Costco raising member fees for the first time in seven years

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Louise Thomas

Editor

Inflation has finally caught up to Costco.

Customers hoping to pick up pallets of bottled water and dozens of giant muffins will have to shell out a little extra to shop at their local warehouse from now on. Costco has raised its membership rates by $5-10 per year, depending on the membership plan, its first price hike since 2017. The increases will affect both new customers and returning customers who renew their memberships.

Basic annual membership costs will increase from $60 to $65 dollars. Executive memberships will increase from $120 to $130, and the maximum annual 2 percent reward associated with that tier will also increase from $1,000 to $1,250.

“A modest increase in fees will allow us to bring our members even greater value," Costco told USA TODAY in a statement.

The increases will affect approximately 52 million memberships, with just about half being executive memberships. The changes went into effect on September 1.

The company said the increase would "help to offset operation costs so we can keep our prices low."

In addition to increasing membership prices, the company also said earlier this year that it planned to start enforcing its "no card sharing" policy, which prohibits members from handing their cards off to friends and family members.

"Over the coming months, membership scanning devices will be used at the entrance door of your local warehouse," Costco said in a statement. "Once deployed, prior to entering, all members must scan their physical or digital membership card by placing the barcode or QR Code against the scanner."

The company will still offer members an additional free card for a designated individual in a household who is at least 16 years old.

While inflation has driven up the cost of almost everything, one thing at Costco has, and will hopefully, continue to remain the same: the price of their hot dogs.

Earlier this year, Costco CFO Gary Millerchip assured fans of the $1.50 treat that the price would remain the same, even with inflation driving up prices for fast food everywhere else.

“To clear up some recent media speculation, I also want to confirm the $1.50 hot dog price is safe,” he said during the company's first quarterly earnings call earlier this year.