Your Costco membership comes with an extra $20 gift card right now. Here's how to get it

Costco members will soon be forced to stop sharing their cards. The retail chain is cracking down on sharing of memberships with a new policy under which all cards will be scanned at the store entrances to stop noncardholders from taking advantage of exclusive offers. While this is a good enough reason to invest in a membership, Costco is sweetening the deal for new members.

New Costco Gold Star Members who purchase a card through Stack Social will get a $20 Digital Costco Shop Card and those who go for the top-tier Costco Executive Gold Star membership can get a $40 gift card.

Steps to Sign Up

To avail of the offer, shoppers need to visit the Stack Social website and purchase their Costco membership. They can choose between the Gold Star and the Executive Gold Star membership and pay online.

Once the membership is purchased, the gift card will be sent to the member via email within two weeks. Members must register with a valid email address or else they will not receive the $20 Digital Costco Shop Card.

The Stack Social website mentions that members should check their junk or spam folder in case they don't find the gift card in their inbox.

Perks of signing up

Members can use the gift card to make a purchase at a Costco store in person or online. The cost of the standard Gold Star membership is $60 but with the gift card, the effective cost comes down to $40. For Executive Gold Star membership, the cost comes down from $120 to $80 with the gift card.

Furthermore, members who sign up now will save more as Costco is set to hike the prices of its memberships. The company earlier announced that the Gold Star membership price will go up to $65 for the year in September, and the price of the top-tier membership will go up to $130. All Gold Star members will also receive a complimentary Household Card which can be shared with a designated member of the house, aged 18 or older.

Eligibility for the Costco Digital Shop card

As per Stack Social, the offer is valid for only new members or those whose membership expired more than 18 months ago. Only residents of the U.S. and Puerto Rico can avail of the deal.

Shoppers can only purchase a maximum of two memberships, and there is a limit of one membership per household. Thus, the second membership must be gifted, the website says. The offer is also non-transferable and can't be combined with any other promotion or discount.

Costco's crackdown on card sharing

Earlier this year, Costco announced a new policy to put a stop to card sharing. As per NBC , the company relies on membership fee to drive most of its revenue and the new card-checking policy in an effort to prevent non-paying shoppers from taking advantage.

Now, all members have to scan their physical or digital cards by “placing the barcode or QR Code against the scanner," at the entrance of the store. Furthermore, members who don't have their photos on the cars will need to present a valid photo ID to enter. Guests without cards will need to be accompanied by a member to enter the store.  Previously, members only needed to present their membership cards at the cash register during checkout.