If you’ve been thinking about joining Sam’s Club, you may want to act fast: The annual membership fee will go up $10 starting next month.
The Walmart-owned chain of warehouse stores has been emailing existing members this week to alert them of the price increases. Effective May 1, a standard Sam’s Club membership will cost $60, up from $50, while the cost of a Plus membership will increase from $110 to $120. The company is clearly trying to push more people to its higher-cost Plus membership, as it’s also upped the cap on its 2% cash-back rewards these members can earn—from $500 annually to $750.
The company confirmed the price increases to Fast Company and indicated that current members will renew at the updated rate during their next billing cycle. However, a few people on Reddit have noted that they were able to renew their memberships early at the current prices.
WHAT’S BEHIND THE PRICE INCREASE
The forthcoming price change marks the second time in five years that Sam’s Club has increased annual membership costs, with the previous increase occurring in late 2022.
“We have adjusted our membership pricing to support the things our members love,” a spokesperson for the Bentonville, Arkansas-based company said in a statement to Fast Company. Such benefits include expanded in-club hours, curbside pickup, and enhanced delivery options, the spokesperson noted.
The company plans to open six new Sam’s Club stores this year in Tennessee, California, and Texas, as USA Today has reported. It also named a new CEO, Latriece Watkins, earlier this year and has made a more concerted effort to woo higher-income customers away from rival Costco.
Indeed, there’s no longer much of a discount, if any, to an annual Sam’s Club membership compared with its two main competitors. BJ’s Wholesale Club is likewise on an expansion tear this year and charges $60 and $120 for its two membership tiers, while it costs either $65 or $130 annually to be a member of Costco.
MEMBERS SOUND OFF
While some people on social media offered potential work-arounds to the price increase—such as using a different phone number when signing up in order to take advantage of new member discounts—others have threatened to cancel their membership as a result of the price increase.
And there’s something else that’s been rattling some Sam’s Club members. In late 2024, the company increased the minimum purchase threshold required for Plus members to nab free shipping on online orders, which is now $50.
As one Redditor commented on a post about the price increases: “Got the same email, and I honestly wouldn’t care if they still had free shipping for Plus members. That change really bugged me when it happened.”