EMPLOYEE SECRETS
I work at Costco – here are six staff secrets and yes, products are moved deliberately to confuse customers
A COSTCO employee has revealed six juicy staff secrets about the retailer, including why their products are never in the same place every time you go back.
Paige Saunders, who has worked at the chain for several years, went into further detail about how they get you to spend more money.
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Saunders, who lives in Canada, made the disclaimer that her debunking myths would only apply to stores in her area and maybe not to the ones in the United States.
EMPLOYEES HIDE PRODUCTS
When asked if employees actually hide products or misplace them on purpose, she claimed in a : "We aren't hiding things to trick customers or moving things on purpose. Another team does it overnight.
"Finding the products ourselves after things have been moved is the most infuriating thing ever.
"I will walk around the whole store because yesterday, it was in the right spot, and today, it's in a completely different spot.
"We aren't doing it, the night merch team moves everything on Sunday night. Monday, it's the start of the week and everything is moved and all sale items are where they should be.
"They also have a floor plan that every night they move things that are on sale.
"It's freaking frustrating because you're trying to help people and you can't find them!"
ITEMS GET MOVED
Saunders claimed that the employees themselves don't choose to move items around the store, but that the directive comes from corporate.
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"When you're in the search of something specific, they move them so you spend time looking for it and on the way, pick up other things," she claimed.
"New products are also placed at the end of the aisle because you'll just see them and pick them up as you go."
WHO UNLOADS THE SHOPPING CART?
According to Saunders, customers are actually the ones who are meant to unload their carts on the checkout belt. Not them.
"One of the most infuriating things is when a member is standing there, looking at their phones, looking around, or looking at the stuff on their cart, or worse, looking at us!" she said.
"Usually they have big orders and they don't unload it. So yes, members, unload your cart, it makes life easier.
"Because if you don't, the cashier is taking the time to unload the cart when they could be organizing things at the end or packing things and making the process quicker.
"Everything just takes much longer, so please unload your carts!"
READING RECEIPTS IS TO CATCH SHOPLIFTERS?
Wrong. Saunders claimed they do it "more for us."
"When we are scanning receipts, we are looking for double scans. Really often, because our products have multiple barcodes, when you're trying to go fast, the barcode scans twice and you don't realize it.
"A lot of the times things get double scanned or even misscanned. It's more about auditing a cashier."
MEMBERSHIP?
A myth that has been floating around was that people could use cash cards to go into Costco and purchase items without a membership.
However, Saunders debunked this myth and said it was completely false.
"So many people come in and they try to use the cash cards and it won't work.
"You can use them to pay or use them at the food court, but you need a membership to start the transaction after you purchase in the store," she said.
KIRKLAND LABEL THE SAME?
When asked if the Costco label, Kirkland, is the same as brand ones, she admitted that it was.
"There are very small differences between the Kirkland label and the brand label," she admitted.
"One of the most famous ones is the coffee because Kirkland is the same as Starbucks, but cheaper.
"I always tell people to go for the Kirkland because it's the same for less."
She also claimed that Kirkland exercise pants are exact dupes for Lululemon.
MORE SECRETS
Previously, realtor shared that Costco puts asterisks in the corner of some of their price tags.
In general, the asterisks mean the warehouse club isn't going to restock the item once they sell out.
However, the asterisks can signify different things depending on the price that is listed on the tag.
For instance, Greg explained that an asterisk plus a price ending with eight cents means Costco has taken its first steps to mark down the product.
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This means you may want to hold off buying the product, as the price could drop even further.
If there is an asterisk plus a price ending with seven cents, it means the product is on final clearance.
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If so, it could be worth snapping up the product, especially if they are big-ticket items, like televisions or kitchen appliances.
A Costco spokesperson has previously told The Sun that pricing is designed to help manage inventory.
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