Costco Shoppers Say the Retailer Should Be "Ashamed to Sell" This Seasonal Product

Costco products are a common source of debate.

Costco has a nationwide presence, and as such, it's often making headlines—especially when change is involved. While Costco CEO Craig Jelinek confirmed that the food court's hot dog and soda combo wouldn't see a price increase, the wholesaler received major backlash when it upped the price of the popular chicken bake and 20-ounce soda this summer.

Other food products have made waves—and shoppers either love them or hate them. In August, Costco's famous chicken pot pie returned to stores, according to a TikTok posted by @CostcoHotFinds. The social media user gushed over the pie's "flakey, buttery" crust, but the comment section was flooded with comments about the high price of the item, which is nearly $28.

In addition to the pot pie, Costco shoppers are currently outraged about another product—and this time, they're questioning quality.

One purchase isn't worth the hype, Costco members say.

The holiday season feels like it's worlds away; we've yet to even celebrate Halloween, let alone Thanksgiving. But Costco is jumping the gun, having already introduced the Costco Wine Advent Calendar. If your local warehouse sells alcoholic beverages, you can now get your hands on one of these calendars well ahead of December.

The package includes 24 half bottles (375ml) of wine for $99.99—which is the same price as it was in 2021, CostcoWineBlog.com notes.

If you do the math, this comes out to just over $4 per half bottle, and about $8.33 if you're calculating using the full-sized bottle measurement (750ml). That might sound like a pretty good deal, but Reddit users disagree, calling the selections "cheap wedding wines."

"Not worth it," one user wrote on the r/Costco thread. "The quality of those wines suck and honestly Costco should be ashamed to sell them. You can get really fantastic wine from Costco and this isn't it."

Some said that they gave the calendar away last year.

As with any advent calendar, you don't know what's inside until you open that day's selection. But according to CostcoWineBlog.com, the selections in Costco's wine calendar include those from France, Spain, Portugal, Moldova, Georgia, and Italy, among others.

Despite this variety, Redditors weren't impressed. Many were agitated that the advent calendar was already on sale in August, meaning it'll likely sell out before the holidays begin. In addition, others said that in 2021, there wasn't a single bottle of wine they enjoyed.

"I tried this last year and every night hate drank 2 glasses of wine because I was determined to get my moneys worth," one user wrote.

Another commenter said that they didn't even make it that far. "Agree...we gave the rest away for free after trying 1," a reply on the Reddit thread reads.

Not everyone was negative.

While a majority of commenters were critical of the Costco Wine Advent Calendar, some took a more optimistic approach and said that shoppers shouldn't "expect the equivalent of an expensive wine," considering the price per half bottle.

"I really loved this last year," one comment reads. "I'm surprised at all the hate it's getting. It was full of fun wines I didn't know, many from unusual places, most very nice."

Others agreed, adding that the advent calendar would make a good gift "for someone who likes wine but isn't a connoisseur."

If you want to see what all the fuss is about—but don't want to risk it for the price—you can wait until after the holidays to purchase the advent calendar, if there are any left in stock. Redditors noted that last year, the calendars were on sale for anywhere between 40 to 50 percent off.

But if you prefer other alcoholic beverages to wine, you might want to be on the lookout for Costco's beer advent calendar instead. For foodies, there's also the 12-day advent cheese box, which one commenter on the wine advent calendar thread called "glorious."