Costco has a unique business model. Unlike other retailers like Walmart or Kroger’s, you can’t simply walk into the shop and purchase items. To be able to shop at Costco and avail of their different products and services, you need to pay for a membership.
But since Costco offers very low prices for a variety of the products on their shelves, customers are eager to sign up for a membership in order to get access to the store. On top of that, the exclusivity also adds to Costco’s allure.
While being a Costco member comes with a lot of benefits, you may be wondering about the renewal process for memberships. Do you need to pay for it in-store or does it happen automatically?
So, we did some research, and have all the questions answered for you below.
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Does Costco Membership Automatically Renew?
Yes and no. If you want to, Costco can set up your account to automatically renew the annual membership. However, as of 2023, this isn’t the default setting for new Costco members. So, if you want to automatically renew your Costco membership, you have to sign up for the service and set it up yourself.
With auto-renewal set up, you will no longer receive notifications of when your membership is set to expire, and the membership will automatically be charged and rolled over to the next year when the time comes. That way, you don’t have to manually go and pay and renew your Costco membership every year.
It’s more convenient, quick, and easy.
How To Set Up Auto Renew For Costco Membership
If you want your Costco membership to automatically renew every year, you can set it up to be that way. To do this, all you have to do is head to the Costco website.
On the website, you can log into your account. If you aren’t a member, you can sign up for membership right there and then and pay the necessary fee on the website. After signing up for an account and logging in, you can go to the “My Account” page. From there, you can find the “Renew Membership” section.
To qualify for auto-renewal all you need to do is link your Costco account to a VISA card. Costco currently doesn’t accept Mastercard or Amex credit cards. So, if you’re looking to set up auto-renewal, you have to make sure you have a VISA card and link it to your account.
On the “Renew Membership” section, you can set up and agree to the auto-renewal of your membership. That way, you won’t have to remember to renew your membership every year and you will no longer receive notifications about your membership status.
With that said, the Costco auto-renewal cannot be done in-store. So, you have to log on to the website to be able to set up Costco auto-renewal for your account. Don’t forget to add a payment method and remember that they don’t accept PayPal, MasterCard, and Amex.
How Much To Renew Costco Membership?
If you have set up your account to automatically renew your Costco membership, then you will be charged what you paid the year before (unless Costco has notified you that they are increasing the price of your current membership plan).
They will never suddenly upgrade your membership and charge you more.
How Do I Cancel My Costco Auto Renewal?
There are many reasons you may want to cancel your membership auto-renewal. While it’s convenient, it’s easy to forget about and takes away some of the control you have over your finances. Additionally, if your VISA card is expiring and you don’t plan to get a new one, you may want to cancel the auto-renewal to avoid any complications.
With that said, Costco makes it very easy for customers to cancel the service. To cancel your Costco auto-renewal, follow the steps below;
- Log on to your account on the Costco website
- Head to the “Renew Membership” section on the “My Account” page
- Then, you can simply remove your VISA card from the auto-renewal section, which will cancel the service as a whole
- Additionally, you can also add a new VISA card to this page if you’re looking to change the payment methods for your auto-renewal
Conclusion – Does Costco Automatically Renew Your Membership?
Costco has auto-renewal available to all members. However, this isn’t the default setting for your account. If you want to set up auto-renewal for your Costco account, you have to do it on the website as this can’t be done in-store.
To do that, however, you’ll need to have a VISA card. This is because of Costco and VISA’s exclusive partnership. If you want to cancel your auto-renewal for any reason, you can do that from the website as well.
