Costco Metal Print Review - 2021 Edition
- About Costco Photo Center
- Costco Photo Center Hours
- Costco Photo Center Products
- Costco Photo Center Promo Code
- Costco Photo Center Return Policy
- Costco Photo Center Reviews
- Costco Metal Print Review
Last year, we conducted our first metal print shootout - a $100 secret shopper metal print comparison to find the best metal print money can buy.
One of the companies we ordered a metal print from was Costco. Unfortunately, last year's Costco metal print was not impressive...
But we're all about second chances, so we ordered another Costco metal print for our 2021 metal print shootout.
Just like last year, metal prints of the same image were ordered from various companies. Then, I unbox the prints and inspect them on the fly in a YouTube video (which you can watch at the end of this article). It's a pretty simple process, and one that allows us to compare these prints head-to-head so you can find the best print for your money.
So, how did Costco do this year? Let's find out!
Check out the winner of our 2020 Best Metal Print Company $100 Challenge to see how Costco stacked up against the competition last year.
The winner of our 2021 metal print shootout has been revealed! Check it out in the video below:
Table of Contents
About Costco Photo Center
Costco's reputation is obviously as a wholesale club, but they have had a photo center for many years. And it's not just an in-store photo center, either - you can order prints and many other photo products online anytime.
Just pick your favorite photo, upload it to the Costco Photo Center website, and you can order metal prints, canvases, acrylic prints, paper prints, photo books, and many other items.
In that regard, the Costco Photo Center is a true full-service online printing company.
Costco Photo Center Hours
When making online orders from Costco Photo Center, you can do so anytime of day or night, seven days a week.
If you need help, the Costco Photo Center's customer service is open Monday-Sunday, 6:00 am to 8:00 pm, Pacific Time.
If you're looking for updates on your order, you can access that information online 24/7 as well.
Costco Photo Center Products
As mentioned above, Costco Photo Center offers a wide range of photography products.
In this case, metal prints are what we're after, but you can also order wall decor, cards, calendars, banners, and a variety of business-related prints, like business cards.
There is a large selection of photo gifts too. This includes photo blankets, mugs, plaques, and more. You can also gift custom canvas prints for your photoshoots.
Costco Photo Center Promo Code
Costco Photo Center does not have any current promo codes listed on their website. However, you can find third-party promo codes on other sites that offer discounts on your orders.
For example, RetailMeNot often has promo codes for a certain percentage off your Costco Photo Center order. Currently, though, there are no specific promo codes. Check frequently to find Costco Photo Center promo codes.
Costco Photo Center Return Policy
Costco Photo Center allows photo products to be returned for a full refund if you aren't satisfied.
Unfortunately, you have to make returns to a Costco warehouse - they can't be returned by shipping them back to the Costco Photo Center. This could present a problem if you live in an area without a Costco.
If a return needs to be made, you simply need to have your confirmation email and the item to return, and Costco will refund the purchase price. Usually, refunds take anywhere from three to five days to process.
Costco Photo Center Reviews
Depending on the product, Costco Photo Center reviews run the gamut from really bad to acceptable.
For example, an in-depth review by Tom's Guide gives Costco Photo Center a 3.5 out of 5 star review. That review notes that while prices are good, quality is not.
Another online review site, Top Ten Reviews, gives Costco the same rating - 3.5 out of 5 stars.
Again, good prices are noted, but the quality seems to not be all it can be.
Costco Photo Center Metal Print Review
In the video above, I do a complete unboxing and first impressions review of my Costco Photo Center metal print. Below, I've summarized some of the key points for you.
After unboxing the print, it was immediately noticeable that some of the colors in this print - the blues and purples, in particular - aren't as vibrant as they were in the original image. What's more, some of the other metal prints I've already inspected for this year's shootout had more vibrant colors as well.
Additionally, there seems to be some yellow tones happening in the greenery of the tree, so there's some inaccuracy of the colors in this print. The colors just seem a little muted, which is not what I like when I get a metal print. Instead, I like the colors to be nice and punchy, which is exactly what the colors were in the original image file I sent to Costco.
In terms of the quality of the printing process, I noticed that there are some white spots on the corners. I can't quite figure out what caused those spots to occur, but what I do know is that the image file I sent to Costco did not have white spots - something went awry in the printing process that caused them.
On the back is a pretty cheap mounting bracket. There's cracks in the material and the mitered edges of the hanging frame aren't super tight. On top of that, the mounting system isn't even centered on the back of the print. Instead, the bottom of it is skewed to the left.
As you can see in my video, the packaging for the print was okay - it was fairly well protected with cardboard and heavy-duty plastic wrap. However, the print was able to slide back and forth inside the cardboard, which worries me a little about the potential for damage to the front of the print or to one of the corners.
Overall, this print isn't hugely impressive. The colors aren't all that good, the mounting system is cheap, and the sharpness of the image just isn't there. So, again, I'm left disappointed with my Costco metal print, just like I was last year. Get all the details on this print by watching my video above!