Costco says it’s going to start cracking down on membership sharing

A customer loads a pickup motortruck aft shopping astatine a Costco shop connected July 11 successful Richmond, Calif. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Are you craving that $1.50 hot-dog-and-soda combo from Costco? Be judge to person your ain rank paper handy.

Over nan coming months, shoppers will person to commencement scanning their rank cards astatine nan entrances to Costco warehouses alternatively than conscionable presenting them to a shop employee, nan unit elephantine announced.

The Washington-based institution is nan latest to ace down connected rank sharing, arsenic businesses activity to forestall consumers from glomming onto their friends’ and families’ paid accounts without forking complete rank fees themselves.

Costco members pinch progressive memberships will person to scan their beingness aliases integer cards astatine a instrumentality astatine nan store’s entrance. Members who person cards without a photograph will person to show a valid photograph ID, and guests will only beryllium capable to participate a Costco shop pinch an progressive member.

“If you person immoderate questions aliases concerns, location will ever beryllium an attendant astatine nan doorway to assistance you!” Costco said successful a statement.

Costco isn’t nan only institution retired to extremity immoderate consumers from getting a free ride. Disney precocious announced that it would commencement blocking Disney+ relationship holders from sharing their passwords to nan streaming work extracurricular their households.

A similar move by Netflix past twelvemonth led to an uptick successful subscribers but whitethorn besides person damaged nan company’s reputation, Fast Company reported.

Costco executive Richard Galanti told MarketWatch successful January that nan institution was aiming to forestall nonmembers from dodging fees by utilizing a member’s paper to shop, an rumor that emerged aft nan institution introduced self-checkout lines.

Costco relaxed nan enforcement of its rules during nan tallness of nan COVID-19 pandemic, Galanti said, erstwhile group asked others to shop for them to debar going outside.

In consequence to nan problem, nan institution announced that it would statesman asking customers successful self-checkout lines — successful summation to regular checkout lines — to show their rank cards and a photograph ID.

Costco has 128 cardinal members and reported that it earned $4.6 cardinal successful gross from rank fees past year.

Costco’s yearly rank fees are set to increase opening successful September, from $60 to $65 for Gold Star members and from $120 to $130 for Executive members.