Costco Cuts Off Freeloaders From Their $1.50 “Glizzies”

Remember that time when you flashed a friend’s Costco membership card like you were playing Assassins Creed sneaking into a top-secret facility? Come on, I can’t be the only one who’s done it. 

Well, my bulk-buying buddy, it seems those days of cloak-and-dagger grocery runs for you and I are coming to an end. Costco has officially had enough of the freeloading, and they’re cracking down harder than when I found out my brother-in-law was using my Hulu account.

Costco, the king of oversized ketchup bottles and 48-packs of 60 grit toilet paper, has announced that it’s installing card scanners at the entrances of its warehouses across the United States. Yup, you heard that right—no more slipping by the greeter with just a flash of your friend’s card. Now, you’ll actually have to scan that bad boy before you even get a whiff of those legendary $1.50 hot dogs.

This move comes hot on the heels of a recent membership fee hike—$65 for regular folks and $130 for all the rich Executive members. This marks the first fee increase since 2017, but in true Costco fashion, they got good press coverage for only raising it the price of a single rotisserie chicken. But now Costco is on a mission to make sure that everyone who walks through their hallowed aisles is a card-carrying member, or at least has the decency to be accompanied by one.

Now, instead of just waving your card at the entrance like you’re signaling a secret handshake, you’ll have to press your barcode against a scanner. And if you’re caught without a valid membership or, God forbid, using someone else’s card, you’ll be quickly arrested and escorted to jail. Just kidding, although you will be politely (or not-so-politely) directed to the membership counter and have to do the walk of shame.

Costco’s got a valid point here, though. According to them, they’ve been letting nonmembers sneak in and enjoy the same discounts as paying customers, and they’re simply not having it anymore. The company reported a $4.6 billion in revenue from membership fees last year, which, in case you’re wondering, is an 8% increase from 2022. That’s right, membership cards are their biggest single revenue source.

Costco has also been dealing with a bit of a stock price slide. Despite showing strong sales, their stock has taken a 4% hit over the last month. As of right now, it seems Wall Street isn’t entirely convinced that the fee hike and tighter entrance policies are worth an upgrade in company valuation.

Stock.News does not have positions in companies mentioned.