Costco is raising its membership fees

Costco shoppers will see their membership fees go up for the first time since 2017, the company said Wednesday, betting the move will boost profits without turning off its loyal customer base.

Starting Sept. 1, Costco Gold Star, Business and Business add-on members in the United States and Canada must pay $65 for annual memberships, up from $60.

Executive members will have to pay $130, a $10-per-year increase. The move will affect 52 million members, “a little over half of which are Executive,” Costco said in a news release. Executive members are offered up to $1,000 in rewards for their purchases. The maximum rewards will increase to $1,250 with the fee hike, the company said.

The fee increase comes despite Costco defending its image as a place to find low-priced bulk goods in an economy struggling with inflation. On an earnings call in late May, Gary Millerchip, the company’s chief financial officer, told investors that Costco’s hotdog-soda combo would continue to be sold at $1.50 — a price that hasn’t changed since the 1980s — a move that won widespread acclaim.

Costco’s shares rose more than 2.5 percent after the announcement.

[DrFunkman]

That might be the most reasonable up charge I’ve ever seen from a major corporation

[kelvinfrazier]

He forgot to mention that just before announcing this they also announced that they’re raising the employee wages

[Yeo-]

Look, if anyone has the good graces to bump prices a little bit, it’s Costco. They pay their employees fair wages, they have great deals, and the co-founder once threatened to unalive the CEO for trying to up the price of the hot dog combo.

[RGC_animation]

A 12% increase in over 7 years, that's really reasonable honestly. And people who can actually go to Costco in the first place are gonna make it back in no time anyway.

[daved]

First time since 2017, costco held off for so long, everything else has exploded

[norliasmith]

The $5 increase in membership to keep the 1/4lb hotdog and 20 fl oz. soda at a $1.50 is well worth it.

[Who]

Costco remains one of the few big corps I don’t mind, they give their workers every holiday a paid day off, workers get paid well and have a pretty decent programs the company runs. If they want an extra $5 for a membership or 10, they can take it because I know it’s actually being used for good not just to make a rich man more rich.

[Fali]

Costco is the only store i can forgive for a slight price bump. Every other store raises prices as often as i raise my eyebrows.

[le_th_]

CostCo makes most of it's profit ON the membership fees, so that is why the prices in the store stay the same lol

[hi-smdx]

im not mad about it, Costco hasn't consistently abused their customer's goodwill and treats employees fairly. you also get a ton of benefits like cheaper gas, food, mechanic access etc.

[drew]

I went to Costco last weekend with 3 other people and we all ate lunch for like $8. Total. And then we spent a combined nearly $2k in store 😂

[agentjp]

Costco is a solid enough company that a slight price raise is honestly super okay

[littlemacisunderrated]

Edit: for those pointing how much extra money this makes Costco per year, that's actually a good thing. It's a price increase that doesn't effect customers but benefits the company majorly. That's a good thing
People are making a big deal outta this but it's 5 dollars a year.
10 for executives
Not that much man

[razoriffrin]

They've also recently raised worker pay across the board. Most of their employees make $30/hr+ now.

[FennecTECH]

The fact that they are keeping in store prices the same is pretty great. We all know they could just jack up store prices and make lots more money. But instead they raise membership costs an insignificant amount.

[ludlos]

So according to Wikipedia there's like 130 million Costco memberships, so that would be an increase of $650 million per year from memberships alone. However, that is almost nothing compared to the over 200 billion total revenue from this past year

[crimsondragon]

Given the prices at CostCo, this is just accounting for inflation. It’s an 8% increase in just the membership.

[sewgatormomm]

We have the executive membership and easily make that money back every year. The bonus checks we get are usually $300-$400. The year we booked our cruise through Costco travel, it was a lot more. We love Costco. ❤

[GSBarlev]

Dammit! Where was this hard-hitting news this morning? I just walked past a 7-11!

[SigmaAmerica]

No matter what I can always come to Costco with two dollars and still eat a full meal