For the first time in five years, America has a new favorite supermarket! Costco found itself in a three way tie with Texas-based H-E-B and Florida-based Publix. If you shop at any of their five Idaho locations, this is a shopping hack that you should know! 

Living in a dual income, no kids household in a neighborhood that’s close to an Albertsons, we haven’t had much of a reason to get a Costco membership but the store fascinates us anyway. After all, it does provide a way more fun environment to shop in than your traditional grocery store.

Hit the store on the right day and you can almost make a meal out of the free samples. If you’re not full, you can always count on being able to grab a cheap $1.50 hot dog and combo meal. And their return policy? With the exception of a handful of items, you can basically return anything you bought there, anytime with no questions asked. 

If you’re reading this article, you likely have a Costco membership and love the membership warehouse but do you know all of their best-kept secrets? Probably not! 

Costco Price Tags Have Their Own Secret Language

There’s a blog called CostContessa that does a stellar job of explaining how you can tell if an item is on-sale or being sold at regular price just by looking at the final digit of the price tag. But there’s something even more telling on Costco price tags than an item’s price ended in a seven or a nine. Have you ever noticed an asterisk on the tag of an item you’re thinking about? They call that the “death star.” 

No, not that Death Star! The asterisk earned that nickname from shoppers because it’s a sign that the members-only warehouse is going to stop stocking the product. 

Sometimes that means temporarily. Sometimes that means forever. The point is that if you see it on a product that you LOVE, you should absolutely stock up because there’s a good chance you won’t be able to find it again!