Costco rumored to be raising membership fees in 2017

Costco could be increasing membership prices by 10 percent, but will that effect people from renewing?

If you have a Costco membership, your fee might be about to go up. Don’t get spooked by headlines that will report a “hike”, even though that’s referenced somewhere in this piece. A “hike” sounds so negative and daunting while the thing that Costco is doing seems to be miniscule.

According to a recent report by Business Insider, Costco is expected to raise their membership prices by roughly 10 percent. For all those non-math majors out there, that’s not a lot.

The analysts said they expect Costco to increase its annual fees from $55 to $60 for its basic membership and from $110 to $120 for its executive membership.

The analyst that spoke on the matter doesn’t believe that the potential hike will change anything about their membership numbers.

“We believe Costco’s price transparency, limited [product] offering, and attractive membership structure have helped lend it a level of consistency that’s rare in the world of hardline and broadline retail,” analysts wrote.

This all goes back to the “hike” thing. While 10 percent is still a price increase, it’s hardly a hike. We’re talking about a difference of $5 to $10 dollars more per year for a membership, which amounts to less than a dollar a month.

If that’s a big deal to you then maybe you shouldn’t be spending money on a Costco membership. Budgets are tight around America, that’s no secret, but this isn’t a “hike” to get outraged about — it’s less and a dollar for the same thing and more.

This is just how subscription-based products work; prices go up. There’s nothing to be transparent about, but even that demonstrates how consumer-friendly Costco is and will continue to be.

Lest we forget, this is all a rumor so there’ no guarantee that these increases will happen.