5 Costco Electronics That Aren't Worth The Price

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If you're looking to get your hands on some of the best deals on consumer tech, Costco is a great place to find discounts and promos. The retailer also has a 90-day return policy for most electronics, so you'll never be stuck with a device you don't like or an item that doesn't work. But even with these perks in mind, there are a handful of Costco products you simply shouldn't buy at all, regardless of how alluring the price is.

Fortunately, the vast majority of Costco's inventory is well-rated, but we were able to track down five products you shouldn't bother purchasing. In most cases, this has to do with quality control issues, both big and small, and we leaned on Costco member feedback to home in on the most problematic products. Even if you've had fine experiences with Costco in the past, we recommend shopping for these five items elsewhere.

The Epson EcoTank ET-2988 is a fairly inexpensive inkjet printer that swaps traditional cartridges for refillable ink bottles. It delivers up to 4800 x 1200 dpi print resolution, and the manufacturer claims this should result in colorful, lifelike photos and crystal-clear text. In terms of user feedback, Costco shoppers gave this Epson printer a 3.0 out of 5 stars, based on 58 reviews. Many shoppers actually enjoyed the print quality, but multiple reviewers had Wi-Fi and software issues.

Complaints range from slow network connectivity to dropped internet connections. One user had an issue where the printer would essentially "fall asleep" and fail to wake, while another mentioned that the ET-2988 would simply stop printing a document midway through. Numerous users also complained that the initial setup was unintuitive and took a long time.

For $200, it might actually be worth giving the ET-2988 a try, especially since Costco has a 90-day return window for most electronics.

The PlayStation 5 is an expensive purchase, no matter how you slice it and where you buy it, but Costco's Sony PlayStation 5 Slim Disc Console and DualSense Controller Bundle looks to be a $600 bait-and-switch. There were twelve Costco shoppers who contributed user feedback, and seven are 1-star reviews. Multiple customers received a product box that had clearly been opened beforehand, and there are photos to prove this. One reviewer even claimed that the box they received had been in water at some point.

It seems that a few months ago, this PS5 bundle had a $120 discount, which is what drew in most shoppers to begin with. Fortunately, Costco's return policy is pretty open-armed, and most users didn't have an issue returning the bundle to a Costco location. That said, no one wants to waste precious time and money on a brand-new game console, only to receive an open-box product.

It actually looks like Walmart stocks the exact same PS5 Slim bundle for $620. If you're gifting this to someone and want to guarantee you receive a sealed unit, it's probably worth spending the extra $20 instead of taking a chance on Costco.

On paper, Costco's HP OMEN 16 Slim is an absolute beast of a gaming laptop. Running an Intel Core Ultra 9 with 32GB of RAM, the computer also uses an RTX 5070 with 8GB of GDDR7 memory. It even has a 16-inch 2K screen with a 144Hz refresh rate. These are the kind of specs we like to see on a gaming machine, so where exactly do things start falling apart? Quality control. Numerous Costco shoppers have complained about this $1,700 laptop, with defects ranging from a faulty keyboard to out-of-the-box batteries that won't hold a charge.

One user reported a major software glitch where the laptop randomly restarts every couple of days. Thankfully, if you do buy it from Costco, the OMEN 16 has a 90-day return window, free technical support, and a two-year warranty should you run into any issues. But if you'd prefer to bypass Costco altogether, and don't mind spending more ($250 price difference), Amazon currently stocks a nearly-identical model that swaps the 144Hz display for 240Hz.

We think Samsung is one of the most reliable TV brands on the market, so it pained us to see the Samsung 75-inch U7900F Series receiving such poor feedback on Costco's site. Earning a 2.4 out of 5 stars, based on nine reviews, most rankings were only one star, and more than one customer reported a cracked screen right out of the box. This is particularly frustrating for such a large TV size, because unless you own a massive vehicle, you'll be hard-pressed to pick one up from a Costco warehouse.

The Samsung 4K Crystal lineup isn't without its picture detractors, either. While it delivers decent color accuracy for SDR content, the U7900F has bad reflection handling and struggles to get bright enough in rooms with a lot of ambient lighting. Oddly, the TV also doesn't have a digital optical port, so you won't be able to connect a soundbar unless it has an HDMI ARC/eARC connection.

Bluetooth speakers with karaoke features are a popular buy, and you'll be able to find these products from several noteworthy brands. JBL and Sony are two companies that come to mind, and there are boatloads of third-party manufacturers that sell these monsters. Costco shoppers have the option of purchasing the ION Audio Total PA Speaker, and we're here to tell you to spend your money on something else. ION Audio claims this Bluetooth speaker gets up to six hours of battery life, but two of the four posted reviews mention the speaker losing power after only an hour or so.

Another user said they'd gone through three different ION Audio speakers, and after a few days, the Total PA model started to make a popping sound. Sure, it comes with a speaker stand and wireless microphone, and features customizable RGB lighting, but it sounds like the brand may be dealing with quality control issues. Best to steer clear, especially since you can find something comparable and well-rated on sites like Amazon.

When selecting products for this list, we took a look at Costco user feedback for all electronics categories. If an item scored 3 out of 5 stars or lower, we examined both the good and bad reviews to make a final judgment call on whether the product was disappointing enough to be included. We also looked at professional, hands-on reviews (if they were available), and did our best to include five unique consumer tech items.