The Costco 1-Year Gold Star Membership is Costco’s basic tier of warehouse access, priced at $65 for a year of shopping across warehouses, gas stations, and Costco.com. Right now, the sign-up also includes a $50 Digital Costco Shop Card that arrives via email a couple of weeks after you activate. The card works for anything in the store or online, so your first cart of groceries or a fill-up at the gas station essentially costs $50 less. Available for new members only.
A 1-year membership to warehouse club Costco, where you can shop for affordable bulk discounts
Costco is a warehouse club, meaning you pay an annual fee to shop at its stores rather than paying a markup on individual products. The Gold Star tier is the base level of membership at $65 per year, which includes one primary member plus one household card for another adult at the same address. Shopping includes groceries, electronics, furniture, clothing, alcohol, and gas at member-only prices. There are 900+ Costco warehouses worldwide, with about 600 in the US alone.
Digital Costco Shop Cards work like store credit at Costco. After you sign up for StackSocial and activate your membership on Costco’s website, the $50 card arrives in your email within about 2 weeks. Show the card at the register in-warehouse or apply it at checkout on Costco.com to redeem. Costco Shop Cards don’t expire, so if you don’t want to use the full $50 on the first shopping trip, the balance carries over to your next visit.
Beyond the store itself, Gold Star membership offers several additional services at member pricing. Fuel pumps at Costco gas stations charge under-market rates for the region, often 20 to 40 cents below the competitors. Costco Travel offers packaged vacations, rental cars, and cruise bookings with member-only rates. Extended warranties for electronics and appliances are added at no charge to qualifying purchases. Kirkland Signature, the in-house brand, spans groceries, cleaning supplies, clothing, and vitamins at prices below name-brand equivalents.
Eligibility for this offer requires that you be a new member or that any prior Costco membership expired at least 18 months ago. Current members and anyone whose primary or household card was active in the past 18 months won’t qualify for the $50 Shop Card. The StackSocial page delivers an instant redemption code via email at purchase. You then take that code to Costco’s website, complete the sign-up flow, and pick up your physical member cards at any warehouse counter.
Costco has been in expansion mode for years, with over 147 million members globally and renewal rates in the 90% range. For a household that buys groceries in bulk or drives enough to notice gas prices, the annual fee tends to pay for itself in the first month or two of shopping. At $65 with a $50 Shop Card added, the first-year cost is effectively $15. New signups can activate through the StackSocial redemption code emailed at purchase.