6 Shopping Memberships That Cost Kentuckians More Than They Did in 2021

Membership fees are easy to forget about, since they usually hit once a year.

Kentuckians who renew without looking may be paying more for the same card than they did a few years ago.

Here’s how these shopping memberships have changed over the last few years.

Note: This is general information, not financial advice. Membership fees are subject to change.

1. Sam’s Club Basic Membership

In 2021, a basic Club membership at Sam’s Club cost $45 a year.

Retail Dive reported that a 2022 increase moved it to $50, nine years after the last one.

Then, on May 1, 2026, Sam’s Club raised it to $60.

If you carry that card, it costs you $15 more than it did in 2021.

If you’re a current member, Axios reported, you renew at the updated rate during your next billing cycle.

2. Sam’s Club Plus

Sam’s Club Plus membership has gone up twice since 2021, from $100 to $110 and then to $120.

If you’ve had it since 2021, you now pay $20 more.

Retail Dive reported that the 2022 move to $110 was the first Plus increase since the tier launched in 1999.

Both Sam’s Club tiers then rose $10 in May 2026, the first increase since 2022.

Sam’s Club’s join page lists 2% Sam’s Cash back and free shipping on orders over $50 for Plus members.

3. Costco Gold Star

Costco’s Gold Star membership cost $60 a year in fiscal 2021.

If you joined after June 2017, you paid that same $60, since Costco had last raised the fee that month.

A $5 increase took effect on Sept. 1, 2024, according to Costco’s July 2024 announcement.

That put the fee at $65 a year.

The same $5 increase applied to Business and Business add-on memberships.

If you’re a Gold Star member, NBC Select says the card covers two people over 18 living at the same address.

4. Costco Executive

Costco Executive costs $130 a year, double the $65 Gold Star fee.

But Executive cost $120 a year in 2021.

The 2024 increase was $10 for Executive, against $5 for Gold Star.

If you hold an Executive card, you get two Household Cards.

ABC News reported that a little over half of the around 52 million memberships Costco said the increase would affect were Executive.

5. BJ’s Club Card

BJ’s Club Card costs $60 a year, up from $55 in 2021.

A $5 increase on Jan. 1, 2025 was its first in nearly seven years, CBS News reported.

BJ’s announcement put Club+ at $120, up $10, as of that same day.

BJ’s said it would use the increase to invest in value for its 7.5 million members.

If you’re a Club Card member, you pay $5 more than you did in 2021.

6. Amazon Prime

Amazon Prime is a membership that includes free two-day shipping plus movies and TV shows, CNBC reported in 2022.

Amazon raised the annual fee from $119 to $139 in February 2022.

Monthly Prime went from $12.99 to $14.99 at the same time.

The previous increase, in 2018, went from $99 to $119.

As of spring 2026, Amazon’s Prime Video page lists $139 a year or $14.99 a month.

Yahoo Finance reported on Sept. 22, 2026 that Amazon hadn’t raised the U.S. price in more than four years.

If you pay by the year, you owe $20 more than in 2021.

Paying monthly comes to $179.88 over 12 months, up from $155.88 in 2021.

Bigger Perks Alongside the Fees

If you’re an Executive member, you earn an annual 2% reward on qualified purchases, according to NBC Select.

Costco’s July 2024 announcement raised the maximum Executive reward from $1,000 to $1,250 a year.

At 2%, the $65 Executive upgrade fee equals the reward on $3,250 of qualified purchases.

If you’re a Plus member, you can earn up to $750 a year in Sam’s Cash rewards, up from $500, Axios reported.

BJ’s announcement of its fee increase also gave Club+ members two free same-day deliveries on eligible orders of $50 or more during each annual membership period.

Membership Fee Income

If you’re a Costco member, your fee is part of the $1,373 million the company reported in membership fees for the 12 weeks ended May 10, 2026.

That compares with $1,240 million in membership fees for the same 12 weeks a year earlier.

That’s $133 million more than the year before.

Costco’s net income for the quarter was $2.19 billion, up from $1.90 billion a year earlier.

The company operates 931 warehouses worldwide, including 639 in the United States and Puerto Rico.

Costco’s renewal rate was 92.3% in the U.S. and Canada at the end of fiscal 2025, according to its annual report.

BJ’s reported $499.8 million in membership fee income for fiscal 2025, up from $456.5 million in fiscal 2024.