Costco built its reputation on delivering outsize value for a flat annual fee. But over the past several years, the warehouse retailer has steadily stripped away benefits that millions of members once took for granted, from photo printing to extended electronics warranties to price-protection guarantees. The changes arrived without fanfare, and many shoppers only noticed after the perks were already gone.
Taken individually, each cut looks minor. Taken together, they paint a picture of a company trimming the edges of its membership proposition even as it continues to raise dues. For consumers already stretched by inflation, the pattern is worth examining.
The Sun cataloged five discontinued Costco perks that loyal shoppers still miss. Here is what disappeared, when it happened, and what members lost.
In early 2023, Costco shut down its online photo center, a service members had used for years to print holiday cards, photo books, and enlargements at warehouse-club prices. The company redirected members to Shutterfly, offering special discounts and free shipping on qualifying orders through a partnership arrangement.
For families who had relied on the in-house option, the switch meant navigating a new platform, new pricing, and new terms. Whether the Shutterfly deal remains active on the same terms is unclear; Costco has not publicly detailed the thresholds or longevity of the arrangement.
Until January 2023, members who paid for electronics with the Costco Anywhere Visa Card, issued by Citi, received an extra 24 months of warranty coverage on top of the manufacturer's guarantee. That benefit was stripped back, leaving cardholders with less protection on big-ticket purchases like televisions, laptops, and appliances.
Whether the decision originated with Costco, Citi, or both has never been explained publicly. What is clear is that members who bought electronics expecting years of extended coverage lost a tangible reason to swipe the co-branded card. The change fits a broader pattern: Costco and Citi have quietly adjusted credit card terms in ways that catch members off guard, particularly those with lower credit scores.
Costco's famously generous return policy once let members bring back electronics with almost no time limit. That window has been narrowed to 90 days. The company never publicly disclosed the original return period or the precise date the restriction took effect, but the change removed a safety net that had distinguished Costco from competitors like Best Buy and Amazon.
Ninety days still beats many retailers. But the old policy gave members confidence to invest in pricey TVs and sound systems knowing they could return them if something went wrong months later. That confidence is harder to justify now.
Before 2019, Costco offered a price-protection policy that let members file claims for compensation if a product's price dropped after purchase. The benefit rewarded loyalty and patience, buy now, and if the price falls next week, Costco makes you whole.
The company axed the program in 2019. A 30-day price-adjustment policy still exists, but the broader protection that covered longer windows is gone. For members tracking deals on seasonal items or big appliances, the change removed a meaningful incentive to buy at Costco rather than wait for sales elsewhere.
Costco has also been cutting prices on Kirkland products and home goods in response to pushback from shoppers feeling the squeeze of rising costs, a move that suggests the company is aware its value proposition faces scrutiny.
Costco stopped selling Xbox consoles and related accessories, a removal that caught gamers and parents off guard. The company did not explain the decision publicly. It did, however, state that it had no plans to stop selling Nintendo or PlayStation products, an assurance that only sharpened the question of why Microsoft's console line was singled out.
No specific date for the Xbox removal was given beyond a relative reference to "last year." Whether the move reflected a supplier dispute, sluggish sales, or a strategic inventory decision remains unanswered.
Costco currently offers two membership tiers: a standard plan at $65 per year and an executive membership at $130. For that fee, members get access to warehouse pricing, fuel discounts, and a handful of remaining perks, including the ability to add one free household cardholder and bring up to two guests per visit, though only the member can make purchases.
The membership rules themselves have grown more rigid. Costco's own terms now state that sharing a membership card for purchases is prohibited and that the photo on the card must match the person using it. Additional authorized cardholders, say, a friend or family member at a different address, require an extra fee.
None of this is unusual for a membership retailer. But when you stack tighter sharing rules on top of five eliminated perks, the annual fee buys less than it did five years ago.
The friction extends beyond lost perks. A California man named Russel George recently filed a class-action lawsuit alleging Costco violated state law by failing to send timely membership renewal notices and by refusing to let members cancel online, even though online sign-ups are available. California law requires businesses to allow cancellation through the same method used to sign up, and George claims Costco forces members to cancel by phone or in person. He says he does not use his membership enough to justify the cost and would have canceled had he received a timely reminder before the charge hit his account, the New York Post reported.
That lawsuit is separate from the perk removals, but it speaks to the same underlying tension. Members feel the terms are shifting beneath them, and the company is not going out of its way to flag the changes.
Costco has also faced legal pressure on other fronts, including a lawsuit over its rotisserie chicken that the company moved aggressively to dismiss. The legal skirmishes, combined with benefit reductions, suggest a retailer more focused on protecting margins than on preserving the generous reputation that built its customer base.
Meanwhile, everyday frustrations pile up. Costco employees have pushed back on shoppers who treat free samples like a buffet, another sign that the warehouse experience is becoming more transactional and less indulgent.
Costco has earned enormous goodwill over decades by offering honest value at scale. The $1.50 hot dog combo, the rotisserie chicken, the fuel savings, those remain real. But the quiet removal of five substantive membership benefits, spread across several years and announced with minimal transparency, chips away at the trust that makes the annual fee feel worthwhile.
No single perk elimination would justify outrage. But the pattern, cut the warranty, shrink the return window, kill price protection, shut down the photo center, pull a major product line, adds up. And when the company simultaneously tightens card-sharing rules and faces lawsuits over cancellation practices, the direction is hard to miss.
Members pay for the privilege of shopping at Costco. They deserve to know, clearly and in advance, when the privileges are being taken away. Loyalty is a two-way street, and right now the traffic is moving in one direction.