The price increase for Costco members went into effect on Sunday and represents the retailer’s first increase since 2017.
The company announced plans to increase the price of a Costco membership in July, noting that annual membership fees for Gold Star memberships in the U.S. and Canada would increase from $60 to $65.
Costco also announced that it would increase the price of its Executive Membership from $120 to $130 and increase the maximum annual 2% premium for its Executive Membership from $1,000 to $1,250.
The fee increases affect around 52 million memberships. Just over half of these memberships are executive memberships, the company said.
Costco last increased membership fees in 2017
The Washington-based company reported net sales of $210.55 billion for the first 44 weeks of 2024, up 6.9% year-over-year, and has 882 warehouses in the U.S. and Puerto Rico, Canada, Mexico, Japan and other countries.
The company also has e-commerce sites in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Mexico, Korea, Taiwan, Japan and Australia.
The last time the company announced a membership increase was in 2017. That’s when the retailer began charging an additional $5 for individual, corporate and supplemental members in the U.S. and Canada, bringing the cost to $60.
The company also decided in 2017 to increase the cost of executive memberships in the United States and Canada from $110 to $120. According to the Associated Press, the increases affected around 35 million members.
Saleen Martin is a reporter on USA TODAY’s NOW team from Norfolk, Virginia – the 757. Follow her on Twitter at @SaleenMartin or email her at [email protected].
