Many shoppers see Costco’s receipt check as a small delay, but it is “one of the most customer-protective steps in retail.” This brief pause at the exit is meant to catch costly mistakes before they affect your wallet.

The check isn’t about suspicion—it’s about accuracy. Costco recognizes that “errors can happen in a high-volume environment” and adds this final safeguard to correct them immediately.

A key task is matching item counts to cart contents. Large or bulky items like toilet paper or bottled water are “the most common sources of scanning errors.” Receipt checkers can quickly spot if you were charged for more—or less—than you received.

Every receipt also includes unique codes that act as a fingerprint for your transaction. These codes link purchases to the register, cashier, time, and item list, making returns or billing questions “fast and dispute-free.” High-value items like electronics or jewelry get extra oversight, with supervisors adding initials to confirm accuracy and prevent expensive errors.

What the check isn’t doing is just as important. Staff are not checking for shoplifters, memberships, or judging purchases. This process exists because “even one mistake can cost a customer hundreds of dollars.” The receipt check is a quiet promise: it’s “less a barrier and more a handshake—one final step to make sure you leave with exactly what you paid for.”