This Is What That Little Star on Costco Items Really Means

A stock Costco photo (Karen Bleier/AFP/Getty Images)

If you’ve ever wondered about those little stars on Costco shelves, there’s an answer.

Costco places asterisks on its labels to indicate that an item might not be in stock much longer, says Costco Insider.

The website writes that they make sure to watch for the star so as to buy enough for the remainder of the year.

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According to Costco Insider: “Some of you may be wondering what that star or asterisk you once saw on an item price tag meant. Or maybe some of you never even noticed it, or knew to look for one. While most items don’t have a star in the upper right-hand corner, there are always a few that do in the store. What it means is that there is no more of the item in the store — what you see in front of you is the last of it. If you’re really curious you can go to the membership counter and ask if there is more on order or if it is discontinued.”

“One example of this is the Smuckers Strawberry Lemonade, with which I watched the sign over the summer, and at the end of the summer I bought three jars, to last me the year. With the amount of rotating inventory at Costco, and how you never know when they'll have an item and when they won’t, the star can be a lifesaver,” it says.

Meanwhile, there are other elements on Costco’s price tag that signify a good deal.

Consumer Reports notes that when the price ends in .97, the item is discounted. Normally, the prices end in .99.

“The 97-cent thing is an indicator of a discount ... [but] other non-standard prices — like items ending in .49, .79, .89 — can be a sign that Costco got a special deal from the manufacturer, which might mean very low prices for you,” the report says.

Woman Returns Christmas Tree to Costco

This Jan. 14, 2013 photo shows Christmas trees and evergreens brought to Prospect Park. (AP Photo/Beth J. Harpaz)

In a bizarre move, a California woman was spotted returning a Christmas tree in January—and she is getting shamed by outraged social media users.

The unidentified woman wanted her money back for her tree because she claimed it was now “dead,” according to NBC affiliate, WFLA.

“I can’t make this stuff up,” he wrote. “Woman in line at Costco, totally nonchalant, to return her Christmas tree ‘because it is dead’ on January 4th,” according to WFLA.

According to his Facebook post, the woman surprisingly did get her money back for a full refund.

But he said the store employees and customers around her did shame the woman a little bit.

“If I didn’t see it, I wouldn’t believe that someone had so little moral values or lack of conscience,” the man wrote. “Heartbreaking to think she may have needed that money so much, she lost all self respect and dignity for it.”

Bowen Xiao contributed.