3 Reasons Not to Buy Produce at Costco

Image source: The Motley Fool/Unsplash

A big reason to join Costco is to save money on the groceries and household essentials you buy all the time. And so you may be in the habit of buying things like milk, eggs, and toilet paper in large quantities when you do your Costco shopping.

But if there's one item you may want to think twice about before buying it in bulk, it's fresh produce. Here are some reasons why.

1. It tends to go bad quickly

It's a great thing to incorporate a variety of fruits and vegetables into your diet. But as you likely know, produce doesn't tend to have a lot of staying power. And some items, like berries, might go bad fairly quickly -- sometimes within just a couple of days.

The risk of buying produce in bulk is having a good portion of it go bad before you've gotten a chance to eat it. If that happens, you may not end up saving money at all, but rather throwing money away. If you're going to buy fruits and vegetables from Costco in bulk, make sure they're items your household eats on a daily basis (or an almost-daily basis).

But if, for example, you only tend to serve broccoli as a side dish a couple of times a week, then you probably won't want to pick up the bulk bag Costco sells. You may be better off buying two servings' worth at a regular supermarket, because while you might pay more per ounce, you might also pay less overall by avoiding waste.

2. It can be tough to get a 100% good batch

When you buy a small container of raspberries or strawberries at the grocery store, you can pretty easily examine each piece to check for signs of spoilage. It's harder to do that with a bulk package of fruit or vegetables.

But when you buy these items in bulk from Costco, you may not get a completely good batch. And if you're forced to throw some of your haul away, once again, that's wasted money. That said, you should know that Costco is really good about refunding purchases due to quality issues. And that extends to fresh foods.

If you buy a large container of berries or a large bag of spinach and the majority of it goes bad well before its sell-by date, you can generally bring the item back to Costco and get your money back. The general rule, though, is that you need to bring back roughly 50% of the item in question (or more) when you're returning perishable foods.

3. You might get stuck having to buy organic

Some people chose to stick to organic produce for health or personal reasons. But one downside there is that organic fruits and vegetables tend to cost significantly more than their non-organic counterparts.

Depending on the week, Costco may only have the organic version of whatever fruit or vegetable you're looking for. If that's the case, you may find that you end up spending considerably more than what you've budgeted for. So if you're fine with the regular, non-organic version of whatever it is you're after, you may want to grab a smaller package of it at a lower price from your neighborhood supermarket.

Buying produce at Costco won't always work out poorly for you. But do be aware of these potential pitfalls, especially if you're new to buying your fruits and vegetables in bulk.

Top credit card to use at Costco (and everywhere else!)

We love versatile credit cards that offer huge rewards everywhere, including Costco! This card is a standout among America's favorite credit cards because it offers perhaps the easiest $200 cash bonus you could ever earn and an unlimited 2% cash rewards on purchases, even when you shop at Costco.

Add on the competitive 0% interest period and it's no wonder we awarded this card Best No Annual Fee Credit Card.

Click here to read our full review for free and apply before the $200 welcome bonus offer ends!

We're firm believers in the Golden Rule, which is why editorial opinions are ours alone and have not been previously reviewed, approved, or endorsed by included advertisers. The Ascent does not cover all offers on the market. Editorial content from The Ascent is separate from The Motley Fool editorial content and is created by a different analyst team.JPMorgan Chase is an advertising partner of The Ascent, a Motley Fool company. Maurie Backman has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Costco Wholesale and JPMorgan Chase. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.