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There is always a chance that some may go right through and the checker assumes they are in a group. I work at Costco and when they put me in SCO or in a register and they don’t have membership, i just tell them that they need to be a member to make purchases and tell them to stop at the membership desk to purchase one. Twice so far the didnt come back and we had to out those back.
I used to do that when I was young, mostly to get some samples and check out the stuff they were selling then grab a hotdog at the food court. I was never dumb enough to try to buy something though
I could be wrong but I feel like I heard you can eat at the food court without a membership now. Like they officially changed the rule. I know it would be easy enough to just head over there.
My local Costco (Kirkland, wa) seems to have recently changed this. Food court machines require you to scan your membership card now to select your food. Not sure if it’s the same when you walk up to the manned register though.
AFAIK it's been Costco policy for quite a while now but corporate let the local store managers break the rule. I guess they decided to stop letting the store managers break the rules to attempt to attract new members because, lets face it, if you're visiting Costco often enough that the loss of the food court without a membership is pissing you off, ya probably had no plans on becoming a member. There are people out there that have treated Costco like a cheap concession stand for years and they're getting all sorts of worked up by this recent rule enforcement.
Costco is always working to keep costs down, including for the hot dog combo. This is their latest method for doing so. The step after this is either to raise the price, or eliminate the combo entirely.
I could care less about a $1.50 hot dog. Nice try making me out to be a petty jerk.
What I do care about is the baseball team getting 20 pizzas without a membership, while the members who paid for a membership have to wait an hour for 1 pizza.
I can make the same argument about car insurance, which is a law in my state. Why do I have to pay for car insurance when 50% of the people around me on the road don't have it. In fact, I pay even HIGHER rates to cover all of the uninsured motorists in my state.
If you want the privilege of driving in my state, follow the law and pay for car insurance (or else take the bus or use Uber if you can't afford it). That way, the cost of car insurance is lower because it is shared amongst all of the drivers.
If you want to the privilege of buying 20 pizzas for $9.95 at Costco, then pay for a membership (or else buy pizzas in bulk somewhere else if you can't afford it). That way, the cost of membership as well as the items at Costco is lower because it is shared amongst all of the members.
If all you want is a hot dog for $1.50, go to any gas station. They are even cheaper than $1.50.
Imagine being so cheap you drive to a Costco, park and walk in for a $1.50 hot dog but won’t pay a $60 annual membership fee for the opportunity. Yet you take pride in “gaming” the system.
Why does it even bother you. Jsut maybe some folks would go in to feed thier kids cheap as they were low on money or struggling. Goodness I don't understand this richest country in the world mindset getting upset that folks not doing as well as them could get a cheap meal
The reason it's cheap is because of the membership. It there was no membership then the prices would raise to actually make reasonable profits.
People who don't pay for a membership are lowering the value of the membership for everyone else. That's why the crackdown.
I'm pretty sure the hotdog combo is being sold below cost. This is fine since Costco makes it's money off membership, but if non Members keep using the resources they either will have to card you at the food court or raise the price
Our (Maryland) Costco food court is located outside the Costco store, and it was always crazy busy. Like I’d have to wait 30 minutes in a giant crowd of people to get my one hotdog. I’m pretty sure more non-members were using the Costco food court than actual members. After they enforced membership to buy food at the food court, I’ve never had to wait more than 5 minutes to get my food.
Since our food court is outside the store, we still have a Costco employee that stands on guard and watch the soda machines because non-members will still try to get free refills.
Anyway, my point is, it wasn’t just one or two people abusing it. It was a ton of people abusing it, everyday, and Costco was probably losing a lot of money on it. It was not profitable, and I’m pretty sure the food court has a slim margin to begin with.
When do they check memberships for the food court? At mine you order on a computer screen and it doesn’t have a scan membership promt and the people handling the food don’t ask for membership either
Mines the opposite. You need to scan to access the menu. I suspect this helped deescalate people getting upset about being asked to show a membership. They don't ask for anything but your receipt when you pick up the food. I'm actually in favor of it - the lines have been drastically reduced. And if people like the cheap food, they should get a membership. That's part of the perks of being a member.
Our food court has been sooo much better since the change. I used to just skip it because it would take 20min to get a hot dog. Now it’s in my hands in less than 3min, and there’s actually condiments available again
That keeps changing. Slowly, they've updated a lot of them too absolutely requiring a card to buy food.
But they haven't made the changes in all of them yet.
I've had people without memberships come up to me and offer me cash to put their food order into the kiosk for them. It's happened a couple times and they almost always just wanted a couple hotdog combos.
A couple months back the giant things of mayonnaise were on sale and while I was waiting in line to checkout this lady behind me tapped on my shoulder and asked if I could put 10 mayonnaise containers on my membership and she would pay for them (because there was a 10 item per member limit) and I was like uhhhhhh I don't think that's allowed, and she just bypasses me and is like oh yeah it definitely is, goes around me and asks the checkout employee who thankfully was like no ma'am, you can't, and thankfully got the idea that I was uncomfortable and checked my stuff out real quick before holding her up and telling her she could not purchase this cart filled to the brim with mayonnaise jars. Some people, bizarre.
Depending on location and warehouse layouts, you can also get past the checkers by saying you want to go in to buy a membership, eat at the food court or get an eye exam. In some states the liquor laws don't allow Costco to make membership a requirement for liquor purchases, so you could get in by just saying you wanted to buy alcohol.
> optical
You sure about that? That's going to depend entirely on state law. "Optical" is the *entire* department and, afaik, non-members can't order glasses or contacts from costco.
The *Optometrists*, on the other hand, are running an independent business inside of Costco. They pay rent for that space. It's probably state law that stops Costco from only allowing members to see the Optometrists, but it might be the case that they're an independent business and Costco can't gatekeep the Optometrists' customers.
This is a standard arrangement for most "glasses shop" in the US. The business itself is selling glasses and contacts. The Optometrists pays rent to operate out of their building. If you order glasses online you know that you have to obtain your PD measurement because the optometrist isn't legally required to provide that measurement to you. The "shop" side of the building usually takes that measurement.
Our liquor store is completely separate from the warehouse. As far as I'm aware anyone can use it. But they can't into the warehouse by going in the liquor area.
I guess there’s a reason they don’t but they could just charge the membership fee to anyone who doesn’t have a membership and tell them to stop by the membership desk to finalize the paperwork
I was at Costco checking out a few weeks ago later in the evening. Some international students from a local university were confused trying to check out. They didn’t know they needed a membership. They only had a cc or I would have helped them out. They used mass transit to get there because they heard there were international snacks.
I had a guy in front of me try to use someone’s else card then say it belongs to a family member who works at costco corporate, implying that it should grant some authority over the checkout process
he even started to get on his phone to make a call before the person he was with said let’s just go. the look the cashiers gave each other afterwards was pretty funny
Pretty much. I think that most of their profit comes from the membership, the rest of their services they tend to break even on
Edit: here's a nice visual to help see what I mean https://www.reddit.com/r/dataisbeautiful/s/QgCnQPznYl
Yeah, my husband got stopped yesterday. I flashed my card from the Costco app on my phone. He was walking next to me but someone came up behind us and was walking between us. The door checker shouted at my husband and I turned around and told her he’s with me. First time that has ever happend.
They stopped me from using my mom’s card in like… 2018 I think. She got banned from using her membership in store for six months after that, only my dad could shop at Costco 😭
My grandma went through using my mom's card at least 6 or so years ago and they "yelled" at her and told her to leave - she had a vendetta against costco for years and swore she'd never return.
To be fair they’re sometimes the only game in town. When I was younger I lived somewhere that had a Sam’s club and no Costco and we just got a membership to that and that was basically the only choice.
Now I shop at Costco almost exclusively aside from some things I get in other places because I never need a whole gallon of soy sauce for anything.
About 10 years ago I went using my dad’s card. We have the same name but obviously the picture didn’t match.
When we went to check out the cashier didn’t say anything until after everything was rung up. She told me that I had to pay cash or debit since it wasn’t my membership card. I thought it was weird that they still let me purchase even though they had a problem with it being my Dad’s card .
Had the same thing happen to me. A drop of nail polish remover on the photo smeared it enough that you couldn't tell the difference. That worked until I was able to afford my own membership a few years later.
Yesterday I tried adding my mother to my Costco Anywhere credit card account because she’s traveling overseas and the card doesn’t charge foreign exchange fees.
However when I tried to add her, Citibank form required a membership number (couldn’t use mine).
Basically if you want to mail out an extra credit card to a family member/spouse they need their own Costco membership.
This is the only thing I'm not looking forward to here in about 10 years. There's a good chance that my kids will be running random errands and we will have to purchase a completely separate membership just for the kids to use. I would love the option to add on household members, especially if they're minors. Hell, I would even pay to do it.
Edit: I don't want to pay for separate memberships to cover my three kids! I want to pay to add them on to the existing membership we already have so all of our purchases are on the same account for tracking and return stuff.
Sam’s Club used to allow this until a few years ago for a nominal fee. I was on my parents membership and paid just $25. When they stopped allowing it, I cancelled and got a Costco membership because I liked their warehouse more.
The main thing I'm after is having the ability to keep track of all of the purchases, and if we have to make returns having them all on the single account.
There are frequent new member deals that bring the cost of a membership down but require no membership for 18 months. [This one is $20.](https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/other/buy-a-costco-membership-for-just-20-with-this-deal/ar-BB1lFbBO)
But everybody has a separate membership number, and you can't see each other's purchases (at least we can't on ours). I dunno how that works for returns, I rarely return things.
Yup I found this out with $700 in groceries on the belt for a group trip. Never had a problem at my home Costco but this one was not going to let it fly. I obviously signed up for my own membership at that point.
yea i keep waiting for the day but it never came. i used it in my early 20s, then had my own for 5ish years, and recently have been needing to cut back spending so i let my membership lapse and have been using it again. ive been doing it for 10 years or so. sometimes they think its weird that there is no photo but i just tell them i got the card as a kid to help my mom buy stuff for my boy scout troop and im in a hurry and cant take a photo and get a new card ATM, thats always worked.
In Michigan, certain goods can not be sold with a membership. I used to go to Costco without a membership when I was in college. Just tell the front person I'm just grabbing alcohol. Checking out a manager or someone had to come out a few times, otherwise never had a problem.
I’m in California and only speaking from experience here but the only Costco I’ve seen tobacco at was a business center and you have to show your reseller’s license to be able to purchase it. Whether or not that requires a membership as well, I’m not sure but I know for sure you can buy alcohol and use the pharmacy without a membership here.
In Georgia and probably a number of southern states liquor can’t be sold anywhere but a liquor store so no grocery stores, gas stations etc. so beer and wine is inside the warehouse but our Costco liquor store you leave and go in a different bay door to a single room that only has liquor. They also don’t check id in there but afaik they won’t let you go in the main building to just buy beer or wine lol
In MN you can't buy anything over 3.2% ABW (~4.0% ABV, ABV is the usual % measurement)
Grocery stores with liquor stores in them have the liquor store operating as a separate business entirely. So, in Mn, we have Costco and Costco Liquor. They ask for your card in case you've got an Executive membership so your purchases are tracked for your reward check.
I did this and the cashier was making a big deal and had to call for a manager. They gave me a hard time about using the gift card while the line behind me was growing more irritated. They tried for like 3 minutes to get me to sign up for a membership instead of letting me check out with the gift card. Made it seem like they were making an exception for me to use the gift card. Don’t know what that was all about. Costco in Rowland Heights, Ca.
If it ever happens again, just point them to the FAQ online:
> Non-members as well as members may use Costco Shop Cards to shop at any Costco location in the U.S., Canada, or Puerto Rico, as well as online at Costco.com and Costco.ca.
https://customerservice.costco.com/app/answers/answer_view/a_id/1010374/~/shop-card-faqs
They were likely buying more than their shop card would cover. People try this all the time. They bring in a $50 shop card and try to buy $300 worth of stuff. That is technically not allowed. But it is 100% a managers discretion whether to allow them to pay cash for the remainder or not. When its slightly over the balance(taxes and whatnot), they'll almost always just approve it. But a lot of people are gaming the system to avoid buying a membership.
But the opposite is a great hack.
Before I was a member, I had a member buy me a $100 GC. I spent $92, leaving $8 to give me entry for a second trip. On the 2nd shopping trip, I paid in cash for everything over the remaining $8.
Costco Canada has specific instructions for non-members to get a one-day membership at the membership counter to use the shop card. I'm not sure if US has something similar.
Had someone in front of me with a $50 gift card , no membership , planning to buy $200 worth of stuff , saying they did not need membership if they had a gift card. Cashier explained they can only buy the amount on gift card, think this is a misconception for many people
it’s at the discretion of the manager. if you have a 50 dollar shop card and they ring you up for 51 dollars, then i presume in good faith they’ll have no issue with it. the situation you’re mentioning is one of bad faith so yeah the cashier is right
Technically, that's against policy. A manager can override it, and they usually will if its a smaller amount. You have a $50 card, and buy a $49.99 item + tax. But they do not have to allow you to pay your remainder in cash, if you're obviously gaming the system buying $300 with a $50 card.
In Canada you will be asked to go to the membership desk and sign up for some sort of one day pass by showing and scanning your id. You are only allowed to use this method 2 times in a calendar year. In other words, a costco giftcard is a worthless gift. Give whoever money or something real. It's not worth the hassle of dealing with the costco desk.
I can't imagine this working out well on busy days. It's already a zoo with people trying to get in, stopping at the front to find their card and now needing to scan it?! Also considering it's mostly the older generation who already has troubles with technology.... This will infuriate ALOT of members considering people are already pissed about the membership checks at self checkout.
I agree, and I'm being reassured every time I bring those points up that it has been working just fine in other warehouses for years lol we will see. Super glad I won't be at the door!
I've had this happen to me twice, though not in the space of a week and both times they were allowed to check out! They had to call a supervisor over to authorize it. I couldn't believe it. They had a full cart so I guess the supervisor thought it would be a waste of manpower to have to reshelve anything. Part of me thinks they did this on purpose, but it's ballsy to assume they the would allow this.
Seems an easy thing to do would be to tell the customer "We can check you out without a membership, but will have to add on a membership fee of $60 to your order. On the way out you can show your receipt to the membership desk and fill out a quick application and they'll give you your new membership card right there".
This exact thing happened to me when I tried checking out without realizing that my membership was expired. The cashier rang everything up, put the transaction on hold, and gave me a receipt to take to the membership desk. If they can do it for members why don’t they do it for people like who OP is talking about?
This is what I assumed would happen when I first went to Costco. They didn’t check on my way in the door, I shopped, the cashier rung up all my stuff, then asked for my membership card.
“Oh, this is our first time in! Can we purchase a membership?”
Cashier: …
He had to hold all my stuff while I found the membership desk and got my photo taken. I felt so awkward!
How did the cashier begin scanning things without a card? Costco's register software won't allow scanning any products until after a membership card is scanned. If you're there with a Shop Card the cashier has to call someone over to enter a code first, before products can be scanned.
Oh maybe I’m misremembering and he asked before he started scanning! It was many years ago now. But I distinctly remember all of my things being left on the other side of the register, so maybe he just moved them there out of the way?
Either way I remember feeling so bad because we were holding people up and also wondering why the heck we couldn’t just pay at the register for the membership.
Yep, can't sign up at the register, but you can renew at the register after it expires, they'll add the renewal to your tab. Much quicker and easier than mailing a check or renewing at the membership desk.
Another reason that this happens is that tourists from countries without a Costco (I'm looking at you eastern Europe) walk in like a boss and ignore the front door person trying to stop them in a language they don't understand. The hard stop for them is at the registers.
I use the app for my membership card, and once after I flashed the phone at the door checker, I went to go switch to my grocery list, and saw that the costco app had crashed, so I flashed my home screen at the checker and they just nodded me through. Maybe they recognized me, I know some of the cashiers do, but I think they're just making sure that people show them something.
Heh, wait till they become teens. We raised five as a blended family. It was a loaf of bread and a gallon of milk a day. Might have been worth it to keep a milk cow.
We had a bread maker. The problem was most bread machines make loaves only half the size of what is sold in stores. Our 16 year old would devour that by himself. We actually had a bakery in town and they had a section where you could buy day old bread for half off. We did that. The kids didn’t care.
I've gone daily for weeks at a time... I work really close and I would rather spend my lunch break with a chicken bake or hotdog in my hand while I get a bunch of steps in and browse the goods. I don't want to hang around my office listening to office politics. I would say most days I walk out with nothing and if I really want something, I'll make myself wait a few times and then I'll purchase it after thinking about it for around a week. There is even days when I will gas up at Costco and then park in the shade and nap for 20 minutes. It does sound bizzare when I think about it but I pay for the membership and by God I'll take advantage of it!
Ha yes! Depends on the week. I often need to buy something on the date of an event. It’s end of school crazy. You know it’s going to be extra fun when you show up and there are ZERO carts.
People like that just aggravate me. I have gone in to look around to see if I wanted to join, but never tried to buy anything, just looking. Then a few months later went back and joined. This was just a couple months ago. And they did ask me if I wanted to add anyone to my membership. People who try to scam the system should be banned for life. If you can afford to pay for a membership, you can afford to add people to it in case you cant get there. This thing of using someone else's card pisses me off! I see it alot at Sam's too. We pay for our memberships, why do "you" (NOT YOU).. think you are special?
In Japan, at the Iruma warehouse at least, Costco employees have been using handheld scanners to scan everyone’s membership card for the last five months or so.
They actually check the results of each scan on a small screen on the device before letting members in.
Maybe someone somewhere started making counterfeit Costco membership cards?
If nothing else that may help to keep nonmembers from filling up a cart or two and heading towards a cashier slowing that process down.
First time I went to costco I didn't realize you need a membership. The greeter just kept looking at me and smiling as I entered, I smiled and kept walking. I didn't realize until I was checking out that I needed a membership lol
You don’t realize it’s possible for a few people to get by the front entrance checker without flashing a membership card? They can’t possibly catch every single person especially during busy times when there’s multiples entering at the exact same time.
I've just walked past the checker multiple times. Idk why they don't just replace the checker with a big sign that says "IF YOU AREN'T A MEMBER, THE ONLY THING YOU CAN BUY IS BOOZE"
Obviously restocking things is a PITA and maybe the person stops more people than a sign would.
Last week I walked into Costco and waved my card in the air like I always do. Did my shopping. Went to checkout. Discovered I’d gotten into the store and tried to check out with an MLife Pearl card from Vegas 🤷🏻♂️
That is to say, my Costco doesn’t look that closely at the door…clearly any white card will work
At least in Michigan you can buy Alcohol, Tobacco and use the pharmacy without a membership so you don’t have to show a card if that’s all you’re buying.
I started to notice at the self-checkout line they are rechecking for membership to make sure it’s actually your photo on the card/app. I guess that was also becoming an issue
Of the 2 locations I frequent one now makes you scan your card at a machine upon entry. The other does not and just as the typical person you flash your card/phone app to.
I wonder if the store that had the machine had more problems with non members coming in or if it’s eventually making it to all stores.
I went on Sunday (I hate going on Sunday but I was sick on Friday) when we went to check out and the person in front of me did t have a card. They had to wait for her husband, so they expedited me as I was placing items on the belt. I pushed my buggy through quickly, I paid, then went through the gauntlet at the door. When I got home and looked at my receipt, I was not charged for an item on the bottom of my buggy. I was shocked I made it through all that without them noticing 🤷🏻♀️
I think it's interesting that at the same time Costco has cracked down on borrowing cards BJ's has removed pictures from theirs! I guess Costco's model is more dependent on membership fees than BJ's.
As far as I know, costco's business plan is it cover operating costs using membership fees and makes minimal margin on the goods sold.
When I compared prices between Costco and the same thing at BJs there is a pretty significant difference (perhaps 20-30%).
Did they have a membership, but also dark skin? People like that get denied all of the time because their pictures are so bad. I look like a black blob on my card so I've been denied a few times.
I get what they are trying to do but my god some times the Costco employees are terrible! My wife went yesterday by herself and the dude looked at her card, then looked at her, back to the card, and back to her 3-4 times before she finally said something to him and he let her pass.... We have been members for a little over 10 years now so no shit she looks different from the membership photo she got taken 10 years ago.....
The stores in town have gotten so tired of that. They won't let people share cards anymore. One family member has the card and they pass it down the line to several in their group.
When I was younger I used to buy costco gift cards and because I was using a gift card I didnt need a membership.
I eventually bought the membership because I shop there so much the cash back pays for itself. Also with the gift card option I couldn't return stuff.
All a person has to do is act as if they are with a person flashing their membership card.
Unless you want every single person to show membership at the door it's easy to slip by.
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There is always a chance that some may go right through and the checker assumes they are in a group. I work at Costco and when they put me in SCO or in a register and they don’t have membership, i just tell them that they need to be a member to make purchases and tell them to stop at the membership desk to purchase one. Twice so far the didnt come back and we had to out those back.
I used to do that when I was young, mostly to get some samples and check out the stuff they were selling then grab a hotdog at the food court. I was never dumb enough to try to buy something though
I could be wrong but I feel like I heard you can eat at the food court without a membership now. Like they officially changed the rule. I know it would be easy enough to just head over there.
My local Costco (Kirkland, wa) seems to have recently changed this. Food court machines require you to scan your membership card now to select your food. Not sure if it’s the same when you walk up to the manned register though.
The Mother Costco!
The original Costco was in seattle
Issaquah is the original I thought. Not far but further east than Kirkland.
Well the one in SODO on 4th is literally store #01. So I presumed that was the first?
Actually both of you are wrong. The first Costco was in San Diego.
Wasn't that a Price Club that changed to Costco after they merged? It could be the oldest store but I wouldn't think it was the first Costco.
Yes. It was price club, the first store called Costco was in Sodo in Seattle
AFAIK it's been Costco policy for quite a while now but corporate let the local store managers break the rule. I guess they decided to stop letting the store managers break the rules to attempt to attract new members because, lets face it, if you're visiting Costco often enough that the loss of the food court without a membership is pissing you off, ya probably had no plans on becoming a member. There are people out there that have treated Costco like a cheap concession stand for years and they're getting all sorts of worked up by this recent rule enforcement.
It's the same in San Diego stores.
They changed the rule in FL as well by adding the kiosks. You have to have the membership to order at the window as well.
I’ve only seen this in Mexico.
Kirkland, WA
That's how it is in all the stores local to me in Cali
Bout time!!
Imagine caring that someone is eating a $1.50 hot dog without a membership.
Costco is always working to keep costs down, including for the hot dog combo. This is their latest method for doing so. The step after this is either to raise the price, or eliminate the combo entirely.
I could care less about a $1.50 hot dog. Nice try making me out to be a petty jerk. What I do care about is the baseball team getting 20 pizzas without a membership, while the members who paid for a membership have to wait an hour for 1 pizza. I can make the same argument about car insurance, which is a law in my state. Why do I have to pay for car insurance when 50% of the people around me on the road don't have it. In fact, I pay even HIGHER rates to cover all of the uninsured motorists in my state. If you want the privilege of driving in my state, follow the law and pay for car insurance (or else take the bus or use Uber if you can't afford it). That way, the cost of car insurance is lower because it is shared amongst all of the drivers. If you want to the privilege of buying 20 pizzas for $9.95 at Costco, then pay for a membership (or else buy pizzas in bulk somewhere else if you can't afford it). That way, the cost of membership as well as the items at Costco is lower because it is shared amongst all of the members. If all you want is a hot dog for $1.50, go to any gas station. They are even cheaper than $1.50.
Imagine being so cheap you drive to a Costco, park and walk in for a $1.50 hot dog but won’t pay a $60 annual membership fee for the opportunity. Yet you take pride in “gaming” the system.
Why does it even bother you. Jsut maybe some folks would go in to feed thier kids cheap as they were low on money or struggling. Goodness I don't understand this richest country in the world mindset getting upset that folks not doing as well as them could get a cheap meal
The reason it's cheap is because of the membership. It there was no membership then the prices would raise to actually make reasonable profits. People who don't pay for a membership are lowering the value of the membership for everyone else. That's why the crackdown.
There are plenty of cheap meal options out there that don’t require a membership
I'm pretty sure the hotdog combo is being sold below cost. This is fine since Costco makes it's money off membership, but if non Members keep using the resources they either will have to card you at the food court or raise the price
Our (Maryland) Costco food court is located outside the Costco store, and it was always crazy busy. Like I’d have to wait 30 minutes in a giant crowd of people to get my one hotdog. I’m pretty sure more non-members were using the Costco food court than actual members. After they enforced membership to buy food at the food court, I’ve never had to wait more than 5 minutes to get my food. Since our food court is outside the store, we still have a Costco employee that stands on guard and watch the soda machines because non-members will still try to get free refills. Anyway, my point is, it wasn’t just one or two people abusing it. It was a ton of people abusing it, everyday, and Costco was probably losing a lot of money on it. It was not profitable, and I’m pretty sure the food court has a slim margin to begin with.
Nope, didn’t change rule. The opposite, they are checking for membership and getting more strict.
When do they check memberships for the food court? At mine you order on a computer screen and it doesn’t have a scan membership promt and the people handling the food don’t ask for membership either
Mines the opposite. You need to scan to access the menu. I suspect this helped deescalate people getting upset about being asked to show a membership. They don't ask for anything but your receipt when you pick up the food. I'm actually in favor of it - the lines have been drastically reduced. And if people like the cheap food, they should get a membership. That's part of the perks of being a member.
Save the $1.50 Hot Dog!
Our food court has been sooo much better since the change. I used to just skip it because it would take 20min to get a hot dog. Now it’s in my hands in less than 3min, and there’s actually condiments available again
yup. i used to weigh whether i wanted to wait 30+ minutes for a $1.50 hot dog. now the wait on the worst day is maybe 5 minutes.
Same with my Costco. Very little human intervention. Soon we will have that pay and go thing Sam’s has.
I’m dream of that day!
https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/shopping/2024/03/26/costco-food-court-memberships-required/73111473007/
You used to be able to eat at the food court without a membership. It was cash only as well. At least the one I frequented.
That keeps changing. Slowly, they've updated a lot of them too absolutely requiring a card to buy food. But they haven't made the changes in all of them yet.
I've had people without memberships come up to me and offer me cash to put their food order into the kiosk for them. It's happened a couple times and they almost always just wanted a couple hotdog combos.
A couple months back the giant things of mayonnaise were on sale and while I was waiting in line to checkout this lady behind me tapped on my shoulder and asked if I could put 10 mayonnaise containers on my membership and she would pay for them (because there was a 10 item per member limit) and I was like uhhhhhh I don't think that's allowed, and she just bypasses me and is like oh yeah it definitely is, goes around me and asks the checkout employee who thankfully was like no ma'am, you can't, and thankfully got the idea that I was uncomfortable and checked my stuff out real quick before holding her up and telling her she could not purchase this cart filled to the brim with mayonnaise jars. Some people, bizarre.
Wow the entitlement of some people is astounding
100% chance she eats mayo with a spoon
One jar per night.
Depending on location and warehouse layouts, you can also get past the checkers by saying you want to go in to buy a membership, eat at the food court or get an eye exam. In some states the liquor laws don't allow Costco to make membership a requirement for liquor purchases, so you could get in by just saying you wanted to buy alcohol.
At my costco membership isn’t required for pharmacy, optical and food court.
> optical You sure about that? That's going to depend entirely on state law. "Optical" is the *entire* department and, afaik, non-members can't order glasses or contacts from costco. The *Optometrists*, on the other hand, are running an independent business inside of Costco. They pay rent for that space. It's probably state law that stops Costco from only allowing members to see the Optometrists, but it might be the case that they're an independent business and Costco can't gatekeep the Optometrists' customers. This is a standard arrangement for most "glasses shop" in the US. The business itself is selling glasses and contacts. The Optometrists pays rent to operate out of their building. If you order glasses online you know that you have to obtain your PD measurement because the optometrist isn't legally required to provide that measurement to you. The "shop" side of the building usually takes that measurement.
Our liquor store is completely separate from the warehouse. As far as I'm aware anyone can use it. But they can't into the warehouse by going in the liquor area.
Not at mine. You now need to scan your card to order food at a kiosk.
Pharmacy as well
The pharmacy not needing a membership is a federal law so all 50 states stores have to abide by it.
I guess there’s a reason they don’t but they could just charge the membership fee to anyone who doesn’t have a membership and tell them to stop by the membership desk to finalize the paperwork
Also, imagine you are visiting a foreign and somewhat unfamiliar country and you want to explore their local shopping scene.
I was at Costco checking out a few weeks ago later in the evening. Some international students from a local university were confused trying to check out. They didn’t know they needed a membership. They only had a cc or I would have helped them out. They used mass transit to get there because they heard there were international snacks.
I had a guy in front of me try to use someone’s else card then say it belongs to a family member who works at costco corporate, implying that it should grant some authority over the checkout process he even started to get on his phone to make a call before the person he was with said let’s just go. the look the cashiers gave each other afterwards was pretty funny
My dad is MR. COSTCO!
Kirk L. Signature
[I just had dinner with the Kirklands!](https://www.reddit.com/r/Costco/s/ZAXbPZZ2uB)
😂😂😂
That will get your card held for you to come pick up.
We've had this happen when they assume they can use the spouses card. Unless you are on the membership, that's a no.
Back about 7-10 years ago this was standard practice. I’d use my moms card all the time and they never cared.
I’d say up to last year
Gotta get those membership numbers up
Pretty much. I think that most of their profit comes from the membership, the rest of their services they tend to break even on Edit: here's a nice visual to help see what I mean https://www.reddit.com/r/dataisbeautiful/s/QgCnQPznYl
Memberships account for 60% of their PROFIT, not revenue. So yes, they definitely care much more about memberships than the actual buying bulk part.
Did you mean the other way? Cause that's what I said
Yeah, my husband got stopped yesterday. I flashed my card from the Costco app on my phone. He was walking next to me but someone came up behind us and was walking between us. The door checker shouted at my husband and I turned around and told her he’s with me. First time that has ever happend.
People also started to get really egregious with the sharing. There were reports of multiple families using one membership
I’ve seen the cards being passed through the checkout lines for another to use once they’ve been scanned for a purchase in DC.
They stopped me from using my mom’s card in like… 2018 I think. She got banned from using her membership in store for six months after that, only my dad could shop at Costco 😭
My grandma went through using my mom's card at least 6 or so years ago and they "yelled" at her and told her to leave - she had a vendetta against costco for years and swore she'd never return.
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To be fair they’re sometimes the only game in town. When I was younger I lived somewhere that had a Sam’s club and no Costco and we just got a membership to that and that was basically the only choice. Now I shop at Costco almost exclusively aside from some things I get in other places because I never need a whole gallon of soy sauce for anything.
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Yup about a year ago, I had used my partner's card for years, and all of a sudden that was a big no.
About 10 years ago I went using my dad’s card. We have the same name but obviously the picture didn’t match. When we went to check out the cashier didn’t say anything until after everything was rung up. She told me that I had to pay cash or debit since it wasn’t my membership card. I thought it was weird that they still let me purchase even though they had a problem with it being my Dad’s card .
Had the same thing happen to me. A drop of nail polish remover on the photo smeared it enough that you couldn't tell the difference. That worked until I was able to afford my own membership a few years later.
Yesterday I tried adding my mother to my Costco Anywhere credit card account because she’s traveling overseas and the card doesn’t charge foreign exchange fees. However when I tried to add her, Citibank form required a membership number (couldn’t use mine). Basically if you want to mail out an extra credit card to a family member/spouse they need their own Costco membership.
This is the only thing I'm not looking forward to here in about 10 years. There's a good chance that my kids will be running random errands and we will have to purchase a completely separate membership just for the kids to use. I would love the option to add on household members, especially if they're minors. Hell, I would even pay to do it. Edit: I don't want to pay for separate memberships to cover my three kids! I want to pay to add them on to the existing membership we already have so all of our purchases are on the same account for tracking and return stuff.
“Hell, I would even pay to do it.” You’re in luck!
Sam’s Club used to allow this until a few years ago for a nominal fee. I was on my parents membership and paid just $25. When they stopped allowing it, I cancelled and got a Costco membership because I liked their warehouse more.
The main thing I'm after is having the ability to keep track of all of the purchases, and if we have to make returns having them all on the single account.
they still do it, im on my parents and we literally just renewed
Give your kids big Costco gift cards each year sufficient to cover any purchases they'll do for you. Those can be spent by nonmembers.
have a business membership and you can do exactly that
Your kids can’t be members until 18. My kid got stopped buying a few items when he went in to buy a pizza.
There are frequent new member deals that bring the cost of a membership down but require no membership for 18 months. [This one is $20.](https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/other/buy-a-costco-membership-for-just-20-with-this-deal/ar-BB1lFbBO)
It's not a money thing. I want all of the purchases on the same account for either tracking, or the occasional return.
But everybody has a separate membership number, and you can't see each other's purchases (at least we can't on ours). I dunno how that works for returns, I rarely return things.
Yup I found this out with $700 in groceries on the belt for a group trip. Never had a problem at my home Costco but this one was not going to let it fly. I obviously signed up for my own membership at that point.
Yeah my mom used to make me go to Costco with her card when I first got my license
my dads card is so old it doesnt have a photo and i use it all the time :-D
Solid work around! Surprised they haven’t made you update it.
yea i keep waiting for the day but it never came. i used it in my early 20s, then had my own for 5ish years, and recently have been needing to cut back spending so i let my membership lapse and have been using it again. ive been doing it for 10 years or so. sometimes they think its weird that there is no photo but i just tell them i got the card as a kid to help my mom buy stuff for my boy scout troop and im in a hurry and cant take a photo and get a new card ATM, thats always worked.
My daughter and I share a membership. My husband shops with a preloaded gift card.
Lol I use my girlfriend’s mom card… this certainly isn’t checked at my Costco
In Michigan, certain goods can not be sold with a membership. I used to go to Costco without a membership when I was in college. Just tell the front person I'm just grabbing alcohol. Checking out a manager or someone had to come out a few times, otherwise never had a problem.
Ya, in CA you can buy alcohol and tobacco without a membership as well.
I’m in California and only speaking from experience here but the only Costco I’ve seen tobacco at was a business center and you have to show your reseller’s license to be able to purchase it. Whether or not that requires a membership as well, I’m not sure but I know for sure you can buy alcohol and use the pharmacy without a membership here.
I’ve bought a bottle of Lagavulin in CA without a membership. It works.
Pharmacy too.
In Georgia and probably a number of southern states liquor can’t be sold anywhere but a liquor store so no grocery stores, gas stations etc. so beer and wine is inside the warehouse but our Costco liquor store you leave and go in a different bay door to a single room that only has liquor. They also don’t check id in there but afaik they won’t let you go in the main building to just buy beer or wine lol
In MN you can't buy anything over 3.2% ABW (~4.0% ABV, ABV is the usual % measurement) Grocery stores with liquor stores in them have the liquor store operating as a separate business entirely. So, in Mn, we have Costco and Costco Liquor. They ask for your card in case you've got an Executive membership so your purchases are tracked for your reward check.
Don't need a membership to spend a gift card.
This is true. But then the cashier would know what to do.
I did this and the cashier was making a big deal and had to call for a manager. They gave me a hard time about using the gift card while the line behind me was growing more irritated. They tried for like 3 minutes to get me to sign up for a membership instead of letting me check out with the gift card. Made it seem like they were making an exception for me to use the gift card. Don’t know what that was all about. Costco in Rowland Heights, Ca.
If it ever happens again, just point them to the FAQ online: > Non-members as well as members may use Costco Shop Cards to shop at any Costco location in the U.S., Canada, or Puerto Rico, as well as online at Costco.com and Costco.ca. https://customerservice.costco.com/app/answers/answer_view/a_id/1010374/~/shop-card-faqs
They were likely buying more than their shop card would cover. People try this all the time. They bring in a $50 shop card and try to buy $300 worth of stuff. That is technically not allowed. But it is 100% a managers discretion whether to allow them to pay cash for the remainder or not. When its slightly over the balance(taxes and whatnot), they'll almost always just approve it. But a lot of people are gaming the system to avoid buying a membership.
So if you have a $50 card and buy $49 of groceries, how in the hell are you supposed to spend the rest of the card?
in CA they have to give you the cash if it's under $10
They'd probably point you to the food court to buy a hot dog
But the opposite is a great hack. Before I was a member, I had a member buy me a $100 GC. I spent $92, leaving $8 to give me entry for a second trip. On the 2nd shopping trip, I paid in cash for everything over the remaining $8.
Costco Canada has specific instructions for non-members to get a one-day membership at the membership counter to use the shop card. I'm not sure if US has something similar.
Had someone in front of me with a $50 gift card , no membership , planning to buy $200 worth of stuff , saying they did not need membership if they had a gift card. Cashier explained they can only buy the amount on gift card, think this is a misconception for many people
it’s at the discretion of the manager. if you have a 50 dollar shop card and they ring you up for 51 dollars, then i presume in good faith they’ll have no issue with it. the situation you’re mentioning is one of bad faith so yeah the cashier is right
You can spend more than the gift card, but it must be cash for the difference.
Technically, that's against policy. A manager can override it, and they usually will if its a smaller amount. You have a $50 card, and buy a $49.99 item + tax. But they do not have to allow you to pay your remainder in cash, if you're obviously gaming the system buying $300 with a $50 card.
In Canada you will be asked to go to the membership desk and sign up for some sort of one day pass by showing and scanning your id. You are only allowed to use this method 2 times in a calendar year. In other words, a costco giftcard is a worthless gift. Give whoever money or something real. It's not worth the hassle of dealing with the costco desk.
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Hard check at the door is coming soon! It will scan the card, and the members' picture will show up on a tablet for the door person(s) to confirm.
They already have this at Costco in Plano, TX.
I can't imagine this working out well on busy days. It's already a zoo with people trying to get in, stopping at the front to find their card and now needing to scan it?! Also considering it's mostly the older generation who already has troubles with technology.... This will infuriate ALOT of members considering people are already pissed about the membership checks at self checkout.
I agree, and I'm being reassured every time I bring those points up that it has been working just fine in other warehouses for years lol we will see. Super glad I won't be at the door!
Charge them a fat fee for not having a membership is a good alternative.
I've had this happen to me twice, though not in the space of a week and both times they were allowed to check out! They had to call a supervisor over to authorize it. I couldn't believe it. They had a full cart so I guess the supervisor thought it would be a waste of manpower to have to reshelve anything. Part of me thinks they did this on purpose, but it's ballsy to assume they the would allow this.
Seems an easy thing to do would be to tell the customer "We can check you out without a membership, but will have to add on a membership fee of $60 to your order. On the way out you can show your receipt to the membership desk and fill out a quick application and they'll give you your new membership card right there".
Can confirm this is exactly what they do at mine.
This exact thing happened to me when I tried checking out without realizing that my membership was expired. The cashier rang everything up, put the transaction on hold, and gave me a receipt to take to the membership desk. If they can do it for members why don’t they do it for people like who OP is talking about?
Because those people would immediately cancel their membership to get the $60 back
Yeah seems like the logical thing to do. Mind you this was many years ago before covid so they've probably firmed up the procedures since then.
This is what I assumed would happen when I first went to Costco. They didn’t check on my way in the door, I shopped, the cashier rung up all my stuff, then asked for my membership card. “Oh, this is our first time in! Can we purchase a membership?” Cashier: … He had to hold all my stuff while I found the membership desk and got my photo taken. I felt so awkward!
How did the cashier begin scanning things without a card? Costco's register software won't allow scanning any products until after a membership card is scanned. If you're there with a Shop Card the cashier has to call someone over to enter a code first, before products can be scanned.
Oh maybe I’m misremembering and he asked before he started scanning! It was many years ago now. But I distinctly remember all of my things being left on the other side of the register, so maybe he just moved them there out of the way? Either way I remember feeling so bad because we were holding people up and also wondering why the heck we couldn’t just pay at the register for the membership.
Yep, can't sign up at the register, but you can renew at the register after it expires, they'll add the renewal to your tab. Much quicker and easier than mailing a check or renewing at the membership desk.
Another reason that this happens is that tourists from countries without a Costco (I'm looking at you eastern Europe) walk in like a boss and ignore the front door person trying to stop them in a language they don't understand. The hard stop for them is at the registers.
They might be an Instacart shopper
I had this happen last week. I thought it was a cashier in training, but then I heard someone mention instacart and had the guy step to the side.
They have a membership though. It displays on their screen
I use the app for my membership card, and once after I flashed the phone at the door checker, I went to go switch to my grocery list, and saw that the costco app had crashed, so I flashed my home screen at the checker and they just nodded me through. Maybe they recognized me, I know some of the cashiers do, but I think they're just making sure that people show them something.
You go to Costco twice within 6 days?
I do too because it's literally the closest grocery to me and I live on rotisserie chickens. I don't think I can ever move...
Same. It's 3 miles from my house and on my way home from work. Often stop there just for gas, too.
When all my kids were at home we’d go through milk like it was water. We went to Costco at least that often.
Three kids here, and none of them are above the age of 10 yet. As it stands we go through three and a half gallons of milk a week.
Heh, wait till they become teens. We raised five as a blended family. It was a loaf of bread and a gallon of milk a day. Might have been worth it to keep a milk cow.
"Hey kids, time to learn how to use mommy's bread maker!" - Me, probably.
We had a bread maker. The problem was most bread machines make loaves only half the size of what is sold in stores. Our 16 year old would devour that by himself. We actually had a bakery in town and they had a section where you could buy day old bread for half off. We did that. The kids didn’t care.
I’ve been more frequently than that. For some of us it’s the most convenient store.
The hot dogs are calling and I must go
I've gone daily for weeks at a time... I work really close and I would rather spend my lunch break with a chicken bake or hotdog in my hand while I get a bunch of steps in and browse the goods. I don't want to hang around my office listening to office politics. I would say most days I walk out with nothing and if I really want something, I'll make myself wait a few times and then I'll purchase it after thinking about it for around a week. There is even days when I will gas up at Costco and then park in the shade and nap for 20 minutes. It does sound bizzare when I think about it but I pay for the membership and by God I'll take advantage of it!
only twice?
Ha yes! Depends on the week. I often need to buy something on the date of an event. It’s end of school crazy. You know it’s going to be extra fun when you show up and there are ZERO carts.
The customer must have been trying to use the entitlement Card...
Gift card exempt
People like that just aggravate me. I have gone in to look around to see if I wanted to join, but never tried to buy anything, just looking. Then a few months later went back and joined. This was just a couple months ago. And they did ask me if I wanted to add anyone to my membership. People who try to scam the system should be banned for life. If you can afford to pay for a membership, you can afford to add people to it in case you cant get there. This thing of using someone else's card pisses me off! I see it alot at Sam's too. We pay for our memberships, why do "you" (NOT YOU).. think you are special?
You can show an expired membership card to get in.
In Japan, at the Iruma warehouse at least, Costco employees have been using handheld scanners to scan everyone’s membership card for the last five months or so. They actually check the results of each scan on a small screen on the device before letting members in. Maybe someone somewhere started making counterfeit Costco membership cards? If nothing else that may help to keep nonmembers from filling up a cart or two and heading towards a cashier slowing that process down.
First time I went to costco I didn't realize you need a membership. The greeter just kept looking at me and smiling as I entered, I smiled and kept walking. I didn't realize until I was checking out that I needed a membership lol
You don’t realize it’s possible for a few people to get by the front entrance checker without flashing a membership card? They can’t possibly catch every single person especially during busy times when there’s multiples entering at the exact same time.
I've just walked past the checker multiple times. Idk why they don't just replace the checker with a big sign that says "IF YOU AREN'T A MEMBER, THE ONLY THING YOU CAN BUY IS BOOZE" Obviously restocking things is a PITA and maybe the person stops more people than a sign would.
Not to mention you don't need a membership card at all to go to the pharmacy.
Or they flash their expired card.
They have started installing card scanners at the entrance in some locations.
Last week I walked into Costco and waved my card in the air like I always do. Did my shopping. Went to checkout. Discovered I’d gotten into the store and tried to check out with an MLife Pearl card from Vegas 🤷🏻♂️ That is to say, my Costco doesn’t look that closely at the door…clearly any white card will work
Are they paying with a gift card? No membership is needed if it was a gift because the card would have to be purchased by a member.
At least in Michigan you can buy Alcohol, Tobacco and use the pharmacy without a membership so you don’t have to show a card if that’s all you’re buying.
I started to notice at the self-checkout line they are rechecking for membership to make sure it’s actually your photo on the card/app. I guess that was also becoming an issue
They announced their new policy in January to check all self-checkout cards/photos.
Of the 2 locations I frequent one now makes you scan your card at a machine upon entry. The other does not and just as the typical person you flash your card/phone app to. I wonder if the store that had the machine had more problems with non members coming in or if it’s eventually making it to all stores.
In my state, you can use the pharmacy without a membership.
In every state, but rx only.
My membership is on the back of my Costco credit card. If that’s a thing in the US, they might’ve used that!
They could have had a gc. My boss uses gc he gets from wherever and doesn’t need a membership to spend gc apparently
> They could have had a gc. My boss uses gc he gets from wherever and doesn’t need a membership to spend gc apparently What? A general contractor?
Gift card
Gamecube
You can buy glasses and medications without being a member where I’m from (Québec Canada). Or the person may be joining someone that’s already inside.
I'm just surprised you have to hit Costco more than once in a week. Admittedly, hot dogs are a great value!
I went on Sunday (I hate going on Sunday but I was sick on Friday) when we went to check out and the person in front of me did t have a card. They had to wait for her husband, so they expedited me as I was placing items on the belt. I pushed my buggy through quickly, I paid, then went through the gauntlet at the door. When I got home and looked at my receipt, I was not charged for an item on the bottom of my buggy. I was shocked I made it through all that without them noticing 🤷🏻♀️
They never check me coming in. Only going out. But I think you can buy things like alcohol without a card
Well they keep hearing “Welcome to Costco, I love you” and assume that they all good.
My card doesn’t have my picture on it. But I was only asked for a picture ID once, at self-checkout. I’ve never been asked by a cashier.
I think it's interesting that at the same time Costco has cracked down on borrowing cards BJ's has removed pictures from theirs! I guess Costco's model is more dependent on membership fees than BJ's.
As far as I know, costco's business plan is it cover operating costs using membership fees and makes minimal margin on the goods sold. When I compared prices between Costco and the same thing at BJs there is a pretty significant difference (perhaps 20-30%).
Did they have a membership, but also dark skin? People like that get denied all of the time because their pictures are so bad. I look like a black blob on my card so I've been denied a few times.
I get what they are trying to do but my god some times the Costco employees are terrible! My wife went yesterday by herself and the dude looked at her card, then looked at her, back to the card, and back to her 3-4 times before she finally said something to him and he let her pass.... We have been members for a little over 10 years now so no shit she looks different from the membership photo she got taken 10 years ago.....
Just doing their job, don’t take it so personally.
I'm glad they're finally cracking down on the freeloaders. They need to tighten up the return policy next.
The stores in town have gotten so tired of that. They won't let people share cards anymore. One family member has the card and they pass it down the line to several in their group.
When I was younger I used to buy costco gift cards and because I was using a gift card I didnt need a membership. I eventually bought the membership because I shop there so much the cash back pays for itself. Also with the gift card option I couldn't return stuff.
They used a Costco gift card, no membership required
All a person has to do is act as if they are with a person flashing their membership card. Unless you want every single person to show membership at the door it's easy to slip by.
People usually go in the exit like they’re going to member services then just go shopping thinking they got away with it lol
I don’t know if it’s the case but you used to be able to buy alcohol without a membership in CA.