5 Things Costco Never Tells Customers About Free Samples

There are plenty of reasons to love Costco, from the killer deals you can find on cases of your favorite high-quality products to the internet-famous $1.50 hot dog combo that has been a mainstay of the chain's food court for decades. And then, of course, there are the free samples.

Stop by a Costco at just about any time of day or night, and you are likely to find at least a cart or two handing out tasty morsels of some of the products on offer in the store. If your visit happens to fall on one of the prime-time windows for free samples at Costco, there may even be enough samples scattered throughout the store that you could make a light lunch out of it. Or, instead, you can view it as a progressive appetizer menu to be sampled before digging into the obligatory post-shop food court pizza slice, chicken bake, or hot dog.

The samples stations are not every customer's favorite part of a Costco visit, with some citing the traffic jams they create and others bemoaning the excessive quantity of trash created by free samples served in tiny plastic cups, but for many, it is the highlight of the shopping experience. After all, who wouldn't want to taste a product before spending their hard-earned money on it? And even if there is no intent to buy, a little snack while you're shopping is never a bad thing. But for those who are really serious about their Costco samples, and those preparing for their first Costco trip, there are some secrets to the samples that you should know.

If you happen across a sample that you really enjoy, it is natural to want to stop by for seconds, perhaps even thirds. It can feel a bit awkward to come around for another taste, but we are happy to tell you that there is no need to circle the store or turn your jacket inside out before grabbing a second cup, as technically, there is no limit to the number of samples you can take.

According to one sample station employee on Reddit, "As long as you don't take an entire tray or take three when there's a crowd, you're more than welcome to take multiple samples." You may get a scowl from the employee if you are obviously abusing the policy, but the workers doling out these tiny tastes are apparently instructed not to say no to customers requesting another bite.

If you do choose to take more than one free sample at Costco, you just want to make sure that you aren't harming the experience for the rest of the customers. There are stories out there of individual shoppers making use of this "never say no" policy to clear out entire trays of product, and while technically it isn't against the rules, it is making that employee's job harder and potentially reducing other customers' ability to enjoy that same snack. Seconds aren't likely to raise an eyebrow, however, especially if you make a point of being friendly with the employee serving them.

While you're standing at the sample station, chomping your way through whatever tasty morsel was on offer and chatting with the employee who served it to you, you might be tempted to ask them about where to find a product you've been searching for, or other details of the Costco inner workings. While there is a chance that they might be able to help you, given that they spend their working hours inside the stores of the warehouse chain, these sample slingers are not actually Costco employees. Instead, they are employees of a company called Club Demonstration Services (CDS).

According to the CDS website, it is the "preferred in-house product demonstration service provider to Costco," a relationship that involves not only employing those friendly faces that serve up tiny cups of treats to hungry customers, but also maintaining offices in each of the stores in which they work. The two companies are closely intertwined, so the knowledge of long-term CDS employees about the stores and products available may be nearly as good as that of the store's actual employees, but these are not the same folks who stock the shelves or cook those delicious Costco rotisserie chickens. So, don't be offended if, in response to your question, they direct you to a proper Costco employee.

If you are shopping with children in tow, it is important to note that you may need to be present for them to partake in the store's free samples. While it may be tempting to send the littler ones off to grab a snack while you take care of business, there is a good reason for this policy: allergies.

The policy may vary from store to store — and manager to manager — but there is some restriction across the board regarding the age at which would-be samplers are considered to be capable of safely assessing the risk of allergens in the foods on offer. One CDS employee on Reddit writes that they need to see the parent in order to pass that little bite across the sample cart, while another Reddit thread from a Costco sample slinger states that the only restriction is that the customer be tall enough to reach the tray on their own.

The grey area in this policy cuts both ways, to some extent. There is a decent likelihood that children will need adult supervision to partake of the free samples at Costco, but you should also keep an eye on taller children who might not be able to determine for themselves what allergens are in the foods on offer. Then again, another CDS employee shared on Reddit that on five separate occasions, fully-grown adults scooped something off the table without listening to the spiel and accidentally ingested something to which they were allergic. So, perhaps everyone would do well to take a bit more care with their Costco sampling habits.

This might put a damper on the whole Costco free sample experience in your mind, but it isn't just about giving away free food. For both Costco and the employees manning those sample stations, the whole endeavour is, in fact, about sales. As such, while you might want to just grab whatever tasty morsel they're offering and skedaddle down the aisle, it is polite to stop and listen to the brief spiel that the employee offers. That is, after all, a big part of their job.

Now, there is obviously no obligation to buy anything just because you've been offered a tiny taste of the product, and the employees hawking these products do not make their living on commission or anything like that, but they do have sales quotas, as well as the potential to earn small bonuses. If you aren't interested in the product, that's totally okay. You should feel absolutely no obligation to put it in the cart, but it is nice to at least engage with the employee and let them do their job by telling you a little bit about it.

For extra points, stick around and engage with the employees stuck with the really weird Costco free sample offerings. Putting out a tray of freshly-baked brownies is sure to attract plenty of customer attention as well as likely drum up a few sales toward the meager $50 (or so) bonus that they can earn. Free samples of Pepto Bismol, on the other hand, are a tougher sell. Unless a customer happens to arrive in their exact moment of need, it is hard to imagine those being particularly popular.

Allowing potential buyers a taste of something new to the market or that they likely haven't tried before is one obvious reason for in-store samples, but it is far from the only one. Regular Costco customers know that the samples they encounter on their weekly visits often stray well outside of that paradigm. A tiny plastic cup of Nacho Cheese Doritos chips at the end of the aisle, for example, isn't likely to be the first time that many people try that product that is such an American cultural mainstay, but that doesn't mean that a sample won't drive sales.

A taste of a product, even a familiar one, can boost sales tremendously — often much more than other types of in-store advertising — thanks to several factors of human psychology. First, there is simply the sensory experience. Most people know what Doritos taste like, but the memory of a taste is not the same thing as the sensory experience. A couple of chips is unlikely to satisfy a craving, but may just create one, leading to a bag of the chips impulsively tossed into the cart. Another factor is the subconscious tendency toward reciprocity. Even a small taste of a product registers internally as a gift, which may lead on a subconscious level to a desire to return the favor with a purchase.

As much as the warehouse chain snack bar can be a magical experience for hungry shoppers, it should come as no surprise that Costco gives out free samples to increase profit margins. But armed with all of this knowledge about the samples secrets, you are well set to make the best of these complementary offerings.