MONEY

Costco to pay Washington shoppers $14M to settle email lawsuit

Oct 8, 2026, 6:33 AM | Updated: 5:44 pm

Costco is paying Washington shoppers more than $14 million to settle a lawsuit over allegedly misleading marketing emails.

According to The Seattle Times, the court has approved 313,275 claims. The settlement agreement applies to all Washington residents who received the emails from Costco between June 2, 2021, and July 7.

The lawsuit accused Costco of falsely advertising deals as “last day” or “five days only.” Costco denies any wrongdoing.

KIRO Newsradio has reached out to Costco for comment.

A King County judge approved the settlement last week.

Did you get emails from Costco? You may be owed money from a $14M settlement

The case Michael Aaland v. Costco Wholesale Corporation ended with a settlement after the plaintiff alleged that Costco violated Washington law — specifically the Commercial Electronic Mail Act and the Consumer Protection Act — by sending commercial electronic mail messages containing false or misleading subject lines to state residents.

Those who can earn part of the settlement were defined in the settlement as “all persons who received a commercial electronic mail message, and who were Washington residents at the time of the receipt of such commercial electronic mail message, that was transmitted by Costco Wholesale Corporation or someone acting on behalf of Costco Wholesale Corporation at any time from June 2, 2021, through July 7, 2026.”

The amount issued to each person has not been confirmed.

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