--- title: Here's How to Get Around Costco's New Crackdown on Nonmembers description: Costco is cracking down on nonmembers shopping in stores, but there are still strategies to let you shop at Costco without a membership. authors: - name: Pete Grieve role: Lead News Reporter url: https://money.com/author/pete-grieve/ bio: Pete Grieve is a personal finance reporter. In his time at Money, Pete has covered everything from car buying to credit cards to the housing market. education: University of Chicago, BA Political Science at_money_since: 2022 articles: 597 covers: - Shopping - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Debt - Economy and Politics - Education - Health and Wellness - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Professional Services - Retirement - Taxes social: - https://twitter.com/pete_grieve - https://linkedin.com/in/pete-grieve-b5aa02138 - https://www.facebook.com/petegrieve4 editors: - name: Brad Tuttle role: Senior Editor url: https://money.com/author/brad-tuttle/ bio: Brad Tuttle is a former senior editor at Money with over 10 years’ experience covering a vast number of personal finance topics, including careers, cars, travel, budgeting, investing, insurance, credit cards, consumer psychology, real estate, banking, and shopping and deals. education: Columbia University School of Journalism, MS at_money_since: 2014 articles: 366 covers: - Shopping - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Economy and Politics - Education - Health and Wellness - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Pets - Professional Services - Retirement - Taxes - Technology social: - https://twitter.com/bradrtuttle - https://linkedin.com/in/brad-tuttle-834b225 former_staff: true published: '2024-08-09T15:19:30.000Z' modified: '2024-08-09T15:21:26.000Z' section: Shopping tags: - News word_count: 715 canonical: https://money.com/costco-shop-without-paying-membership/ type: NewsArticle source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** Money may earn a commission when you click on the products and services below. Opinions are our own, but compensation and in-depth research determine where and how they appear. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/) about how we make money. ![A hand holding a Costco member card](https://img.money.com/2024/08/News-Costco-Membership.jpg) Costco is taking new steps to prevent nonmembers from entering its stores, but there are still several ways to shop at Costco without paying an annual fee. In a [notice](https://customerservice.costco.com/app/answers/answer_view/a_id/1013527/~/membership-scanners-at-warehouse-entrances) on Costco's website, the wholesale retailer announced it’s adding membership scanning devices at store entrances. Costco also said it will enforce photo identification requirements, meaning you’ll need to present a Costco card with a photo or a valid photo ID like a driver’s license. The changes will make it more difficult to evade the member requirement to enter the store, and it’ll be harder to freeload off a friend’s account. "We don’t feel it’s right that nonmembers receive the same benefits and pricing as our members," Costco said in a statement last year regarding related measures. Most of Costco’s profits come from membership fees, and the company says they’re what makes it possible for Costco to offer the low prices that draw crowds of customers to its stores. But if you’re not a regular Costco shopper, it could be hard to justify buying a membership, which will cost at least $65 starting Sept. 1. The good news is there’s a trick involving gift cards that makes it possible to shop in-store without a Costco membership. ## Whether you’re making purchases with a debit or credit card, make sure you’re protected ### Click on your state to find the best Identity Theft Protection for you. [View Plans](https://money.com/pr/l916cc926072?ap_referrer=%2Fcostco-shop-without-paying-membership%2F) ## How to shop at Costco with a gift card Under Costco’s policies, anyone can shop at warehouse locations if they present a Shop Card, which is just a gift card. These cards can be purchased in-store, and electronic versions are available online. The catch is that Costco Shop Cards can only be purchased by members, so for this trick, you’ll still need to rely on a family member or a friend with a membership to buy a gift card for you. You’ll likely have to pay your friend back because the company’s policies require the name on your debit or credit card to match the account name. If you're worried about using this strategy, rest assured that the gift card method is allowed: "Non-members as well as members may use Costco Shop Cards to shop at any Costco location in the U.S.," a [Costco customer service FAQs page](https://customerservice.costco.com/app/answers/answer_view/a_id/1010374/~/shop-card-faqs#1) reads. In online forums, shoppers report that they’ve been able to use small denomination Costco gift cards (ex. $25) to get in the door. Then they can fill up a cart and pay for the rest of the total with other payment methods like cash or debit. Keep in mind, however, that the rules and enforcement may vary from store to store. ## Other ways to shop at Costco without membership If the gift card method is too much hassle, there are several other ways to shop at Costco without a membership. Much of Costco’s inventory is available online, and the company has free shipping on many items. Unfortunately, online prices are sometimes higher to offset shipping costs — and nonmembers pay a 5% surcharge over what members pay for online orders. Nonmembers can order items with same-day delivery using Instacart.com, however, the prices are higher than what you would find shopping in person. Costco has also teamed up with UberEats for delivery — available to members and nonmembers — though this option is currently limited to [select store locations](https://www.ubereats.com/brand/costco), and nonmembers still pay more. Lastly, there are several things that anyone can get at Costco without a membership, including alcohol (in [14 states](https://www.tastingtable.com/1355636/non-members-buy-liquor-costco-states/)), prescriptions and eye exams. But to get the full Costco shopping experience with the lowest prices — and to be able to order the [famous $1.50 hot dog deal](https://money.com/sams-club-costco-hot-dog-deals/) — you’ll either need to pay for a membership or try the gift card method. ## How much is Costco membership? Costco has two main membership options: - The standard Gold Star membership is $60 per year ([increasing](https://customerservice.costco.com/app/answers/answer_view/a_id/1013504/~/membership-fee-increase) to $65 on Sept. 1) and it includes a “household” card that can be used by a second person who lives at the same address as the account holder. - The Executive membership ($120) gets you 2% back on all purchases, which pays for itself when you spend $3,000. The price of this membership will increase to $130 on Sept. 1. ## Fraudsters are scamming people and stealing their money. Make sure that you're protected! ### Aura offers proactive monitoring and fraud prevention to safeguard your policy. Click below to get started today. [View Plans](https://money.com/pr/p41928ebc7eb?ap_referrer=%2Fcostco-shop-without-paying-membership%2F) ![](https://s3.consumersadvocate.org/prd/image/image/29035/medium_031b14e8-19d0-4ec7-b6f0-04e29d54e75a.png) Protect yourself from the threat of Identity Theft with Aura [View Plans](https://money.com/pr/ce5c60e9ca63?ap_referrer=%2Fcostco-shop-without-paying-membership%2F) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/costco-shop-without-paying-membership/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://money.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Shopping", "item": "https://money.com/shopping/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Food and Drink", "item": "https://money.com/food-and-drink/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Here's How to Get Around Costco's New Crackdown on Nonmembers" } ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://money.com/#website", "url": "https://money.com", "name": "Money", "publisher": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } }, { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://money.com/costco-shop-without-paying-membership/#webpage", "url": "https://money.com/costco-shop-without-paying-membership/", "name": "Here's How to Get Around Costco's New Crackdown on Nonmembers", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://money.com/#website" }, "datePublished": "2024-08-09T15:19:30.000Z", "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://money.com/costco-shop-without-paying-membership/" }, "inLanguage": "en-US", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://money.com/costco-shop-without-paying-membership/#breadcrumb" }, "dateModified": "2024-08-09T15:21:26.000Z" }, { "@type": "NewsArticle", "headline": "Here's How to Get Around Costco's New Crackdown on Nonmembers", "articleSection": "Shopping", "image": [ { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2024/08/News-Costco-Membership.jpg", "width": 2880, "height": 1920, "caption": "News-Costco-Membership" } ], "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Pete Grieve", "url": "https://money.com/author/pete-grieve/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/pete-grieve/#author", "description": "Pete Grieve is a personal finance reporter. In his time at Money, Pete has covered everything from car buying to credit cards to the housing market.", "image": "https://img.money.com/2023/02/peter.png?w=350&h=430&crop=1", "email": "peter.grieve@money.com", "jobTitle": "Lead News Reporter", "alumniOf": "University of Chicago, BA Political Science", "sameAs": [ "https://twitter.com/pete_grieve", "https://linkedin.com/in/pete-grieve-b5aa02138", "https://www.facebook.com/petegrieve4" ], "worksFor": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } } ], "publisher": "https://money.com/#organization", "datePublished": "2024-08-09T15:19:30.000Z", "description": "Costco is cracking down on nonmembers shopping in stores, but there are still strategies to let you shop at Costco without a membership.", "abstract": "Costco is cracking down on nonmembers shopping in stores, but there are still strategies to let you shop at Costco without a membership.", "@id": "https://money.com/costco-shop-without-paying-membership/", "inLanguage": "en-US", "dateModified": "2024-08-09T15:21:26.000Z", "editor": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Brad Tuttle", "url": "https://money.com/author/brad-tuttle/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/brad-tuttle/#author", "description": "Brad Tuttle is a former senior editor at Money with over 10 years’ experience covering a vast number of personal finance topics, including careers, cars, travel, budgeting, investing, insurance, credit cards, consumer psychology, real estate, banking, and shopping and deals.\r\n\r\n", "image": "https://img.money.com/2014/01/Brad-Tuttle.png?w=226&h=247&crop=1", "alumniOf": "Columbia University School of Journalism, MS", "sameAs": [ "https://twitter.com/bradrtuttle", "https://linkedin.com/in/brad-tuttle-834b225" ] } ], "wordCount": 715, "keywords": [ "News" ], "about": [ { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Shopping", "sameAs": [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shopping" ] }, { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Food and Drink", "sameAs": [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_and_Drink" ] }, { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Retail", "sameAs": [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retail" ] } ] } ] } ```