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In July 2017, some readers were confused by a Providr.com article that appears to suggest it was no longer necessary to pay Costco membership fees to shop at the store: The piece's headline (You No Longer Need To Be A Costco Member To Shop In Their Stores) gave the impression that Costco membership fees, long required in order to shop at the bulk chain, had been retired or no longer applied, and naturally it was primed for sharing without reading on social media, teasing the prospect of fee-free bulk purchases. However, if you read several paragraphs in, you find that the title was not exactly accurate: Providr.com's post referenced a 28 June 2017 Today.com article bearing the more accurate title, You don't need a Costco membership to buy its products anymore: SProvidr's headline promise that Costco membership was no longer necessary in order to shop in Costco stores is obviously inaccurate; the source material describes a workaround using a third-party service called Instacart, and it did not describe a way to browse the store in person. It also notes that Instacart's Costco shopping service is not available in all areas (it is useful primarily to people who live in cities). Not only is the suggested claim misleading, it is also not new. Articles dating back to at least 2014 point out that non-members could use Costco gift cards (or purchase certain items from Costco.com), thereby entitling them to a Costco visit without the membership. A January 2015 food blog post describes the Instacart workaround as a way non-members can take advantage of Costco's offerings. It is still necessary to buy a membership (or go with a friend) to physically shop at Costco.
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