American households spend a large portion of their income on essentials such as groceries. Over time, data says those costs have continued to climb.
According to a 2025 report by Urban, the average monthly cost of groceries has increased by 32% since 2019, outpacing income growth by 3%.
As a result, a family of four now spends around $1,030 for groceries a month in the U.S., or roughly the equivalent of one week’s earnings.
Keeping an eye on grocery store discounts and deals is fairly common, and so is sharing their excitement when customers stumble upon a “happy” pricing error (although that doesn’t always mean the store will honor it).
In a recent video that has garnered over 207,200 views, TikTok creator Karen (@karencitaaaz) shared a surprising price she spotted in the seafood section of her local Costco.
What Was The Costco Pricing Error?
In the post, Karen shows four packages of lobster tails in her cart. “May the costco employee who priced these ‘ez peel shrimp’ live a prosperous life and I love you,” she wrote in the image’s overlay.
When zooming in on the label, we see that instead of lobster tails, it says “Farmed White EZ Peel Shrimp,” and the total for one package is $18.46, $16.92 for the second, and $21.32 each for the two packages on the back.
The price difference is pretty substantial. While the EZ peel shrimps cost $10.99, as listed on Costco, lobster tails typically range from $40 to $55 per pound.
“IN THIS ECONOMYYYY,” she wrote in the caption. “This was a jackpot find and I most definitely wasn’t gonna say a word.”
Commenters Encourage Her
In the comments, users shared pricing mistakes they came across, and said they would’ve done the same thing.
“The way i would’ve RAN to self check out lmao,” wrote one user.
Karen responded, “I did!! But I ran to the seasoning aisle to process first.”
Another user attached a photo of two Kirkland brand organic chicken breast packages mislabeled as “beef trimmings” and priced at 6 cents.
“Omg take them all!!!” exclaimed a third. Karen also replied to this comment, writing, “5 were priced incorrectly, I took 4. And there were about 8 packages priced correctly, they were $50.”
How Do These Errors Occur?
Items such as produce, seafood, and meat do not typically arrive pre-packaged and pre-portioned in grocery stores. Instead, employees in those departments will weigh items and print labels that detail the weight, price, best-by date, and more.
In cases like this, it’s highly likely that the employee printing these specific labels simply selected the wrong item, resulting in a lower price per pound.
BroBible has reached out to Costco via contact form to find out what may have happened in this instance.
Do Grocery Stores Have To Honor The Lowest Price?
The short answer is no. There are no federal regulations for retailers to honor the lowest advertised price if it was a mistake, which means grocery stores can set their own policies.
According to one Reddit user who claims to be an employee on r/Costco, checkout workers pay close attention to the label. Some Costco shoppers, they shared, try to “pull labels off $10 pork chops and put them on $80 steaks.”
They say this tactic doesn’t work. “We will always catch you, and you will get more than your membership taken away,” they wrote.
While that’s a different situation entirely, it does suggest that employees are trained to take a closer look at the label and flag any mistakes, if any.
BroBible has reached out to Karen via TikTok and Instagram messages for comment.