price.
Do I Need My Costco Receipt?
No.
If you have your original receipt, definitely bring it with you as it’ll make the transaction much smoother.
But if you lost your receipt, just visit the Costco customer service desk and give them your membership number and they can look up your purchase and get you your price adjustment that way.
Is the Price Adjustment Period 90 Days on Electronics?
Unofficially, yes.
I had a Costco employee at the returns desk tell me that they always prefer to do a price adjustment on electronics if it’s within 90 days of purchase.
He said they do this because it’s WAY easier than having a customer return a used item and rebuy at the lower price.
While not all Costco locations do this, it’s safe to assume that the majority do.
Can I Get an Online Price Adjustment?
If you bought something from Costco.com and notice the price drops within 30 days, you can request a price adjustment.
To make it happen, you can either fill out this online form or call them at 1 (800) 774-2678.
You CANNOT go to the warehouse to get a price adjustment for something you bought at Costco.com.
You must use one of the two methods noted above.
Be aware that the price adjustment they’ll give you will be the online price and not the current warehouse price.
This is important to note as the online price is usually a little higher to make up for shipping costs.
Important Note: From the comments, shoppers were wondering when the online price adjustment period starts: Order date? Shipment date? Or delivery date?
I hit up Costco live chat and was told that the price adjustment period for online purchases begins on the order date.
See Also: 7 Ways to Essentially Get a $60 Costco Membership for Free
Can I Get a Price Adjustment via Live Chat?
Yes.
As of 2024, you can now get a price adjustment via live chat. I tested it out myself to verify that it works.
Keep in mind that this only works for purchases made on Costco.com.
To make it work, you’ll need to be logged into your Costco account and tell the live chat robot you “Want to get a price adjustment”.
The system will then pull up your recent order history and let you select the item you want to get a price adjustment on.
See screenshot above to see what it looks like.
If I Call for a Price Adjustment, How I Will be Paid?
Let’s say you bought a refrigerator off the Costco website, then notice a week later it’s being sold for $100 less.
You call them up at the above number (or fill out the form)..so how will they pay you?
I called Costco and asked and they said they will issue the $100 refund to your original form of payment.
Are There Any Item Exclusions or Limits?
According to the Costco rep I chatted with, “No”.
Specifically, he told me “No, we have a satisfaction guarantee on products. Worst case we have you return the item and repurchase it”.
Can I Get a Price Adjustment on Clearance Items?
According to Costco, Yes.
BUT…according to the comments section, your mileage may vary.
Much to her frustration, blog reader Sandy told me she was refused a price adjustment on clearance items.
So she was forced to go home and get the items, go back to Costco, and return them and then repurchase.
Anybody else had this problem recently? Seems like a terrible policy that causes shoppers nothing but frustrations.
Can I Get an Adjustment on a Rebate Offer?
This question came from Steven in the comments section.
His example was a TV that came with a $100 rebate offer 10 days after he originally bought it.
He was wondering if he could come back to Costco with his receipt and claim the $100 rebate offer.
I called Costco specifically with this question and was told they have no way of issuing a $100 rebate offer WITHOUT you returning and repurchasing the TV.
So unfortunately you’d have to return and rebuy the TV to claim the $100.
Can I Get a Price Adjustment on Tires?
Maybe.
No pun intended, but your mileage may vary on this.
According to this Reddit thread, if you buy a set of 4 tires at Costco and they go on sale within 30 days, you stand a chance of getting an adjustment.
But the original poster had to visit a different Costco than where he bought the tires, and talk to a couple employees at the customer service desk before they agreed to refund him the difference in price.
Can I Request “Cash Back” on My Price Adjustment?
Great question.
I had a Costco rep tell me “it’s up to the Warehouse to do the price adjustments.
But as long as they approve it, I don’t imagine they will have issues giving cash back.”
So I’m guessing your mileage may vary but it’s definitely worth asking if you’d prefer cash to a charge-back to your credit card.
See Also: Employees Tell Me The Single Best Day to Shop at Costco
Ask the Reader: Have you ever taken advantage of Costco’s price adjustment policy? If so, how much cash did you get back and was it an easy process?
By Kyle James
I started Rather-Be-Shopping.com in 2000 and have become a consumer expert and advocate writing about out-of-the-box ways to save at stores like Amazon, Walmart, Target and Costco to name a few. I’ve been featured on FOX News, Good Morning America, and the NY Times talking about my savings tips. (Learn more)
We purchased a crate of pomegranates, Noticed 1 was bad. Took it back to Costco the next day. We expected to exchange it for another one. What the employee told us is that, “We DO NOT split up a pack to trade just one. What we can do is reimburse you for your inconvenience and return the $15.69 to your cc card or we can replace this 1 for another crate today” Well, needless to say, we opted for the cc card return;, pomegranates are yummy, but 15 would have been too much.
Agreed…pomegranates are indeed very yummy.
So I was contacted by Costco of a price adjustment for a refrigerator I ordered online. Will that be refunded to me by check or to my CC??
According to Costco, “all credits will be issued to the original method of payment used at the time of the order”. Hope that helps. I just requested a credit for $200 for a washer/dryer that dropped by that amount on their website between when I placed the order and when I received it.
I purchased a bedroom set online two and a half months ago that went on sale this month. I decided to call to see if Costco would accept a price adjustment, knowing it wasn’t certain, since they state their policy is 30 days. Luckily, the representative had no problem with it and immediately refunded the price difference ($500!) back to the credit card I purchased it with. Because that card actually was just replaced with a different card number, he offered to give me cash back, but I declined since he told me typically it will go back to the same account, not the card number.
Any reason stopping someone from buying things they want right now that they know will be on sale (Black Friday), then going in and getting the price adjusted once its on sale?
Most stores won’t doing any price matching on Black Friday weekend.
Just return it and buy it again.
What if the sale is Pre Black Friday sale? Something I need is going on sale next week (11/16-11/26) so can I buy it today and get price adjustment next week?
Thanks.
FWIW: Just asked that question today about the ring doorbell. Guy I spoke with in electronics section said that price adjustments for items in the holiday catalogue won’t happen because those sales are time specific only. I’m sure this may be a YMMV, but he was spot on with the other return policies when I asked him about Costco.com price adjustment to warehouse etc.
I bought a desk a month ago and now it’s $100 cheaper. Can I just buy another desk and turn around and return it with the old (more expensive) receipt?
Before you do that just ask them if they’ll do a price adjustment for you.
Here is what I do whenever I’m in that situation. 1) Buy a duplicate item at the lower price. 2) Walk it over the the Service Desk and return it with the older (more expensive) receipt (never taking the item out of the store). I’ve never tried to just ask for a price adjustment. Everyone talking about that option seem to be saying “maybe yes, maybe no”. This “buy and return” method never causes a problem (except having to take the 2nd item off the shelf and thru the checkout lane). Due to Costco’s generous return policy there is no time limit between the two purchase dates.
I bought a nail polish set on sale for $19.99 two days later I stopped at Costco to pick up something and they had the same set for $6.00!!!! They sold out in 4 min. I decided to go to customer service and asked for a price adjustment. They told me I couldn’t because. They had sold out of that item. My question is. If I go return it and re purchase will it ring up at $6.00?
How do you know it sold out in 4 min? If you saw it on the shelf, you should have picked one up and purchased it at that price and returned the old one for full price. Anyway, regarding your question: It would ring up at $6.00, except they won’t let you repurchase it. They will throw it in the return pile but you won’t be allowed to buy it back, otherwise, everyone would do that to get around the 30 day price adjustment policy. Did you try looking in another Costco in your area to see if they still have some? That’s what we do if they sell out of something at a low price (usually, the prices that end in 00 are the final clearance prices). Good luck.
Will Costco honor Cash Card incentives for services? We had 2 new HVAC systems installed one week ago today, Costco was offering 10% back on a Cash Card. We just received the new sales book and the incentive increases to 15% on January 2nd. Having spent 22K that extra 5% adds up!
Costco’s price adjustment policy has no exclusions listed. I took a screenshot of the policy after ordering a TV that had a 15% cash card incentive if purchased using their credit card, then ~20 days later the TV dropped in price by $500 for all customers regardless of their payment method. I submitted a price adjustment request and received a confirmation, but Costco never contacted me again. I called them back, and an agent stated they have an unwritten policy to not honor price adjustments on items purchased on offer. I filed a BBB complaint, and an agent called me to inform me that Costco senior leadership refused to honor my price adjustment request based on their written policy. What a customer service fail, Costco. Very disappointing!
On 9/12/2019, Costco responded the following on the BBB, “Costco has credited the member a compensation as Costco understands the member’s frustration as verbiage is not clear on site.”
I just bought a Cal King Mattress last January 2nd this year because my daughter wanted a new queen so I bought along a new mattress for myself. Now I see that the Cal King mattress will be $160 off, effective on February 6, will I still get a price adjustment? I know its 30 days but I received the catalog now and I can see they will be on sale, just 4 days. It’s the same mattress i bought.
were they ever able to do it? Im having the same issue right now and didn’t want to waste my time to go and ask and get denied.
If I bought a TV set less than a month ago at the local store and saw a lower price at costco .com and the tv set is out of stock at the store. can I have a price adjustment?
Costco doesn’t price match their website in-store. You’d have to return the TV then buy it from Costco.com.
I bought 2 bathroom vanities at a Costco warehouse. A friend was shopping at a different warehouse 3 weeks later and saw the price had dropped by $100. He took a picture of the tag with the lower price. I went immediately to the original warehouse and they refused to price match because they were out of stock, They looked up other warehouses that had stock and said I would have to drive to one of them to get a refund. Only in stock items are refunded. Because it was a large amount of money, I did drive to another warehouse to get my refund. I don’t see this “in stock here” in the price adjustment policy. It also seems unfair to the other store’s sales to refund a different store’s sale. .
If I buy item on costco.com and with in 10 days price dropped however item is ‘out of stock’ online. Does Costco still price adjust?
Saw an item I had purchased in store had a price drop after I bought it but was traveling while the sale was on. Next time I was in, less than 30 days from purchase, I asked for a price adjustment with the receipt and item in hand. They said no because it wasn’t on sale any more.
I have never had a problem getting a price adjustment, but some employees do check the dates for time limits. I did have a problem returning a recliner that I had had for a while but within the time limit for returning it. The manager that day didn’t want to issue a refund until I argued with him in front of customers and pointed out the “satisfaction or your money back” sign on the wall.
I bought some cheese 3 weeks ago and it’s now on sale. I went to the customer service desk with my receipt and they said they don’t do price adjustments on perishables. Has anyone else heard of this?
Note: The price adjustment policy for in-warehouse purchases has the restriction that the product has to be in stock in order to process the price adjustment. Attempted to complete a price adjustment today.