Former Costco employee reveals how to get the most free samples

Everyone loves the free samples at Costco, but here’s how to make sure you make the most out of your trip, according to someone who used to work there.

A former employee at Costco shared the best time to head to the Costco warehouse for free food. According to them, “Saturdays and Sundays will always have the most samples.” However, if you’re looking for queue-free sampling, “Go on a Monday or Tuesday, but there are fewer samples to choose from.” They also said that on a weekend, you should go at around 1-2 pm as this is when most of the sample employees are on shift.

The staff that give out the free samples are there to do just that, give them away. According to Reddit, the sample staff don’t mind if you take more than one free sample, as long as you are decent about it: “Feel free to take more than one sample, especially if you take the time to talk with us. 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. Our job is to give them out, so don’t feel bad for taking them.”

Why does Costco give out free samples?

Free samples are one of the best parts of a Costco trip, and they have been proven to improve sales by up to 2000%. Also, they can encourage customers to buy things that they never would have considered buying before.

The free samples aspect of Costco’s business does cost them money, but it also helps convince customers that their warehouses are fun places to be. Magician, Penn Jillette (of Penn and Teller) was even known to take women on dates for free food at Costco!

Costco’s free samples have gained a lot of traction on TikTok, and influencers often try and challenge themselves to eat entire meals made up of Costco samples:

All in all, remember that these staff are there to give you free samples, but they are also obligated to try and sell the product to you and probably have a manager watching, so they just ask that you, “humor them” and act interested in the sales pitch, instead of just “waddling over to us, shoving things in your mouth, and stumbling away.”

Free samples aren’t the only way to make the most of Costco’s food, there’s even a pizza hack that requires a secret code.

If you want to get the most out of the free food at Costco, you’ll want to head on a weekend afternoon, and remember to be chatty with the staff.