7 Things You Shouldn't Buy In Bulk At Costco

When you get to Costco's wholesale warehouse, it can be pretty tempting to add all the jumbo packs to your shopping cart since bulk buying means a lower price per unit. Plus, you'll feel like you're making the most of your membership fees. But the sheer volume that makes these deals so appealing is also why some of your purchases may backfire. It's because bulk buying only makes sense if you're sure you'll use up the products before they expire, lose their punch, or max out the available space in your pantry or garage.

For instance, liquid detergents lose their effectiveness after some time, so that jumbo jug you stocked up on might not work any better than the smaller bottle it replaced. A lower price per unit doesn't help if half the order ends up in the trash. So, to avoid wasting money, it's a good idea to check the expiration date on products. As for ones with a long shelf life or no use-by date, consider how much of a product you can realistically use before committing to the big pack. Check the list below before your next trip so your "rock-bottom deals" don't end up in the garbage or take over your storage.

We bet you didn't see this coming, but the ingredients in your liquid cleaning solutions, such as laundry and dish detergents, lose their potency over time and become practically useless within a year or two. Sanitizers and disinfectants aren't as effective either after about two years from the manufacturing date, which means they won't kill germs as well. The same timeline applies to multi-surface cleaning sprays. This means bulk-buying cleaning solutions from Costco is not doing your pocket or your household surfaces any favors. Instead, look for more stable powdered products or pick sizes that you know you'll use up in a year.

It's a common instinct to bulk-store over-the-counter medicines, but they typically expire within three years if they sit unused in your medicine cabinet. Moreover, they lose their strength, quality and purity due to changes in the chemical composition and may be less effective over time. The same thing goes for supplements. It may be tempting to take advantage of those huge discounts and bulk buy supplements, but most vitamins and minerals usually retain their effectiveness for only about one to two years. So, ignore the flashy discounts and stock up wisely.

Yes, there are added benefits of putting a bird feeder in your garden, but that doesn't mean you should stock up on birdseed. This is because it can get infested by almost everything, from pesky insects like beetles and moths to rodents like mice and rats. And if you buy birdseed in bulk, you'll basically be creating a reliable food source for them, so only buy quantities that you know you'll use up in two to four months. Even then, store them in a sealed glass, metal, or heavy plastic container, which can then be placed in a cool, dry, and dark location in your home.

Even if you intend to organize your spices with pretty jars and labels, buying them in large quantities isn't ideal. While they'll be safe to consume, they tend to lose their aroma and flavor faster when exposed to oxygen. This defeats the entire purpose of you learning the names of different types of pepper and bringing large jars of them home. An ideal storage period is two to three years for ground spices and two to four years for whole ones. Even within this period, they should be kept in a dark, cool, and dry place to prevent air and pathogen exposure.

Once you open a bottle of liquid bleach, it'll last only about six months before it starts to degrade. If you store it away from direct sunlight and heat, it might be effective enough to use for another six months, but after that, one of its active ingredients, sodium hypochlorite, starts to break down into salt and water. This, in turn, reduces bleach's ability to disinfect or sanitize germy surfaces. So, if you don't use a lot of bleach, it's best you buy a small bottle rather than stocking up on a few large ones.

It makes sense to stock up on paper products, such as paper towels and toilet paper, since you can even store toilet paper in style. But the biggest pack at Costco might not be the cheapest option. You could save some more money if you bulk buy them at a supermarket sale and combine that with manufacturers' coupons, which Costco doesn't accept. It's worth looking up current promotions at supermarkets rather than assuming that this retailer would have better prices, because a sale at Stop & Shop, for example, can give you a better unit price than the warehouse.

Costco has some good deals on cookware sets. Plus, you'll find everything from frying pans to saucepans at your local warehouse. But do you really need multiple saucepans and skillets no matter how cheap they are? You'll only ever use one regularly and might bring out another if you're hosting guests. Admittedly, the coating on the oft-used pan will wear out, and then you can take advantage of the unused ones. However, the wearing out will take time. As such, stockpiling all of them in one go might not be a good idea unless you're setting up the kitchen from scratch.