The arrival of 2024 caused many to presage that they would lose their privileges at one of the country’s most popular supermarket chains. Just in the middle of April, what many expected (and others feared, all things considered) has just come true. They have announced Costco membership change that will leave thousands of people without their discounts or, directly, without the right to shop at the store again.
Costco membership change, announced: the company makes good on its threat
Costco, the popular membership-only warehouse club, recently announced changes to its membership policies. The company will implement new rules to limit membership sharing between households. Remember that they have historically allowed and even encouraged sharing memberships between family and friends.
The new policy cracks down on membership sharing in an effort to increase revenue. It requires each household to have its own primary membership. Additional members outside the household will now need to get a separate membership instead of using someone else’s card.
This announcement came as a surprise to many devoted Costco shoppers. For years, sharing a membership between households or with friends has been a common money-saving strategy. Under the new rules, thousands of people will lose access to Costco’s stores and products.
Costco membership changes forever: goodbye to this common practice
Costco recently announced a major change to its membership program that will limit memberships to one per household starting in March 2023. The warehouse retailer said each membership can only include people living at the same residential address, meaning secondary accounts for family or friends will no longer be allowed.
This change marks a significant shift for Costco, which has historically allowed customers to share memberships across multiple households. The new policy aims to crack down on membership sharing and ensure each membership represents a single household, something the company now wants to avoid at all costs.
The change means that thousands of people who previously shared a membership with family or friends outside their residence will soon need to get their own separate account. Costco is giving affected members until the end of February to obtain a new individual membership.
What will happen from now on: the reasons, explained by the company
Costco has announced that it will be making a significant change to its membership program in order to cut down on membership sharing and card passing. For years, many Costco members have been sharing their membership cards with friends and family who were not official members.
This allows non-members to shop at Costco while avoiding paying for their own membership. While membership sharing has been against official policy, it has been widespread practice and difficult for Costco to police. However, Costco has decided to finally crack down on the practice.
The main reason is that membership sharing leads to overcrowding in warehouses and makes the shopping experience less pleasant for paying members. It also leads to lost revenue, since the friends and family using shared cards have not directly paid for memberships themselves.
By announcing this membership change, Costco aims to reduce membership sharing and ensure that only official, paying members can shop in warehouses. This will provide a better shopping experience for legitimate members and increase revenue for the company.
As you can see, the Costco membership change is causing some controversy in the country, although they are part of a measure that the chain announced years ago that it would take. Just now they have run out of patience, and have had to prohibit purchases by non-members. However, there are those who expect them to take similar measures to Wallmart and liberalize the subscription, although nothing has been confirmed.
