Costco clamping down on sharing membership cards
Published 9:11 am Wednesday, June 28, 2023
It just got harder to use someone else’s Costco card.
Following Netflix’s lead, the warehouse chain is cracking down on account sharing and said it will be checking membership cards to ensure the photo matches the person at the checkout line.
“We don’t feel it’s right that non members receive the same benefits and pricing as our members,” the company said in a statement.
Though Costco has always asked customers to show their membership cards at the register, the retailer said it’s seen more nonmembers shopping with other people’s cards as self-checkout expands. Membership runs $60 to $120 a year, depending on the tier.
“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,” the company said.
Famous for its gargantuan packages of toilet paper and supersized household staples, the members-only club offers bulk pricing and a no-frills retail experience. It experienced a surge in sales at the height of the pandemic, as anxious customers stocked up on bottled water and pantry items in preparation for prolonged isolation.
Costco operates nearly 900 warehouses across the globe, more than half in the United States. As of May, it listed more than 124 million cardholders. Customers can choose between membership tiers: the Gold Star membership costs $60 annually, while the Executive membership, which comes with added perks, is $120. On the membership sign-up webpage, the company offers one free card to anyone older than 18 who lives at the same address registered with the account.
The crackdown comes after Netflix began locking out piggyback users in May. Under the new rules, anyone sharing their Netflix account log-in with family or friends who don’t live at the same address must pay an extra $7.99 a month for each additional person. People borrowing an account got redirected to a page showing how to start their own.
Though the move sent many users venting on social media, subscriptions spiked for the streaming service immediately after the shift.