Costco’s latest price change shocks members | Official Website of Louis Velazquez, entrepreneur, finance guy and tech innovator

If you ask some people what they think about having to spend money to walk into a Costco store, they’ll probably tell you there’s no way on earth they’re going to fork over $65 for a membership.

A lot of folks don’t like the idea of paying a fee just to then go and spend more money to pad a retailer’s bottom line.

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But there’s a reason so many people are willing to pay Costco’s membership fees. The $65 you spend on a membership (or $130 if you upgrade to the Executive tier) can save you well more than that throughout the year, provided you use your membership enough.

One mistake people make at Costco is spending money on a membership only to visit the store a handful of times during the year. But just as a gym membership is a waste of money if you don’t use it often enough, so too is a Costco membership.

On the flip side, if you shop at Costco on a regular basis, you might enjoy major savings on groceries and essentials month after month.

All told, your savings could well exceed what your membership fee costs you.

Costco’s latest price change shocks members.

Image source&colon; Burbank/Orlando Sentinel/Tribune News Service via Getty Images

Costco strives to have the lowest prices in retail

Because Costco charges members a fee to walk in the door, the company goes to great lengths to uphold its reputation as a store that’s worth the money.

To this end, Costco aims to only offer products that are high in quality. And it won’t hesitate to pull products that don’t meet its standards.

Costco is also very particular about pricing. Simply put, if it can’t offer a given product at a price point it feels is competitive, it just won’t sell it.

Of course, there’s another option, too. If Costco can’t source a given item at an affordable price point, it can try to produce it under its Kirkland label.

The Kirkland brand has become synonymous with quality and savings, and it’s just another way Costco is able to offer maximum value to its members.

Costco’s latest pricing move has members surprised — in a good way

Although Costco aims to price its inventory competitively from the start, it doesn’t mean prices are set in stone.

If you’re a member, you’re probably aware that Costco discounts different products on a rotating basis. You might score $4 off of your paper towels one month or $3 off of your favorite snack mix another month, depending on what’s on sale.

Costco has also been known to lower the price of individual items for different reasons. Often, it’s to move inventory off the shelves and make room for new products.

Meanwhile, Costco shoppers recently noticed a major price reduction on the Combo Pizza Take and Bake.

For a long time, the price of that take-home pizza was $16.99. But given that it’s possible to order a giant fresh pie from the food court for just $9.95, that $16.99 price point seemed unbelievably high.

Now, however, it seems as though Costco has reduced the price of its Combo Pizza Take and Bake to just $6.99. And fans are a lot happier with that.

As one user wrote, “6.99 seems reasonable…16.99 was just too much for a take and bake. Hopefully not a pricing error.”

Another user wrote, “I did buy it when it was $16.99. It was good, but not good enough for that price.”

But before you get too excited about this Costco bargain, you should know that it may not stick around forever.

More Retail:

As a Costco employee took to Reddit to explain, the Combo Pizza Take and Bake has apparently been marked down because it’s being replaced with a new Four Meat and Cheese version.

“It’ll hit Costco once your warehouse is sold out of the combo,” that user explained.

As far as the cost of that new pizza goes, it’s up in the air. But as the aforementioned Costco employee said, “Hopefully Corporate sets a better price this time around.”

Maurie Backman owns shares of Costco.