No Tip Charges $18 to Deliver Costco’s $1.50 Hot Dog Combo

Customers order from Costco’s food court menu through No Tip, which sends someone to buy the food and deliver it. Chen says the listed prices include fees and tips, and customers receive a refund if an order arrives late.

The markup applies across the menu. A Costco pizza priced at $9.95 costs $30 through No Tip, while a $7.99 rotisserie chicken chef salad is listed at $28. The $18 hot dog combo represents a 1,100% markup over Costco’s price.

Chen told SFGate that he built the service to feed groups rather than just individual customers. No Tip can handle orders for up to 200 people and includes plates and forks, though hosts are responsible for setting up and serving the food. Chen said offices are among the customers, and that some people specifically crave Costco food court items. He is making some deliveries himself and has enlisted friends and other workers paid “on the side”; he hopes to hire in-house drivers.

Chen created No Tip two months ago. The service operates across Southern California through 66 fulfillment locations. He said the idea came after he wanted Costco pizza while living near Venice Beach but did not want to make the trip and wait in line. “I know my friends have paid, like, $30-plus dollars for some terrible Domino’s in the past,” he told SFGate. “So why not try to do this?”