Costco shopper claims to have cracked the code behind wholesaler’s price tags and mysterious asterisk

A Costco shopper may have cracked the retailer's strange pricing codes.

While you might not think much of an item ending in a certain number, apparently it means something about the product and the store - for example, if it's going out of stock.

TikToker Ryan Quinlan (who goes by @butthatsmyopinion) took to the video sharing platform to share his theory.

"Never miss a great Costco deal again," he captioned the clip.

Ryan was encouraged to look into the store's pricing techniques after he noticed some labels have an asterisk on.

“If you’re at Costco and you see either the star or prices not ending in 99 cents, it may be an insane deal,” he starts the video.

Going on to breakdown Costco's 'special pricing code', Ryan claimed that if the price ends in .99, it means it's a regularly priced item.

Next, if it ends in .97, apparently that means it a Store Manager deal specifically for that store and could be saving you stacks of cash.

But Ryan urged that the discounted price 'probably isn't going to last long'.

He goes on: ".49 or .79 means that the manufacturer is running a special deal to see how it does in the store.

"And it's usually cheaper than retail price."

TikTok/@butthatsmyopinion

In regards to something ending in .00, according to Ryan, it means that item is low in stock and that the Store Manager just wants the product off the shelves.

"These ones go fast!" he added.

Then there's the famed asterisk; if an item has that on the label then the product has been discounted and, again, the Store Manager wants it off the shelves ASAP.

Backing up what Ryan said, Costco employees echoed similar sentiments in a 2018 interview with Business Insider.

One person said of the items with an asterisk on are 'the last quantities in stock are marked with an asterisk on signage' and are usually seasonal items.

They added that such products 'can be marked down quite a bit'.

Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

They also noted that items ending in .49 or .79 are special deals from manufacturers.

Apparently if something ends in .89, .69, or .59, they're also a special manufacturer deal.

However, they said differently to Ryan's theory about items marked .97 and claimed that the price has been marked down because it's a clearance item.

It's said that items ending in .88 or .00 are the manager markdowns.

Topics: Viral, TikTok, Money, Life, Shopping

Niamh Shackleton

Niamh Shackleton is an experienced journalist for UNILAD, specialising in topics including mental health and showbiz, as well as anything Henry Cavill and cat related. She has previously worked for OK! Magazine, Caters and Kennedy.

@niamhshackleton