crack in the world?!.....Costco cracking down on sharing membership cards.....

[NewtonMP2100]

.....will require ID at self check-out now....people have been using self checkout with other members cards......



Costco is cracking down on sharing membership cards

....Some shoppers are buying Costco’s $4.99 rotisserie chickens and paying at self-checkout. The problem: They aren’t all members.

Since Costco has expanded self-checkout, the company has noticed that non-members have been sneaking in to use membership cards that don’t belong to them. The warehouse club retailer will now ask for shoppers’ membership cards along with a photo ID to use the self-checkout registers – the same policy as regular checkout lanes.

“We don’t feel it’s right that nonmembers receive the same benefits and pricing as our members,” Costco said in a statement.

Costco had around 66 million paid members and 119 million cardholders in 2022, making it one of the largest membership clubs in the world. Costco members pay either $60 for a regular membership or $120 for an executive card every year to shop at clubs.

The company has not raised the cost of its membership since 2017, despite rivals such as Amazon and Sam’s Club raising their membership fees. Costco has hinted it may soon raise its membership price.

This membership model is crucial to Costco’s business, which has boomed during the pandemic.

The fees help boost the company’s profit and offset expenses, allowing Costco to keep its prices down. Costco is known for offering some of the lowest prices in the retail industry.

Costco made $4.2 billion in membership fees in 2022, a 9% increase from 2021. The company’s renewal rate was 93% last.

Any changes to membership growth or renewal rates could hurt Costco and force it to raise prices.

“The extent to which we achieve growth in our membership base, increase the penetration of Executive membership, and sustain high renewal rates materially influences our profitability,” Costco says routinely in its annual filings.

Netflix has also recently cracked down on members sharing passwords.

Netflix previously turned a blind eye to password sharing because it was fueling growth, but all those non-paying members were hurting Netflix’s bottom line. It has previously estimated that more than 100 million households worldwide share an account.

Early results indicate that Netflix’s new policy is paying off.

The streaming service has seen its biggest jump in new subscriber sign-ups as a result of the crackdown since the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 when people were stuck at home binging content on the platform.......


..........no more sharing..........membership cards...........?!

[vision63]

They put your picture on the back of the cards. Why did they do that?

[steve...]

I am guilty.

My brother gave his extra card and I used it when near one away from home, a few times a year (the nearest one is 80 miles away).

I did feel a little awkward when the cashier would say "Thank you, Alan" (my brother's name).

I have bought several items online as a non-member. They say there's an additional 5% charge but I haven't seen that fee on the orders I've made.

[vision63]

steve... wrote:
I am guilty.

My brother gave his extra card and I used it when near one away from home, a few times a year (the nearest one is 80 miles away).

I did feel a little awkward when the cashier would say "Thank you, Alan" (my brother's name).

I have bought several items online as a non-member. They say there's an additional 5% charge but I haven't seen that fee on the orders I've made.

We don't have to respect their policy. They're not the government. If you get busted, you get busted. Guilty of paying Costco beaucoup dollars.

[GGD]

I noticed them asking just to see my card but no ID, but thought that it might be a slightly different scam. Someone not having a card at all, just a photo-copy of the bar code from someone's card. Just by seeing a card doesn't exactly prove that it belongs to the person who shows it. Mine is actually my Costco Visa card and I've never had a picture taken, so no picture on the card.

Before Covid the normal cashier lines at some stores used to ask to see my driver's license because I don't have a picture on my card, but that never resumed.

[Filliam H. Muffman]

Does buying with a gift card get charged at the non-member price? If it's the member price, just pre-pay for the family member.

[rgG]

That explains why they asked to see my card Monday at the self check.
I thought it was weird, but showed it to the lady.
I was afraid she was going to try to upsell me on the executive membership, again, which is why they usually ask to see my card. Lol
My card, the Costco Visa card, has a 20 year old picture on the back.
I get a new card, every so often, but still the original picture. Pity mine doesn’t work like Dorian Gray. Lol

[Racer X]

the way around it is to buy Costco gift cards, and they have to let you spend them.

[RgrF]

Why anyone who doesn't have a substantial family to support pays for a COSTCO card is a mystery to me, I'm letting mine lapse when it will.

[Racer X]

RgrF wrote:
Why anyone who doesn't have a substantial family to support pays for a COSTCO card is a mystery to me, I'm letting mine lapse when it will.

we save enough fuel alone to make it worthwhile. $12 per tankful in my wife's truck every fill-up there.