Costco members will soon pay more to shop at the warehouse chain.
On Wednesday, Costco announced it will increase membership rates by $5 starting Sept. 1. The change means the base membership cost will go from $60 a year to $65. An “Executive Membership,” will go from $120 a year to $130.
Costco operates 609 locations in the U.S. with roughly 52 million members, a little over half of which are executive memberships that receive additional perks and a percentage back on purchases.
The increase marks Costco’s first rate hike since 2017.
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Earlier this year, Costco said it was cracking down on non-members using membership cards that don’t belong to them to shop at its clubs, a problem that was especially pervasive at self-checkout registers. Now, shoppers are asked to show their membership cards along with photo IF to use at self-checkout registers, the same policy as regular check-out lanes, CNN reported.
Membership fees account for $4.2 billion in revenue for Costco in 2022.