Costco members are just realizing there’s a way to avoid ‘crazy’ checkout lines – and it works for all cardholders

A RECENT Reddit post sparked an interesting discussion about Costco's opening practices.

A customer shared their surprise at finding the warehouse open before its advertised 10 am opening time, wondering if the store hours are "just sort of suggested."

This Reddit post raised questions about whether it’s common for Costco locations to open their doors early, and many employees chimed in to clarify the situation.

The original poster detailed their experience of arriving at the Costco parking lot at 9:57 am, only to notice customers exiting the store with their purchases.

Intrigued, they decided to go inside and found that the doors were indeed open, despite the store's official hours.

After confirming the printed hours, they expressed their surprise, noting that they had seen smaller shops open early but did not expect such a large retail operation to do the same.

"Is this common practice at Costcos?" they wondered in their post.

EMPLOYEE EARNESTNESS

Several Costco employees responded to the post, shedding light on the store's early opening practices.

One employee who works in receiving shared, “We strive to open the doors by 9:45 AM. Sometimes it happens, sometimes it doesn’t. It’s just kind of nice for the people already outside waiting for 10:00.

"We don’t advertise it because if we can’t deliver, then what’s the point?

"We already struggle to make opening every single morning. It’s too crazy already.”

Another employee confirmed that the decision to open early largely depends on the morning crew's workload.

They say that it all "depends how busy the morning crew is."

This indicates that factors such as staffing levels and operational readiness play a significant role in whether customers can enter the store before the official opening time.

A third employee added their experience, stating, “I had the very same experience and asked employees about the opening time.

"They said when all the forklifts are off the floor, they will sometimes open as much as 15 minutes early.

"The employee also specified, ‘don’t count on the store opening early.’”

Overall, it appears that Costco may open its doors slightly earlier than scheduled if circumstances allow, but customers should not rely on this practice as a standard.

For those eager to get a head start on their shopping, it might be worth arriving a few minutes early, but patience is still advised as operational factors can vary from day to day.

Despite this innocent query on Reddit, Costco customers have had their fair share of gripes with the retailer.

A shopper recently called Costco out on social media for an abrupt membership cancelation following an enrollment blunder.

And another Costco shopper expressed frustration with the retailer for supposedly taking their cart, but other customers believe their response is excessive.