Canceling Your Costco Membership Is Easy – Here's How To Do It

Any business that's based on a membership or subscription naturally makes it as effortless as possible to sign up. But if you decide you want to cancel, many of them make it hard to even find out how to do it, and then have you jump through hoops to get it done. Thankfully, that's not the case at Costco, where canceling your membership is easy.

Costco members can cancel at the membership desk in any of the warehouses and get a refund right then, or close their account by phone at 1-800-774-2678. The primary member has to cancel, and they must bring their membership card and photo ID with them when canceling in person, or have their membership number to do it over the phone. However, as frictionless as Costco makes dropping your membership, one thing it doesn't allow is online cancellation. You can join, renew, or upgrade to an Executive Membership online, but not cancel or downgrade to a regular Gold Star Membership.

Members are refunded the entire annual fee when they cancel, no matter how much of their fee year has passed, which as of 2025 is $65 a year for a Gold Star Membership and $130 for an Executive Membership. However, some people try to finagle a free membership by canceling and getting their refund right before the next year's fee is due, then quickly signing up again. It's one of the things that could get you kicked out of Costco, which may refuse membership to people who attempt it, or who've canceled more than once and tried to rejoin.

Instead of going to a Costco membership desk or picking up the phone, you could cancel your membership without actually canceling it by simply letting it expire. Of course, you don't get a refund that way, but you leave open the option of signing up again in the future without Costco getting suspicious. If you want to let your membership expire and have Auto Renewal on your account, you have to turn it off online at least three business days before the first day of your renewal month, or you'll automatically be charged for another year.

You do lose the Costco perks and benefits when you end your membership, and that includes the Costco Anywhere Visa Card, which will also be canceled if you have one. You can still order from Costco on Instacart because you don't need a membership, but there's a catch: you'll pay higher prices. There are a couple of other ways to shop at Costco without a membership card as well, when you really want to make a run to one of the warehouses.

Costco makes things easy for members who want to cancel, but what about its main warehouse retailer competitors, Sam's Club and BJ's Wholesale Club? Just like Costco, they let you cancel your membership at one of their locations or by phone, refund the full annual fee, and don't let members cancel directly online. However, BJ's does also let you cancel via email or online chat, and even with an actual snail mail letter.