5 things to know before you use Costco Photo Center

Costco Wholesale is known for its low prices on everything, right? Well, you can add all your photo printing needs to that list, too!

We may live in a digital age where we don’t print photos as often as we used to, but many people still put a premium on the printed picture.

One place where you can you save serious money on printing the photos that capture special memories of your life is Costco Photo Center.

RELATED: 5 things to know before you buy glasses from Costco Optical

Costco Photo Center: Save 30%, 45%, even 70% off the leading competitor pricing

Here’s a quick look at the savings by category that Costco Photo Center advertises online versus the leading competitor.

• Canvas prints – 30% off
• Photo books – 40% off
• Metal prints – 45% off
• Calendars – 60% off
• Greeting cards – 70% off

If you've never tried the photo department at either your local warehouse or online at CostcoPhotoCenter.com, here's what you need to know…

1. You can upload photos directly from your phone for printing

With the Costco app (iOS or Android), you can order traditional prints, canvas prints, photo books and more on the go right from the palm of your hand — using the pictures you've already got stored on your phone or on your social media accounts.

Traditional photo prints start at just 17 cents a piece. Other types of prints and projects are available, too.

See the full list of offerings here.

2. Custom cards, fine art prints, vintage photography and more are also available

When you want to lend a touch of extra class to any occasion, Costco Photo Center has a full range of custom cards for holidays, births, graduation, engagements and other milestones.

Photo cards start at $13.99 for 50. Premium cards start at $17.25 for 25 and come with return address printing, among other extra features.

You can see the full list of custom cards that are available here.

Meanwhile, you can even order fine art and vintage prints through CostcoPhotoCenter.com.

3. Home video transfer services start at $19.99 

If you’re of a certain age, you no doubt have a lot of the memories of your youth stored on home video cassettes of varying types.

Costco Photo Center can digitize those bulky home cassettes to DVD so you can preserve them for future generations — all at one flat price.

* For the first 90 minutes of footage on DVD; additional charge of $6 for the first 90 minutes of footage on Blu-ray.

Every order includes two gold archival-quality DVDs and free online viewing and sharing. Orders can also be saved to Google Photos for free, as well.

4. Costco Photo Center offers a wide range of photo gifts starting at $8.99

When you want to give a thoughtful present, it doesn’t get much better than putting the smiling face of you, your children or other loved ones on a photo gift!

Costco Photo Center lets you use your pictures to create any number of colorful photo mugs, woven picture blankets, visually stunning calendars and more.

Here’s a rundown of what you can make:

See the full list of offerings here.

5. Be prepared: Your local warehouse club’s photo department may be going away

Don't be entirely surprised if your local Costco Wholesale no longer has an in-store photo department.

Last year, Costco pulled the plug on photo departments at all Massachusetts locations except for one store. That wasn't an isolated incident; the same thing happened in Hawaii last year, too.

It does make sense, when you consider that basically everything involved in the process can be done digitally these days.

Remember, you can always access all of Costco's photo services described here online at CostcoPhotoCenter.com.

More Costco stories on Clark.com: 

• 7 things to know before you buy gas at Costco Wholesale
• Costco members: Here are the best deals & coupons this month!
• 5 things to know before you buy a cell phone at Costco Wholesale

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