Bi-Mart Membership Sharing

[Super S]

With talk of stores such as Costco and Sam's Club cracking down on membership sharing, I got to wondering about how big of an issue this is at Bi-Mart.

They advertise a $5.00 Lifetime family membership, but the cards do not bear names and are a relatively thin card with a number that tends to wear off quickly. You could theoretically lend a card to a friend who would pay cash, and Bi-Mart would not know the difference.

They do a weekly "Lucky Number Tuesday" prize drawing which I am sure would require a card to claim a prize.

The only other times they ever ask for a card is when you enter and if you write a check. If you buy something with cash you don't even need a membership card at the register, and, although they have a gate which has to be buzzed open to enter, the potential is always there for people to slip past the gate, which is often blocked open when employees aren't always watching to buzz customers in...and I could see in some cases if somebody quickly flashed a green or yellow piece of paper to get buzzed in that a Bi-Mart employee might not notice as they are sometimes several feet away from the gate helping a customer with a refund or other tasks.

Bi-Mart has much smaller stores and is not on the same scale as Costco or Sam's Club, and the whole "membership" thing is loosely defined at some locations. But with a recent closure of the one in SE Portland, I got to wondering if this could have been a factor in the store's closure, as it wasn't exactly a nice area.

I sometimes wonder if they will either eventually raise the membership fee for new members, or simply drop this altogether. I discovered several years back when handling affairs for a relative who passed away, that they (not knowing one card worked at all locations) opened three different Bi-Mart memberships at three different locations they lived at, The Bi-Mart employee asked me about those as it was not a common surname, and I recognized all three addresses, but the relative only had two of the three cards at passing. So they don't appear to watch the ranks all that closely.

[ClownLoach]

With talk of stores such as Costco and Sam's Club cracking down on membership sharing, I got to wondering about how big of an issue this is at Bi-Mart.

They advertise a $5.00 Lifetime family membership, but the cards do not bear names and are a relatively thin card with a number that tends to wear off quickly. You could theoretically lend a card to a friend who would pay cash, and Bi-Mart would not know the difference.

They do a weekly "Lucky Number Tuesday" prize drawing which I am sure would require a card to claim a prize.

The only other times they ever ask for a card is when you enter and if you write a check. If you buy something with cash you don't even need a membership card at the register, and, although they have a gate which has to be buzzed open to enter, the potential is always there for people to slip past the gate, which is often blocked open when employees aren't always watching to buzz customers in...and I could see in some cases if somebody quickly flashed a green or yellow piece of paper to get buzzed in that a Bi-Mart employee might not notice as they are sometimes several feet away from the gate helping a customer with a refund or other tasks.

Bi-Mart has much smaller stores and is not on the same scale as Costco or Sam's Club, and the whole "membership" thing is loosely defined at some locations. But with a recent closure of the one in SE Portland, I got to wondering if this could have been a factor in the store's closure, as it wasn't exactly a nice area.

I sometimes wonder if they will either eventually raise the membership fee for new members, or simply drop this altogether. I discovered several years back when handling affairs for a relative who passed away, that they (not knowing one card worked at all locations) opened three different Bi-Mart memberships at three different locations they lived at, The Bi-Mart employee asked me about those as it was not a common surname, and I recognized all three addresses, but the relative only had two of the three cards at passing. So they don't appear to watch the ranks all that closely.

This sounds a bit like the long-dead Fedco chain. I think a lifetime membership was just a few dollars as well. I'm pretty sure they gave up on membership towards the end. Membership was more of a gimmick for these chains. I haven't been in a Bi-Mart as a occasional PNW tourist because I'm not a member and have no reason to join just to see the store even if it's five bucks. For me it's a deterrent. They should just open to all.

Membership is the main source of profit for Costco, who famously runs on a 5% or less profit margin which means overhead is incredibly low. Put it bluntly, if everyone shares their Costco cards and membership sales plummet then the whole company starts losing money. So they have to protect that membership revenue. Costco most recently is pushing giveaways if you'll sign up for automatic renewal payment.

Sam's financial model is less transparent, but allegedly their paying membership base has been at an all time high the last 3 years along with renewal rate. I suspect that their renewal rate is still less than Costco because of the reputation of easier membership sharing and discount membership promotions, but if it's going up that still shows a vote of confidence from their customers. They seem to focus more aggressively on offering credit cards before Plus upgrades. The returns desk is very good at trying to convince you to get a credit card. I think they make a large profit from these credit cards. Sam's has also more recently moved memberships to automatic renewal that you need to opt out of, indicating they're also more interested in those dollars than say a token price club like Bi-Mart.

[BillyGr]

This sounds a bit like the long-dead Fedco chain. I think a lifetime membership was just a few dollars as well. I'm pretty sure they gave up on membership towards the end. Membership was more of a gimmick for these chains. I haven't been in a Bi-Mart as a occasional PNW tourist because I'm not a member and have no reason to join just to see the store even if it's five bucks. For me it's a deterrent. They should just open to all.

Not sure if theirs was, but I remember reading that Korvettes did that way back when there were still laws that allowed the manufacturers to set minimum prices for selling their items.

Something about it being a membership (even though I believe theirs was free, much like getting the cards from supermarkets for sale prices these days) allowed them to avoid having to follow those rules.

[babs]

I am very familiar with the chain and past management. The membership is nothing more than a gimmick. The idea is that if you are a member, they can get you in the mailing list. And you feel like you need to shop there and think you are getting a great deal due to the membership. The one time fee is trivial and doesn't do much for their bottom line.

[bryceleinan]

With talk of stores such as Costco and Sam's Club cracking down on membership sharing, I got to wondering about how big of an issue this is at Bi-Mart.

They advertise a $5.00 Lifetime family membership, but the cards do not bear names and are a relatively thin card with a number that tends to wear off quickly. You could theoretically lend a card to a friend who would pay cash, and Bi-Mart would not know the difference.

They do a weekly "Lucky Number Tuesday" prize drawing which I am sure would require a card to claim a prize.

The only other times they ever ask for a card is when you enter and if you write a check. If you buy something with cash you don't even need a membership card at the register, and, although they have a gate which has to be buzzed open to enter, the potential is always there for people to slip past the gate, which is often blocked open when employees aren't always watching to buzz customers in...and I could see in some cases if somebody quickly flashed a green or yellow piece of paper to get buzzed in that a Bi-Mart employee might not notice as they are sometimes several feet away from the gate helping a customer with a refund or other tasks.

Bi-Mart has much smaller stores and is not on the same scale as Costco or Sam's Club, and the whole "membership" thing is loosely defined at some locations. But with a recent closure of the one in SE Portland, I got to wondering if this could have been a factor in the store's closure, as it wasn't exactly a nice area.

I sometimes wonder if they will either eventually raise the membership fee for new members, or simply drop this altogether. I discovered several years back when handling affairs for a relative who passed away, that they (not knowing one card worked at all locations) opened three different Bi-Mart memberships at three different locations they lived at, The Bi-Mart employee asked me about those as it was not a common surname, and I recognized all three addresses, but the relative only had two of the three cards at passing. So they don't appear to watch the ranks all that closely.

While I was in Coos Bay last summer, I picked up a new membership card, since the member number on mine was getting pretty faded. Lo and behold, the new membership cards have your name, member number, and a bar code on them, including the key tags. I guess this was an improvement in the new online system where you can order and pick up in store from both Cascade and Bi-Mart. As far as sharing goes, I don't think Bi-Mart really cares, especially in some of the more rural areas.

[jamcool]

With talk of stores such as Costco and Sam's Club cracking down on membership sharing, I got to wondering about how big of an issue this is at Bi-Mart.

They advertise a $5.00 Lifetime family membership, but the cards do not bear names and are a relatively thin card with a number that tends to wear off quickly. You could theoretically lend a card to a friend who would pay cash, and Bi-Mart would not know the difference.

They do a weekly "Lucky Number Tuesday" prize drawing which I am sure would require a card to claim a prize.

The only other times they ever ask for a card is when you enter and if you write a check. If you buy something with cash you don't even need a membership card at the register, and, although they have a gate which has to be buzzed open to enter, the potential is always there for people to slip past the gate, which is often blocked open when employees aren't always watching to buzz customers in...and I could see in some cases if somebody quickly flashed a green or yellow piece of paper to get buzzed in that a Bi-Mart employee might not notice as they are sometimes several feet away from the gate helping a customer with a refund or other tasks.

Bi-Mart has much smaller stores and is not on the same scale as Costco or Sam's Club, and the whole "membership" thing is loosely defined at some locations. But with a recent closure of the one in SE Portland, I got to wondering if this could have been a factor in the store's closure, as it wasn't exactly a nice area.

I sometimes wonder if they will either eventually raise the membership fee for new members, or simply drop this altogether. I discovered several years back when handling affairs for a relative who passed away, that they (not knowing one card worked at all locations) opened three different Bi-Mart memberships at three different locations they lived at, The Bi-Mart employee asked me about those as it was not a common surname, and I recognized all three addresses, but the relative only had two of the three cards at passing. So they don't appear to watch the ranks all that closely.

This sounds a bit like the long-dead Fedco chain. I think a lifetime membership was just a few dollars as well. I'm pretty sure they gave up on membership towards the end. Membership was more of a gimmick for these chains. I haven't been in a Bi-Mart as a occasional PNW tourist because I'm not a member and have no reason to join just to see the store even if it's five bucks. For me it's a deterrent. They should just open to all.

Membership is the main source of profit for Costco, who famously runs on a 5% or less profit margin which means overhead is incredibly low. Put it bluntly, if everyone shares their Costco cards and membership sales plummet then the whole company starts losing money. So they have to protect that membership revenue. Costco most recently is pushing giveaways if you'll sign up for automatic renewal payment.

Sam's financial model is less transparent, but allegedly their paying membership base has been at an all time high the last 3 years along with renewal rate. I suspect that their renewal rate is still less than Costco because of the reputation of easier membership sharing and discount membership promotions, but if it's going up that still shows a vote of confidence from their customers. They seem to focus more aggressively on offering credit cards before Plus upgrades. The returns desk is very good at trying to convince you to get a credit card. I think they make a large profit from these credit cards. Sam's has also more recently moved memberships to automatic renewal that you need to opt out of, indicating they're also more interested in those dollars than say a token price club like Bi-Mart.

I remember Lucky’s discount operation, Gemco. Their lifetime membership was one dollar.