The Best Boxes At The Costco Checkout To Pack Your Groceries In, According To Reddit

It's another busy afternoon at the local Costco and you're just about ready to head to checkout. You've got the cart loaded with a week's worth of the best Costco prepared meals and you're eyeing that free lane at the back of the checkout area. If you're new here, you'll be surprised that no paper or plastic bags await you at the register. The cashiers are ready to scan your items and place them right back in the cart, with no organization in sight. If you're a true Costco pro, then you'll know that this chaotic nightmare is easily avoidable if you stock up on product boxes from the store before you make it to the register.

According to an enthusiastic Reddit thread, the banana box is the "MVP of Costco boxes" (even though we rated bananas as a "skip"); one user joked that the "banana boxes exceed building code standards in some towns," referring to how sturdy the boxes were. Another strong contender for the best Costco box is the apple box, which one Reddit user said is so reliable that they used it for over 10 years to not only pack groceries but also move the user's daughter into college and stack upside down as a makeshift side table. The third most popular box for packing Costco groceries seems to be the avocado box, which other users on Reddit claim is the "perfect size and not too thick for the recycling bin."

Finding the best boxes to use at checkout isn't just a fun debate, but a necessity, since Costco doesn't provide shopping bags at checkout on purpose. According to Costco's website, the lack of shopping bags allows the store to keep consumer prices lower while lessening the amount of waste stores produce. Oftentimes, Costco employees will stack the store's empty boxes on a giant palette near the entrance/exit of the store, and other times, boxes are kept behind the register with the cashiers, available upon request. Costco pros on Reddit recommend that you grab empty boxes as you shop, that way you're prepared when you make it to the checkout line, among other tips to make your Costco shopping trip even better.

Costco's produce boxes seem to be ideal choices for packing groceries, but they also double as entertaining playthings for people's pets. One Reddit user recommends giving your cat an apple box to play with, since it has "lots of little windows and holes to play through." One thing all users agree on, though, is that it's important to look out for unexpected critters in those produce boxes. "No joke I saw the biggest spider of my life in one of these boxes," said a frightened Reddit user, while someone else warned, "Bugs can be carried in on cardboard, [especially the] ones used for produce." While it doesn't sound like a frequent occurrence, it's worth watching out for.