Costco's free food samples are probably the best reason to visit the maze-like warehouse store. From delicious snacks and gourmet appetizers, there's no end to the variety of food samples that are offered to the shoppers at Costco. However, there's a lot more to those enticing and seemingly endless samples than you might think. Watch to find out the truth about Costco's free food samples.
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00There are plenty of good reasons to go to Costco, but the free samples?
00:04They just might be the best reason of all.
00:07So what secrets don't you know about those freebies they hand out?
00:10Let's dig into the truth behind Costco's free sample program.
00:14Costco is frequently named a top company to work for due to their competitive compensation
00:18and generous benefit package.
00:19But unfortunately, since the workers handing out samples aren't actually employed by Costco,
00:24they aren't paid like the other store workers.
00:26All those employees standing behind the sample carts are actually employed by club demonstration
00:30services, and they're considered outside vendors.
00:33According to Groundswell, this means that the CDS demonstrators are subject to very
00:36different working conditions, like part-time employment and no benefits.
00:40They make substantially less than Costco employees and are only eligible for an hourly rate increase
00:44of 25 cents per year.
00:46As of 2014, they made approximately half the wage of a regular Costco employee.
00:51Ever wonder why the people giving out the samples never know where the chicken broth
00:54or the tomato paste is?
00:55It's because it's not their job to know, and even though they're in the store all day,
00:59it's almost impossible for them to learn where things are.
01:02One Redditor who says they serve samples at Costco explained,
01:04"[Costco re-arranges their products almost daily.
01:07They want to provide a treasure hunt atmosphere to their members.
01:10This leaves them wandering around aimlessly and before they know it, their cart is full
01:13and they don't know how it got that way."
01:15And that's why the people handing out the samples don't know where to send you to pick
01:18up the product.
01:19You'll need to find that yourself.
01:21"...guess what I found?
01:22Coffins.
01:23They sell baby formula and they sell coffins.
01:25You can literally buy everything you need from birth to death."
01:29There's plenty of horror stories out there of finding nasty surprises in food, but have
01:33you ever found anything sketchy in a Costco sample?
01:36Probably not, and you probably won't, either.
01:38That's because, according to a Costco sample worker on Reddit, the hygiene practices are
01:42pretty stringent.
01:43When one Redditor voiced their concerns regarding the cleanliness of not only the employees,
01:47But with the tools and equipment used to serve the samples, the vendor replied,
02:11If there's a downside to the Costco sample program, it's all those tiny containers and
02:15plastic forks that get served with each and every bite.
02:18Not only are food packaging waste and single-use plastics filling up the landfills, but it
02:22turns out they're also a nuisance in the stores, too.
02:25Business Insider spoke to Costco employees about their biggest pet peeves, and customers
02:29who leave their sample waste wherever they please ranks high on the list.
02:32Sure, there's garbage bins at every station, but somehow Costco employees still end up
02:36cleaning up a seemingly endless number of those little containers.
02:40Come on, sample fanatics, the least you can do is clean up after yourself when eating
02:43all that free food.
02:45According to one Costco sample man in Redditor, the weekends are prime time for the most variety.
02:50He gives these words of wisdom,
02:59On the weekends, go right around 1 or 2 because all shifts are out at that time.
03:03It's also worth noting that you've got to get there before 5 p.m.
03:06Even though stores close later, that's when the sample vendors wrap up for the day.
03:10And one more piece of advice.
03:12During the holidays, the aisles will be filled with sample workers hoping to help you choose
03:15some goodies for all those parties.
03:17Good to know!
03:18We're all a little shy when it comes to grabbing a second or fifth sample, but it turns out
03:23that there's no reason to be bashful after all.
03:26According to CBS News, Costco's policy actually encourages vendors to pass out an unlimited
03:30number of samples to customers.
03:32And Redditors who have done it agree.
03:34When asked on Reddit if the vendors were allowed to hand out more than just a single sample
03:37to each customer, here's what one had to say,
03:42As long as you don't take an entire tray or take three when there's a crowd, you're
03:45more than welcome to take multiple samples.
03:47An entire tray?
03:48That sort of extreme gluttony doesn't really happen, though, does it?
03:52Of course it does.
03:53One vendor recalled an extreme incident, saying,
04:05So enjoy, but please, don't be that customer.