8 Things You Won't Catch A Costco Employee Buying

There are several perks of being a Costco employee. The membership-only big box store is known to be generous with the purse strings, leading the charge for raising the minimum wage for its workers. There are pension plans on offer as well as multiple annual bonuses for long-tenured employees. And, of course, it helps to snag a free membership for your friends and family. However, beyond the financial perks, there are some unspoken benefits as well, such as amassing a wide lexicon of firsthand knowledge about which products are not worth the money.

Across surveys and anonymous ask-me-anything sessions on Reddit, there are some items that have been flagged by Costco workers as being a consistent disappointment. It makes sense to listen to the wisdom in their words. Employees at any retail store have often accumulated experience of what shoppers are satisfied with versus which items are being returned frequently. They lend an ear to the most common complaints about a product and know which ones are truly worth the money in the long run. If you'd rather not be caught up in the labyrinthine queues at the return counter on the weekends, it helps to steer clear of these items that Costco employees do not recommend.

Slice 'em, toss 'em in salads, or juice 'em: there are endless ways to use strawberries. And if you are strolling through Costco, you might even find yourself staring slack-jawed at their size. A Redditor found themselves taken aback by the sheer size of the produce at the warehouse — one photo shows three giant strawberries matching up to the height of a water bottle. However, looks can be deceiving, because these monster-sized berries have not won over Costco workers.

One employee, in particular, pointed out on Reddit that fresh produce doesn't get returned often. But if it did, strawberries would be leading the pack. While the employee didn't offer further details on the infamy of these berries, it is easy to see why. Frequent buyers have noted that the strawberries at Costco are cheaper by $1-2 than the others available in their area, which can make it easy to stock up on volumes that are larger than what you'd need. Once you find out that fresh strawberries cannot last beyond 2 days on the kitchen counter, you'll either be relegating them to the back of your overloaded fridge shelves or racing against the clock to eat them in time.

If you are looking to use up your stock before it goes bad, you can take heart in these creative ways to use up fresh strawberries. You can morph yours into nice cream for a guilt-free treat or opt for adventurous pairings, from black pepper to mozzarella cheese.

Whether you never quite got over the banana bread craze of the pandemic or you like deep-frying yours for a fair-inspired treat, you likely have an eye out for this cylindrical fruit whenever you wheel your cart through the aisles of Costco. However, bananas are often singled out among the fresh produce you shouldn't buy from the warehouse — this includes those who are tasked with dealing with this fruit on an everyday basis.

One employee conceded that while most of the produce is worthwhile, you'll want to steer clear of the bananas. "At least half the time, they don't ripen," they cautioned on a Reddit thread.

Bananas are a common pain point for Costco shoppers, who often lament that these bunches stay green for weeks after coming back from the store and never ripen. Some enterprising shoppers attempted the age-old paper bag method which posits that bananas can ripen within the humidity-free confines of the bag. An apple can also be added to the same bag to release copious amounts of ethylene gas for accelerating the ripening process. However, Costco customers found that neither of these two methods bore fruit — pardon the pun — and most ended up ultimately discarding their bananas altogether. If you are looking to make wiser purchases in the future, it helps to avoid buying bananas missing one key feature: intact necks that serve as a protective shield for sealing this fruit from the outside environment.

Pistachio cream choux. Thai milk tea puffs. Belgian chocolate shortbread. There are so many international bakery items that we are desperately waiting to try in the U.S. But baked items are not topping the personal shopping list of Costco employees for one surprising reason: packaging issues.

One Iowa-based employee conceded to Business Insider that the packaging was too big for their needs. Their words were echoed by another Pennsylvania-based employee who found that the baked goods at the warehouse took up more storage space than needed. Their words ring with a truth that is hard to ignore: Costco is famous for selling baked goods in bulk quantities to keep prices lower than other retail stores. This is good news if you are planning to throw an impromptu Sunday night feast for the entire extended fam. But not so much if you are attempting to finish a massive 12-count pack of croissants before the timer runs out on its freshness while living on your own. Couple this with the consistently cited issue of the packaging being bigger than it needs to be, and it is easy to deduce why Costco employees aren't a fan of its baked goods.

Worried about their baked purchases turning stale, many shoppers frequent one solution: freezing their purchases. However, not all baked goods take kindly to the freezer. You can freeze cake in plastic wrap and aluminum foil to preserve its freshness, but cookies with icing cannot survive the arctic blast of the freezer.

Costco, like most other retailers, is known for offering better savings on soda cans in bulk sizes with mix-and-match flavors — if you were to crunch the numbers, it would likely work out to be cheaper than picking up an individual can from a convenience store. Such is the allure of its beverage deals that one Redditor pondered whether Costco would be the ideal place to pick up enough soda to satisfy the guest count of 250 people at their wedding. But an anonymous Costco employee revealed that it is better to skip the soda packs at the warehouse and try your luck at your local supermarket.

The roots of this strategy lies in a common business trick used by grocery stores and supermarkets to lure customers. By offering attractive discounts and promotions on common goods, such as soda cans, these stores manage to get more people through the door. Candy and soda is also placed temptingly at grocery store checkouts for one strategic reason: promoting impulse buying. If you have the willpower to resist buying more cans that you need to, it helps to make a beeline for these lucrative promotions at your local store to save a few crucial bucks as opposed to picking up your monthly stock at Costco.

Shopping at Costco is rarely ever an in-and-out trip. You might have dropped by to pick up some weekend snacks, until you strolled through the deli section and the prime steaks convinced you to throw a spontaneous Sunday feast for the fam. While the warehouse offers good deals on bulk meats — the flank steak is especially favored by netizens as a time-efficient grilling option — some Costco employees are questioning the practicality of the quantity. One California-based worker, in particular, told Business Insider that they prefer not to buy the large packets of meat, as it exceeds the needs of their household.

While the bulk deals on meats at Costco might appear tempting at first glance, the reality of the storage limitations of your freezer often sets in only once you have taken your haul home. Matters are further compounded by the knowledge that meat needs to be frozen as soon as it is brought home. In fact, it is recommended to shop for non-perishable food items first and save meat for the last to minimize the time it spends at room temperature. If your house is more than 30 minutes away, it is advisable to store your meat in an insulated cooler. Once you reach home, the meat needs to be divided into portions as per your needs and frozen as quickly as possible.

Whether slathered as a creamy base for sandwiches or tossed into salads, one can never have enough mayo — as evidenced in the fact that the largest jar of mayonnaise sold at a Finnish supermarket is dubbed as "American size," according to a thread on Reddit. However, not everybody is convinced. One Costco employee from Minnesota told Business Insider that it is possible to have too much of a good thing.

The practicality of the oversized packaging at Costco appears to be a recurring concern for Costco employees, and not without reason. Unlike everyday essentials, such as rice and pasta, that can be consumed quickly, even the most avid mayonnaise enthusiast would require some time to work through the wholesaler's gallon-sized jars. The oversized mayonnaise options available at Costco sparked a domino effect, and soon Redditors were leaping in with other eyebrow-raising packaging sizes at the warehouse: picture everything from buckets of yogurt to drums of olive oil.

When left unopened, your mayo haul will cozily nestle into your pantry until its expiry date without making a peep. But once opened, it needs to be refrigerated and consumed within 2-3 months — leaving you with the fun task of playing fridge Tetris to fit the giant tub on your overstuffed shelves.

When you have worked as a manager at Costco for over a decade, it is likely that nothing can faze you anymore. However, when Christina Polovina, a California-based Costco manager, was quizzed about the worst thing to buy at Costco food court, she only had one answer: the Kirkland Signature Chicken Bake.

Her response might come as a surprise to fans of the beloved food court staple. Clocking in below $4, the generous serving size is sufficient for two people. But as Polovina shared on Quora, the chicken bakes aren't just wreaking havoc on Costco's profit margin, but on your health as well, with a calorie count that exceeds 1,000. "Crispy dough, cheese, chicken, bacon and Caesar dressing with a coating of Parmesan cheese on top. A treat once in a while if you are into it, but definitely not a daily go-to," she cautions.

And then, there is the fact that the chicken bakes do not bode well for Costco's bottom line, either. While this food court staple is likely sold at a markup above the cost of production, the labor-intensive process doesn't offer much financial jurisprudence. "But many of the food court items exist just to get you in the door. Come for a chicken bake and buy a TV on coupon that you just *can't* pass up," she quipped.

Costco's private label Kirkland Signature is known to churn out some crowd-pleasers — its pure maple syrup even snagged a spot on our round-up of the best sauces at Costco to stock up on. However, not all offerings have managed to fare quite as well. Redditors routinely bemoan the under-seasoned flavor profile, and it would appear that long-term employees are in agreement.

Having worked at the tire shop, bakery, and the front-end registers over the course of 4 years, one item in particular stood out to a Costco employee on Reddit: the Kirkland Signature Marinara Sauce. After conceding that the Kirkland Signature line stands out from other store brands, they were accused of being a representative for the brand. "A Kirkland Rep wouldn't admit that KS spaghetti sauce is pretty sh*tty," came the rejoinder.

Kirkland Signature's made-in-Tuscany sauce has tough competition to face in the warehouse where Rao's Marinara Sauce is also stocked in bulk quantities and serves as a crowd favorite. Kirkland Signature's option often falls short in comparison.