Costco just raised its membership fee for the first time in 7 years. Here's how much it costs now.
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- Costco raised its annual membership fee this month.
- It's the first time that Costco has raised the fee since 2017.
- The retailer has hinted for months that a raise was in the future.
Costco's annual membership fee just got more expensive.
As of Sunday, the wholesale club retailer started charging $65 a year for its Gold Star and Business memberships. Previously, Costco memberships ran to $60.
Executive memberships, meanwhile, now cost $130 each, up from $120.
One benefit of the Executive membership is a 2% cash back reward on what members spend annually. The maximum cash-back that those members can earn has gone up to $1,250, above the previous $1,000 cap.
The new fees apply to Costco members in the US and Canada. The membership prices are the same amount regardless of currency — a Gold Star membership in Canada is 65 Canadian dollars, for example.
The increase is the first time that Costco has raised its membership fee since 2017. The retailer first confirmed the fee hike in July.
In May, Costco CFO Gary Millerchip said that a fee increase would happen at some point, adding that it was a question "of when we increase the fee, rather than if we increase the fee." Millerchip didn't offer a specific date for the increase at the time.
At the time, Costco said it had roughly 134 million members. The retailer boasts renewal rates of more than 90%.
The increase comes after Costco's CEO said in a July memo obtained by Business Insider that its hourly employees would be getting a pay raise. The chain's starting rate for many store workers is now $19.50 an hour, according to the memo.
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