Big surprises at Costco

Last year, I joined the ranks of Costco cardholders. I got in through a special deal. I'd been toying with the idea of joining but wasn't sure if it would really be worth it for me. I don't buy many things in bulk as I just don't have room for 48 rolls of toilet paper and things like that.

Having said that, I'm now a Costco fan. I've found a lot of things there that are totally worth the money.

But, I am one of the few people who goes into Costco to buy one thing and actually gets in line with that one thing.

And I am almost always behind someone with a cart stuffed with items. I stand there patiently with my one item and yes, occasionally there are kind people that let me go ahead of them, but usually I just have to wait out the lady buying hundreds of dollars worth of stuff.

So, one day, out of curiosity I went to the customer service desk and asked why they did not have an express lane at the store. (And I've been to at least three Costcos in California).

The rep was very nice. She said that at many of their new stores they now have self-checkout lanes, but there was no plan to put them in the older stores.

Then she explained why. She said, simply, if you have to wait in line it's likely that you'll buy more.

And truthfully that makes sense. It is hard to buy one thing at Costco. You have to have a lot of willpower to just get the one thing you went in for.
 As if we didn't know it already, there really is a science to everything in the retail world.

And one other thing about Costco that I've noticed -- the shoppers are very friendly! Three times in the last month, I've been looking at an item and a random shopper has stopped to talk to me about it. Twice it was a woman and once it was a man. Each time, the person spent at least five minutes telling me how much they liked the item.

I like shopping in a place were people are friendly!

Now just for a little bit of fun, here's something I recently saw at Costco.

And just so you know, in the interest of safety first, I checked make sure that this container couldn't close and lock accidentally on the boy before I took the picture.

You have to commend him on his creativity. I saw him surprise more than a few people. Almost everyone that saw him laughed. One guy went and got his wife and got the kid to scare his wife. Then the three of them dissolved into laughter at the whole thing.

Just another reason to always have a camera or camera phone handy. You never know what you're going to see!

So I'll keep going to Costco. I may not buy as much as other people, but it seems to always be an interesting place to shop.