- Costco increased its annual membership fees this month.
- This is the first time Costco has increased its fees since 2017.
- The retailer has hinted for months that wage increases were on the way.
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Costco has increased its annual membership fee.
Starting Sunday, the wholesale club retailer began charging $65 a year for its Gold Star and business memberships, up from $60 previously for Costco memberships.
Meanwhile, executive membership fees have increased from $120 to $130 per person.
One of the perks of Executive Membership is that members receive 2% cash back on their annual spending, and the maximum cash back a member can earn has now increased to $1,250, over the previous limit of $1,000.
The new rates apply to Costco members in the U.S. and Canada. Membership fees are the same regardless of currency. For example, a Gold Star member in Canada pays $65 CAD.
This is the first time Costco has increased membership fees since 2017. The company first confirmed the fee hike in July.
Costco Chief Financial Officer Gary Millerchip said in May that a fee increase was coming eventually, adding, “It’s not a question of if we’re going to increase our fees, it’s a question of when.” Millerchip did not give a specific date for the increase at the time.
At the time, Costco said it had about 134 million members and boasted a renewal rate of more than 90%.
The increase comes after Costco’s CEO said in a July memo obtained by Business Insider that the chain would raise pay for hourly employees, with starting pay for many of its store workers currently at $19.50 an hour, according to the memo.
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