The first Costco opened more than 40 years ago in Seattle. Since then, the discount warehouse club has grown to 871 stores around the world and amassed a loyal fan base that ranges from Julia Child, who praised the food court hot dog, to chefs who swear by Costco essentials like the famed rotisserie chicken. Not to mention the Costco influencers who visit the warehouse almost daily to dish on the deals and share tips on how to get the most out of your membership.
Even if you’re a frequent Costco shopper, there are likely some secrets hiding in plain sight that you don’t know about, like a service called Costco Next that can get even more brands’ products at Costco prices. Of course, part of the fun of shopping at Costco is finding the hidden culinary treasures, like the Costco chicken nuggets that taste like the ones from Chick-fil-A.
Want in on some more Costco secrets? We asked some insiders—former Costco employee Caroline Truman (@trubirdsisters on TikTok) as well as David and Susan Schwartz, the authors of The Joy of Costco: A Treasure Hunt from A to Z—to spill the tea in bulk.
Here are 10 of the best-kept Costco secrets.
1. Costco Inventory Varies By Region
If you’re a Costco superfan, you might want to shop outside of your big box store. For their book, David and Susan Schwartz visited more than 200 Costco warehouses throughout the U.S. and in 13 other countries. About 40% of merchandise in any given warehouse is source locally or regionally, which led them to the discovery of reindeer sausage in the deli section of an Alaska Costco, fresh watermelon juice at the food court in Seoul, Korea, roux sold in pint jars in New Orleans, leis in Hawaii, and skinned frogs in China.
2. Stock Up On Stamps at Costco
“If the price of stamps go up, the first thing you should do is run—don’t walk—to Costco and buy up stamps,” Susan Schwartz says. The warehouses will continue to hold the lower price of the Forever Stamps that are currently in their inventory, she says.
3. Be On The Lookout For The ‘Death Star’
If you see an asterisk on the price tag of an item you love, it indeed means the item will be discontinued, according to the Schwartzes. But what you can’t tell from the “death star” is whether the item will be permanently or temporarily discontinued. Costco warehouses have a limit of about 3,800 highly curated items, David Schwartz explains, so if they want to introduce new items, they’ll have to pull an item. Warehouse employees should be able to tell you, though, if and when a discontinued item will come back in stock. If an item is on the way out for good, and it’s something you absolutely love, Susan Schwartz recommends letting the warehouse manager know you’d like to see it back on shelves. If they get enough passionate requests, they just may add it back to their inventory rotation.
4. Why Costco Tires Last Longer on the Road
Put a lot of miles on your car with all those Costco runs? You can buy tires at a discount at Costco, where they fill their tires with nitrogen, David Schwartz says, which helps you keep proper tire pressure longer, so that your tires wear less and you get better mileage, which helps you save at the pump.
5. Costco Has a Very Liberal Return Policy
The return policy at Costco is “extremely generous,” says Truman, who worked at Costco for seven years, mostly in the returns department but also in the food court. Costco figures that people will spend more than they return and employees can see shopping history that goes back a decade. She greenlit the return of some interesting items in her career, including an 8-year-old toilet that a woman returned after her husband passed because it was “his favorite toilet and was making her too sad to look at” as well as some potstickers that someone forgot to refrigerate.
6. Costco Does a 30-Day Price Match
If you buy something at Costco and, on your next shopping trip, notice that the price went down, you can head to the membership desk and ask for a price adjustment, Truman says. Costco offers 30 day price matches. Better yet, you don’t have to have the receipt on you or bring the item in because the store can look at your shopping history, Truman says.
7. You Can Tell If An Item Will Get Marked Down Further
Speaking of price drops, there are a few clues that an item will be marked down further, Truman says. Everything that ends in .99 or .00 is the original price, she says. If something’s price ends in .97 or .98, it’s marked down. You can look at the small font in the right of the price signs to see the date of the price markdown. If it’s been a couple weeks, and there’s a good deal of inventory, you can probably expect the price to drop again. She’s seen clothing items drop to as low as $2.98.
8. Everything in the Food Court Is Made Fresh
Truman, who also worked in the food court, said one thing that surprises people is that the food court items are made fresh every day. “A morning crew would come in and make hundreds of sandwiches and chicken bakes that they’d sell that day,” she says.
9. Hot Dog Toppings Vary Worldwide
If you’re stateside, your Costco hot dog is probably topped with ketchup, mustard, maybe some relish. But hot dog toppings vary around the world, with the French food courts offering up Dijon mustard and mayo, Icelandic hot dogs coming with crispy fried onions, and pickled jalapeños the topping of choice in Mexico warehouses.
10. The Hot Dog Price Is Inflation Proof
As the cost of groceries goes up, the almighty Costco hot dog remains inflation proof. The cost of a hot dog and soda has remained $1.50 since 1985. Last spring, Costco’s CFO Gary Millerchip put rumors to rest that the warehouse would raise the price of the food court classic, saying the “$1.50 hot dog price is safe.” Costco’s co-founder and former CEO Jim Sinegal threatened anyone who suggested raising the price, and today’s Costco leadership seems to be taking that threat pretty seriously.
Brittany Anas is a former newspaper reporter (The Denver Post, Boulder Daily Camera) turned freelance writer. Before she struck out on her own, she covered just about every beat—from higher education to crime. Now she writes about food, cocktails, travel, and lifestyle topics for Men’s Journal, House Beautiful, Forbes, Simplemost, Shondaland, Livability, Hearst newspapers, TripSavvy and more. In her free time, she coaches basketball, crashes pools, and loves hanging out with her rude-but-adorable Boston Terrier that never got the memo the breed is nicknamed “America’s gentleman.”