Transcript
Ben (0:01)
This is it.
Josh (0:02)
So I'm with my kids in line at Costco. There's always a line for the gas, but the gas, as we know, I can be quite frugal. But I just think it's being smart. If you have a SUV, you probably have a 20 gallon tank. Now, no matter what, Costco is going to be $1 less a gallon. So people always give me a hard time. Like, you go to Costco to fill up. Like, isn't it inconvenient? It can be. But if it's the only place you go, that means you're saving 20 bucks every time. Like, that's real money.
Ben (0:31)
And so it's not you being frugal. By the way, I'll always call you out. That's. That's you being smart. No, that's smart. And you have a Costco card, you pay for it. It's like being a member of a club and not going. You should go. Yeah, for it.
Josh (0:44)
If you're in the mood for a hot dog, go Costco. They're taking a loss. They're taking a loss on the gas.
Ben (0:51)
They're taking a loss on everything, Josh. Almost everything. Their. Their entire operation is to break even. And they make all the money, billions a year on the fee for the membership. Their entire operation is break. Is break even. That's why they're so much cheaper, because they don't need to make a dollar on gas. They break even on every single thing sold in the store. Everything. They make money on however many hundreds of millions of people that pay $60 or $70 a year for the card. So they're $1.4 billion a year in profit just off the membership card.
Josh (1:28)
Wow. Crazy.
Ben (1:30)
Genius. Crazy, crazy. Continue, though. Continue.
Josh (1:34)
So I'm filling up, and there is a line of two or three people, but, you know, there's pumps on each side. And of course, Costco being frickin brilliant, Any Costco gas insider knows, such as myself, you can. It doesn't matter what side your gas tank is on, because the hoses are long enough where you can actually pull it to the other side of your car. So it's not like where you have to go on the right side. If your tank's on the right, you can go to either side. So I'm in. I'm in line. There's like two or three people ahead of me, and I noticed the line next to me, and the other side is completely empty. And somebody pulls out and there's a pump open. I go.
Ben (2:12)
I'm going to go over there.
Josh (2:13)
What, are you kidding? So I go over there, I fill up, and I'm backing into the spot, about to go fill up, and a guy, one of the guys who works there, like, basically, like, comes at me pretty hot. He goes, you just cut the line. And I go, no. And by the way, both of my kids are in the back seat. He goes, do you not see there's, like, three people waiting? Like, were you on the other side? I go, yeah, I was, but this was open, like. And there was no one behind me. He goes, there's three people waiting for this pump. You're on the other side, right? And I go, and. And it was one of those moments where I go, like, I'm not. Listen, I'll steal water from work. You know what I mean? Like, I'm not. I'm no sailor, you know? I don't know what that reference is. I'm no angel, okay?
