You guys, we just learned about a big mistake that we’ve all been making at Trader Joe’s: spending money on new products without tasting them first. That’s right, though not new, Trader Joe’s has a new-to-us try before you buy policy that allows you to sample many of their products before you drop cold hard cash on them.
Whoa!
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We were already aware of their generous return policy — you can pretty much return anything that you don’t like, even if you’ve opened it — but we had no idea that you could give many of their products a test run in the store.
Of course, there are a few product categories that don’t apply, because they aren’t about to cook you up a plate of pasta. Those include any foods that need to be prepared (see pasta example, box mixes, frozen foods that need to be cooked, etc), and booze. But prepared foods, cheeses, snacks, and more are all on the menu.
Which means that I can finally stop debating these Crispy Crunchy Mochi Rice Nuggets that my kids have been begging for.
As a TJ’s employee and mother, I’d also like to add that in some stores you can, in fact, try the wine. Each store has a different vibe, and varying levels of flexibility with that sort of thing. Just ask one of the friendly crew members what the store’s policy is. 😉
Oh my goodness, Sara — thank you for the intel! Such great info. More reasons to love Trader Joe’s and fab Trader Joe’s employees. Yay!
I love our TJs and am friends with a number of the employees. I was checking out and my fave employee saw I was trying two new protein bars and she said “Don’t buy these, they are not good!” and she cracked them both open for me to taste and she was right! I love her and that store!
I also helped a couple contemplating the pickle flavored popcorn (I tried it at home and bleh!) I said, “Look, I like salty pickle flavors, but this is gross! And if you don’t want to take my word for it, they will let you try it!” They were pleased to learn about that rule!