The membership increase, set for September 1, 2024, will impact around 52 million memberships, a little over half of which are on the “Executive” plan.
The annual US and Canada “Gold Star” memberships, Business and Business add-on members will see fees increase by $5. The annual fee for a “Gold Star” member currently sits at $60 plus sales tax, Costco said in an announcement this week.
Higher-tier “Executive” members in the US and Canada will see annual fees increase from $120 to $130. The maximum annual 2 percent reward, associated with the Executive tier, will increase from $1,000 to $1,250.
This is the first membership price hike Costco has announced in seven years.
“To clear up some recent media speculation, I also want to confirm the $1.50 hot dog price is safe,” Costco’s new chief financial officer, Gary Millerchip, said in May.
"I came to [Sinegal] once, and I said, ‘Jim, we can’t sell this hot dog for a buck fifty. We are losing our rear ends.’ And he said, ‘If you raise the ef**** hot dog, I will kill you. Figure it out,” Jelinek recalled in a 2018 presentation, 425 Business reported.
It’s not just discounted goods, there are many other perks of the membership. For instance, I have a $0 annual fee credit card from them which does a cash back on purchases. Last year, just through regular spending, I received $1200. That alone paid for the membership many times over, not to mention all the other things.
Ah yes, some billionaire just gave you $1200 at his own expense, with no profit for himself aye
They make plenty of profit off of me when I shop there. And the credit card company makes profit off me too, by the fees they charge merchants when I use their card. (though none off of balance APR, as I pay it off every month). The net result is that we both benefit from the exchange. This is a mutually-beneficial relationship. Not everything is zero-sum.