Huge Mistakes Everyone Makes Shopping At Costco - YouTube

Nobody really needs to be told how to shop, right?

But when you shop at Costco, the rules are different.

As a card-carrying member, you're probably paying for a ton of benefits that you might

not even know you get.

You also might be making incorrect assumptions when it comes to the items you select.

Here are some huge mistakes you could be making while shopping at Costco.

Costco has two options when it comes to personal memberships, Gold Star at $60 and Gold Star

Executive at $120, and if you haven't upgraded to Executive yet, you're missing an opportunity

to recoup some, or all, of that annual fee.

While it might sound a bit counterintuitive to pay twice as much for the same access into

the warehouse store, depending on your spending habits, it could be well worth it.

At the Executive level, you receive two percent cash back on most purchases.

According to Costco's math, if you spend $500 a month, or $6,000 a year, you're looking

at a rewards check of $120, and in effect, getting your membership totally free.

The more you spend, the more you get back, up to $1,000 a year.

Even if you don't come close to that maximum, anything over $60 in rewards is money back

in your pocket.

As a safety net, if you take the plunge and don't spend enough in the first year to come

out ahead, Costco will make up the difference by ensuring that first check is at least $60.

So what are you waiting for?

Go upgrade that membership.

Spoiler alert: Costco's layout is confusing by design.

They want you to get lost in their labyrinth of tempting bargains so you spend all the

money.

Think about it… you shopped at the warehouse store just last week, but somehow the layout

is very different this time around.

According to one former employee who posted on Quora, this dipsy-doo switcheroo is no

coincidence:

"I worked for Costco for 13 years.

They purposely move products around to different locations and are constantly rotating a certain

percentage of their inventory to new products.

This creates a 'Treasure Hunt' experience as you shop and helps you discover new products

that you may not normally see on your shopping visits."

In other words, you're much more likely to impulse buy this way.

More tricks the retailer uses?

The fresh food is all located at the back of the store so you're forced to walk past

all those amazing deals and hopefully put them in your cart.

Costco also forgoes any aisle signage, another effort to get you to peruse all the products

and buy what you see.

If you don't want to spend more than you planned, don't let their layout lead you astray.

It always seems to happen… at least one of the items you bought on your last Costco

trip is now on sale, and you're kicking yourself for missing out on the savings.

The good news: There's a store policy that works in your favor here.

The bad news: You have to stand in the return line to take advantage of it.

But thanks to Costco's price adjustment policy, the wait can be well worth it, because the

store will refund the difference between the price you paid and the sale price of any items

within 30 days of purchase.

When it comes to whether you need the original receipt, some stores require it while others

do not.

Your best bet is to stash those slips away for a month and check out the prices of your

recent purchases next time you shop.

You might be in for a hefty refund.

If you're not buying gift cards at Costco, you're doing it wrong, plain and simple.

These prepaid cards for restaurants, coffee shops, movie theaters, and other attractions

aren't just a good generic gift option, they're a gift you should be giving yourself, too.

But why would you bother to buy a gift card for yourself?

Why not just pay the restaurant directly?

Because you're leaving money on the table, that's why.

See, Costco sells $100 gift cards for these establishments at a sizable discount, typically

a 20 to 25 percent savings.

Since you were going to spend $100 on movie tickets eventually anyway, you might as well

just buy the gift card and keep the $20 to $25 in your pocket.

This system makes sense on any goods or services that you use consistently, or even a one-off

night out to a nice restaurant.

Hey, nobody can fault you for saving a few bucks on date night.

Although it might seem like a great deal, not every bulk buy ends up being a money saver

in the long run.

"An entire case of cream of mushroom soup for 4.99?

Dammit Costco, you've done it again."

Not all grocery items last forever, even those canned, dried, and bottled.

Take condiments, for example.

While the six-pack of ketchup bottles might seem like a bargain, you have to remember

that the tomato-based product only keeps for six months once opened, and one to two years

unopened.

Similarly, you only have a few months to use up that giant jar of mayo, barbecue sauce

only lasts about five months after opening, and some hot sauce brands recommend finishing

a bottle within six months.

When it comes to canned and dried goods, you've got a little more leeway, but there's a limit

there, too.

Dried pastas give you one to two years shelf life, and while white rice keeps for up to

five years, brown and wild rice only keeps for up to eight months in the pantry.

As for canned goods, acidic products like tomato and citrus will only keep for about

18 months, while most other products hang in there for up the five years.

When it comes to the fresh items, you've got to be even more careful.

Unless you're feeding a large family, it's probably best to avoid things that ripen or

spoil too quickly, like peaches or a tub of leafy greens.

Buy fruits and vegetables that last, like apples and carrots, and take advantage of

produce that can be refrigerated, like avocados.

This also means the freezer section is your friend and so are individually-wrapped snacks.

A ginormous bag of something will likely go stale before you get to the bottom, but tiny

single-serve bags won't.

For household items like toilet paper, if you have a place to store the dozens of rolls,

go for it.

But when it comes to giant bottles of bleach and bulk disinfectant wipes?

They actually lose their effectiveness if stored for too long.

So unless you run a cleaning service, that's probably not the best buy for you.

The competitive prices on electronics is probably enough to convince you to buy your next TV

or laptop from Costco.

But when you make the purchase at the warehouse store, it comes with another benefit you might

not know about: The Costco Concierge Service.

This service, which applies to most major appliances and electronics, comes with two

major perks.

One: Free technical support.

Experts are available seven days a week to help you with initial set-up and troubleshooting

and will definitely come in handy when you get stumped.

Two: It extends the manufacturer's warranty of the product to two years from the date

of purchase.

Since most items typically come with a one-year warranty, this is huge.

A whole extra year of protection, free of charge?

Now that's savings.

As you wander up and down the aisles at Costco, it's hard to miss all the Kirkland-brand products.

And if you're skipping over them in favor of their brand name counterparts, you're making

one of the biggest Costco mistakes of all.

First things first: no, Kirkland doesn't always win when it comes to product comparisons.

Consumer Reports indicated that though less expensive, the private-label toilet paper

and facial tissues ranked lower than national brands when it came to quality.

But plenty of the other Kirkland products are cheaper, consistently outperform when

it comes to both quality and taste, and in some cases may even be manufactured in the

very same factories as national brands.

Just a few of the areas where Kirkland can brag: The store brand has beaten Oscar Meyer

in the bacon game, is one of the few imported oils that met international and U.S. standards,

and has even bested Grey Goose vodka more than once in blind taste tests.

Even Kirkland batteries, though they might not last as long, come out ahead thanks to

the value provided by the low price.

In other words, don't be a brand snob, you could end up paying more for an inferior product.

Aside from merely telling you the price you'll pay for an item, Costco's price signs have

a hidden meaning, too.

You'll need to pay attention to get the best deals, and most importantly, to know if your

favorite item is about to disappear forever.

If the price ends in .99 or .98: This indicates a regular retail price, and probably doesn't

translate to any huge savings compared to other retailers.

If the price ends in .89, .79, .69, .59, .49, .39, .29, .19, or .09, this indicates Costco

got a manufacturer's deal, meaning they can offer these items at a steeper discount than

others.

If the price ends in .97: This indicates your biggest savings.

These are items that need to go, and are priced at a discount.

If there happens to be an asterisk in the upper right corner of the sign, act fast and

stock up, because this means that the product is likely going away for good.

You just have to keep track of your numbers if you really want to succeed.

You might assume that the prices of items inside the Costco warehouses are the same

as the prices on Costco.com.

But you would be wrong.

That's why it pays to sign into the cyber-verse and check the online price before you buy.

"Password, enter."

Every so often, in addition to the monthly coupon book, members will receive another

booklet of sale items, but this one is for online purchases only.

If you don't get the mailer, you can check the current offering at the Exclusive Online-Only

page of Costco's website.

While some of these items are truly only offered online, like bathtubs or sinks, you'll find

that others are actually available in the store, but the catch is, even if you can buy

the item in the store, the sale price won't apply.

You never know what you might save on: maybe it's $20 off a set of sheets or $100 off a

piece of jewelry.

The bottom line is: If you can afford to wait a few days to get the item, shopping online

can save you some serious money.

Here's the greatest Costco hack of them all: Don't pay the membership fee, but take advantage

of the member benefits, at least some of them.

As a non-member, you probably don't realize all the perks you're missing out on.

Have a prescription to be filled?

That slip of paper will get you in the door to get to the pharmacy, no membership card

required.

While you're there, you can also get free health and wellness screenings, and even flu

shots.

Just want to buy some booze?

In 16 states you can do so without a membership, just tell the employee at the door that's

why you're there.

Same thing goes for the food court, but if it's located outside, you don't even need

to worry about getting in.

Even a regular ol' shopping trip is a possibility, as long as you have a Costco Cash Card.

You can use it to gain entry to the store and even pay for your items.

Costco, officially hacked.

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