- Costco said Wednesday it will raise its annual membership fee.
- This is the first time Costco has raised fees since 2017.
- Retailers have been hinting for months that increases were coming.
Costco’s annual membership fee is getting more expensive.
Starting Sept. 1, the wholesale club retailer will charge $65 a year for Gold Star and Business memberships, it said in announcing June sales results. Currently, memberships are $60.
Meanwhile, executive memberships will cost $130 each, up from the current rate of $120.
One of the benefits of Executive membership is a 2% cash back reward on member spending each year. The maximum cash back that members can earn will increase to $1,250, up from the current cap of $1,000.
The fee applies to Costco members in the U.S. and Canada. The membership price is the same regardless of currency — for example, a Gold Star membership in Canada costs 60 Canadian dollars.
This increase marks the first time Costco has raised its membership fees since 2017.
In May, Costco CFO Gary Millerchip said that the fee hikes would come at some point, adding that it was a question of “when we’re going to raise fees, not if we’re going to raise fees.” Millerchip did not provide a specific date for the hikes at the time.
At the time, Costco said it had about 134 million members. The retailer claimed a renewal rate of more than 90%.
The raise comes after Costco’s CEO said in a memo obtained by Business Insider that its hourly employees would get a raise.
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