Can You Really Add Another Person To Your Costco Membership?

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If you're a Costco member taking advantage of wholesale deals, you might wonder if you can share those membership benefits with others. The standard membership costs $65, and the executive is $135. So it wouldn't make much sense for households to pay this fee twice. Luckily, you can add someone to your Costco membership, but there are clear rules around who can be included and how it works.

Here's how it works: Every paid Costco membership comes with one free Household Card. That means the primary cardholder can add one person at no extra cost. This second user gets all the same benefits, including their own physical card, a membership number, and full access to Costco warehouses. If you have a Business Membership, you can add up to six people for $65 per card.

Adding someone is simple if they qualify. You can do it online through your Costco account or in person at the membership desk. The second cardholder will need to show a government-issued photo ID, and Costco will take their picture on the spot.

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There are some prerequisites for including a second card user. Whoever gets added to a membership must be 16 or older and live at the same address as the primary member. Costco enforces this by checking photo ID when issuing cards and occasionally at checkout. This policy is designed to prevent excessive sharing outside the household, which would undermine their profitable membership model.

If you're hoping to add a friend, sibling, or partner who doesn't live with you, Costco doesn't offer a workaround. If you want to add a third member from the household, there isn't currently an option for this. There's no option to pay extra for a third adult; some streaming services allow this. Each paid membership is limited to two people total, maximum.

If adding someone directly to your membership isn't an option, Costco still offers a few ways to share the benefits. One option is Costco Shop Cards, their version of a gift card. Members can purchase Shop Cards and give them to non-members, who can then use them to shop in-store without paying the non-member surcharge. While Costco has been cracking down on non-members, another option is shopping together with non-members, as Costco does allow up to two guests per visit. The catch here is that only the member can pay at checkout – so this works well for roommates, couples, or friends splitting bulk items. And finally, Uber Eats allows shoppers to order from Costco without a membership (but members do receive a discount on items).