Customers
exit
a
Costco
store
in
Teterboro,
New
Jersey,
on
June
28,
2023.
Kena
Betancur
|
Corbis
News
|
Getty
Images
You
will
soon
have
to
pay
more
if
you
want
to
shop
at
Costco.
The
membership-based
warehouse
club
said
Wednesday
that
it
will
increase
its
membership
fee
by
$5
in
the
U.S.
and
Canada
as
of
Sept.
1.
That
is
an
increase
to
$65
from
$60
for
annual
memberships.
Its
higher-tier
plan,
called
“Executive
Membership,”
will
increase
to
$130
a
year
from
$120.
Costco
said
the
fee
increases
would
affect
about
52
million
memberships,
a
little
over
half
of
which
are
executive
memberships.
Shares
rose
about
2%
in
extended
trading
Wednesday.
It
marks
Costco’s
first
membership
rate
increase
since
June
2017.
On
average,
the
company
has
raised
rates
roughly
every
five
and
a
half
years,
which
would
have
put
Costco
on
track
to
raise
the
fee
in
late
2022
or
early
2023.
However,
Costco
held
off
on
raising
fees
prior
to
now.
In
interviews
with
CNBC,
CEO
Craig
Jelinek
previously
said
it
was
not
the
right
time
as
consumers
dealt
with
high
inflation.
The
company’s
Chief
Financial
Officer
Richard
Galanti
made
similar
comments
on
prior
earnings
calls.
Costco
relies
on
membership
fees
to
drive
most
of
its
revenue
and
help
keep
merchandise
prices
low.
Its
rival,
Walmart-owned
Sam’s
Club,
hiked
its
own
membership
fee
in
2022
for
the
first
time
in
nine
years.
Yet,
even
after
the
fee
bump,
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.
At
BJ’s
Wholesale,
annual
membership
fees
are
$55
and
$110,
for
club
members
and
its
own
higher
tier,
respectively.
Costco
said
it
stepped
up
enforcement
last
year
to
make
sure
shoppers
were
not
using
other
members’
cards.
It
added
an
extra
check
for
memberships
in
self-checkout
aisles.
The
moves
were
reminiscent
of
Netflix,
which
has
also
cracked
down
on
people
who
use
its
service
without
paying.
