California Costco Shoppers Are Snagging 10 Pounds Of Potatoes For A Dollar

The hustle and bustle of black Friday sales may be dying down, but the deals at Costco are far from over. No matter the season, members regularly enjoy significant discounts on bulk items at the retailer, especially in the grocery aisles. A CNET report calculated the annual savings that Costco shoppers receive when doing most of their food shopping at their local warehouse, and the results yielded at least $1,000 yearly, or a "33% savings overall over conventional groceries." 

But even lifelong shoppers accustomed to saving money at Costco were shocked by the price of produce at one California location. A Fremont Costco surprised members with a ten-pound bag of organic gold potatoes for $1. After a double take to make sure that the ten cents per pound price tag wasn't a typo, members posted this discovery online, encouraging shoppers to get their hands on this once-in-a-blue-moon type of savings. For some members, this deal seemed too good to be true, causing online discourse over why these potatoes are so cheap.

Multiple shoppers clocked the ultra-low price of potatoes at this Fremont Costco location on November 28, 2023. One user posted their findings to TikTok, reporting the $1 bag of potatoes, as well as a $3 bag of oranges and a $2 bag of apples. A commenter replied, "My trust issues [are] telling me to not buy them." 

Others agree that this pricing is somewhat suspicious, even for Costco. On Reddit, one user responded to the discovery: "They didn't sell enough for Thanksgiving and are now trying to unload their excess potatoes so they don't lose too much money."

There may be some merit to the theory that Costco hopes to unload its produce before it goes bad. In anticipation of Thanksgiving week, many grocery stores bulk up on items they expect to sell to celebrating customers. With reports that there would be a record number of people shopping for Thanksgiving dinners, it makes sense that Costco would have boosted its inventory. As the holiday wraps up, many of the remaining foods are reaching the end of their shelf life. Hoping to make the most of this deal, excited potato lovers shared ways to elongate the life of these root vegetables, such as boiling and freezing them until needed, making bulk mashed potatoes to save for future dinners, and even donating a majority of the potatoes to a food bank for immediate use. One user in the r/Costco forum shared, "I would start making homebrew vodka at those prices."