Why Walmart, Costco, and Sam's Club workers check your receipts — and you should comply

Shoppers are not legally required to show receipts at any retailer. But refusing to show your receipt could give a store probable cause to detain you.

• Walmart, Costco, Sam's Club, and many other retailers check shoppers' receipts at store exits.
• Retail employees check receipts to reduce theft and ensure customers leave with all their purchases.
• Showing your receipt is simple and painless — and saves retail workers a headache.

If you've ever shopped at Walmart or Costco, you've probably been asked to show your receipt at the door. 

Some customers have complained about this practice on social media. Videos posted to TikTok show people flouting receipt requests at store exits, and filming confrontations over their refusals to comply.

Shoppers are not legally required to show receipts at any retailer. But refusing to show your receipt could give a store probable cause to detain you, as my colleague Gloria Dawson has reported. One customer sued Walmart after repeatedly refusing to show receipts for his purchases at Denver-area Walmart stores, leading workers to detain him. (Walmart was recently found not liable for false imprisonment of the customer). 

So why would any store check receipts if it causes so much tension?

The most obvious reason is to deter theft.

This isn't a bad thing: retailers are reeling right now from rising theft rates, and those losses can have a direct impact on shoppers.

Dollar Tree, for example, recently said it may lock up more goods in stores as it battles rising theft. Walmart's CEO has said stores would close if theft didn't drop. Target has said shrinkage — or losses from theft, fraud, and other causes — would grow to more than $1 billion in 2023, up $500 million over last year.

Why Costco and Sam's Club check receipts

But checking receipts isn't just about reducing theft. It also ensures you leave the store with everything you purchased. 

At Costco, employees stationed at store exits request receipts from every customer leaving the building. The receipts include signifiers for large items, as well as item counts to avoid under or overcharges, Costco employees have told Insider.  

"We do this to double-check that the items purchased have been correctly processed by our cashiers," Costco said on its website. "It's our most effective method of maintaining accuracy in inventory control, and it's also a good way to ensure that our members have been charged properly for their purchases."

Walmart-owned Sam's Club has a similar policy requiring receipt checks at store exits. 

"To ensure that you are charged correctly for the merchandise you have selected, Sam's Club may inspect or electronically scan your merchandise and electronic/phone or paper copy receipt(s) when you exit any Sam's Club location," the warehouse chain said on its website.

So there are plenty of reasons show your receipts when asked.

You aren't legally required to, but complying is simple and painless, and it ensures you leave with everything you paid for. It also avoids unnecessarily complicating the jobs of frontline store employees.