15 Of The Best Stocking Stuffers At Costco For Tech Fans & Gearheads

‘Tis the season to stress about finding the right present for the most special people in your life! Fortunately there’s no shortage of gift guides floating around; including this one about stocking stuffers you can find at Costco (or more specifically, on its website) for the car tinkerers and techies in your life so they know that you’re thinking of them.

We did admittedly use a somewhat liberal definition of “stocking stuffers” here, so don’t expect everything to fall within a specific price range. Though we did try to stick with stuff that should (emphasis on “should”) physically fit into a stocking It’s just that some items on the list might take up the whole stocking.

You’ll find it all in the list below, organized from least to most expensive. And with the current prices listed up front, you’ll have an easier time deciding what to check out and what to avoid if you’re on a tight budget.

The thing about modern technology is that not everything is powered by rechargeable lithium ion batteries. “Big” things like smartphones, laptops, or robot vacuums, aren’t likely to run on regular AA batteries, but what about the smaller, tertiary electronics that tend to orbit our lives? There are more commonplace gadgets powered by a single AA battery than you might realize.

This is why you can’t go wrong with a 40-count pack of Duracell Coppertop Alkaline AA Batteries for $17.99. The tech fans in your life are bound to have at least a couple of gadgets or tools that need them, and the same goes for gearheads. And with a healthy pile of AAs, they’ll be able to keep everything from a wireless mouse and TV remote to flashlights and headlamps energized for quite some time to come. Though not indefinitely, as batteries do eventually expire.

Cleaning is an often unfortunate part of living in a world that’s not hermetically sealed or constantly being scrubbed by invisible nanomachines that don’t actually exist and would probably turn into some kind of horror story after the first year or so. But just because cleaning is something we have to do sometimes doesn’t mean we can’t use tools to make it easier! That is why the $21.99 HOTO Wand Cordless Spin Scrubber is on this list.

Granted, yes, it was clearly intended for scrubbing surfaces in the kitchen and bathroom. However, anyone even tangentially familiar with working on cars or in a garage knows that dirt and grime and grease can end up … everywhere. So having a cordless electric scrubber could make cleaning certain scrub-friendly materials a little easier. It could even come in handy when cleaning a car’s engine bay — though more modern models might require a softer touch over some surfaces.

This time of year is often used as an excuse to saturate our homes (inside and out) with thematically-appropriate lights, but there’s no reason we can’t add a little extra color year-round. And with a 4-pack of Feit Electric Wi-Fi Smart Bulbs for $24.99, well, the added light can be functional as well.

With a 2.4GHz Wi-Fi connection and the official app, your favorite tech-savvy people can pop a fresh bulb into their fixture of choice and remotely turn lights on or off, set timers, adjust brightness, slide between warm or cool tones, or pick from a wide assortment of colors with customizable saturation values. On a light-by-light basis, no less, so individual lights can have their own colors, tones, and intensities.

They can also work as more typical 60 Watt (800 Lumens) bulb replacements if they just need some replacement bulbs — who doesn’t every now and then — but where’s the fun in that?

Modern vehicles often come with USB ports built into the dash to aid with contemporary device charging, but once upon a time this was not the norm. It used to be that you didn’t have rechargeable electronics that would’ve benefitted from a dedicated in-vehicle port, and I still remember that awkward window where I’d use a car’s lighter adapter to power my portable CD player, then use a cassette tape adapter to run the audio through the speakers (because my car only had a tape deck). Good times?

The point is, not every car is going to be new enough to accommodate a USB power cable, which is where the $34.99 Scosche PowerVolt PD60 Dual Port USB-C Car Charger 2-pack comes in. It’s a simple device that pops into the vacant cigarette lighter opening, converting the power used to heat up the lighter’s coils into something you can use to top off a smartphone, tablet, earbuds, or anything else that can charge via USB-C cable, really. Definitely a boon for long — possibly holiday-centric — car trips.

I don’t own a Fanttik-brand electric screwdriver, specifically, but I can say with some certainty that having an electric screwdriver around comes in handy more often than you might think. And when those types of situations arise, it’s exceptionally useful.

That’s just for regular life or sporadic house stuff (ex: putting a bedframe together). Someone who semi-regularly or very regularly, ends up using a screwdriver to open up electronics or appliances, or when working in a garage, is bound to appreciate an electric one all the more. Wow does that repetitive manual motion make anyone’s wrist uncomfortable after a few minutes. Heck, depending on the task I sometimes end up with finger cramps and blisters that last for days afterwards.

Something like the $39.99 Fanttik S1 Apex Electric Screwdriver will speed things up, certainly. But far more importantly, it will also greatly reduce (if not outright stop) the specific kinds of discomfort that typically come from using a regular screwdriver for extended periods of time.

A big problem with being a modern tech user is that everything requires power, and it isn’t perpetual and self-sustaining yet. It’s not the biggest problem when you’re at home or working from an office, but traveling and otherwise not having access to a proper place to charge things can be … limiting.

Situations like that are why portable power supplies like Anker’s $39.99 MagGo Magnetic Wireless Charging 5,000 mAh Power Banks are likely to get a smile — if not an outright grin — from their holiday recipients. Not only will it juice up a smartphone or earbuds (specifically AirPods or Soundcore) via magnetic wireless charging, but it can do so with pass-through. Meaning it can charge both itself and the device it’s connected to at the same time when plugged in.

The built-in kick stand also means it could be used to prop up a smartphone (while charging it) to use as a makeshift travel clock when staying out of town. Or it can maintain a steady angle during video calls. It could also provide an alternative charging solution when all the other outlets are taken up by holiday decorations and other peoples’ smartphone chargers. The stand can stay affixed to the phone to extend its battery life throughout a holiday gathering this season too.

Performing repairs or maintenance on cars or car parts — or even some electronics and appliances for that matter — carries a risk of hand injury. Pinched fingers, cuts, scrapes, bruises, can happen. Pr maybe a tool slips at just the wrong moment. Having an added layer of protection is usually a good idea.

Work gloves like the $43.99 6-pack of Wells Lamont Men’s HydraHyde Leather Work Gloves can provide that security. They’re water-resistant and leather-reinforced, but still adjustable and breathable. These are designed to close around the wrist to prevent dirt and debris from slipping in, but the velcro strip and leather pull tab are meant to make them fairly simple to remove when you’re ready to take them off.

That said, these aren’t one-size-fits-all, so you’ll need to know your gift recipient’s glove size (Medium, Large, XL, 2XL, or 3XL) before purchasing. Or maybe hang onto a gift receipt.

A 4-pack of Apple AirTags for $74.99 seems like a fairly obvious choice for a technology fans. It’s a handful of approximately coin-sized (though perhaps just a little bigger than that) discs that can sync up with an iPhone or iPad to keep tabs on whatever they’re attached to or tucked inside of. A solid solution for making sure items don’t wander off, or finding them if they ever get misplaced.

They’re not just good for keys and luggage, either. There are loads of useful places to stick an Apple AirTag. Wallets and purses, backpacks, instrument cases, a non-iPhone smartphone case, or even a toolbox. This is, of course, no guarantee against theft or a guarantee of recovery if theft occurs — and it’s arguable whether using AirTags on pet collars will truly help if they ever run away or get lost – but between the map tracking and telling it to play a sound when you’re close by, it can certainly help when you’re trying to find something.

Spend enough time in or around cars and the chance of startup troubles will increase. That is why it’s always a good idea to have a means to jump start a car around. Jumper cables are an obvious choice, sure, but there’s also the $84.99 Michelin Portable Jump Starter and 10,000mAh LiFePO4 Power Bank to consider.

Not only can the 12V lithium iron phosphate battery help to get a gas or diesel car back in action, but it also functions as an emergency light to make the jump start process easier to see as well as act as a warning or S.O.S signal to other cars on the road at night. It includes its own jumper cables as part of the set, too.

And to further add to its usefulness in an emergency, the jump starter can even be used as a USB-A or USB-C compatible power bank. That way, even if jump starting doesn’t get the car moving again, there’s still a way to keep a smartphone charged in order to call for help.

If you know someone who does a lot of work with big digital files — like, say, a graphic designer, a digital photographer, a video editor, or anything else involving large files — then a pocket-sized brick of external storage would likely be appreciated. At least I certainly think so, speaking as someone who often has to play hard drive musical chairs on a MacBook every so often.

It’s why the $94.99 SanDisk Extreme Go Portable SSD 1TB is so appealing. A 1TB SSD isn’t the unfathomably huge amount of storage space it used to be, sure, but it can still go a long way. It’s the kind of thing that makes carrying large digital projects around between computers really simple and direct. You don’t have to worry about data transfer caps or other limitations. Though it’s perhaps not as portable as a thumb drive (and roughly the same price), where SSDs like this really win out is in their hardware encryption and read and write speeds — 1050MB/s and 1000MB/s, respectively.

Wireless noise-cancelling earbuds are a fairly reliable “universal” gift in that pretty much anyone can use. Tech enthusiasts can use them for calls and meetings and music and just appreciate how fancy and high-tech they are. People who work on or with cars can also use them for hand’s free chatting, meetings, or listening to music while working with or on cars. The possibilities are endless! As long as the possibilities are focusing on wireless audio.

Apple’s AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation, currently priced at $99.99, definitely fit the bill. And the stocking as it were. Outside of the wireless audio and active noise cancellation already mentioned, they’re also sweat and water resistant and support wireless charging. And since these are AirPods 4, they include a number of improvements and updates over previous models. They boast features like improved quality for calls and audio, and conversation awareness that will intuit when to lower the volume of whatever’s being listened to.

Sometimes a person just wants to be able to keep an eye on things when they’re not around. The $119.99 Ring Whole Home Camera Kit can help with that, naturally.

This bundle includes an outdoor camera, indoor camera, and doorbell camera. Taken as a whole, that means clear day and nighttime video coverage of the outside (likely a back or side door, or garage entrance), head-to-toe day and night outdoor video with two-way talk capabilities via the doorbell, and a 360 degree adjustable indoor view along with its own two-way talk option and a built-in privacy cover that blocks video and turns off the microphone for the indoor camera.

There’s no Ring subscription plan included, which means no saving or sharing video from the camera feeds, but live video and notifications will still work just fine without one so it’s not strictly necessary.

Dash cams are often used as an added layer of security when driving or leaving a car parked anywhere. However, at $179.99, the Nextbase 322GW 1080p Dash Cam Bundle offers a bit more than just a video feed through the windshield.

In addition to the front-facing HD wide angle camera, the bundle also comes with a polarizing filter to reduce reflections and glare along with a separate rear-facing camera for the back window. It also offers a 64GB microSD card to store up to 6 hours of footage. What’s more, the rear camera can utilize “Intelligent Parking Mode” in order to start recording if the car gets bumped, making it easier to follow up on any parking lot mishaps. Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity make saving or sharing videos to a smartphone fairly simple too.

An optional Emergency SOS feature is also available, which will put you in touch with emergency services after a crash. However, it requires a $4.99 per month subscription once the 12-month trial ends.

If any of tech or car enthusiasts in your life have home security concerns — or they just want to have a little extra peace of mind — why not consider a camera setup? Specifically, there’s this $249.99 eufy Security Pan/Tilt Solar Cam with Dual Cam Doorbell Bundle that covers a lot of bases.

As the name implies, it includes a solar panel that can be mounted in conjunction with the primary camera and claims to keep the camera working regardless of how bright and unobstructed the sun might be. The bigger benefit is not having to manually recharge the camera or swap out any batteries. The camera also boasts a motion-activated spotlight as a nighttime deterrent, color night vision (as opposed to the more common black and white), a 360-degree range of motion, the ability to automatically detect and track humans, pets, and vehicles, and up to 8x zoom.

But that’s just half the bundle. There’s also a video doorbell in the box, which offers its own color night vision along with front- and bottom-facing cameras to both see who might be at the door and spot any packages that might’ve been delivered.

Recording video for work or just for fun typically requires a bit of an up-front investment. Unless a budding videographer plans to use a device they already have, such as a smartphone, they’re going to need a decent camera, some form of memory card to store everything, and maybe even a spare battery. Fortunately, the GoPro HERO13 Black Action Camera Bundle comes with all of that (plus a carrying case) for $299.99.

The camera itself advertises up to 5.3K video and photos up to 27MP. It’s also waterproof for up to 33 feet so it can be used to capture underwater footage (or record in really rough weather, even) with no issues. Oh, and it has a built-in video stabilization feature. But on top of that there’s also a compatible 128GB microSD card, a pair of 1900mAh batteries claiming up to 2.5 hours of continuous recording power apiece, and a case to keep everything together and carry it all around when not in use.

Just be aware that the batteries may not be compatible with older GoPro models. So if this is being gifted as a replacement GoPro camera, some of their previous gear might not work with it.

To put this list together, we scoured Costco.com for items relevant to either automotive repair, maintenance, or enthusiast use along with things that would either be relevant to a tech-lover’s interests or provide them a bit more convenience. In other words, this is stuff like gear and tools rather than anything purely decorative or humorous — no matter how tempting it might be. And, of course, there had to be reasonable belief that these items could fit into a stocking while still in their original shelf packaging. We might have cut it close with a few of these, but any one of them has a better chance of fitting in your typical holiday stocking than an air fryer or vehicle jack.

All of the relevant items found were then further refined by looking at aggregate customer review scores. There was a little wiggle room in the process but we tried to stick with things that had close to (ideally more than) 100 total reviews and an average rating of (or at least close to) four stars or higher.