These 15 Costco Items Have Seen Major Price Jumps In The Last Five Years

As much as many grocery stores rave about their "low prices," they can still find ways to separate you from more of your hard-earned cash. And with inflation and tariffs squeezing bottom lines everywhere, markups have generally become the norm. But if there's one place you can count on to resist the markup bug, it's Costco. Sure, it needs sales, but with membership fees accounting for about two-thirds of its annual revenue, Costco doesn't rush to mark up quite as hurriedly as everyone else.

Costco's Kirkland signature prices are so affordable that if you found, say, $10 on the side of the road and walked into Costco, you could snag enough items under $5 to make a full dinner and still have cash left over to get that super cheap dog and soda combo on your way out. While Costco's gone all out to keep markups to a minimum — as far as creating a vertically integrated chicken operation just to keep their still outrageously cheap rotisserie chicken locked in at $4.99 — not everything has been spared. 

We'll take a look at some Costco items that tote much chunkier price tags than they used to. All prices listed below can vary depending on which Costco warehouse you shop at, so they are accurate at the time of this article's writing and based on criteria from a typical warehouse in the New York metro area.

No breakfast is complete without some bacon slices to jump‑start your taste buds. It's practically impossible for your mouth not to water if you catch a whiff in the morning. For a long time, Costco was the go-to spot for scoring a solid deal on bacon. But all that might have changed.

Kirkland Signature Fully Cooked Bacon has been riding a price see-saw for years. Redditors report snagging a 1 lb pack of the fully cooked variety for about $11 in the past. By 2021, that same pack had shot up to a whopping $17.49. Fast forward to April 2025, and some Reddit accounts show prices hitting $15.99. Now, the fully cooked bacon clocks in at $17.01 at our test warehouse.

But don't be too hasty to blame Costco for the markups. Bacon prices in general have been climbing steadily across the country, hitting an unprecedented $6.70 per pound in January 2025, via NBC News (for raw, uncooked meat). So there's really no escaping the markups regardless of where you shop.

When thirst hits, a cold bottle of water is just the thing to get you through a hot day — though, ironically, it's not the best beverage if you're aiming for maximum hydration. There are plenty of bottled water brands out there to quench your thirst, but if you're aiming for the sweet spot between quality and cost, Kirkland Signature Purified Water is where to place your bet. For just $4.53, you get 40 bottles of 16.9 fl oz; a huge bargain compared to premium brands like Saratoga, which can charge upwards of $23 for only 12 bottles. That said, $4.53 is still a bit spendy for Kirkland water — at least when compared to historical prices. Redditors report that the same pack once went for $2.79 then swung to $2.99, then $3.99 all reportedly within about a year between 2020 and 2021, a pretty huge swing for what's meant to be a low production cost item.

At the top of the line-up of items your pantry simply can't live without is olive oil. It's pretty versatile and great for sautéing, frying, seasoning — and therefore perfect for bulk buying. But with drought and extreme heat waves gutting crop yields across major producers like Spain, Italy, and Greece, olive oil just isn't the abundant staple it used to be.

Plus, with more people leaning into healthier lifestyles, olive-oil-centric diets like the Mediterranean have become increasingly popular. Demand is skyrocketing, with the global olive oil market expected to hit a staggering $33.66 billion by 2034 according to Towards FnB, a steep rise from $19.76 billion in 2025.

High demand paired with shrinking supply means higher costs, even at the supplier level. Naturally, Costco's feeling the squeeze. Olive oil prices at the warehouse have been hitting record highs over the past couple of years. A Reddit thread from two years ago (at the time of this writing) pegged a two-pack of 3-liter Kirkland Signature 15% Virgin Olive Oil at $50.99; a jaw-dropper considering that, according to one user, the same pack went for roughly $25 in 2021. A separate thread, also from two years ago, reported the same item for $45; a welcome dip which, unfortunately, didn't stick. Price checks today revealed a 2-liter bottle of Kirkland Signature Extra Virgin Olive Oil is now ringing in at a less mind-blowing but still pricey $34.04.

A few Costco buys spark raging debates on Reddit — and surprisingly, salmon ranks much higher on that list than you'd expect. Is it healthy? Is it sustainably sourced? Is it too fishy? Everybody's got opinions; strong ones. But if there's one thing everyone does seem to agree on, it's that Costco salmon has seen a dramatic price jump in recent years.

One Redditor compared price points between March 2021 and May 2024 and showed that Kirkland Signature Salmon had surged by over $11 in that time from $24.49 to $35.99. Another thread from 2022 featured a shopper griping over the price of Kirkland Signature Imported Smoked Salmon, which had leapt from $19.99 to $20.99 to $23.99 in rapid succession.

Kirkland Signature Wild Caught Alaska Sockeye Salmon has also inched up in price. In one thread, users noted that it hovered between $26.99 and $29.99 for years before shooting up to $39.99 in August 2025. Now, that same 3 lb bag clocks in at a staggering $45.39; over $20 more than the earliest price Redditors reported.

Need a beverage that hydrates better than water, tastes almost too good with bacon and eggs, and is a game-changer for deglazing pans? Orange juice! And when it comes to big jugs of the stuff, Costco's pretty much got the market cornered.

But unlike a couple of years ago, when — according to one Reddit thread — you could score two 59 fl oz jugs for a little under $10, Kirkland orange juice isn't quite the bargain it once was. Citrus greening disease, hurricanes, and trade wars have decimated crop yields across Florida, the nation's top producer. Per the New York Post, crop yields for the 2024–2025 season were forecast to drop by 30%, pushing production to a historic low not seen since before World War II.

With supply plunging to such depths, you can bet suppliers aren't being quite as forthcoming with pricing. Naturally, those supplier-level surges have spilled over to the retail side. According to one Reddit thread, that same 59 fl oz two-pack had climbed to $14.99 by early 2025. Redditors also suspect this one's also been swept up in the shrinkflation wave, with one user pointing out that Costco previously sold three-packs for $11 before switching to two-packs for roughly the same price. With supply chain issues abound, it's no wonder our warehouse where we were checking prices listed this item as out of stock, but we did find a three-pack of Tropicana Pure Premium Orange Juice (46 oz each) for $12.93.

Chicken really is the blank canvas of food. Slather it in flour and buttermilk, chuck it in hot lard for a little fried chicken comfort, or simmer it in cream and wine if you're craving a little haute cuisine to perk up a mundane dinner. And if all that sounds a bit much, there's always Costco food court chicken bakes. They're sized for a full meal (almost), in a crispy doughy pocket, filled with the works: shredded chicken, bacon bits, and a melty blend of cheese.

However, be sure to prep your wallet beforehand, because this one's not one of those Costco items locked at one price. According to one Reddit thread, one chicken bake used to run you $2.99. By mid-2022, the price had soared to $3.99. Now, a price hike of just $1 is something you can let slide on some items if, say, the original (like some high-ticket Costco buys) rung in at around $1,000, for example. But a $1 hike on something that previously cost $2.99? That's annoying by about 33% — not something you can just brush off.

Costco's got a lot of luxury steak options like USDA prime beef, but if your pocket's not deep enough for that, there's always USDA Choice: not sporting quite as much marbling as prime, but bound to get you where you want with the right technique. But while this cut's expected to ring in a lot lower than prime, prices at Costco have been seesawing so much that it might also be out of reach. One Redditor compared December 2024 prices for USDA Choice boneless ribeye steak and found it had jumped to $14.49 per pound in just weeks. A USDA Choice boneless ribeye steak at our test warehouse cost rang in at about $21.55 per pound. 

It's not the only cut whose price point has ballooned. According to another Reddit thread, 5 lb beef chubs soared from $17.99 to $27.95 between March 2021 and May 2024. A separate thread, also tracking ground beef tubes, showed them climbing from around $2.88 per pound in July 2024 to $3.29 by September of the same year (a difference of 14%). In yet another thread from 2024, one user in San Francisco griped about eye of round, which crept up from $6.49 per pound to $6.99 since their last visit. 

Costco has a pretty sweet line-up Kirkland Signature snacks to power you through work, or keep you company while you binge a good show. A few of those absolutely crush the sweetness-crunchiness combo, and at the top of that list are Kirkland Signature Chocolate Covered Almonds. The earthy nuttiness of the almond and the creamy indulgent sweetness of the chocolate is unmatched.

And if you've bought these recently, you're probably familiar with the pricing pendulum. Costco can't seem to stick to one price point on these. A Reddit thread from late 2024 notes that prices came down from $18.99 to $14.99 for a 48 oz bag, but another thread showed a receipt dated June 2024, showing them priced at $17.99, just six months earlier. That same thread also noted the online price shot back up to $27.99. By September 2025, Redditors noted prices tumbling to $22.56 with tax; a welcome drop which unfortunately didn't stick around. A 48 oz bag now goes for $24.50 at our test warehouse.

Sometimes you'll scan the price tags on your favorite Costco buys and get the sinking feeling that the price has climbed a notch. No doubt, this was the case with Costco's butter croissants. Even the smallest hike on these has triggered such widespread outcry, you likely heard about it long before you got to see it yourself.

Reddit erupted in 2022 after Costco raised the price from $4.99 to $5.99; roughly a 20% jump. The price stayed locked at $5.99 for a while, no doubt to lure loyalists into a false sense of security. Then, just three years later, Costco quietly slipped in another $1 increase, sending the tag to a historic $6.99 in early 2025. Stateside Redditors weren't having it, clearly under the illusion that it couldn't get any worse for anyone else. But Canadian fans had it much tougher for longer, with Redditors reporting a jump from $5.99 to $7.99 at the tail end of 2024. Our test warehouse clocked a 12-count of these flaky pastries at $7.93.

A good cup of coffee is just what you need to turn an otherwise dreary morning bright and breezy. And if you're on the hunt for a brand that treads that fine line between quality and value with stellar precision, Kirkland is the way to go. But hold your cart a minute because Costco's been making huge (and pricey) plans around Kirkland coffee.

Take Kirkland Signature Colombian Coffee, for instance. According to one Reddit thread, a 3 lb bag ran you up $20 in 2022, already pretty steep considering it cost about $10 just a couple of years earlier. Now, the same bag clocks in at $24.96. Then there's Kirkland Signature Guatemalan Whole Beans, which one Redditor noted went from $13.99 in August 2024 to a steep $19.79 by April 2025.

To be fair, Costco's not fully to blame. Extreme weather has been strangling crop yields in coffee hubs like Brazil and Vietnam, sending supply to an all-time low. Translation: Kirkland, and practically every coffee brand you love, might keep hiking prices for the foreseeable future.

Costco's got a lot of baked goods absolutely worth stocking up on, and at the top of the must-have list are the muffins. They're one of those bakery items that just belong on a summer picnic — not just because a single pack can feed about a dozen adults for a solid afternoon. They're also downright delicious, as Food Republic's Dani Zoeller can attest.

These have, of course, been an all-the-rage Costco staple for years, and up until mid-2024, you could snag a pack of 12 for just $9.99 according to Reddit. Then Costco went about tinkering with the formula and brought them back in an eight-pack for $3 less. According to Reddit, the price drop was completely illusory since you're getting fewer items at about $0.87 per muffin instead of about $0.83. The worst part about the overhaul, according to one Reddit thread, was that the mix-and-match flavor option was no longer available; tough to swallow atop a 58% price hike.

Costco's pretty fond of rotating its inventory, so you can bet it's got a pretty high tally of discontinued items we desperately miss. It's almost guaranteed that if you turn your back for a week, something you loved dearly will vanish. But it's not all doom and gloom. Sometimes it pulls something you desperately want gone, or even better, it brings back something you've been pining for months. Definitely in the latter category is the food court Hot Turkey and Provolone Sandwich; a sandwich so beloved it triggered an absolute frenzy when Costco rolled it back out after pulling it in early 2025.

Of course, Costco couldn't leave well enough alone. After all, with all that frenzy, would anyone really notice the price tag had gone from $3.99 months prior to $6.99? Reddit did. The almost-doubled price hike was such a hard sell that almost every thread discussing it was full of loyalists griping over having to pay significantly more for basically the same sandwich.

Hydration is key, but let's face it: Drinking water is not always fun. The flatness and the nothing-but-not-quite-nothing taste is basically the beverage equivalent of folding laundry. That's why someone invented sparkling water: It has all the benefits of drinking water, but with a little drama to keep you motivated.

But before you make the switch, be prepared to take a hit at the register. According to Reddit, Kirkland Sparkling Water has climbed up in price multiple times over the past few years. One Redditor clocked the 2019 price at $7 for a 35-count of 12 fl oz cans. A comment on a different thread noted it had jumped to $10.99 by mid-2023. Early 2025 saw another bump to $12, with at least three separate price adjustments in 2024, according to the first user. Now, the same 35-count case rings in at $13.61.

Soda: The carbonated beverage is so beloved it sometimes outsells water — you know, the stuff you actually need to live. It's not a mystery why. It's fizzy, sugary, and comes in almost infinite flavors. Of course, a beverage that good is worth buying in bulk. But should you turn to Costco for bulk soda? While it's certainly got a great value proposition on most items, its attempt with soda has been fizzling out for quite some time.

A Reddit thread placed the price of a 35-count case of 12 fl oz Coke at $14.29 in June 2022. That price had crept up by 2023, with a commenter noting that a 36-count pack in their area was priced at around $18. Now, that same 35-count case rings in at $24.96; an almost 40% hike in a single year. Imported soda hasn't been spared. One Redditor clocked Mexican Coke at $36 in 2024, nearly double what they paid not too long before.

A no-fuss way to elevate your baked goods: Sprinkle in your favorite brand of chocolate chips. They're decadent and pair almost too well with just about any pastry. Good luck getting your hands on some on a budget, though. With climate change stifling cocoa production in West Africa — the world's largest cocoa exporter — the chocolate industry's been floundering to meet demand. The supply shortfall, coupled with surging global appetite for chocolate, has sent prices soaring everywhere. And Costco is not exempt.

According to one Reddit thread, a 4.5-pound bag of the white-bag Kirkland Signature Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips clocked in at $10.99 in early 2021. That same bag now rings in at $39.99, nearly quadruple the earlier price point. The same post also noted the 72 oz red bag at a much more accessible $7.99. But by mid-2024, the cocoa crisis had Costco in such a bind, according to one thread, its projected price point for the red bag in the fourth quarter of 2024 was $16.99 — a number so high, Costco opted to discontinue the product.