The Costco Price Tag Secrets Guide 2026: The Asterisk, the .97 and Every Hidden Code That Tells You When to Buy and When to Walk Away

Sep 16

9 min read

Costco price tag secrets guide 2026 asterisk death star discontinuation .97 markdown .00 manager special .99 regular price 7 codes decode every Costco price tag when to buy when to walk away

The Costco price tag secrets guide 2026 reveals the specific commercial intelligence system embedded in every Costco price tag — the pricing codes that communicate whether an item is on its last days in the warehouse, whether the price has been marked down from a higher original, whether a manager has applied a special discount, and whether the item is a permanent authorized product or a limited-time buy that will disappear without notice.

Most Costco members read a price tag for one piece of information: the price. The experienced Costco member reads a price tag for five pieces of information: the price, the pricing code, the asterisk status, the price tag color, and the department-specific signals that overlay the universal codes.

The difference between these two readings determines whether the member discovers a discontinued item at its last markdown price and purchases accordingly — or walks past the same item, plans to return next week, and finds an empty pallet where the item was displayed.

Costco's pricing code system is not documented in any official Costco publication. It is institutional knowledge that the member community has decoded through systematic observation, shared on forums like r/Costco, and validated through consistent experience across hundreds of thousands of shopping visits. This guide organizes every confirmed pricing code in the 2026 Costco pricing architecture — what each code means, how to spot it, and what commercial action it calls for.

The Universal Price Tag Codes: The Foundation of Costco Pricing Intelligence

Code 1: The .99 Ending — The Standard Regular Price

A price tag ending in .99 communicates that the item is at its standard authorized retail price — the price the buying team has set for the item's ongoing commercial authorization at Costco. No markdown, no close-out, no promotional pricing. The item is available at this price indefinitely, or until the buying team decides to change it.

The .99 ending's commercial implication for the member: there is no urgency signal in a .99 price. The item is authorized, stocked, and available for the foreseeable future. The member who finds an item at .99 and wants it can purchase it today or on a future visit without concern that the pricing or availability will change in the immediate term.

Code 2: The .97 Ending — The Manager's Markdown

A price tag ending in .97 is one of the most commercially significant codes in the Costco pricing system — and the one that the wine community specifically documented and popularized, but that applies across every department in the warehouse.

The .97 ending communicates that the item's price has been reduced from its original authorized retail price by a store manager.

Any price ending in .97 cents is a markdown, meaning the price has been reduced from the original. Note that the original price is never shown — so the only way to know it has been marked down is to look for the .97.

The .97 markdown's commercial implication: the item is selling below its original authorized price — which communicates either that the item is clearing slower than the buying team expected, or that the regional manager has decided to accelerate sell-through for inventory management reasons. Either way, the member who finds a .97 item has found a product at below-original pricing.

The critical question for any .97 item: does it also have an asterisk?

The .97 without an asterisk means the item has been marked down but is not necessarily being discontinued. The .97 with an asterisk (described in the asterisk section below) means the item is being discontinued — the markdown is the final clearance before the item leaves the assortment permanently.

Code 3: The .00 Ending — The Manager's Special Deal

A price tag ending in .00 — a round dollar amount — communicates that a store manager has applied a special, location-specific discount to the item. This is the rarest of the universal pricing codes and communicates the deepest discount opportunity: a manager has made an independent pricing decision to accelerate the sell-through of a specific item at a specific location.

The .00 ending is the pricing code that most members never encounter because of its rarity — and that generates the most significant savings when it does appear. A $25.00 price tag on an item that was $34.99 is the .00 code communicating a $9.99 manager-applied discount that appears nowhere in the monthly coupon book and is not available at other locations.

Code 4: The .49 or .89 Ending — The Manufacturer's Instant Rebate

Price tags ending in .49 or .89 communicate that a manufacturer's instant rebate has been applied at the shelf — reducing the sticker price from the original by the rebate amount. This is the pricing mechanism behind many of the technology products, supplements, and branded food items that appear in the monthly Member-Only Savings coupon book.

The instant rebate's commercial distinction from a standard markdown: the savings are being funded by the manufacturer rather than by Costco's own margin contribution. This typically means the savings are time-limited — they end when the coupon book's promotional period ends — rather than representing a permanent price change.

The Asterisk: The Most Commercially Important Single Symbol in the Warehouse

The Asterisk (The "Death Star") — The Discontinuation Signal

The asterisk — colloquially known in the Costco member community as the "death star" — is the single most commercially important symbol in the Costco price tag system. An asterisk in the upper right corner of any Costco price tag communicates that the item is being discontinued from the Costco assortment and will not be reordered when the current inventory is depleted.

The asterisk's specific commercial meaning: when you see an asterisk on the price tag, it means the item is close-out and is not coming back.

The asterisk's commercial implications for the member:

If the item is something the member loves and uses regularly: purchase the maximum quantity available now. When the current pallet is gone, the item will not be restocked. There is no way to order it later, no way to request it from the buying team, and no way to guarantee it will return. Items with asterisks that disappear from the warehouse floor frequently do not return — or return months or years later in a different formulation or format.

If the item is something the member has been considering but not yet purchased: the asterisk changes the urgency calculation from "I'll think about it and come back" to "decide now." The item with an asterisk that the member walks past on Monday may be gone by Saturday.

If the item also has a .97 pricing: the combination of .97 + asterisk is the maximum urgency signal in the Costco pricing system — a discontinued item at its lowest-ever price. Buy or pass, but do not plan to return.

Why Items Get Asterisks

The Costco buying team assigns asterisks for several commercial reasons:

Seasonal products reaching end of season: the pumpkin-themed item in November, the summer outdoor equipment in September.

Products being replaced by a new version: the previous generation of a product making way for a reformulated or redesigned replacement.

Vendor relationship changes: the brand whose commercial relationship with Costco is ending — whether due to pricing disputes, quality issues, or commercial strategy changes on either side.

Poor velocity performance: the item that did not generate the above-benchmark velocity that Costco's limited-SKU model requires for continued authorization.

The Price Tag Color System: Department-Specific Signals

The White Price Tag — Standard Authorization

The standard white price tag is the default pricing format across all departments — indicating that the item is at its regular authorized retail price and that no special status applies.

The Yellow Price Tag — The Clearance Signal

A yellow price tag communicates clearance pricing — a category-level or department-level markdown applied to a group of items that are clearing seasonal inventory. Yellow price tags most commonly appear in the seasonal merchandise section (Halloween after October 31, Christmas after December 25) and in the clothing section as seasonal items transition to clearance.

The yellow price tag's commercial implication: the item is clearing, which means the current inventory is being depleted without restocking. Yellow price tags often appear alongside asterisks — communicating clearance pricing on discontinued items.

The Purple Price Tag — Online-Only Items at the Warehouse

A purple price tag indicates an item that is primarily an online (Costco.com) product rather than a standard warehouse floor authorization — items that the warehouse is displaying and selling but that are ordered through Costco.com for home delivery rather than taken from warehouse floor stock.

The purple price tag's commercial implication: the pricing and availability are managed through Costco.com rather than through the regional buying office's standard floor allocation. Members who want additional quantities or future purchases should check Costco.com rather than expecting warehouse floor restocking.

The Specific Department Signals: Wine and Electronics

The Wine-Specific Pricing Intelligence

The wine section's pricing codes operate on the same universal system but with the additional intelligence that the wine community has most thoroughly documented:

The .97 wine: a wine marked down from its original price that is selling below the authorized retail. The wine community's buying recommendation: assess the remaining inventory. A nearly-full pallet of .97 wine suggests the item will be available for several more weeks.

A nearly-depleted pallet suggests the window is closing.

The .97 + asterisk wine: the discontinued wine at its final markdown price. The member who loves this specific wine should purchase the maximum quantity the wine's drinkability window allows — the storage life of the wine relative to how quickly the household typically consumes it.

The .97 wine without asterisk: may represent a seasonal price reduction, an end-of-vintage clearance, or a manager markdown for inventory management reasons. Does not necessarily mean discontinuation.

The Electronics Pricing Intelligence

The television and electronics section applies the same universal codes with the additional context that electronics pricing is also affected by manufacturer instant rebates, the monthly coupon book's promotional pricing, and the specific holiday promotion that the October-through-December retail media season generates.

The electronics item with an asterisk: the previous model being cleared as the new model arrives. The member who is comfortable with last year's technology at a significant discount should purchase the asterisked item. The member who wants the current model should wait for the replacement's arrival.

The Price Tag Reading Strategy: The Complete Pre-Purchase Checklist

The 10-Second Price Tag Assessment

Every time a member is considering a purchase at Costco — new or familiar item — the 10-second price tag assessment captures the full pricing intelligence available:

Step 1: What does the price end in? (.99 = regular, .97 = markdown, .00 = manager special, .49/.89 = instant rebate)

Step 2: Is there an asterisk in the upper right corner? (Yes = discontinuation signal — decide now)

Step 3: What color is the price tag? (White = standard, Yellow = clearance, Purple = online item)

Step 4: What is the inventory level on the pallet? (Full pallet = adequate time, depleted pallet = urgency, last few units with asterisk = maximum urgency)

Step 5: Is this item in the current coupon book? (Coupon book pricing = temporary, end-of-book is the final opportunity at this promotional price)

The Pantry Staple Exception

The 10-second assessment applies most urgently to non-staple items — the specialty food discovery, the seasonal item, the technology product. For the household's established pantry staples — the items the member purchases every Costco visit regardless of pricing codes — the asterisk is the only code that matters. An asterisk on the Kirkland Signature item the household purchases every visit is the signal to stock up immediately.

At MOJO Sales & Branding, we understand every dimension of the Costco member experience — from the price tag secrets guide that decodes every commercial signal in the warehouse to the roadshow brands that create the discovery moments that make every warehouse visit genuinely exciting.

Costco Price Tag Secrets 2026 — Complete Code Reference:

Code	What It Means	Commercial Implication	Action
.99 ending	Standard regular price	Item is authorized at ongoing price	No urgency — buy when needed
.97 ending	Manager's markdown — price reduced	Item selling below original price	Good value — check for asterisk
.00 ending	Manager's special deal	Location-specific deep discount	Buy — rarest code, biggest savings
.49 or .89 ending	Manufacturer's instant rebate	Time-limited savings (coupon book)	Buy before promotional period ends
*Asterisk ()**	Discontinuation — "death star"	Item NOT being reordered	Buy maximum quantity now or pass
.97 + Asterisk	Discontinued at final markdown	Last chance at lowest price	Maximum urgency — buy or pass permanently
White tag	Standard authorization	No special status	Normal buying decision
Yellow tag	Clearance pricing	Category or seasonal clearance	Buy if wanted — not restocking
Purple tag	Online item at warehouse	Primarily Costco.com product	Future purchases via Costco.com

The master rule: Asterisk = buy maximum quantity of loved items or pass permanently. There is no "come back for it" with an asterisked item.

The .97 + asterisk combination: The most commercially urgent signal in the Costco warehouse — discontinued item at its lowest-ever price. No third visit will include this opportunity.

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