As it gets ready to open its first store on the Gold Coast, the retail giant Costco is about to alter its membership model by raising prices.
It is launching a popular overseas exclusive membership for $130 every year except gives customers two percent back on qualified distribution center buys.
According to the store, exclusive membership provides additional benefits on services like insurance and rewards of up to $1,000 per year, but the discount does not apply to fuel.
Costco’s annual membership fee is $60, but it will rise to $65 in June.
“If you’re already saving a lot of money at Costco, then you’re going to save even more,” Costco Australia managing director Patrick Noone.
“And once a year you’ll get that back in terms of a credit to spend in the warehouse.”
Effie Zahos of Canstar said that the cost was a little high.
“It would mean that you would have to spend around $550 a month to recoup that annual fee,” Zahos said.
“And then you’ve got to work out that if I do that, everything else is icing on top.”
According to Zahos, once customers take into account all of the savings, it might be more than enough to cover the annual membership fee.
In addition to its 14 warehouses across Australia, Costco intends to open new warehouses in Sydney’s southern suburbs and the Northern Beaches.
To the end of August of last year, its most recent annual sales reached $3.67 billion, a 30% increase, making it larger than Myer, David Jones, and Officeworks.
