Do you like shopping? Personally, I honestly just love it - even if it's simply a trip to the local store for bread and milk (after which you often come back with a full bag of purchases - some promotions and discounts are just impossible to pass up!) But not all people are as avid shoppers as myself, and they aren't even clued up about the various shopping hacks.
Fortunately, the Internet always comes to the rescue. For example, this video from the netizen @shophocho7798, who shares some Costco hacks that may seem pretty obvious - but, nevertheless, I wouldn't be surprised if many of you didn't know about all this before. So, let's go!
More info: YouTube
This man shares numerous shopping hacks on his YouTube account, and here are some of them
Image credits: shophocho7798 / YouTube
The man claims that you can get into a Costco store with just a gift card - and proves this successfully
On his YouTube shorts, this guy usually talks about various products and other goods purchased at Costco, compares prices, and simply shares numerous useful shopping hacks. For example, the video we are going to tell you about today. Despite its simplicity, it has received around 20M views, over 1M likes, and more than 3.1K various comments from netizens.
Image credits: shophocho7798 / YouTube
The Original poster (OP) demonstrates everything using his own example - for instance, the advice that you can get into Costco without a membership card, using only a gift card, which he himself implemented. It worked. He also managed to get into the pharmacy simply by asking the employee how to get there. But, as the OP himself notes, non-members can only buy prescription meds there.
Image credits: tokaijiru / Pixabay (not the actual photo)
There are also numerous hacks regarding price tags at Costco - and the author explains everything
If you are confused by the abundance of price variations and labels - don't worry - the author also gives a wise piece of advice about how to navigate all of this correctly. So, he notes that .99 on a price tag means that's the original price. Well, prices ending in 39, 49, or 79, actually mean the manufacturer's giving a discount. And when you see numbers ending in 97 on the price tag, that means the item has been marked down.
Let's move on. Prices ending in 00 indicate a clearance item, and those prices will not be lowered again. If you suddenly see an asterisk ("aka the Death Star," the original poster wittily says) on the price tag, then this actually means that the item won't be stocked again at the Costco chain. As you can see, there are quite a few really interesting things that come in handy.
Image credits: Freepik / Freepik (not the actual photo)
Costco has its own unique model of working with fewer manufacturers, which actually allows them to have additional discounts
We would like to remind you that Costco is the world's largest chain of club-type stores with a paid membership model, and as of today, the company is the fifth-largest retailer in the United States in terms of sales. And it's precisely the specifics of working with suppliers that allow Costco to achieve significant discounts on goods.
Usually, Costco focuses on selling goods and products from a limited number of manufacturers or under its own brand. Thus, representing a small number of manufacturers allows them to maximize the sale of certain brands. And this, in turn, allows the chain to get additional discounts from their suppliers.
By the way, many non-US commenters who are not familiar with Costco's principles were very surprised by how the membership model could work at all and why people would even pay just to enter the sales floor. "That's insane. How do they stay in business?" one of the folks wondered. "As someone from Europe, this store is very confusing," another person added.
However, despite the fact that you have to fork out 60 bucks to buy a Costco membership card, this model justifies itself. As of 2024, the Costco Wholesale club system had 136.8 million members and counting. So, one way or another, the tips provided here may actually be extremely useful for you. By the way, if you have your own shopping hacks, please feel free to share them in the comments as well.
People in the comments thanked the author, but some non-US folks were just confused by the membership model
