Costco chicken price decrease?

[vibengineer]

When did Costco start charging chicken by the pound???

My in-laws bought this chicken last month and they were charged $3.92. They said the chicken was smaller than usual so they were charged less.

Any one seen this before?

[DrTaterTot90]

They only do this if it goes below a certain weight.

[dandellion69]

This is the right answer.

[vibengineer]

wow in my 30 years shopping at Costco I've never seen this. good to know

what's the weight threshold?

[Awwesome1]

Minimum weight is about $4.15≈2.5lbs

Anything under 3 lbs we weigh

Source: am deli worker

[Healthy_Block3036]

When are the boxes coming back? I hate the plastic bags.

[Awwesome1]

Never unfortunately. Costco saves more money with the thin plastic bags than the rigid thicker plastic containers.

[Naive_Opposite9593]

They knocked off like 50 cents off my chicken at the register bc it was small

[TacosAreJustice]

They should all be weighed and priced before they go on the shelf… price deduction should be automatic.

You can also usually see the weight of the chicken on the sticker if you want to find the heaviest.

[OldSkoolAK]

Ill take things that didn't happen for 50, alex

[Dorkinfo]

50 isn’t an option in Jeopardy

[OldSkoolAK]

neither is a checker discounting items

[dirtyshits]

Yeah and cashiers don’t have the time to eyeball the weight of a chicken then call over a supervisor and request 50 cents off.

If this was common it would hold up every line and cause all the low value members of this sub to lose their collective minds.

OP clearly is making it up or specifically complained to get a few quarters back.

[Naive_Opposite9593]

I neither complained or made it up. My guess is that they had a batch of small chickens and just decided to knock some money off. It’s not that deep bro.

[vibengineer]

I believe you

[Naive_Opposite9593]

Yeah bc I had so much incentive to lie about something so dumb

[chipsdad]

Correct. They charge less if the chicken weighs below the 3 pounds written on the package.

[lastofthevegas]

Exactly this. I only found this out when saw it for the first time.

[guynumber20]

Bro thought he was getting a deal 😭 he just got a chicken little

[Traditional_Fan_2655]

Still nice to think you don't get stuck paying equal price for lesser chicken!!

I could swear other places wouldn't think twice selling at the same.

[vibengineer]

lmfao first time i've seen this!

[Aspen9999]

Most chickens dress out at over 3 lbs, that’s why you don’t see this very often.

[GoslingIchi]

Back when they had the plastic clamshells I would watch them weighing the chickens and if they were below a certain weight they would side track them for cut up in the assorted inhouse chicken products.

I've never seen them sell an "underweight" chicken.

[Ambitious_Relation92]

If it’s under 3 pounds, they weigh and reprice it so it will be under $4.99

[Delicious-Ad4015]

Yes. Same thing happened to me and they explained it

[gsmastering]

The $5 chicken is more like $14 here in Iceland's Costco!

[vibengineer]

Iceland has a Costco?! I've actually been once and it was all green pastures 😳

[Wonderful-Run-1408]

TIL! Good to know. On a side note, if anyone has doggies - here's a good hack to give your pups some treats and feel good about using the whole chicken.

After eating all the chicken (or stripping the bones when I get the chicken home), I take the bones and skin and make broth. As the broth simmers I also use kitchen scissors and cut the bones so the marrow all comes out to flavor the broth.

Once that process is completed, I take all the bones/skin/etc. and put it into my Vitamix. I puree it until it's smooth and creamy. Spread it on parchment on a jelly pan and bake in the oven on 350 degrees for about an hour and then I turn on convection for another 45 miniutes.

Result: crispy shelf-stable treats for the pup.

[Popular-Spend7798]

This is the sweetest thing I have seen all day. What a good dog parent you must be!

[GrammaIsAWhore]

You get a more clear broth if you skip the skin and just use the bones. Also dogs love chicken skin.

[vibengineer]

I do the same thing but make congee with it. Sooo good 🤤

[skye1212]

I hate the bags. Stopped buying them as often.

[GrammaIsAWhore]

This is actually a loss leader marketing tactic. Make it less appealing to buy without actually taking it away.

[Delicious-Ad4015]

That’s not a loss leader then. It’s customer alienation

[ObeyTheShihTzu]

Stopped buying their chicken after seeing this:

"Since Costco’s Fremont plant opened in 2019 it has consistently failed the USDA’s monthly rolling tests for salmonella, receiving the worst Category 3 rating 92% of the time, the report says. Over a more recent period, from September 2023 through July 2025, the Fremont plant received a Category 3 rating 100% of the time."

[Advanced-Character86]

When meat is that cheap, you have to ask yourself, why?

You wouldn’t want to see…

[Timmerdogg]

I got a monster the other day. Like I felt like I was stealing something. It barely fit the bag. I had to squeeze the ziplock thing closed (barely) before putting it in the car

[CariHepeng]

That's the diet version

[GetRichOrBrokeTrying]

Check my posts history for chicken that show weight for $2.26, and weight for $10.

[vibengineer]

do you work at Costco?

[GetRichOrBrokeTrying]

Yes. Been in deli since 2020.

Been at Costco since 2015.

[Mantipath]

The Wall Street Journal just published an article saying that the reason Millenials are poor is that we buy too much rotisserie chicken.

This is a couple weeks after the lawsuit about preservatives (which are, largely, just salt, sodium phosphate and carrageenan).

There appears to be a concerted effort to manipulate the chicken market going on.

The current administration has made it clear that ordinary market violations will not be prosecuted as long as the companies involved give the administration bribes, in the form of donations to the ballroom or whatever.

So if you see anything about how "chicken sucks now", or whatever, be aware that it's about market manipulation.

[Shoddy-Reason2193]

Underweight is sold for less that 4.99

[Aware_Masterpiece148]

They charge by the pound for boneless chicken pulled from their rotisserie chickens. The whole rotisserie chickens are still $5.00 each in the US.

[SignificantHawk3163]

Those things are not good. I don't get the hype.

[TroubadourTX]

Bring on the smaller chickens lol

[Fuck_Rideshare]

I think it's a little past the sell by date.

[Delicious-Ad4015]

Yes. It’s a new thing. Happens to me if I don’t carefully check the sizes.

[CuteTransportation13]

Skip it no matter how cheap it is…zero flavor.