Is Costco's Riding Lawn Mower Worth Buying? Here's What You Should Know

The membership warehouse retailer Costco is well-known for offering all kinds of household staples. However, you may not know that the membership club also has major outdoor tools like riding lawn mowers. Costco differs from other big box retailers that offer riding lawn mowers, like Home Depot and Lowe's, due to the fact that they only offer battery-powered options. Costco's website has two riding mowers available for sale, both of which are Greenworks-branded models. The membership warehouse has one each of zero-turn and garden-style riding lawn mowers. With these mowers you can take advantage of Costco's generous return policy, which offers a 100% guarantee, meaning it may entice you to shop here instead of other retailers.

Are Costco's Greenworks riding lawn mowers worth buying? While the reviews for these mowers aren't perfect, they're generally favorable. On the Costco website, the zero-turn model has a 4.3-star rating, while the garden riding model has a 3.9-star rating. YouTube reviewer WorkshopAddict called it small and lightweight, but says it's not a good choice for people who have extremely large yards. YouTube reviewer Melba Watson said the instructions and packaging materials were excellent, ensuring the mower was ready to go when it arrived. YouTube reviewer Redzone 101 actually bought the mower from Costco and has been using it for two years, appreciating its excellent dependability, although the reviewer dislikes how the mower makes some odd noises when going over dips and bumps in the yard.

Costco typically has favorable prices on many of its products. However, when we did price comparisons on these Greenworks mowers, the membership club was actually more expensive than other retailers, although you receive extra features for the extra cost from Costco.

The Greenworks 80V 42-inch zero-turn mower costs $6,500 at Costco with 12 4.0Ah batteries and a bagger attachment. At Best Buy, the mower costs $5,500 (and was recently on sale for $4,500) with six batteries and no bagger. The mower's price at Lowe's was $4,999 with six batteries. To operate the mower, you need six batteries. Understand that individual 80V 4.0Ah batteries cost $250 at Greenworks, so Costco's price is favorable compared to Lowe's or Best Buy when you consider the extra batteries that are included. However, unless you have a giant yard, you probably don't need them. Greenworks estimates you can mow two acres on the six batteries before they run out of power. If you need a bagger kit, the Costco purchase becomes a very good deal, as you'll pay $600 at Greenworks to buy the bagger kit separately.

The Greenworks 80V 42-inch riding lawn tractor with 12 4.0Ah batteries and bagger costs $5,500 at Costco. As with the zero-turn model, if you need the bagger and extra batteries, the Costco price is a really good deal. The same lawn tractor costs $4,559 at Lowe's with six 5.0Ah batteries and $5,000 at Best Buy with six 4.0Ah batteries. Neither retailer offers the bagger.