3 Ways the Costco Pharmacy Is Worth the Price of Membership
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Costco seems to be on a mission to improve as many aspects of its members' lives as possible, and I commend this. After all, if you're going to put a Costco membership on your credit card, you really should get as much value out of it as possible.
In fact, those annual membership fees are set to rise next month. Right now, you'll pay $60 for a Costco Gold Star membership, and $120 to become an Executive member (and earn 2% cash back on most Costco buys). But as of Sept. 1, those prices will rise to $65 and $130, respectively.
Since you'll soon pay more for that Costco goodness, let's take a closer look at how using the Costco Pharmacy in particular is worth the price of admission.
1. Big savings on prescription drugs for you and your pets
I wouldn't be writing about the Costco Pharmacy if it didn't have the potential to save you money on prescription drugs! And best of all, those savings extend to pet medications, too.
Research from Consumer Reports found that Costco's drug prices were lower than many big names in the pharmacy game, including CVS, Walgreens, and Walmart. If you check out the Costco Pharmacy page on the retailer's website, you can see direct price comparisons for popular drugs, to see how much you'll save.
I searched for a few example medications for some real numbers. I could save almost 50% on the cost of atorvastatin calcium (generic for Lipitor) by buying it at Costco vs. Walgreens -- $11.99 vs. $23.79. For celecoxib (generic for Celebrex), I'd pay just $24.79 for 90 pills -- a savings of $22.20 over Walgreens' price of $46.99.
That's $34 in savings right there, or more than half the cost of an annual Costco Gold Star membership (even after it goes up in price). If your household takes a lot of prescription medications, you could easily cover your membership costs with drug savings.
2. Delivery and automatic refills
Life can be busy, but luckily, the Costco Pharmacy has your back. If you lack the time to make a trip to your local warehouse, you can have your prescription drugs delivered right to your home with Costco's Mail Order service.
It also offers Auto Refill for maintenance medications that aren't considered controlled substances. This just amps up the convenience -- you'll be notified before a refill is processed and have 72 hours to confirm. Then your medication will be sent to you.
3. Do your shopping while you wait
Finally, it's worth joining Costco for pharmacy access because doing so will save you time on mundane chores. Wouldn't it be great to knock out a trip to the pharmacy and also some weekly grocery shopping all in one fell swoop?
You might not even need to join the line at the pharmacy counter to get your medication, depending on your Costco store. Some of them offer automated prescription pickup lockers, and you can access yours with a code you punch in. How convenient! Your time is valuable -- and if you're self-employed like I am, your time is also literally money.
You don't actually have to join Costco to use its pharmacy…
It would be remiss of me not to note here that you don't have to be a Costco member to use the pharmacy. Anyone can have prescriptions filled there. But joining gives you access to a host of Costco perks, like savings on bulk groceries (of course), Costco Travel, the Tire Center, the hot dog combo deal, and many many other benefits.
Costco's pharmacy is easily worth the cost of a Costco membership if you spend a lot on prescription drugs. Add it to the list of the many ways you can save money at Costco.
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