Costco Wholesale Corporation is an American multinational corporation that operates a chain of membership-only warehouse club retail stores in 14 countries including the USA, Canada, Mexico, and the United Kingdom. Here, I explained everything you need to know about the retail store's accepted payment methods and Apple Pay.
Hello guys! My name is Temmy Samuel, and in today's article, I'm going to walk you through everything you need to know about gift cards selling and buying on Costco. If you're just reading my blog post for the very first time, I'm a journalist that write about tech and finance and everything related to them. You can join any of my channels below to get every of my latest exclusive articles for free immediately I publish them.
As I have cited, I'm going to walk you through everything you need to know about Costco's Gift Cards, where to get the gift cards, and what type of gift cards you can get on Costco. So, without wasting much of your time on introduction, let's dive straight into the primary reason of this article.
What is Costco Gift Cards
There are various kind of gift cards on Costco. The popular ones includes digital and game gift cards (like Steam wallet, Amazon and others), restaurants and food cards, entertainment and lifestyle gift cards, sport ticket gift cards, and many others. But there is a particular one among these gift cards called Costco Shop Cards.
The Costco Shop Cards are gift cards and like prepaid cards that can be used as an alternative payment method at Costco warehouses in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico, as well as online at Costco.com and Costco.ca. The Costco's Shop Gift Card is offered in two form or type:
- Physical Costco Shop Cards: This Costco's physical gift card is available in denominations from $25 to $500. You can get this gift card at any Costco warehouse or have it mailed to you with a zero balance and activated by calling a toll-free number provided with the card.
- Digital Costco Shop Cards: This is an electronic gift cards sent to you via email. This means that you will get the gift card e-code via the email your submitted at the point of purchase on costco.com. The delivery time typically range within 2 hours to 24 hours. The digital Costco shop gift cards are often issued for promotions, such as travel bookings, and can be used in-store or online by presenting the digital code or a printed copy.
The amazing thing you need to know about this Costco Shop card is that it's a reloadable gift card that has no expiry date and can be reloaded by members at any Costco warehouse. Meanwhile, it's important to know that these cards are different from Costco Membership Cards.
Costco Membership Cards
Costco Membership Cards are issued to individuals who pay for a Costco membership (e.g., Gold Star, Business, or Executive). They grant access to Costco warehouses and online shopping, along with member-exclusive benefits like discounts and rewards. Membership cards do not have a monetary value and are required for members to shop, except when using a Shop Card as a non-member.
Non-members can use Costco Shop Cards to shop at Costco, making them a workaround for accessing the store without a membership. However, non-members cannot reload these cards. Only Costco members can purchase Shop Cards, either in-store or online at Costco.com. A valid email address is required for digital card delivery, and buyers are responsible for providing the correct recipient email.
Another things to take note of are that the Costco Shop Cards cannot be purchased using another Costco Shop Card, and when purchased, they are non-refundable. There’s also a daily limit of $10,000 on the total value of certain gift cards purchased, as per governing laws.
CIBC Costco Cash Back Gift Certificate
The Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) Costco Cash Back Gift Certificates are certificates issued annually in January based on cash back earned the previous year. These certificates are specifically for CIBC Costco Mastercard holders in Canada, and they are accessible via mobile/online banking.
They are also included in January statements and can be used at Canadian Costco warehouses. Interesting part of these cards is that they also do not expire like Costco Shop Cards.
How to Check Costco Shop Gift Card Balance
Checking your Costco Shop Cards balance is simple. You can use any of the highlighted below methods to check the gift card balance:
Check balance online
- Visit www.costco.com on your device's browser and navigate to the "Gift Card Balance" section on the online retail store. The balance checker is often found under Customer Service or Account, depending on regions.
- Next, input the card's 16 digits number and 4-digit PIN (if applicable) from the back of the card or the digital code from an email. There are dedicated spaces for each of these characters. Just enter the digits in their designated boxes/spaces.
- Now, you need to click on the "Submit" button to view the current balance available on the Gift Card.
Check balance in-store
You can also check the Costco Shop Card balance in any Costco warehouses. All you need to do is walk into any Costco warehouse in the United States, Canada, or Puerto Rico, and present the physical or digital Shop Card to a cashier or at the membership counter, and they can check the balance for you.
Check balance through phone call
This method of checking Costco Shop Gift Card is less common, and may vary by region. All you need to do is call a Costco’s customer service (1-800-955-2292 in the U.S.) and provide the card number and PIN to inquire about the balance. This number is only for U.S. customers, and for other regions, you may need to contact your local Costco warehouse to get their toll free numbers.
Does Costco sell Gift Cards?
Aside from Costco Shop Cards and Membership Cards, Yes Costco sells other gift cards. Costco sells discounted third-party gift cards for restaurants (e.g., Domino’s, Sullivan’s Steakhouse), entertainment (e.g., Cinemark, AMC), travel (e.g., Southwest Airlines), and services (e.g., Uber, Instacart). These often come at a discount, such as $100 value for $80, and are non-refundable.
You can just walk into any of Costco warehouse available in your location to buy any of these gift cards. In case you don't know, all those gaming gift cards like Steam wallet, XBox, Netflix, Nike, Nintendo, Topgolf Gift Cards, Jiffy Lube Gift Cards, PlayStation, Southwest Airlines vouchers, Razer Gold, Spafinder, Landry’s Gift Cards, Instacart, and lots more are available in bulk in-store at Costco.
FAQs
What Restaurants does costco have gift cards for?
Costco offers various restaurants and food chain gift cards. Some popular ones are Domino’s gift cards, Subway, Panda Express, IHOP, Chuck E. Cheese, Krispy Kreme, Auntie Anne’s gift cards, Smashburger, California Pizza Kitchen, Moe’s Southwest Grill, Sullivan’s Steakhouse, Landry’s Multi-Brand, Black Angus Steakhouse, Romano’s Macaroni Grill, Cold Stone Creamery, inKind E-Gift Card, Lucille’s Smokehouse Bar-B-Que, Famous Dave’s E-Gift Cards, Pinstripes, Fogo de Chão, SPB Hospitality, Synergy Restaurants, Edible Beats E-Gift Cards (such as Linger, Ophelia’s, Root Down, El Five, Beat Box Farms) in Denver or Washoe Public House in Reno, Morton’s The Steakhouse, Pampa Brazilian Steakhouse, Steamworks Restaurant, Black Dog Hospitality Restaurants Gift card with electronic code, Lake House Restaurant, Jack Astor’s Gift Cards, Pizza Nova, 43 North Restaurant Group, Century Hospitality Group, Vittoria Trattoria, Shawarma Palace, Golden Palace Restaurant, and Andrew Peller $100 gift card, non-refundable.
Note:All these restaurant gift cards are either available at Costco in E-code or physical card. Furthermore, most restaurant gift cards are non-refundable, and U.S. gift cards are generally not redeemable outside the U.S. (except Puerto Rico for some, like Chili’s). Canadian gift cards are typically valid only in Canada, such as at the Toronto Cheesecake Factory.
Does Costco sell Visa Gift Cards?
Yes, Costco sell Visa gift cards as of 2025. But the Visa gift cards are only available in Costco warehouse; that's, it's only available for purchase in-store, and not online at Costco.com or Costco.ca.
Can I buy Costco gift card without membership?
No, you cannot buy Costco Shop Cards (Costco gift cards) without a Costco membership. Only Costco members can purchase Costco Shop Cards, whether in-store at a Costco warehouse or online at Costco.com or Costco.ca. This restriction applies to both physical and digital Shop Cards.
However, non-members can use Costco Shop Cards to shop at Costco warehouses in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico, as well as online at Costco.com and Costco.ca, without needing a membership. This makes Shop Cards a popular way for non-members to access Costco’s products and services, but they must be purchased by a member first.
If you don’t have a membership, you could ask a friend or family member with a Costco membership to buy a Shop Card for you. Alternatively, some third-party retailers or websites may sell Costco Shop Cards, but be cautious as these are not officially supported by Costco, and you should verify the balance and authenticity as explained in this article or directly with Costco customer service.
Does Costco sell Amazon gift cards?
Yes, Costco sells various types of physical gift cards including Amazon Gift Card in-store. However, many of these gift cards' e-code are not available on costco.com website. In other words, Amazon Gift Cards are only available in-store at Costco warehouse.
