Costco is no stranger to selling luxury foods like caviar and truffles, but it’s not typical that grocery items priced under a few hundred dollars are so closely monitored. Users on Reddit theorized that Costco may be cracking down on grocery theft. One incident was reported by Fox back in September 2022, when a man stole $1,100 worth of king crab legs from a Costco in Michigan. Per the National Retail Federation, research has shown that meat and seafood are among the most shoplifted items. Costco employees also confirmed on the Reddit thread that high-end seafood is often among the most stolen merchandise.
Other Reddit users hypothesized that Costco may be attempting to prevent customers from leaving merchandise in other areas where the seafood could easily spoil. Many of us have done it — shoppers tend to have a habit of rethinking the items in their carts and leaving merchandise in incorrect aisles around stores. When expensive crab is taken out of the refrigerated section, only to be left near the paper goods or clothing, the product can quickly go bad. Using a cardboard stand-in would help prevent spoilage of this prized seafood item.