Costco push back: Retailer cracks down on membership sharing

(AP Photo/Ted S. Warren) (Ted S. Warren, Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

First Netflix, now Costco. The retailer is taking steps to cut out membership sharing at its warehouses nationwide.

Costco said employees will be stationed at self-checkout lines to check member identification cards.

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According to the company’s website, anyone with a card can bring up to two guests to the warehouse during each visit, but purchasing items is exclusive to Costco members. Primary members can assign a free household card to one other person in their home.

The retailer said non-members should not get the same benefits as card holders and membership fees play a big role in the warehouse club being able to offer low prices.

In a similar move this past May, Netflix said it would limit U.S. viewership of its programming to people living in the same household.

The streaming service’s effort to force more of its viewers to pay for access to its programming followed the launch of a $7 monthly plan that inserted commercials into its service for the first time. Netflix picked up an additional 9 million worldwide subscribers since the ad-supported option debuted, although not all of those signed up for the low-priced plan.


About the Author

Veronica Crespo writes for Local10.com and also oversees the Español section of the website. Born and raised in Miami, she graduated from the University of Miami, where she studied broadcast journalism and Spanish.

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