Latest news with #Costco
Yahoo
9 minutes ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Jim Cramer on Costco: 'It is a Victim of its Own Success'
Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) is one of the stocks that Jim Cramer shed light on. Noting that the stock is down from its highs, a caller asked if they should add to their position or wait for tariff updates. Cramer replied: 'No, look, here's the problem with Costco: It is a victim of its own success. All it really does is ever go up and then has these periods where it languishes. We're in the languish period. That's when you buy Costco. Do I think Costco's in trouble at 50 times earnings? Are you kidding me? I think Costco's, I still think Costco may be… one of the top five companies of all time. That is no slight to Jensen Huang because he's number one.' omar-abascal-9Um7Huux0as-unsplash Costco (NASDAQ:COST) operates a membership-based warehouse model. The company provides a selection of brand-name and private-label products in bulk at reduced prices through this structure. On July 10, Cramer extensively commented on the company and stock as he said: 'There was a lot of talk about Costco, same store sales, not great… Costco, which reported June monthly sales last night after the close, delivered 5.5% US comparable sales growth, ex gasoline, when the Street was looking for a 6. Woo, disappointing, right? How disappointing? How about enough to send the stock down almost 12 points today? Is that wrong or is that right? I think it's wrong. I like Costco, the store, very much, and I'm always looking for a chance to buy Costco, the stock, on weakness for the Charitable Trust… And boy is it ever tempting if we didn't own so much Costco already to do some buying. Why? Well, Costco's been a long-time position of the trust because I love to shop there, and I love the business model where the company offers a limited number of goods at ultra-low prices and makes its money on your membership dues. The most articulate defender of Costco was the late Charlie Munger, Warren Buffett's right-hand man on the board of Berkshire Hathaway… To me, Costco's hundred-point discount from its high is about as good as you're going to get. JPMorgan, which has a Buy on the stock, says that Costco has been a 'source of funds for big institutions of late,' but they think that's about to come to an end as the year-over-year comparisons are going to get easier. Now go back to what I said about how much of Wall Street acts like there's never a good time to buy these high-quality stocks. I think the truth is the opposite. There's always a good time to buy shares in a great company, and it's when the conventional wisdom says that a 5.5% same-store sales number, much better than almost any other company I follow, is somehow a real shortfall. I think Costco's an amazing company, and this is the kind of buying opportunity that just doesn't come along very often.' While we acknowledge the potential of COST as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If you're looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock. READ NEXT: 30 Stocks That Should Double in 3 Years and 11 Hidden AI Stocks to Buy Right Now. Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Business
- Yahoo
CEO Tom Gardner: No Day Trading -- Hold Everything at Least 12 Months
Key Points Day trading takes a lot of time and effort, and in the end most people will wind up losing money. Institutional investors always have more information than a day trader relying on technical analysis. These 10 stocks could mint the next wave of millionaires › Motley Fool CEO Tom Gardner recently sat down for an interview in which he discussed investments that people should avoid, particularly when first starting out on their investment journey. Among his tips was a word of caution about the practice of day trading. Day trading is a method of picking and choosing stocks by attempting to time trades by recognizing specific technical indicators, such as Bollinger Bands, the Relative Strength Index (RSI), and moving average convergence/divergence, among others. Day traders move in and out of positions regularly, as opposed to buy-and-hold investors who invest with a long time horizon. If you think day trading sounds difficult, you're right. According to more than 85% of day traders fail in their first year, and only 10% to 15% report making any money at all. So, it's no wonder that Motley Fool's CEO issued a warning against day trading. In a June 2025 article, he said: You will not day trade. You will not actively trade anything. Anything you buy, you must hold for at least 12 months. I have to get you in for 12 months. ... If you can find Costco early on and just hold it, you're going to become a millionaire. Day trading Costco, there's just a tragedy of epic proportions. The dangers of day trading Day trading is a really hard way to make money. If you're going to try to be a day trader, there are several challenges you'll have to overcome. Timing the market: This refers to the philosophy of buying low and selling high. Sounds great in theory, but in reality, market timing is extremely difficult, if not downright impossible. According to Hartford Funds, 78% of the stock market's best days from 1995 to 2024 occurred either during a bear market or during the first two months of a bull market. And if you missed out on the market's 10 best days in that period, your returns were cut by 54%. Transaction fees: Sure, brokers like Robinhood offer commission-free trades. But day-traders can also lose money through a practice known as payment for order flow. The broker sells their orders to third-party market makers to handle the trades. The market makers, which process huge numbers of trades each day, execute the trade and get a profit from the bid-ask spread, which is the difference between what someone is willing to buy a stock for and what someone is willing to sell it for. The day trader gets a slightly worse price -- and the costs for that type of transaction can add up quickly. In addition, according to Gardner, day traders will never be able to compete on a level playing field with institutional investors when it comes to "the costs, the taxes, and the fact that unless you have an incredible amount of money to build the most high-powered frequency trading system in your home, you're going to be behind others in institutions that are trading faster than you," he said. "You are always going to be a loser." Stress: Yes, day trading can be incredibly stressful. You have to be on your game every day -- and pretty much for the entire trading day -- to try to identify and take advantage of opportunities (keeping in mind that you're playing against a stacked deck). That's a lot to handle for a career in which only 4% manage to make a living. Alternatives to day trading Instead of trying to time the market in a task where you're nearly guaranteed to lose, first-time investors should instead follow the Warren Buffett approach to investing: Seek out quality businesses with a distinct competitive advantage and reliable earnings. Those are the kinds of businesses that you can buy and hold for a long time. As Buffett, the longtime CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, once said, "Our favorite holding period is forever. We are just the opposite of those who hurry to sell and book profits when companies perform well but who tenaciously hang on to businesses that disappoint." And Buffett knows what he's talking about. Berkshire's portfolio gained 5,502,284% from 1965 to 2024, far outdistancing the S&P 500's gain of 39,054%, which includes dividends. Another ideal investment strategy is dollar-cost averaging, which is the practice of splitting your investment into a series of transactions over a set period of time. For instance, if you had $50,000 to invest in Microsoft, you could buy $10,000 of the stock every Monday for five weeks. This removes the uncertainty of market fluctuations and any attempts to time the market, as your investment is on a set schedule. These strategies are better than day trading and would give investors a better chance to get richer and one day enjoy a stable, happy retirement. Don't miss this second chance at a potentially lucrative opportunity Ever feel like you missed the boat in buying the most successful stocks? Then you'll want to hear this. On rare occasions, our expert team of analysts issues a 'Double Down' stock recommendation for companies that they think are about to pop. If you're worried you've already missed your chance to invest, now is the best time to buy before it's too late. And the numbers speak for themselves: Nvidia: if you invested $1,000 when we doubled down in 2009, you'd have $433,181!* Apple: if you invested $1,000 when we doubled down in 2008, you'd have $40,702!* Netflix: if you invested $1,000 when we doubled down in 2004, you'd have $641,800!* Right now, we're issuing 'Double Down' alerts for three incredible companies, available when you join , and there may not be another chance like this anytime soon.*Stock Advisor returns as of July 21, 2025 Patrick Sanders has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Berkshire Hathaway, Costco Wholesale, and Microsoft. The Motley Fool recommends the following options: long January 2026 $395 calls on Microsoft and short January 2026 $405 calls on Microsoft. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. CEO Tom Gardner: No Day Trading -- Hold Everything at Least 12 Months was originally published by The Motley Fool


Indianapolis Star
6 hours ago
- Business
- Indianapolis Star
They returned used toilets and dirty rugs to Costco. Then came the backlash.
Evelyn Juarez is a proud card-carrying executive member of Costco. She jokes it's the only black card she owns. Every week, her heels click up and down the warehouse aisles as she hunts for new deals, stocks up on groceries and grazes on samples. In nearly two years, Juarez never returned a purchase, even when her newly purchased rug began to fray. But then her 2-year-old daughter smuggled a bucket of slime into the living room and slopped the blue goo on her ivory-colored rug. Juarez was about to chuck the stained rug when a friend urged her to take it back instead. 'I was like, girl, are you trying to embarrass me?' replied Juarez, a 29-year-old mother of two and social media influencer from Dallas. But then she got to thinking. 'You know what? I have been spending thousands of dollars. I just bought my couches from Costco, too. I don't think $150 will hurt them.' She was nervous as she approached the return counter but minutes later, Juarez walked out of the warehouse with a full refund. The next day, she bought a replacement rug from Costco. 'After that, I am going to keep my membership forever,' she said. 'I am not sure if it's out of guilt or out of amazement.' From low prices on quality products to the wildly popular $1.50 hot dog-and-soda combo, Costco knows how to worm its way into shoppers' hearts and pantries. One of its most popular perks is the no-questions-asked (or few questions asked) "risk-free 100% satisfaction guarantee" return policy that fills shoppers with buying confidence and their carts with splurges. Costco gives its customers who pay annual membership fees of $65 to $130 an unlimited grace period to return most purchases for a full refund. But the liberal policy has become a touchy subject as eyebrow-raising returns go viral, from toilets still sloshing with dirty water to Christmas trees returned after Christmas. Shoppers regularly square off online over what should – and should not be – returned. The online fury reached a fever pitch in 2024 when a Seattle woman got a full refund for a 2 ½-year-old couch because she no longer cared for the color. Rampant abuse sets off fears that the warehouse club will roll back its generous return policy, said Addison Marriott. Marriott, 24, who works in advertising, took some heat when she and her husband returned an air conditioning unit they bought to weather the sweltering summer months in their one-bedroom Los Angeles apartment and then posted about it on TikTok: "We broke married kids love your return policy." 'People were nervous that if the video blew up, Costco would find out and restrict their return policies,' Marriott said. Parker Seidel, a 26-year-old YouTube creator from Orange County, got blowback when he tested the limits of Costco's return policy with a series of stunts, getting his money back for a half-eaten chicken bake and three-week-old flowers he never put in water. Next up: Returning a Vincent Van Gogh Sunflowers Lego set after completing it. 'I was getting so much hate. I was like, 'Oh my god, I was not expecting this at all,'' Seidel said. For Juarez, what she calls 'carpetgate' blew up on TikTok, where she has 2.4 million followers. 'You are so classless,' one person commented. 'Girl what, your kids stained (the rug) and now you are making it Costco's problem?' 'You are paying for the perks of having products that you can buy and products that you can return,' she told USA TODAY. 'It's a really good way that they hook you in. I am sure that they make way more money off of us purchasing stuff than they lose from returns.' Costco did not respond to requests for comment on its famously lenient return policy but David and Susan Schwartz, the husband-and-wife team behind the 2023 book, 'The Joy of Costco: A Treasure Hunt from A to Z,' say it dates back to the company's origins. When they interviewed Jim Sinegal, the Costco co-founder and former CEO told them about a call from a store manager asking if the store should let someone return an unusual and expensive item. 'Jim Sinegal said, 'What are you calling me for?'' Susan Schwartz said. ''Take it back.' And they did.' That laid-back attitude has stood the test of time and industry headwinds – with an exception here and there. In 2007, Costco limited most consumer-electronics returns to 90 days after returns of flat-panel TVs squeezed profit margins. "Our view is, even with these changes, we still have the best return policy in the retail industry," former chief operating officer Richard Galanti told the Wall Street Journal at the time. A lenient return policy is even more important for today's inflation-weary shoppers, said Anna Brennan, principal analyst for club and specialty retailers at marketing data and analytics firm Kantar. 'It all ties back to reducing some of that stress and risk on the shopper and members' part, especially in an environment like the one we're in today, where every purchase feels particularly weighted,' Brennan said. 'I think that really helps the member make some purchases maybe they wouldn't have otherwise.' How Costco hooks you Come for the hot dogs, stay for the gold bars That was the case for Troy Pavlek, a 31-year-old software developer from Edmonton, Alberta. A Costco executive member since 2012, he says he pays to shop at Costco for 'the confidence that anything you buy in the store, the store will stand behind or your money back' and he has rarely had to return anything. While remodeling his house, he splurged on two $900 toilets. When the manufacturer refused to replace a cracked plastic piece that joined the lid to the toilet on one, he returned the other one unused and still in the box — minus the lid. According to Ayelet Fishbach, professor of behavioral science and marketing at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, an ethical dilemma drives the spirited controversy over Costco returns: 'Should people follow the letter of the rule or the spirit behind it?' Fishbach got an inkling of where most people stood when she surveyed hundreds of consumers on whether they would return lightly worn clothing. About 40% said yes, but that number dropped significantly when they were asked if they would do it repeatedly. 'It seems many people are comfortable occasionally bending the spirit of a policy, and may even find it amusing, but hesitate to make a habit of it,' she said. Take Susana Rodriguez, a mother of seven from Henderson, Nevada. She returned a canopy used by her small business, Cocos Frios El Primo, after the wind tore it apart in less than two months. But Rodriguez, 45, said she draws a line for returns after a certain amount of time. Costco told her she could return a TV that was a few years old. 'I didn't do it," she said. "It lasted what it lasted.' Costco employees on the returns front lines have seen it all, from dirty and stained mattresses to half-eaten trays of cookies. Then there are the shoppers who rent from Costco. Televisions bought before the Super Bowl and returned right after. Chairs and tables purchased for an event and wheeled in the next day. A couple of the staffers spoke with USA TODAY on the condition of anonymity because they feared they could lose their jobs. While they wish people wouldn't take advantage, they say the return policy does exactly what it was intended to do: It breeds loyalty, drives sales and entices new members. 'It's great because it gives members peace of mind,' one Illinois employee told USA TODAY. 'I'm sure that works in our favor all the time, because people buy things and then they decide they love them and it's worth keeping.' While most returns are accepted, some repeat offenders get flagged, a Connecticut employee said. One shopper kept returning lighting fixtures purchased nearly a decade ago as she remodeled her home, lightbulbs and all. After a few months, the store turned her away. 'That is pretty common,' the employee said. 'People will remodel their homes and they will literally pull up their flooring and return it.' In rare cases, when the return policy is 'really abused,' Costco revokes memberships, the employee said. But for most shoppers, she said, 'we'll take anything.' The store tries to donate as much as it can, she said, but some returns go to waste. Returned food that needs to be temperature controlled, for instance, gets tossed in the trash. She estimates her warehouse throws away 'a few hundred dollars' worth of food every day. But the policy usually benefits Costco, the employee said. She recalled one instance where a customer was torn between a Costco vacuum and a cheaper model from Macy's. 'I said, 'Well, what if you have to return it? Are they going to accept your vacuum return six months down the road? Probably not. But we will.' So she spent the extra couple hundred dollars and got it from us,' the employee said. Increasingly, retailers are under pressure to ditch anything-goes policies as fraud and abuse erode profit margins. Of the $685 billion in merchandise returned in 2024, $103 billion was lost to fraudulent and abusive returns and claims, according to a recent report from Appriss Retail. In 2018, L.L. Bean traded in its lifetime return policy for a one-year limit, noting that some customers expected returns for heavily worn products or items purchased at yard sales. Duluth Trading Company made a similar switch in 2019. Retailers have also begun charging restocking fees or for return shipping to recoup losses. Not Costco. It can afford to absorb the losses because it relies on a membership business model, analysts say. Last year it earned $4.8 billion in revenue from membership fees alone. Returns are an important part of keeping those members happy, said USC Marshall School of Business marketing professor Kristin Diehl. Research shows that shoppers often base purchases on how hard or easy they think it will be to return something. More than half of consumers decided not to buy from retailers due to restrictive return policies and almost a third of consumers stopped shopping at stores due to negative return experiences, according to a recent report from Appriss Retail. On the other hand, 7 out of 10 consumers say they made at least one additional purchase because of a positive return experience. Costco members are less likely to abuse the privilege because returns are tied to their membership and they don't want to get blacklisted, Diehl said. They also consider themselves part of the Costco community. The return policy fosters a sense of belonging and good will, something Costco has in bulk. It's also 'great word of mouth,' said Neil Saunders, a retail analyst at the research and analytics firm GlobalData. That's why it's here to stay, he said. Whatever "miniscule cost' from return policy abuse is worth it to Costco.

USA Today
6 hours ago
- Business
- USA Today
They returned used toilets and dirty rugs to Costco. Then came the backlash.
Shoppers pushing the limits of Costco's famously lenient "risk-free 100% satisfaction" return policy by getting full refunds for sagging sofas and stained mattresses are dividing the internet. Evelyn Juarez is a proud card-carrying executive member of Costco. She jokes it's the only black card she owns. Every week, her heels click up and down the warehouse aisles as she hunts for new deals, stocks up on groceries and grazes on samples. In nearly two years, Juarez never returned a purchase, even when her newly purchased rug began to fray. But then her 2-year-old daughter smuggled a bucket of slime into the living room and slopped the blue goo on her ivory-colored rug. Juarez was about to chuck the stained rug when a friend urged her to take it back instead. 'I was like, girl, are you trying to embarrass me?' replied Juarez, a 29-year-old mother of two and social media influencer from Dallas. But then she got to thinking. 'You know what? I have been spending thousands of dollars. I just bought my couches from Costco, too. I don't think $150 will hurt them.' She was nervous as she approached the return counter but minutes later, Juarez walked out of the warehouse with a full refund. The next day, she bought a replacement rug from Costco. 'After that, I am going to keep my membership forever,' she said. 'I am not sure if it's out of guilt or out of amazement.' From low prices on quality products to the wildly popular $1.50 hot dog-and-soda combo, Costco knows how to worm its way into shoppers' hearts and pantries. One of its most popular perks is the no-questions-asked (or few questions asked) "risk-free 100% satisfaction guarantee" return policy that fills shoppers with buying confidence and their carts with splurges. Costco gives its customers who pay annual membership fees of $65 to $130 an unlimited grace period to return most purchases for a full refund. But the liberal policy has become a touchy subject as eyebrow-raising returns go viral, from toilets still sloshing with dirty water to Christmas trees returned after Christmas. Shoppers regularly square off online over what should – and should not be – returned. The online fury reached a fever pitch in 2024 when a Seattle woman got a full refund for a 2 ½-year-old couch because she no longer cared for the color. Why Costco returns are controversial Rampant abuse sets off fears that the warehouse club will roll back its generous return policy, said Addison Marriott. Marriott, 24, who works in advertising, took some heat when she and her husband returned an air conditioning unit they bought to weather the sweltering summer months in their one-bedroom Los Angeles apartment and then posted about it on TikTok: "We broke married kids love your return policy." 'People were nervous that if the video blew up, Costco would find out and restrict their return policies,' Marriott said. Parker Seidel, a 26-year-old YouTube creator from Orange County, got blowback when he tested the limits of Costco's return policy with a series of stunts, getting his money back for a half-eaten chicken bake and three-week-old flowers he never put in water. Next up: Returning a Vincent Van Gogh Sunflowers Lego set after completing it. 'I was getting so much hate. I was like, 'Oh my god, I was not expecting this at all,'' Seidel said. For Juarez, what she calls 'carpetgate' blew up on TikTok, where she has 2.4 million followers. 'You are so classless,' one person commented. 'Girl what, your kids stained (the rug) and now you are making it Costco's problem?' 'You are paying for the perks of having products that you can buy and products that you can return,' she told USA TODAY. 'It's a really good way that they hook you in. I am sure that they make way more money off of us purchasing stuff than they lose from returns.' Return policy is coveted Costco perk Costco did not respond to requests for comment on its famously lenient return policy but David and Susan Schwartz, the husband-and-wife team behind the 2023 book, 'The Joy of Costco: A Treasure Hunt from A to Z,' say it dates back to the company's origins. When they interviewed Jim Sinegal, the Costco co-founder and former CEO told them about a call from a store manager asking if the store should let someone return an unusual and expensive item. 'Jim Sinegal said, 'What are you calling me for?'' Susan Schwartz said. ''Take it back.' And they did.' That laid-back attitude has stood the test of time and industry headwinds – with an exception here and there. In 2007, Costco limited most consumer-electronics returns to 90 days after returns of flat-panel TVs squeezed profit margins. "Our view is, even with these changes, we still have the best return policy in the retail industry," former chief operating officer Richard Galanti told the Wall Street Journal at the time. A lenient return policy is even more important for today's inflation-weary shoppers, said Anna Brennan, principal analyst for club and specialty retailers at marketing data and analytics firm Kantar. 'It all ties back to reducing some of that stress and risk on the shopper and members' part, especially in an environment like the one we're in today, where every purchase feels particularly weighted,' Brennan said. 'I think that really helps the member make some purchases maybe they wouldn't have otherwise.' How Costco hooks you Come for the hot dogs, stay for the gold bars That was the case for Troy Pavlek, a 31-year-old software developer from Edmonton, Alberta. A Costco executive member since 2012, he says he pays to shop at Costco for 'the confidence that anything you buy in the store, the store will stand behind or your money back' and he has rarely had to return anything. While remodeling his house, he splurged on two $900 toilets. When the manufacturer refused to replace a cracked plastic piece that joined the lid to the toilet on one, he returned the other one unused and still in the box — minus the lid. Should I return this to Costco? Ethics debated According to Ayelet Fishbach, professor of behavioral science and marketing at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, an ethical dilemma drives the spirited controversy over Costco returns: 'Should people follow the letter of the rule or the spirit behind it?' Fishbach got an inkling of where most people stood when she surveyed hundreds of consumers on whether they would return lightly worn clothing. About 40% said yes, but that number dropped significantly when they were asked if they would do it repeatedly. 'It seems many people are comfortable occasionally bending the spirit of a policy, and may even find it amusing, but hesitate to make a habit of it,' she said. Take Susana Rodriguez, a mother of seven from Henderson, Nevada. She returned a canopy used by her small business, Cocos Frios El Primo, after the wind tore it apart in less than two months. But Rodriguez, 45, said she draws a line for returns after a certain amount of time. Costco told her she could return a TV that was a few years old. 'I didn't do it," she said. "It lasted what it lasted.' Behind the Costco returns counter Costco employees on the returns front lines have seen it all, from dirty and stained mattresses to half-eaten trays of cookies. Then there are the shoppers who rent from Costco. Televisions bought before the Super Bowl and returned right after. Chairs and tables purchased for an event and wheeled in the next day. A couple of the staffers spoke with USA TODAY on the condition of anonymity because they feared they could lose their jobs. While they wish people wouldn't take advantage, they say the return policy does exactly what it was intended to do: It breeds loyalty, drives sales and entices new members. 'It's great because it gives members peace of mind,' one Illinois employee told USA TODAY. 'I'm sure that works in our favor all the time, because people buy things and then they decide they love them and it's worth keeping.' While most returns are accepted, some repeat offenders get flagged, a Connecticut employee said. One shopper kept returning lighting fixtures purchased nearly a decade ago as she remodeled her home, lightbulbs and all. After a few months, the store turned her away. 'That is pretty common,' the employee said. 'People will remodel their homes and they will literally pull up their flooring and return it.' In rare cases, when the return policy is 'really abused,' Costco revokes memberships, the employee said. But for most shoppers, she said, 'we'll take anything.' The store tries to donate as much as it can, she said, but some returns go to waste. Returned food that needs to be temperature controlled, for instance, gets tossed in the trash. She estimates her warehouse throws away 'a few hundred dollars' worth of food every day. But the policy usually benefits Costco, the employee said. She recalled one instance where a customer was torn between a Costco vacuum and a cheaper model from Macy's. 'I said, 'Well, what if you have to return it? Are they going to accept your vacuum return six months down the road? Probably not. But we will.' So she spent the extra couple hundred dollars and got it from us,' the employee said. Could abuse end Costco returns? Increasingly, retailers are under pressure to ditch anything-goes policies as fraud and abuse erode profit margins. Of the $685 billion in merchandise returned in 2024, $103 billion was lost to fraudulent and abusive returns and claims, according to a recent report from Appriss Retail. In 2018, L.L. Bean traded in its lifetime return policy for a one-year limit, noting that some customers expected returns for heavily worn products or items purchased at yard sales. Duluth Trading Company made a similar switch in 2019. Retailers have also begun charging restocking fees or for return shipping to recoup losses. Not Costco. It can afford to absorb the losses because it relies on a membership business model, analysts say. Last year it earned $4.8 billion in revenue from membership fees alone. Returns are an important part of keeping those members happy, said USC Marshall School of Business marketing professor Kristin Diehl. Research shows that shoppers often base purchases on how hard or easy they think it will be to return something. More than half of consumers decided not to buy from retailers due to restrictive return policies and almost a third of consumers stopped shopping at stores due to negative return experiences, according to a recent report from Appriss Retail. On the other hand, 7 out of 10 consumers say they made at least one additional purchase because of a positive return experience. Costco members are less likely to abuse the privilege because returns are tied to their membership and they don't want to get blacklisted, Diehl said. They also consider themselves part of the Costco community. The return policy fosters a sense of belonging and good will, something Costco has in bulk. It's also 'great word of mouth,' said Neil Saunders, a retail analyst at the research and analytics firm GlobalData. That's why it's here to stay, he said. Whatever "miniscule cost' from return policy abuse is worth it to Costco. 'It's one of the magical things people like about Costco,' Saunders said. 'There are certain things in Costco that are pretty set. The price of hot dogs is one of them, the return policy is another.'


The Independent
14 hours ago
- Business
- The Independent
The reason Costco milk doesn't spoil after its expiration date
Costco 's Kirkland-brand milk is reportedly lasting significantly longer than its printed expiration date, a phenomenon noted by customers. This extended shelf life is attributed to Costco's exceptionally rigorous testing and quality control standards, which exceed typical FDA requirements. Suppliers face strict annual unannounced audits, and every milk batch undergoes approximately 60 microbial tests, with any failure preventing shipment. The quality of water used in processing is closely monitored, and milk from healthier herds with lower somatic cell counts is preferred for its longer fridge lifespan. These stringent measures contribute to reduced food waste and increased customer satisfaction due to the milk's prolonged freshness.