Costco Raises Membership Fees for First Time in 7 Years

Access to Costco’s assortment of heavy cakes and cookies is now a bit more expensive.

In July, Costco announced its June net sales results in a press release. In addition to reporting a more than $1 billion increase in profit, the wholesaler said it would raise membership fees for customers for the first time since 2017.

Effective September 1, the annual membership dues increased by $5 for individual U.S. and Canadian Gold Star members, Business members and additional Business members, to a total of $65.

Executive membership prices in the U.S. and Canada have also increased by $10 to $130 — a basic membership costs $65 and an Executive promotion costs $65 — but the maximum annual 2% reward for Executive members has increased from $1,000 to $1,250.

The fee increases affected approximately 52 million members, of whom just over 50% were board members.

Costco did not respond to TODAY.com’s request for further comment.

Earlier in July 2022, Costco CEO Craig Jelinek told CNBC that the company was holding off on raising fees, citing high inflation that customers were facing as the reason.

Then, in September 2023, Richard Galanti, the company’s now-retired chief financial officer, said during a quarterly earnings conference call that Costco’s membership fee increase was “a matter of when, not if.”

Costco currently has 882 warehouses worldwide, with 609 in the U.S. and Puerto Rico. There are also 108 Costcos in Canada, 40 in Mexico, and 35 or fewer in Japan, the U.K., Korea, Australia, Taiwan, China, Spain, and other countries.

At the time of the last membership fee increase in 2017, the chain had 728 warehouses worldwide. Costco e-commerce sites now operate in the U.S., Canada and six other countries, including Japan.

While Costco’s membership fee has gone up, one price that will remain the same — hopefully it will continue to be — is its iconic hot dog-and-soda combo. On May 30, Costco’s newest CFO, Gary Millerchip, said during its Q3 2024 earnings conference call that the combo will remain at $1.50, where it has been since the 1980s.

This article was originally published on TODAY.com