The Rules For Adding People To Your Costco Membership

Shopping at Costco has a slew of benefits, but it hinges on a membership. That membership comes with an annual fee, so it makes sense that you might want to hand your Costco card to a family member or friend so that they can get in on the bulk-shopping action too. But any Costco member is likely aware of the retailer's recent crackdown on sharing cards at check out (we're certainly seen stricter regulations to the point of checking cards at entry and again at self checkout) so you can't get away with it as easily anymore. We've already told you if your Costco membership works internationally — but how many people can you add to the account?

The rule is pretty straightforward when it comes to adding another person to your Costco membership. Any Costco member is entitled to add one extra person, for a total of two, to the account to enter and shop freely. The caveat is that Costco says that the additional member must be at least 16 years old and live in the same household. So technically, that means that out of the possible Costco shopping hacks, adding your best foodie friend, grandma, or cousin to your Costco membership isn't one — unless they happen to also be your roommate.

The rules above apply specifically to Costco's regular memberships, known as its Gold Star and Executive Memberships. For its Business Membership program, there's more leeway for additional members. Business accounts can add up to six additional people on a single membership, according to the retailer's application. It comes at a cost of $65 per person, but that additional member can also share the card with someone in their household. Those people must be at least 16 years old, and must have their own card present in order to shop at the store.

As a reminder, the annual membership fees for personal accounts start at $65, which Costco recently increased for the first time in years, so it's not much cheaper to add an extra person to a business account if you want to use that as a workaround. Still, $65 a year isn't incredibly high when you factor in how much you save when buying bulk-sized items from paper towels to meats and even beer. Either way, you can add or change your secondary member on the Costco website so that they don't get rejected at the door.