Costco Members Say This Trick Can Save You Time While Checking Out

It's fair to say that taking a trip to Costco can be a time-consuming event. With departments ranging from groceries and gourmet foods to electronics and furniture, the wholesale club (which is, on average, 146,000 square feet) boasts a seemingly endless selection of products that could feel overwhelming to navigate. But a recent Reddit thread aims to make your shopping experience slightly more efficient.

On March 27, Reddit user u/Konigbreaker posted a photo of a Costco shopping cart filled with various items like cereal, orange juice, and granola bars. One thing the products all had in common? All of their barcodes were exposed, ready to be scanned by the cashier.

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The Reddit thread soon racked up hundreds of comments, with both shoppers and cashiers chiming in on their personal checkout experiences. For some Reddit users, solely displaying their items' barcodes goes off without a hitch—and is even a regular occurrence during their Costco trips.

However, others pointed out the downfall of this practice, highlighting how items could be hidden in the cart and ultimately unaccounted for during the checkout process.

It's clear that one's checkout experience is highly dependent on location, though. While some shoppers are able to do a "hybrid" checkout by placing smaller items on the conveyer belt and having larger items scanned, the barcode "trick" serves no use for other Costco shoppers.

For those who want to avoid waiting in long lines, self-checkout is also an option at some Costco locations, with the company saying it "may expand to more warehouses in the future." Keep a lookout for it, but if you're still pressed for time, This Costco Rival Is The First Wholesaler to Partner With DoorDash.