Bad news if you’re mooching off of someone else’s Costco membership: The retail giant is cracking down.

When you enter Costco, you need to show your membership card to an employee to shop. Costco membership cards are non-transferable, but the company allows members to give a second household card to one other person in their home. Anyone with a card can bring up to two guests to the club during each visit, the company stipulates.

But Costco has noticed that non-members have been sneaking in with membership cards that don’t belong to them — particularly since Costco expanded self-checkout.

Costco recently started asking for shoppers’ membership cards along with a photo ID at the self-checkout registers, the same policy as regular checkout lanes, to crack down. “We don’t feel it’s right that non-members receive the same benefits and pricing as our members,” Costco said in announcing the change.

And now, Costco is testing out a system that requires members to scan their membership cards at the store entrance — instead of just flashing the card to employees. Shoppers have spotted the new scanners at a store in Washington State and posted photos on Reddit.

  • @chronicledmonocle
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    110 months ago

    I haven’t cancelled yet. I said I was considering it.

    I agree Costco selection and products are better, as well as their employee treatment. However, I have both at the moment, Sam’s Club is a quarter mile from me while Costco is a 18 minute drive one way, and I can easily get in and out of Sam’s Club with the Scan and Go app. That’s why I’m considering whether renewing is worth it.