Costco raises membership fees for first time since 2017 | Real Time Headlines

If you want to shop at the following sites, you’ll soon have to pay more costco.

The members-only warehouse club said Wednesday that membership fees in the U.S. and Canada will increase by $5 starting Sept. 1, taking the annual fee from $60 to $65. Its higher-level plan, called Executive Membership, will increase from $120 to $130 per year.

Costco said the fee increase will affect about 52 million members, slightly more than half of whom are premium members.

The stock rose about 2% in after-hours trading Wednesday.

This marks the first time Costco has raised membership rates since June 2017.

However, Costco held off on raising prices until then. Then-CEO Craig Jelinek previously stated in an interview with CNBC Bad timing As consumers deal with high inflation. The company’s current chief financial officer, Richard Galanti, made similar comments on a previous earnings call.

Costco relies on membership fees to drive much of its revenue and help keep merchandise prices low. its competitors, Walmart-owns a Sam’s Club store, Raise your membership fee 2022, for the first time in nine years. Even after the increase, however, Sam’s Club memberships remain cheaper at $50 per year for Club members and $110 per year for higher-level “Plus” memberships. At BJ’s Wholesale, annual membership fees for club membership and higher levels are $55 and $110, respectively.

Costco said Strengthen law enforcement Last year, to make sure shoppers weren’t using another loyalty card. It adds additional checks for membership at self-checkout lanes. These moves are reminiscent of Netflix, which has also Crack down on those who use its services without paying.

Clarification: This article has been updated to clarify that Craig Jelinek is the former CEO of Costco and Richard Galanti is the former CFO.