Author: Diana M. Cuyler

A former Costco employee explained how anyone can become a member and advised customers on how to spot the best deals in-store, urging them to keep an eye out for certain clues coded on product labels.

An employee explains how to spot a good deal at Costco

A former Costco employee has explained how to spot the best deals in-store, urging shoppers to look for coded clues on item labels.

Rachael, who previously worked as a cashier at Costco, shared some in-store secrets on Channel 5’s Costco: Is it really worth it?viewers also learning how anyone can become a member.

The documentary examines the inner workings of the members-only retailer, with insights from shopping experts and others with inside knowledge.

Rachael then revealed the hidden clues that could see you slash the price of your cart items even further, urging shoppers to keep their eyes peeled for a 97p at the end of the price tag.

Former cashier Rachael advised customers to look carefully at item labels

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As detailed in the show, this means the product has been discounted.

Rachael explained: “It could be reduced from the full price to that, so it could have been £20 and reduced to £9.97.”

Retail expert and author Miya Knight also made an appearance on the show, who urged Costco members to watch out for asterisks on labels, which means the product won’t be back in stock.

Miya also divulged some of the clever tricks Costo uses to trick customers into spending more than they originally planned – telling customers not to be distracted by “big wow” items at the front of the store.

She said: “They tend to put basics like milk, bread and toilet paper right in the back…they put their big wow items right in front to distract you.

Costco will apparently put its ‘big wow items right out front’ in a bid to distract customers (Stock Photo)

“The layout is quite chaotic, so often as a member you have to go on a journey of discovery every time. It’s absolutely their goal that you come away with something you didn’t intend to. buy first.”

Rachael added: “The most common thing you heard was, ‘I only came for one thing. You used to just laugh and then they’d spent over £100.”

New show sheds light on the inner workings of the members-only retailer (Stock Photo)

Advising customers to come prepared before their Costco store, consumer journalist Harry Wallop said, “The real thing about Costco is you have to come in candidly with a calculator and internet access and just check the prices because it really depends.”

“Some things are fantastic value and some things are not good value at all.”

Costco membership is generally restricted to traders or businesses such as small grocery stores and takeaways, while those working or in certain professions – including the NHS and the public sector – are also eligible.

Although you can shop online for just £15, only members can visit the warehouses themselves. Executive Memberships are available for £74.40 for regular buyers, which includes 2% cash back on many items.

However, Channel 5 revealed that anyone can circumvent the typical membership criteria, confirming with four Costco stores that those with AA or RAC breakdown cover could become Costco members for the usual fee of £33.60.

They were also able to confirm that this was also the case for National Trust members, as well as American Express credit card holders.

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Indrek Madar, a board member of Autosõit OÜ which trains potential drivers in several regions of Estonia, said that although the driving school has not raised prices this year, the issue should be addressed. at a board meeting on Wednesday.

“Keeping in mind that the price per liter of fuel has gone from €1.3-1.4 to €2.2, this is a significant expense for us, alongside labor costs” , did he declare. “It’s too early to say if we’re going to make this decision now, when there’s clearly a pain threshold somewhere. Instructors want to get paid and feed their families. We can’t start buying fuel at the expense of instructor salaries.

Madar added that prices have not risen so sharply in the past and the situation is new for everyone.

Enn Saard, member of the board of the driving school Aide, pointed out that if a passenger car consumes one liter of fuel per hour and a truck four or five litres, it is not difficult to calculate how much a driving lesson has become more expensive.

Saard said that while Aide paid no attention to when someone started studying before, she is now discussing whether to introduce a time limit, so people who started learning six months ago or a year can no longer drive for the same price as when they started. Otherwise, the school could plunge into the red with student driving lessons which began three years ago.

The driving school last raised its prices around the start of the year, but Saard suggested it will have to adjust them again in the near future.

“The pressure on wages is on top of everything else. Our people also want to be able to pay their electricity bills,” Saard said, adding that the school was not monitoring the competition’s pricing policy because customers do not were not missing.

LRK Autokoolitus OÜ, active in Viljandi, Paide and Rapla, has tried to avoid the price increase so far in the hope that the fuel price increase will be temporary,” said Jaan Kleemann, board member of administration.

“But it seems to be changing from temporary to permanent now,” he said, adding that if the company doesn’t raise prices this summer, it will have to work with a loss, which is hampering development.

Many future students

Driving schools have not noticed that the general increase in prices has an impact on people’s interest in learning to drive. Indrek Madar said the market has been unstable due to the coronavirus for two years, which is why it is impossible to speak of regular trends, while the school has not seen a drop in the number of students; quite the contrary.

Enn Saard said people are used to rising prices and that being part of Europe also means European prices. For example, it costs €1,700-1,800 to obtain a Class B license in Finland, while Aide offers the package, complete with dark and slippery driving training, for €905.

Kleemann said that the best indicator of economic interest is the number of people who want to obtain an A license (for a motorbike – editor’s note), or the number of so-called amateur drivers. The number of customers after an A license has not decreased for LRK Autokoolitus to suggest that people still have money.

Estonia has about 300 driving schools and twice as many driving instructors. As is the case in many other fields, driving schools also have difficulty finding instructors.

“There are none available even if you look closely, and we have not yet taken up the offer to pay instructors from other schools more. We have trained our own instructors and paid for their training Madar said, suggesting that a driver instructor training spans at least 750 hours and lasts seven to nine months.

Kleemann said LRK Autokoolitus had the same team for over a decade, so people will want to retire at some point, which means they are already thinking about it.

“They [instructors] are not easy to find,” he admitted.

The price of fuel broke the all-time record in Estonia on Tuesday when customers of major petrol station chains had to pay €2,259 for a 95 liter petrol. The price of diesel fuel was €1,999 per litre. and that of 98 octane petrol €2.309 per litre.

The head of the Estonian Petroleum Association, Mart Raamat, said the situation remains unstable, which is why he sees the price falling this summer.

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CHAMPAIGN – As Champaign Cycle slowly returns to its normal inventory, it is experiencing price increases for bicycles and bicycle parts that indicate the ongoing national bicycle shortage, which began after the sudden increase in sales at the start of the pandemic.

Since May 13, a Statista report found that Americans spent $7 billion on bicycles and accessories in 2020, $8.2 billion in 2021, and $7.5 billion in 2022, up from $6.1 billion in 2019.

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Heather Mason, president of the National Bike Dealers Association, said the bike industry was unprepared for the surge in sales at the start of the pandemic, which caused chain disruptions. supply. “We just didn’t have the systems in place to handle such massive growth,” she said. “Our industry was actually in a slight decline, so we were better prepared to handle a downturn rather than a ramp-up.”

She said major bike manufacturers — like Trek, Cannondale and Giant — predicted the bike shortage, so they ordered large quantities of components in advance. This made it harder for smaller manufacturers to get their hands on those same parts.

The availability of bicycle components and accessories has also affected retailers.

“Some components go to certain brands, and some smaller brands just can’t get the components now,” she said. “It trickles down, and retailers get, you know, instead of 20 road bikes like they’re used to, they could get one.”

This trend was true at Champaign Cycles, according to store manager Alexander Hegeman-Davis.

In 2020 and 2021, the store stocked fewer than 20 bikes, as opposed to its pre-pandemic number of 200-250 bikes.

At the height of the pandemic, Hegeman-Davis said the store only received bike deliveries once a month. But in the past two months, the store has started receiving weekly deliveries. The number of bikes Champaign Cycle has in stock has increased significantly since last summer.

After the COVID-19 hit, Mason said consumer demand for the bikes suddenly increased, but due to tariffs, global shortages and shipping costs, she said the price of the bikes went up. At Champaign Cycle, prices have risen about 25% over the past two years, although the store currently has over 200 bikes.

“Even recently we had another price increase on some of our bikes,” he said. “So maybe the price increases will slow down, but I don’t think we’ll ever go back to some kind of pre-pandemic pricing on bikes.”

Even though bike industry growth has slowed since 2020, Mason said sales were still above pre-pandemic levels.

Although the shortage persists, Mason said she is focusing on specific bike models, components and accessories. She predicts the shortage will last until next year or two years from now.

“It’s going to have to play out naturally where demand and supply can find a way to meet in the middle,” she said. “I hate to say there’s nothing we can do, but I think he just needs a bit of a natural set up.”

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