Can You Actually Finance A Hot Dog At The Costco Food Court?

On any ranking of Costco's food court items, those famous hot dogs tend to reign supreme. It's the classic familiarity; it's the quick and satisfying convenience while shopping; it's even the blend of savoriness and a subtle sweetener that Costco uses to make the hot dogs irresistible. It's also very much about that unbeatable price, famously fixed at $1.50, including a soda. It's a meal you could theoretically get with change scrounged up from your pockets. However, there's a rumor flying around right now that Costco is making it somehow even easier and cheaper to buy a hot dog and soda combo — with financing. "You can now finance a hot dog at Costco for only $1.50," one Instagram account announced to its 2.8 million followers on May 25, 2025. But is this true? What would financing a buck-fifty even look like?

It is, in fact, not true. Financing a Costco hot dog is all smoke and mirrors, or Instagram hearsay and Reddit jokes. It's all in response to the recent announcement from the chain that it will be rolling out a "buy now, pay later" option for online purchases. Costco has partnered with one of the biggest servicers in these financing plans, Affirm, to offer customers payment plans on online purchases between $500 and $17,500. So, we're talking more about furniture and flat-screen TVs than afternoon snacks. Presumably, the "financing a hot dog" chatter sprang from Costco's reputation for prioritizing affordable prices in its food court options as well as now its financing services.

Costco's new Affirm payment option can be spread out over an extended period of time and also includes interest. A $500 purchase, for example, could cost a customer around $88 per month for six months, depending on the APR rate. Plans can be as short as three months — so, if one could actually finance a hot dog, they could expect to pay around $0.53 per month with a 10% interest rate. It's funny to think of entering into such an official plan for a hot dog. Commenters on both Instagram and Reddit posts have compared it to a joke from the "Popeye" character Wimpy, quipping that, "I'll gladly pay Costco Tuesday for a hot dog today." The hot dog is easy fodder here because it's hard to imagine a cheaper item, even at a wholesale retail chain known for its affordable prices.

However, it is important to note that the rise of these "buy now, pay later" plans is indeed happening in food shopping. Consumers are increasingly using these services to buy groceries, a sobering reminder of how costly necessary food items are currently. Many still haven't seen egg-price decreases, for instance. So, no, you can't finance a Costco hot dog, but yes, you can finance other food items in other stores; and while interest rates on hot dogs make for online comedy, payment plans for other food purchases are less humorous.