It's no secret that people buy a staggering amount of stuff at Costco. The wholesale club saw net sales of nearly $270 billion last fiscal year, and shoppers can't get enough of the chain. With this rising popularity has come a tighter enforcement of Costco's membership policy, with new scanners at the front door and ID checks at self-checkout. However, there's a reason the company started cracking down on freeloaders, similar to Netflix. Despite selling billions of dollars' worth of merchandise, Costco generally doesn't profit from those sales as much as typical retailers like Walmart or Target do. In other words, membership fees account for more than half of Costco's total profits, so it's little wonder the company decided to crack down on unauthorized card sharing. Read more about how Costco makes its money at the link in our bio. Story by Dominick Reuter (Credit: Getty Images) #costco #retail #groceryshopping