Personal Finance News
Sam’s Club Announces Price Hikes on All Annual Memberships
A popular warehouse club is raising its annual fee once again.
About Sam’s Club’s Membership Price Increase:
This week, Sam’s Club notified members that it will soon be increasing the price of its annual membership. Effective starting May 1st, the price for the base Club membership will increase $10 to $60 per year. Similarly, the cost for a Plus membership will rise from the current $110 per year to $120 per year.
Previously, Sam’s Club hiked the price of its Club membership by $5 and its Plus membership by $10 in October 2022. At the time, it noted it was the first base membership price increase in nine years. Moreover, that marked the first time the Plus membership had risen since its introduction in 1999.
For comparison, rival Costco’s Gold Star membership retails for $65 per year. Meanwhile, that warehouse club’s Executive membership is currently $130 annually.
With this latest round of price hikes, Sam’s Club is also adjusting one Plus perk. Now, the cap on the 2% Sam’s Cash back rewards that Plus members earn will increase from $500 per year currently to $750 per year. Other Plus member perks (which remain unchanged) include free shipping on orders over $50, free from-club delivery on orders over $50, early shopping hours, and more.
Ahead of the May 1st change, new members can still join at the current rate. In fact, Sam’s Club is currently offering $20 off Club memberships and $50 off Plus memberships, meaning that new members can join for as little as $30 for their first year. This offer is set to expire on April 23.
My Thoughts:
Obviously, no one likes paying more for something. Additionally, this latest price hike is coming pretty hot on the heels of the previous ones — comparatively, at least. Thus, I, as a Sam’s Club member, am a bit disappointed (although my renewal won’t arrive until Christmas).
To their credit, though, Sam’s Club has been making improvements in recent years. For example, our local club now uses an AI-powered system that allows us to exit without breaking stride (as opposed to stopping for manual item scanning at the door). In my mind, this is the perfect complement to the company’s great Scan & Go feature.
With that said, the last time Sam’s increased prices, it did provide renewing members with Sam’s Cash to make up for the difference ($5 to Club members and $10 to Plus members). However, there was no mention of any such perk this time around.
Anyway, if you’ve been thinking about joining Sam’s Club and want to save before the new pricing hits, you might want to take advantage of the current deals this month.
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