A software engineer was looking for a side hustle so he started making TikTok videos about Costco. It paid off.
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- After noticing how much people loved Costco, Anil, 33, created a side hustle based on the store.
- Since creating a TikTok account in June, he has amassed over 136,000 followers.
- In two months, he says he's made almost $5,000 from sharing Costco deals with his audience.
During the day, Anil, who prefers to keep his full name private because he does not want to reveal his identity on social media, works full-time as a software engineer. In his spare time, he is a grocery store influencer.
Since June, Anil, who is not affiliated with Costco, has been spending a few evenings per week searching for interesting new products at his local store. Each morning, he spends an hour editing the videos and uploading them to his TikTok account, @costcofinds75, to show to his 136,000 followers.
While Anil enjoys his day job, he was looking for an opportunity to make extra money online. He'd previously created a website selling cell phone accessories, but after a couple of months of running ads, he still hadn't managed to sell any products. So he decided to try something else.
After spending some time scrolling through TikTok, he noticed that videos showing deals were popular. He felt particularly inspired by Costco Hot Finds, a TikToker with 1.3 million followers, who describes herself in her bio as a "Costco obsessed mom." In her videos, she features each product for a few seconds and describes it.
"I see she has millions of followers. So I thought, OK, people are liking Costco products, so why don't I try this?" Anil told Insider. So, while on his weekly trips to Costco to buy cheap groceries and gas, he began looking for items to show on his own TikTok account. His goal was to make $10 per day from his videos.
His first video, which he posted on June 24, was a series of photos of items he'd found, along with the prices, including a TV, an air fryer, a pack of water bottles, and a pack of smoke detectors. The video currently has 64,000 views.
After posting various videos in the subsequent days, Anil said he was surprised to find that people started liking them and following his account. While he didn't make much money in the first month, he didn't let it deter him.
A few weeks in, his videos began to go viral. One video posted on September 24, which features a s'mores maker for $19.99, a box of bottled wine for $29.99, an electric corkscrew for $24.99, a 40-piece dinner set for $99.99, and two packs of cinnamon bun flavored cereal for $9.79, has over 2 million views.
Anil said that food products and kitchen items like this are very popular with his audience, so he often prioritizes them when looking for products to feature on his account. He also focuses on new products that are getting a lot of attention in store and products that look interesting or unique.
Anil achieved his initial goal, but has no plans to slow down
Anil's strategy appears to have paid off. While he didn't earn much money in his first month, things quickly picked up, he said. According to screenshots of what appear to be payments from TikTok's reward program for creators seen by Insider, Anil received $1,803 in September and $3,054 in October.
Following the success of the videos on TikTok, he also tried posting the videos to YouTube and Instagram. Unfortunately, they have not been as successful. "The algorithms are just not promoting this kind of content," he said. He added that he's tried cutting the videos down to make them appeal to the algorithm, but that it's "tedious work" because he already has a full-time job.
After blasting through his initial goal of earning $10 per day from his videos, Anil's next goal is to get 1 million followers on his account.
He has also recently started another TikTok account, @samsclubfinds2, where he shares deals he finds at Sam's Club, another US-based wholesale chain with a similar membership model to Costco. Since uploading his first video to the account on September 14, he has amassed 18,300 followers.
However, Anil says he doesn't expect it to be as popular as his Costco account, although he doesn't completely understand the attraction.
"People love Costco," he said. "I went this morning. Before even opening the doors, there was a line. I don't know why."