Inflation has been going bonkers in the last few years, with prices going up for just about everything. And the fact that Sam’s Club increased their membership fees in October 2022 had lots of people wondering if rival Costco was planning to do the same thing with their Costco membership fees.
Well, it finally happened — Costco raised their membership fees on Sept. 1, 2024. On that date, membership fees increased by about 8% — from $60 to $65 for Gold Star membership and from $120 to $130 for Executive.
And the Executive 2% reward maximum went from $1,000 to $1,250 per year, which was another big change to the Executive membership benefits.
Industry watchers fully expected this kind of Costco membership fee increase to happen sometime in 2024, but it was still big news since the Costco membership price hadn't seen a change since June 2017.
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Costco raised membership fees on Sept. 1, 2024 — the first time in about seven years.
As detailed in a July 10 press release posted on the Costco Investor website, a Costco membership increase in fees went into effect for all members on Sept. 1, 2024.
Granted, we were well overdue for this Costco membership fee increase, as it'd been about seven years since the last increase (in June 2017). And the increases before that used to happen roughly once every five years and seven months.
KCL TIP: We wrote a whole post to help you decide if a Costco membership is worth it, based on your spending levels.
Prior to July 2024, it was a question of when, not if membership fees were going up.
On just about every Costco earnings call prior to September 2024, someone would ask the question of whether Costco planned to raise their membership fees. And just about every time, the answer given by Costco’s Chief Financial Officer (after a chuckle) was "it’s a question of when, not if."
They were banking on the fact that Costco members have great loyalty. According to the numbers shared in May 2024, renewal rates were at an impressive 93%.
The membership fee increase of $5 - $10 was pretty much what everyone expected.
Costco had said that, eventually, the membership fees would go up. And there was definitely a reason to believe it would happen sooner rather than later, based on the dates of past price hikes.
Here’s what that pattern of fee increases looked like in the past:
September 2000: Gold Star membership went from $40 to $45 (13% increase)
May 2006: Gold Star membership went from $45 to $50 (11% increase)
November 2011: Gold Star membership went from $50 to $55 (10% increase); Executive membership went from $100 to $110 (10% increase).
June 2017: Gold Star membership went from $55 to $60 (9% increase); Executive membership went from $110 to $120 (9% increase).
Based on the pattern of about five years, seven months between price hikes, we would have been on target for a more expensive membership as of January 2023 — but according to Costco, that didn't happen thanks to a financially successful last few years.
For comparison, Sam's Club membership fees went up $10 in October 2022.
The buzz around a Costco membership price increase gained speed in September 2022 when Sam’s Club announced they’d raise the Sam's Club membership cost for the first time in nine years.
As of Oct. 17, 2022, the annual price for a Sam’s Club Basic membership level increased from $45 to $50 (11%). For the upgraded Sam’s Club Plus membership, it went from $100 to $110 (10%).
However, to ease the blow, Sam’s Club covered the cost for active members. If you were a Club member at the time they raised the fee, they gave you $5 in Sam’s Cash, and if you were a Plus member, you got $10 in Sam’s Cash.
When membership warehouse clubs increase their fees, the increase is usually by about 10%. But Sam’s Club is still a cheaper membership overall.
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