Here’s How to Get Around Costco’s Recent Membership Sharing Crackdown

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Costco doesn’t want non-members shopping at its stores. Read on to see how you can benefit from Costco’s low prices without a membership of your own. 

A basic Costco membership costs $60 a year, while an Executive membership costs $120. In exchange for that higher cost, an Executive membership offers 2% cash back on all Costco purchases.

These fees are more than reasonable if you shop at Costco often. In fact, the savings you reap on things like groceries and household essentials might more than make up for the cost of your membership.

But what if you don’t have a Costco warehouse club nearby, or you don’t have a lot of storage space at home? In that case, a membership may not make sense for you. But you might still want the option to borrow a friend’s Costco card and visit the store on occasion.

Unfortunately, that may now prove difficult. Costco has been cracking down on membership sharing by having members show a personal photo ID at its self-checkout lanes. It’s similar to the policy it utilizes for its regular checkout aisles. And so the days of grabbing your neighbor’s card here and there to do your Costco shopping at your own pace may be over.

But that doesn’t mean you need to spring for a Costco membership to take advantage of the warehouse club giant’s ultra low prices. Here are some ways to shop at Costco without a membership of your own.

1. Use a Costco Shop Card

A Costco Shop Card is a gift card to use at the store. And while you have to be a Costco member to buy a Shop Card, you don’t have to be a member to use one. So if you have a Shop Card, you can flash that at the door instead of a membership card, and you’ll be let in. And you won’t have to show ID verifying your membership at checkout if you use a Shop Card.

So, let’s say your friend normally lends you their Costco membership card once every few months. What you can do instead is Venmo your friend $200 and ask them to buy you a Shop Card in that amount that you then spend at your leisure.

2. Shop online

Some of the products you’ll find on Costco’s website are members-only items. You won’t even be able to see what they cost without a membership.

But many of the items sold by Costco online can be purchased by anyone. So that’s another way to get around the issue of not having a membership of your own.

You should know, however, that in many cases, the prices you’ll see online at Costco are higher than what you’ll find at the store. This especially applies to groceries.

3. Go with a friend

Costco members are allowed to bring their children and up to two guests to their local warehouse club store. So if you don’t want to buy your own membership, just ask a friend or neighbor to bring you along the next time they’re doing their shopping.

Now, the one catch is that only Costco members can make Costco purchases in stores. So technically, your friend or neighbor will need to check out for you in this situation. But that’s an issue that can easily be resolved with a quick Venmo or another form of reimbursement.

Costco memberships are fairly affordable, so it could pay to buy one so you have the option to shop there whenever you want. But if you don’t want to go that route, rest assured that there are other ways you can buy the things you want at Costco.

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The Ascent does not cover all offers on the market. Editorial content from The Ascent is separate from The Motley Fool editorial content and is created by a different analyst team.Maurie Backman has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Costco Wholesale. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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