Costco has purportedly been cracking down on its strict no-card-sharing policy in recent months.
In some instances, customers haven’t been able to complete purchases when using a family member’s card at checkout. Other shoppers have stated that these stringent rules have caused serious holdups, customers had legitimate memberships of their own.
A TikToker named Angelo (@profitplug) has now gone viral for providing further anecdotal evidence that Costco stores are getting serious about card sharing.
@profitplug Costco Is Ending Membership Sharing ❌🙅🏽 #costco #learnfromme ♬ Quirky – Oleg Kirilkov
In the video, Angelo speculates that Costco’s crackdown on membership sharing may be akin to Netflix’s decision to end password sharing. Despite a number of people stating that they would boycott Netflix and end their subscriptions, the streaming giant has enjoyed a massive uptick in membership sign-ups following the implementation of measures that would make password sharing more difficult.
CNN reports: “Early results indicate Netflix’s new plan to boost its bottom line by cracking down on password sharing in the United States is paying off. The streaming service has seen a bigger jump in new subscriber sign-ups as a result of the crackdown than it did in the early days of the Covid pandemic.”
For Costco, stricter enforcement of its card-sharing policy could lead to more folks buying their own memberships, like this one TikToker who bought one on the spot after being told they couldn’t use their mother’s.
While Angelo says he can understand the fiscal incentive behind Costco’s decision to enforce its policy more strictly, he’s not a fan of the new measures.
“I guess I can see why they’re doing this,” he says in the clip. “After Netflix implemented their own policy, they said their daily sign-ups increased by 100%, which is probably billions of dollars in annual revenue. Still, I don’t know, and I don’t like [it]. I saw an older Asian lady getting kicked out of line after trying to buy like four items because she only had her son’s cards, and they wouldn’t let her pay.”
In the comments section, viewers debated whether Costco’s decision to crack down on membership sharing was warranted.
One commenter questioned why the chain doesn’t offer family memberships; another TikToker responded that it does. Depending on the membership level customers decide to purchase, they can have additional users or add other individuals to their account at a discounted price.
Others said that not being allowed to share cards has been a stipulation listed on the Costco membership agreement from the beginning: “that’s always been a rule it’s been in the front of the membership this whole time it’s on the contract you sign when you sign up…”
Someone else thought Costco’s crackdown on card sharing is much different from Netflix’s decision to end password sharing: “Completely different Netflix encouraged sharing then went back on it. This has always been the rule at Costco.”
One TikToker said that Costco competitor Sam’s Club isn’t as strict with its card usage: “oh hell no. I use my mamas but she goes to Sam’s, HOPEFULLY they won’t do this.”
While someone else doesn’t think the chain’s new strict stance on membership will bode well for the company: “It’s bad decision on their end as why are they enforcing it now when years ago it was already there but they didn’t bother to enforce but do. It now”
The Daily Dot contacted Costco and Angelo via email for comment.
