By Clark 
You can start saving money immediately if you’ve been fantasizing about joining Costco and buying all the food and other bulk goods at rock-bottom costs. The process is as simple as joining up.
Dues for membership are increasing. Maybe not just now. Perhaps tomorrow isn’t the day. But soon. It became very evident after Thursday’s results call for the wholesale behemoth. Costco CFO Richard Galanti reiterated multiple times throughout the call, “It’s a question of when, not if.”
While keeping everyone in the dark about when the real fee hike will take effect, Galanti has been dropping hints about it for months. The most recent evidence of an impending rate hike is his remarks from yesterday. He purposefully avoided giving specifics and instead talked in months rather than years.
“We have no problem thinking about doing it—and doing it ultimately,” added Galanti. “We feel that we’re in a very strong competitive position right now, and if we have to wait a few months or several months, that’s fine.” He then stated, “I’ll be purposefully coy on when that might be.”
Currently, an executive-level membership at Costco costs $120 a year and provides additional benefits, while a $60 “gold star” membership allows cardholders to shop both in-store and online. Since the annual price for gold members increased by $5 and for executive members by $10 in June 2017, the rate has remained unchanged.
Membership prices were increased earlier this year by Costco rivals Sam’s Club and Amazon Prime.
Whether it’s the membership fees or the company’s infamously cheap rotisserie chicken, which remains at $4.99 despite increasing poultry costs, Costco is infamously obstinate about preserving its low pricing points. The company’s business is built upon that principle.
Galanti pointed out that fresh food sales contributed less to Costco’s bottom line in the most recent quarter, in part because the warehouse club continued to keep pricing low despite significantly higher food prices. Costco plans to increase its earnings by holding prices low in the hopes of selling more products. “In our view, people do notice those price differences,” according to him.
Galanti observed that, historically speaking, the most recent price changes at Costco (2006, 2011, 2017) occurred, on average, five years and seven months apart. If the current trend continues, the next fee rise might occur as early as January 2023. “That doesn’t mean it’s going to be January 2023,” he pointed out.
According to Galanti, “There’s no analytical framework we use other than we feel very good about our member loyalty and our strength.” She dismissed analysts’ concerns about potential reasons including a slow U.S. economy and decline in shopper traffic that could lead to a fee hike. The 8% growth in net sales announced by Costco for the most recent quarter was below what analysts had predicted, coming in at more than $54 million.
“If we wanted to do it yesterday, we could, and if we want to do it six months from now, we can,” added Galanti. “So, we’ll wait and see.”
In the most recent quarter, membership fees brought in a whopping $1 billion for Costco, according to Galanti. There has been a 7% increase from previous year, bringing the total number of members to 66.9 million across the globe.