Costco card sharers, beware — you may be asked to show your membership card even at self-checkout lanes, as the members-only grocery wholesaler begins cracking down on unauthorized membership sharing.
Costco says that its membership policy hasn’t changed, as it has always required shoppers to present their membership cards at checkout. Since expanding the self-checkout lanes, however, Costco began to notice that more people at those checkouts were using cards that did not belong to them.
“Costco is able to keep our prices as low as possible because our membership fees help offset our operational expenses, making our membership fee and structure important to us,” a Costco representative said in a statement. “We don’t feel it’s right that non-members receive the same benefits and pricing as our members.”
At self-checkout, a Costco employee will now ask to see the photo associated with the membership card. If the card does not have a photo, they may ask you for a photo ID.
“It’s a really small percent of members who are doing it,” Costco CFO Richard Galanti told The Wall Street Journal. “But when you’re dealing with millions of transactions, even a very small percentage is something you would want to correct.”
A “Gold Star” Costco membership, the most basic option, costs $60 per year, and the upgraded “Executive” membership is $120. Memberships include two cards, one for the primary member and one additional household member. The household member must share an address with the primary cardholder.
Costco’s membership prices have remained the same since 2017. On May 25, Costco CFO Galanti said that the company will raise prices again “at some point,” though the change is not imminent, Insider reported.
In comparison, Costco’s competitor Sam’s Club raised its membership fees last October to $50 for a basic membership and $110 for a “Plus” membership, up from $45 and $100, respectively.
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