Costco has always run on its own weird logic. You walk in for paper towels and walk out with a kayak, a tub of mixed nuts, and a rotisserie chicken you didn’t plan on. But if your last couple of trips felt a little off, you’re not imagining it. The company changed a whole pile of small things this year, and almost none of them came with an announcement. No email, no flyer, no big sign taped to the door. Just new rules that showed up while you were busy filling your cart.
Some of these you’ll like. A few will annoy you. And a couple you probably haven’t run into yet. Here are the ten worth knowing before your next run so nothing catches you off guard at the entrance.
You Actually Have to Scan Your Card Now
For years, getting into Costco meant flashing your card at a bored employee who barely glanced up. Those days are over. Every warehouse now has scanners at the entrance, and you have to scan the card before you walk in. When you do, the attendant sees your photo pop up on their screen. No photo on your card? Then you’re pulling out a driver’s license.
The reason is obvious. They’re done with people sharing cards. Costco has always said memberships are non-transferable, and now they can prove it in about two seconds. Southern California stores had these scanners for a while, but this year they went nationwide. It’s the single most noticeable change, and it happened without much fuss.
Executive Members Get In Before Everyone Else
Starting last fall, Costco began handing Executive members ($130 a year) a head start. They can shop from 9 to 10 a.m. Monday through Friday and Sunday, and from 9 to 9:30 on Saturdays. Regular Gold Star and Business members ($65) have to wait until 10 (or 9:30 on Saturdays).
It started as more of a suggestion than a rule. Now it’s strictly enforced. If you’ve ever dreamed of a near-empty Costco with the sample tables fully stocked and nobody blocking the aisle with two carts, that quiet early hour is the whole pitch for upgrading. For some people, that alone is worth the extra $65.
The Food Court Is Members Only
Grabbing a $1.50 hot dog without a membership used to be an easy trick, especially at stores with outdoor food courts where folks just wandered up from the parking lot. Not anymore. Many locations now make you scan a membership before you can order, even at the self-serve kiosks. The change hits hardest at those outdoor courts, where non-members used to sneak in through the exit.
Here’s the good news buried in there. The hot dog and soda combo is still $1.50, and Costco swears it isn’t touching that price. In some spots you’ll get bottled water instead of soda because of local taxes, but the deal itself survives. Pizza is doing fine too. On Halloween, the chain sold 358,000 whole pies, up 31% from the year before.
Self-Checkout Rules Depend on Where You Live
This one is a patchwork, and it depends entirely on your city. Long Beach, California put a hard 15-item limit on self-checkout. New York City is weighing a similar bill that would cap self-checkout at 15 items and force stores to staff one worker for every three lanes, or pay at least $100 a day per missing employee. Rhode Island and Massachusetts both ban running more than eight self-checkout lanes at once.
Ohio and New York state are in the mix too. Because of all this pressure, Costco pulled a lot of self-checkout lanes across its 640-plus U.S. stores. So if your warehouse suddenly has fewer of them, or an item limit sign that wasn’t there before, now you know the reason.
You Can Finally Order Cakes From Your Phone
Costco’s old cake system was gloriously dumb. You wrote what you wanted on a paper slip, dropped it in a box, and drove home hoping somebody would actually make it. Then you came back days later to find out. Two trips, zero confirmation, pure faith. One frustrated shopper online said the process was “from the 1800s.”
That’s ending. The Costco app now lets you order custom sheet cakes right from your phone, picking the size, flavor, design, and the writing on top. CEO Ron Vachris flat out called the old way “clunky” and said members are jumping on the digital version fast. Full rollout across all stores is expected by year’s end. Watch for the “Order Grocery/Bakery” button to show up in your region. Deli party platters are going digital the same way.
One QR Code Handles Your Card and Your Payment
As of this spring, you can link your Costco Anywhere Visa (and a lot of other eligible Visa cards) to your digital membership inside the app. At checkout you scan one QR code and it does both jobs at once. It proves you’re a member and it pays. No physical card, no digging through your wallet at the register.
You still earn every bit of your rewards. It’s the kind of small upgrade that feels minor until you realize you left your wallet in the car and don’t have to walk back across the lot. Between this and the digital membership card, Costco is clearly trying to get you to handle more on the app and less at the counter.
Returns Are Getting a Much Closer Look
Costco’s return policy is the stuff of legend. Bring back almost anything, no time limit, no receipt needed because every purchase is tied to your membership number. On paper, none of that changed. The 100% satisfaction promise is still right there.
What changed is how hard they enforce it. Expect more requests for proof of purchase on pricey stuff, electronics, and opened or used goods. The company is now using digital tracking to spot people who return a strangely high share of what they buy. Return a broken grill or a shirt that didn’t fit, and you’re totally fine. But if you’ve been dragging back three-year-old worn-out junk in bulk, your account is on a list now. One thing to remember: electronics still have a firm 90-day window.
Workers Are Making More Money
In February, Costco raised its starting wage to $20 an hour, then quickly bumped it again to $21. Average pay across its U.S. and Canada stores now sits around $31 an hour.
Why should you care as a shopper? Better-paid workers stick around, which means the person helping you actually knows where the coffee is and how to fix a register hiccup. Costco has leaned on this for decades, and it’s part of why the checkout lines move the way they do. Happy staff and shorter training times keep the whole place running smoothly, even on a Saturday afternoon when it feels like the entire town showed up.
The 8-Second Checkout Experiment
Costco started testing a checkout built to take about eight seconds. Here’s how it works. While you’re still standing in line, an employee walks up to your cart and scans everything in it. When you reach the register, you scan your membership card, all your items are already loaded on the screen, and you just pay.
It’s basically Costco’s answer to Sam’s Club and its Scan & Go feature, something Costco fans have wished for since forever. Pair it with all those missing self-checkout lanes and the plan starts to make sense. Put humans back in the process, but make them lightning fast so nobody’s stuck behind a cart full of 40 items.
Pepsi Is Out, Coke Is In
Small one, but people definitely noticed. Costco swapped Pepsi products for Coca-Cola fountains in food courts at many stores. If you’re loyal to one brand of cola, this either means nothing to you or it low-key ruins your hot dog lunch. In areas with soda taxes, some warehouses now hand you a Kirkland Signature bottled water instead of a fountain drink.
And speaking of Kirkland, Costco keeps adding more of its own private-label products to hold prices steady while everything else creeps up. That house brand is quietly one of the biggest reasons the membership keeps paying for itself. The company is also opening 35 new warehouses this year, so more towns are about to get in on all of this.
So What Does It All Add Up To?
None of these landed with a bang, which is very much Costco’s style. They test something quietly in California, roll it out slow, and one day you notice the front door works differently and the food court wants your card. The scanning and the tighter returns might sting a little, especially if you liked the old flash-and-go routine. But the phone cake orders and the faster checkout are real wins.
Either way, the hot dog is still $1.50, the samples are still free, and you’re still going to buy that giant bag of dinner rolls you don’t need. Now you just know what changed before you get to the register.
