‘How did that happen?’: Indiana woman has $250 item from Costco in her shopping cart online with same-day delivery. Then she changes her mind and goes to the store to save money. It’s $375

When you’re shopping at Costco, it can be incredibly easy to pick up a few extra items. Passing through each aisle presents new, exciting must-haves that end up at home. But those must-haves end up costing a pretty penny when wandering around the gigantic megastore.  

Indiana TikTok user Kc (@kacie252525) made a classic mistake. She set about shopping online for Costco products. Then, she decided it would be better to look at the prices in person.

“I was gonna order it online and do, like, the Costco same-day delivery this week, and I didn’t because I know that they mark up the prices of things, and my cart was, like, [$]250,” she said in a video about her experience.

She didn’t realize at the time, though, that the items she would want in-store would cost significantly more than they did when they were in her online shopping cart because she added so much extra stuff when she went in person. 

She ended up spending $375 in person, which was $125 more than she was planning to spend online. Noticing this, she took to TikTok to ask if prices are comparatively different between Costco’s online store and brick-and-mortar locations.

However, she also added random items to her cart in the midst of her shopping that accounted for some (but not all) of the change. The video she posted has since garnered 3,700 views, with viewers chiming in to add their thoughts on the ways Costco convinces consumers to grab more items. 

Are Costco Items More Expensive In-Person Than Online?

Costco items can vary in price, with Costco.com items usually costing more to account for shipping and handling fees. That’s something Kc pointed out in her video, which was one reason why she wanted to shop in person.

As the company states, “Not all products sold on Costco.com are available at your local Costco warehouse. Also, products sold online may have different pricing than the same products sold at your local Costco warehouse.”

Local warehouses, though, can sometimes have higher pricing for select items. This can happen if prices in-store haven’t updated to reflect their in-person counterpart. For that reason, Costco offers a 30-day price match for its members. A member simply has to bring an item to the return desk with proof of the lower available price. While members can’t bring in Costco.com items for price matches, they can price match in-person, warehouse purchases to Costco.com items. 

How Does Costco Get Its Members to Buy More Items?

Costco stores are specifically designed to have members explore and find additional items to purchase. Take, for instance, different stores’ frequently rotating products. Many consumers would think that has no rhyme or reason, but it most likely gets Costco shoppers to end up with heavier carts. The longer you search for something, the more likely you may be to find an unrelated product and impulse buy. 

While some claim that the Costco “treasure hunt” is not a marketing strategy, there’s evidence to prove that layouts can directly affect impulse buying. The treasure hunt, in essence, prolongs time in-store, thus giving shoppers more time to look at marketing materials or big crates full of products. 

There are also a number of other ways that Costco gets shoppers to spend more in-store. For one, stores usually put high-inventory items toward the front as a way of immediately attracting customers to them. If they were in another spot, they might be easy to miss. But with the items close by, it makes it so that even shoppers who do not want those items have to look at them before moving through the store. 

Bulk items usually feel like a steal, but it’s actually a way for Costco to get many of its shoppers to buy much more of a product than they normally would. The prices are comparatively higher than they would be individually. Customers save because they’re in bulk, but they’re technically spending more that day than they normally would at another store. 

AllHipHop reached out to Kc via TikTok direct message and Costco via email for comment. We will update this story if either party responds.

@kacie252525 ♬ original sound – Kc

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