Price isn’t the only relevant piece of information Costco customers can find on product labels on pallets in the store. There’s a sign that the store’s employees and fanatical shoppers have dubbed the “Death Star.”
The sign you can see if you pay attention is an asterisk. The “Death Star” means that the store will not reorder the item.
When the “Death Star” is on the label of your favorite product, you can warn yourself to stock up before the product runs out; what’s left on the shelf is likely the last thing left.
Also useful is the warning when it’s on a product you want but were planning to buy later, so you might want to carry it at that time since you might not find it on your next visit.
While the brand may indicate that Costco discontinued the product from the store, some products with “Death Star” may not be going away forever. Sometimes these are seasonal offerings that will return at a specific time of year.
More things to know about Costco price tags
The price tag can reveal several important facts, such as whether the product is on sale or may soon be on sale.
If the price tag ends in a nine (for example, $5.99), the product has not been marked down and is the regular Costco price.
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- Costco is bringing back one of the favorite cakes this fall, and cheaper than last year
- 5 Items Costco Released for the New Fall Season
The product is on clearance when the price tag ends in double zero or seven (e.g., $5.00). The store may want to unload the remaining inventory. “Prices are the only identification of clearance items at Costco stores…Only those knowledgeable about how Costco handles its pricing will know they are looking at a sale item,” notes The Kitchn.
To find out if a product will soon be reduced even further in price, look for the date at the bottom right of the price tag. That date indicates when the price was updated, and if it’s been a long time since the price was updated and the “Death Star” label isn’t marked, there’s likely to be a price reduction coming soon.