Costco Shoppers Are Debating a New Rule – And Some Say It Goes Too Far

Costco has never been short on loyal fans, but a wave of policy changes rolling out since 2024 has stirred something unusual inside the warehouse giant’s famously devoted community: genuine disagreement. From card-scanning enforcement at the entrance to exclusive early shopping hours that lock out regular members, the debate has spread across Reddit threads, TikTok comments, and Facebook groups. Some shoppers think the changes make total sense. Others feel the rules have gone a step too far, turning a beloved members-only experience into something that feels a little more like a class system.

The Card-Scanning Crackdown That Started It All

Costco’s membership card-sharing crackdown went nationwide, requiring members to scan their cards when entering clubs, a move that came just as the wholesale giant prepared to raise membership prices for the first time in seven years. Under the new process, all members must scan their physical or digital cards by “placing the barcode or QR Code against the scanner.” Previously, shoppers typically only had to present their membership cards at the cash register during checkout. It sounds simple enough, but for a store that once operated on a fairly relaxed honor system at the door, it marked a meaningful cultural shift.

The old system made it too easy for non-members to borrow a member’s card, and eliminating membership sharing was a core reason for the change. Under the new rules, scanning at checkout was eliminated – vetting now happens entirely at the door. As early as June 2023, the store told CNBC that clubs were starting to ask to see cards with a photo at self-checkout registers, and customers would need to show a photo ID if their membership card doesn’t have a picture. The card scanners were simply the next, more decisive step in a process that had been building for a while.

The Food Court Became Members-Only Territory

As early as 2020, some Costco locations started posting signs that food courts were for members only, and in 2024, Costco officially started cracking down on food court access for non-members. Signs began appearing stating: “Effective April 8, 2024, an active Costco membership card will be required to purchase items from our food court.” For non-members who had long treated the $1.50 hot dog and soda as a casual lunchtime option, the change stung.

In March 2024, Costco’s CFO Richard Galanti announced that customers would no longer be able to purchase items at the company’s outdoor food courts without proof of membership, explaining that “one of the challenges is that some of the food courts have gotten so busy, particularly if it’s near some office buildings or construction sites,” and that the company “was getting member complaints.” Still, some argued that if new shoppers can’t get an easy peek inside the store, prospective members may be less likely to join, and Costco’s decision may push consumers toward its biggest competitor, Sam’s Club. Unlike Costco, Sam’s Club does allow non-members to eat at its cafes.

Executive Members Get Their Own “VIP Hour”

In a move that has some customers all fired up and others jumping for joy, the warehouse store announced that its Executive-level members would be able to shop as early as 9 a.m. in its U.S. warehouses starting June 30, 2025. This “VIP hour” allows only Executive members to shop from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. on weekdays and from 9:30 a.m. to 10 a.m. on Saturdays, with doors opening to all other members at 10 a.m. A grace period was offered at first, but it officially ended on August 31, 2025, and enforcement began in full.

Costco has definitely been cracking down since the rule became official on September 1, with customers without an Executive Membership regularly being denied entry when they try to shop before designated hours. Over on Reddit, shoppers have been sharing stories of what they’ve witnessed, including one user who described: “Day one at 9:55 [a.m.], I watched them turning people away. One guy got lippy and the manager escorted him away from the doors.” The message was unmistakable: the new rule had real teeth.

The Public Reaction Has Been Deeply Split

When Costco announced the policy change, some shoppers accused the warehouse giant of favoring big spenders. One commenter wrote: “As members we all pay to shop there inconveniencing your loyal customers for 30 mins to an hour is actually not cool – and can off put a whole day, the early bird gets the worm not who pays more.” The sense of a two-tiered system bothered shoppers who felt their Gold Star membership was no longer treated as a full-value product.

Costco employees also took to the internet to complain about the burden early opening hours would put on them, with one employee complaining in a Reddit thread, “We barely make open as is.” Yet retail analyst Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData’s retail division, noted that “the earlier hours add another benefit to the Executive tier of the membership program” and that while it “may cause a little confusion (and even resentment), it may also encourage some people to trade up to a higher tier.” Meanwhile, the supporters of the policy were just as vocal, with some Reddit users cheerfully noting how much calmer the shopping experience felt during those early hours.

The Numbers Behind Why Costco Made These Moves

In fiscal 2024, Costco’s membership fee revenue reached $4.8 billion, accounting for about 65% of the company’s net income for the year. By 2025, membership fees totaled $5.323 billion, up more than 10% from the prior year. These are not side revenues – they are the financial backbone that allows Costco to keep prices dramatically low on everything from bulk olive oil to giant rotisserie chickens.

During Costco’s most recent quarter, Executive member purchases made up 74.2% of Costco’s net sales, making it firmly in the company’s best interest to keep Executive members happy, even if Gold Star members feel a bit slighted in the process. A LendingTree analysis found that bulk purchases can reduce costs by an average of 27% across 30 everyday products, including essentials such as paper towels, bottled water, and batteries. When the math works out that strongly for heavy shoppers, the business case for rewarding them becomes hard to argue with.

Membership Loyalty Remains Remarkably Stubborn

Despite all the controversy and fee increases, 68.3 million people held individual memberships by the end of fiscal 2025, an upsurge from 63.7 million in 2024 and 58.8 million in 2023, according to Costco’s annual report. Costco boasted a membership renewal rate in the U.S. of about 92% and a global renewal rate of around 90% at the end of fiscal 2025. Whatever frustration shoppers are voicing online, the majority are still renewing their cards without hesitation.

Costco ended fiscal year 2024 with 76.2 million paid household members, up 7.3% year over year, with about half of new member sign-ups being under 40 years of age. Costco CEO Ron Vachris confirmed in the company’s fourth quarter call with Wall Street analysts that the incremental extended hours had “added about 1% to weekly U.S. sales since implementation.” The rules that sparked the loudest debates online appear, at least by the numbers, to be working exactly as intended.