How Can Costco Afford To Give Away So Many Free Samples?

It begins the way all great weekend stories do, a card check, a concrete warehouse floor, and a tiny paper cup of microwaved meatball skewered on a toothpick. This is Costco, and at Costco, the samples are free. But how does it work? Who pays for those little bites of joy? It’s a mystery, for sure.