This Costco Secret Will Help You Save Even More — If You're Willing To Wait

We all know that warehouse shopping can save a family a lot of money, but unless you show up to Costco with a shopping list and a plan, it can be surprisingly easy to overspend. From the big bottles of booze to massive boxes of pastries, an oversized cart can fill up in a hurry if you're not careful. It's also easy to get lulled into a false sense of savings when you're shopping in bulk, but just because Costco's prices seem like a bargain doesn't mean that they couldn't be a little bit lower. In fact, the biggest insider secret to saving even more money at Costco is practicing a little patience, as eventually almost everything in the store goes on sale.

While it's nice to walk into a Costco and accidentally strike gold on discounted items, making an effort to wait for sales takes a bit of strategizing. Take a three-pronged approach. First, get to know the sales cycles of the store. Second, never shop without checking the monthly sales flyer and the store website for deals. Finally, brush up on the store's internal price tag codes so that you always know whether you're paying full price for an item.

Shopping at Costco might feel like a different experience than going to a traditional grocery store or supermarket, but just like every chain, the warehouse juggernaut has a predictable rhythm of sales. You don't have to keep a detailed journal of prices throughout the month to get into the swing of things; you just have to pay attention just a bit more than usual to notice the patterns. While some sales are more straightforward, like discounts on beach chairs at the end of the summer, you should also keep an eye on the Warehouse Savings Events, which happen every month and last for a few weeks at a time. 

Keep up with what's going on sale by reading the monthly coupon book, checking the website, and installing the Costco app on your phone, which can send you notifications. It's also not a bad idea to follow websites and social media pages like Costcoinsider and Costcodeals to keep up with in-store promotions. Once you get to know when sales will happen, it's easier to plan your visits and wait for discounts before buying.

Many shoppers report that the best day to grab stuff that's on sale is Monday, since the sales cycles tend to end on Sunday and new markdowns start the next day. This way, not only will you get the best chance of grabbing the sale items before they're all gone, but you can also skip the weekend crowds. 

While there are a lot of ways to find out about sales at Costco, there's also one habit to form that's a little more clandestine: Learn to read the shelf price tag codes to get the inside scoop. Look for products that have prices ending in .97, for instance, which means that they're on clearance and are likely priced as low as they can go. Items with prices that end in .88 or .00 are also on sale, these codes mean that they've just been marked down by a manager at that location rather than by the company, so they might not show up in your coupon mailer or on the website.

On the flip side, Costco price tags also tell you exactly which items are not on sale. Anything ending with .99 or .09 is full price, so if you don't need that item right away, these are your cues to hold off for now. Of course some things just can't wait, so if you spring for a big bottle of vanilla extract and it goes on sale a week later, use one of our favorite hacks and ask for a price adjustment. This part of Costco's 30-day price protection plan can save you a few bucks, even if you don't have the store sales cycles and price tag codes memorized.