Membership underpins Costco's business. In 2022, America's largest warehouse club and third-largest food retailer had 66.9 million
members and received $4.2 billion in membership fees. It is the major reason Costco can sell so many high-quality goods at affordable prices.
Just how serious? The Daily Dot said that a shopper was stopped and detained at checkout last month for
violating one of the warehouse's harshest standards. Using someone else's membership card was her crime.
Costco security detained her for nearly 20 minutes while calling her mother to authorize the purchase, despite her family ties.
Over 350 TikTok comments and 1.9 million views accompanied her account. Many commenters had similar experiences: "I was buying
goldfish with my dads costco card and they escorted me out and didnt let me buy the goldfish and flagged his account for fraud," said one.
"One time a Costco cashier refused to let me cash out because my mom sent me with her card to buy stuff," said one. "She really acted like I was trying to steal…"
@tvmoo_on the phone for 20 min 3 people confirm I'm in Costco and my mom confirms the purchase like??♬ original sound—sissy