ECONOMY & WORK
MONEY 101
NEWS
PERSONAL FINANCE
NET WORTH
About Us Contact Us Privacy Policy Terms of Use DMCA Opt-out of personalized ads
© Copyright 2023 Market Realist. Market Realist is a registered trademark. All Rights Reserved. People may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.
MARKETREALIST.COM / ECONOMY & WORK

Costco hikes membership fee for the first time since 2017; here's what you'll pay now

Last year, Costco stepped up their enforcement to ensure that shoppers were not sharing their membership cards.
PUBLISHED JUL 12, 2024
Cover image source: Costco Wholesale store | Getty Images | Photo by Johnny Louis
Cover image source: Costco Wholesale store | Getty Images | Photo by Johnny Louis

Your much-loved Coctco membership is going to cost more now. The retail giant is set to raise the fees by $5 to $65 a year in the US as well as Canada. The 8% price increase for US and Canadian members will take effect September 1, Costco said in a statement Wednesday. Costco said that the premium "Executive Membership" will also be going up by $10 to $130 a year. It was also announced that members will also be earning a maximum of 1,250 in rewards annually which is a $250 raise from the current reward.

Getty Images | Justin Sullivan
Getty Images | Justin Sullivan

The company announced that these changes will apply on almost 52 million members, a little over half of which have Executive membership. As a wholesale corporation, Costco's revenues are mostly attributed to the annual membership fees. As per reports by AOL, Costco earned around $4.6 billion in revenue from just membership fees, which was an 8% increase from 2022. 

Unsplash | Photo by Marcus Reubenstein
Unsplash | Photo by Marcus Reubenstein

Costco has also raised the prices of their food court staples like the chicken bake, which now sells for $3.99. However, they have refrained from raising the price of their signature hot dog and soda combo which still retails for $1.50.

CEO Craig Jelinek recalled the time when he had approached the founder and former CEO of the company Jim Sinegal. He told him that the company was losing money over the combo. "I came to (Sinegal) once and I said, 'Jim, we can’t sell this hot dog for a buck fifty,"Jelinek said, according to the Mental Floss article, which cites 425Business.We are losing our rear ends.' And he said, ‘If you raise (the price of the) effing hot dog, I will kill you. Figure it out.’ That’s all I really needed."

Last year, Costco also stepped up their enforcement to ensure that shoppers were not sharing their membership cards. It added an extra check for memberships at self-checkout aisles. 

Costco wholesale |  Francis Dean | Corbis via Getty Images
Costco wholesale | Francis Dean | Corbis via Getty Images

Last quarter Costco reported a net sales of $24.48 billion for the five weeks to July 7, an increase of 7.4% from last year, and this year the net sales has  totalled $210.55 billion, which is also a 6.9% from a year ago.

Costco is not the only one raising membership prices. Its rival, Walmart-owned Sam’s Club, hiked its own membership fee in 2022 for the first time in nine years. However, even after the hike a Sam’s Club membership was cheaper, at $50 for club members and $110 for members of its higher-tier level, “Plus,” on an annual basis. 

Currently, Costco has  838 stores with 578 of them located in the U.S. and Puerto Rico. The company has over 133 Costco stores located in California alone. The company has been opening warehouses since  2022 and has opened more than 23 in these few months.

RELATED TOPICS COSTCO
MORE ON MARKET REALIST
The sharks did not expect the product to taste as good as it did, considering what it was made from.
4 hours ago
The designer was also commissioned by top brands and worked for the royal family.
5 hours ago
The host had a look of bewilderment on his face which was absolutely hilarious.
6 hours ago
Things did not seem to be going well for the entrepreneur due to her high energy.
9 hours ago
The guest might have had high expectations, but they were quickly brought down to earth.
10 hours ago
The contestant was unable to contain her excitement and hugged the model.
1 day ago
Two of the players got it right, and while the player who lost didn't mind, fans were not satisfied.
1 day ago
Lisa celebrated her birthday in style with a perfect two-card guess to win the big prize.
1 day ago
Rick Harrison did what he could to console the guest who said that he had lost faith in NASCAR.
1 day ago
Both the guest and the expert were fascinated by how well the automaton worked.
2 days ago
One of the entrepreneurs broke down in tears, explaining all the struggles they had to go through.
2 days ago
She couldn’t believe it when her doll was appraised at a five-figure sum, and laughed in disbelief.
2 days ago
Ken Jennings truly has embraced "Jeopardy!" in every way possible at this point.
2 days ago
The comedian was impressed by the simplicity of the product and amused by the pitch.
3 days ago
Harrison usually makes smart deals on the show, but this vintage car buy turned into a costly mistake.
3 days ago
Had she started the game in a better way, she might have won the five-figure prize money.
3 days ago
Barbara Corcoran made the exact same offer, and she wasn't happy about being rejected.
4 days ago
The guest believed that it was worth a modest amount of money, but that was clearly not the case.
4 days ago
With James Holzhauer in the lead, Amy Schneider and Andrew He decided to joke around.
4 days ago
Barbara Corcoran told the founders that she had never seen Greiner so passionate.
4 days ago