Head To Costco At This Time To Grab The Most Free Samples, According To Reddit

Come on, what's better than free food? Costco has been serving up free samples for years – with a brief halt during the pandemic. It's one of the many things that makes Costco a universal fan favorite. Like many others, when I was little, my mom would take me to Costco for a lunch consisting purely of free samples; solidifying Costco's free samples as a nostalgic core memory that I can luckily still indulge in today. Offering free samples of all cuisines, Costco has built a strong following of loyal shoppers, lusting to test their curiosity and try new items. However, Costco fanatics like myself have noticed inconsistencies in the quantity of free samples offered on different days and times.

To determine the best time to get the most free samples, we turned to Reddit for answers. While some users mention their annoyance around Costco's free samples, others praise the program as it allows them to buy items they otherwise would've passed by. Ultimately, users have determined Saturdays and Sundays are the best days to go for free samples and the early afternoon (anywhere between 1 to 4 p.m.) to be the best time to get them.

You may be wondering why these are the best days and times to get free samples. One Reddit user mentions "sample stations are more plentiful during the busiest times and days," adding that weekends around lunchtime are a good time to go for samples. Another user, a previous Costco employee, confirms this, writing "weekends are popping for samples." 

As this is the general consensus, others have noted their success in finding an abundance of free samples on weekdays. One user claims to have success on weekdays in the mid-afternoon as they think Costco "[caters] to the retirees." Nevertheless, it seems as though the afternoon is the best time to visit the store if you're hunting for free samples.

As there are so many samples to choose from, it can be hard to narrow down which ones to try. Turning to Reddit once again, we've discovered which Costco delicacies you shouldn't neglect to try. The best seem to be any and all sweets. Redditors specifically love the Lindt chocolate samples, frozen desserts, and any sweet that's individually wrapped. On the flip side, fans agree that the drinks are the most undesirable. Fans specifically condemn the ginger root beer, Korean red ginseng drink, and glucosamine drink samples. Of course, there's no harm in trying as many free samples as you can — they're free, after all.