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Costco is the wholesale store known for selling just about anything at a bargain price, from fried chicken to brand new electronics. Now the wholesaler has added an unexpected item to its inventory: gold bars.
Yes, the bargain brand is currently selling 1-ounce PAMP Suisse Lady Fortuna Veriscan gold bars for nearly $2,000.
On September 26, Costco CFO Richard Galanti announced in a quarterly earnings call that gold bars were also selling quickly. “I’ve gotten a few calls that people have seen online that we’re selling one-ounce gold bars,” he said, according to CNBC. “Yes, but when we upload them to the site they are usually gone within a few hours and we limit two per member.”
While the 24-karat gold bars can be purchased online, they are only available to customers with a Costco membership, which can cost between $60 and $120 per year. The retailer also limits the number of gold bars to two per membership and the item is non-refundable.
According to the Costco website, South Africa’s Rand Refinery’s one-ounce bars sell for the whopping price of $1,949.99, while Swiss supplier PAMP Suisse’s gold bars are priced at $1,979.99.
Costco has long enjoyed a well-deserved reputation as a bargain hunter’s favorite store, largely because of its affordable prices and free samples. Additionally, the company recently raised its minimum wage to $16 for U.S. workers.
In 2021, an employee named Natalie went viral on TikTok when she revealed how much she makes per hour while working at Costco. “When you make $29.50 just for drawing smiley faces on receipts,” Natalie said in the video. Some TikTok users said that Natalie’s salary is higher than many other jobs, including healthcare.
“Ma’am, I’m a nurse and you make more than me in my clerk job,” one person commented.
“Costco is one of the few places where you can make a living wage. “This should be the rule, not the exception,” another user wrote.
Not only did Natalie reveal that her wages are well above the federal minimum wage in the US, which is $7.25 an hour, but she also reminded people how nice it is to get a smiley face from a Costco employee -Get a stamp when checking a buyer’s receipt.
Earlier this year, another employee went viral on TikTok when she explained how her life improved after quitting her job as a teacher to work at Costco. “Everything is better,” she said in the viral TikTok. “I can’t believe I’ve ever felt so limited, that I’ve ever thought I couldn’t do anything else. I am better now than I have ever been in my living memory.”
The Costco employee also emphasized how much her professional life has improved, even though she doesn’t have winter or summer vacation like she did when she was a teacher.
“This is my first year not having a winter break. I don’t miss it at all,” she wrote in the TikTok caption. “The pace of my work life is much better now, I am no longer sick or exhausted like I used to be when I was a teacher.”