Costco May Be Increasing Membership Fees Soon—Here's What You Need to Know
Everywhere you look these days, it seems that more and more brands are abiding by the famous words of DJ Khaled, “Yesterday’s price is not today’s price.”
From rent to groceries, consumers everywhere are feeling the sting of inflation in addition to shrinkflation (which may be even worse), and there seems to be no sign of either letting up. With prices continuing to climb, shoppers are becoming more conscious of how they spend their hard-earned cash and are looking for deals wherever they can get them.
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Fan-favorite wholesale club, Costco, has long been customers' go-to destination for incredible bargains on trusted brands and products. Whether you’re hunting for the newly released Costco-themed Monopoly game or looking to purchase this year's wine advent calendar, the retailer has got it all.
To take advantage of all the chain has to offer, you’ll need to pick up a membership card — which costs about $60 a year for a Gold Star membership and $120 a year for the Executive tier. That works out to about $5 and $10 a month, respectively, but that may not be the case for too much longer.
Following Costco’s recent updates to food court seating and the implementation of sample kiosks, the bulk grocer shared some less-than-exciting news about an upcoming increase to its annual membership plan. On an earnings call held last Tuesday, September 26, CFO Richard Galanti answered, “It’s a question of when, not if,” when asked whether the company plans to hike membership fees in the near future.
If you’re just tuning in, Costco’s most recent price increase took place in June 2017. Historically, the brand has followed the same five-and-a-half-year cadence when it comes to considering the hit to your wallets. Galanti shared that the company considers the economy when deciding whether to raise fees, but also noted that as the company is "doing great" and has "great loyalty," they're in no rush to raise the rates for the time being.
Fortunately, there doesn't seem to be a definitive date for when membership prices are set to increase, so we can afford to throw one more box of those cookie monster ice cream bars into our already overflowing cart.
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