That might be for other reasons, because according to a study I've seen, Costco basically runs their stores "at cost" and wants to just make money off of the me

That might be for other reasons, because according to a study I've seen, Costco basically runs their stores "at cost" and wants to just make money off of the memberships (https://minesafetydisclosures.com/blog/2018/6/18/costco https://minesafetydisclosures.com/blog/2018/6/18/costco, though it's from 5 years ago so things might have changed)