4 Costco Price Hacks You Should Know Before Shopping, According To Humphrey Yang
Written by
Catherine Collins
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Levi Leidy
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Shoppers go to Costco to save money by buying in bulk, but many people don’t know that Costco‘s prices carry clues about even more discounts. Humphrey Yang, a financial influencer with over 3 million TikTok followers, recently shared a video that explained Costco’s unique pricing model. Yang said that customers can use their knowledge of Costco’s prices to find hidden deals on everything from clothing to food to alcohol purchases.
This isn’t the only video Yang has published about the retail giant. He also explains some of Costco’s psychological tricks that encourage customers to spend more in the store (like putting expensive TVs in the front of the store to make customers feel like everything else costs so much less). These smart marketing tactics have led Costco to have an incredible first quarter of 2025, with revenue increasing 9% to $62.5 billion.
Here are a few examples of Yang’s Costco pricing hacks that can help people save on their next trip to the store.
Prices Ending in .99
If customers are shopping at Costco and notice that the price of an item ends in .99, it means the item is at its regular price. Yang explains that these items aren’t on sale, will not be marked down soon and that a manager has not adjusted the price.Â
Customers can assume that any price ending in .99 is the typical price for an item. If it’s something they usually buy and need, they can purchase it at the regular price. However, if it’s something they can wait for, customers might want to purchase it once the price drops.
Prices Ending in .97
Though there might not be much of a numerical difference between prices ending in .99 and .97, there’s a big difference in what they represent.
A price ending in .97 indicates that an item is a manager’s special, meaning a manager at a specific store decided to reduce the cost. Often, this is because the store wants to reduce the stock of that item.Â
This price hack varies by store. So, even if one item is marked down at a specific location, it might not be at another.
Prices Ending in .49, .79 and .89
If an item a customer wants to purchase ends in one of these three denominations, it means that the manufacturer of the item, not the store manager, is lowering the price.Â
These prices indicate that something is priced similarly to a weekly sales bulletin or a holiday drop. That means that an item is on sale, but the sale is temporary. If you see one of these prices on an item you want, it’s a good idea to purchase it because you don’t know when the item is going to increase in price again.
Prices Ending in .88 or .00
Similar to prices ending in .97, items ending in these two denominations also indicate a sale. Items with prices ending in .88 or .00 might be floor models or store returns that are priced at a deep discount.
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