Sams vs. Costco

KelBel328

I have both Sams & Costco available, but both about 45 minutes away. I have a couple of questions -

1.) Which one do you feel is better?
2.) Is it worth the membership fees to join? Worth a 45 min. drive?

Thanks for any info!

_John_

sams is evil because walmart...

heylookitsval

Ask yourself: How badly do I need a gallon of ketchup?

_John_

Ask yourself: How badly do I need a gallon of ketchup?

we have about 10 gallons of crappie filets...

you do the math...

PBsMommy

Never been to a Costco.

However, I can give my feedback on Sam's.

I half the membership with my mom. Each person who signs up gets two cards. They can have both cards in their name or one in theirs and another in someone else's. My husband normally doesn't go shopping and if he does, it's just to tag along with me. So it works out better for us to split the membership since my mom isn't married.

Our Sam's is about 30 minutes away and $45.00 a year for just the plain jane membership. I pay $25.00 and my mom pays the other $20.00. To me it's worth it. I save $10.00 on TurboTax alone every year by going there and buying it. I shop at other stores as well, but buy select stuff in bulk there, such as baby wipes, household stuff, certain foods, etc.

Now my absolute favorite place to shop is Aldi. Boy do I love me some Aldis.

homerjspartan

Ask yourself: How badly do I need a gallon of ketchup?

True. But if you have kids - diapers, formula, wipes, and booze. The big 4 of parenting.

KelBel328

Never been to a Costco.

However, I can give my feedback on Sam's.

I half the membership with my mom. Each person who signs up gets two cards. They can have both cards in their name or one in theirs and another in someone else's. My husband normally doesn't go shopping and if he does, it's just to tag along with me. So it works out better for us to split the membership since my mom isn't married.

Our Sam's is about 30 minutes away and $45.00 a year for just the plain jane membership. I pay $25.00 and my mom pays the other $20.00. To me it's worth it. I save $10.00 on TurboTax alone every year by going there and buying it. I shop at other stores as well, but buy select stuff in bulk there, such as baby wipes, household stuff, certain foods, etc.

Now my absolute favorite place to shop is Aldi. Boy do I love me some Aldis.

I shop at Aldi's regularly and have been weighing the options of buying in bulk to stretch my dollar. I don't mind having a surplus of product on hand, as long as it is something that we use. Like ketchup. LOL I have 3 teenage boys, so I thought it might be worth it in just pizza rolls alone! LOL
I appreciate your information. I may see if my mom would like to split it with me as well! I wasn't aware that you could do that.

Bama56

the price of boneless skinless chicken breast is worth the membership to me ($1.77 / lb).

mcdignan2

Costco has a lifetime return policy on everything, including membership. Except TVs, camera, and computers.

cwolfman13

Ask yourself: How badly do I need a gallon of ketchup?

or diapers for really cheap...wipes...beer, wine, booze...or fresh produce in huge bulk really cheap to feed your family...or meat, poultry, seafood in bulk really cheap to feed a family...milk, cheese, eggs, etc.

I save a small fortune doing most of my grocery shopping at Costco vs a conventional grocery store...and the ketchup I buy last about a year for the same price as a travel bottle at the grocery store.

To the OP...I've had both and I prefer Costco. I just prefer their products in general. I don't know that either would really be worth it if you're single...family with kids, etc...most definitely worth it.

We also have a Costco AMEX executive membership. We get 10% rebate at the end of the year and some % from Costco as well (I want to say 2%). This year we got back $350ish from Costco and we're getting something in the neighborhood of $1,500 from AMEX as we spent about $15K at Costco this past year.

Edit: Note also that we buy a lot of just general stuff there as well, not just grocery products...clothes for the kids (and myself...sometimes my wife), electronics, including both of our televisions, our cell phones, both of our lap tops, our wood flooring for the house, our new furnace a few years ago,, etc, etc, etc. Basically, if we didn't find it at Costco or get it on Amazon, we don't own it.

bmqbonnie

Costco actually pays their workers a decent wage (my friend was paid $11/hr at start selling hot dogs, and this was 9+years ago) while Walmart/Sams doesn't. For that reason, if I had a choice I'd go with Costco. Plus they have deals on other things like vacations, insurance, etc.

bmqbonnie

Costco has a lifetime return policy on everything, including membership. Except TVs, camera, and computers.

And even with those things they double the warranty (at least with laptops anyway)

Timshel_

Costco is by far the best store IMHO. It is NOT always the lowest price, but is generally cheaper or has added value on many products. Also, there is no other store I will buy general goods or electronics from. Their return policy is too good. Others say no hassle, but Costco truly is no hassle.

Down side could be said that you have to pay for membership, but I've always had the Executive membership and get a percentage of purchases back, which more than pays for the membership each year. You can also add in the Costco American Express card and get even more money back.

The other down side is that it can get crowded and have long checkout lines. Then again, I've seen that at Sam's too.

cardbucfan

I belong to SAMs-it's 5 minutes from my gym vs the Costco which is 30 minutes away so that's why that choice. However, I have friends who live near the Costco and they get higher quality items than SAMs does so if it's equal, I'd probably do Costco.

It is totally worth it if you have teenagers! I have two boys and just the savings on meat, milk, produce and staples more than pays for my membership. I also use the pharmacy there. We have a high deductible health plan so have to cover all our prescriptions out of pocket until we hit that deductible and SAMs is the cheapest pharmacy in our area by a fair amount.

mrsidecar

I love costco. I have one of the executive memberships which costs twice as much but you earn a percentage back for it. Even on the years where I don't buy any big ticket items I at least earn more the 50% back so it was worth it. I tend to go to get a variety of things but you really have to watch what your getting. The produce is great and at a great price but you need to be able to use what you get or it's not worth it. The Meats are top quality but you can find it cheaper. I have gotten things like flooring for my house and tires for the car at great prices making it all worthwhile. Oh and the fact that it's a good honest company help me feel better as well.

ckspores1018

I much prefer Costco over Sam's. I like the Kirkland brand better than the house brand at Sam's and I find the layout and overall cleanliness of the stores to be better. Plus, the staff at Costco is much nicer.

My employer offers an institutional membership so I get a discount at Costco for the membership. To me, the quality and prices of meat and produce are worth the investment. Also, where else would I buy 30 rolls of toliet paper and 700 red solo cups?

rachelamber_x

We have a costco membership, and used to use it quite a lot, but don't really use it any more (we aren't planning on renewing it when it runs out later this year).
Its ok but a lot of the stuff isn't actually that much cheaper than other places (in the UK at least). And the fact the prices are given not including VAT can make stuff seem a LOT cheaper than it actually is when you add the VAT on.
Now we mainly shop at aldi instead, its really good value.

ETA: I have no idea what Sams is, I don't know if we have them here.

skinnyinnotime

We don't have a Sams (I think) in the UK but we have Costco and I love it, saves us a small fortune. We are a family of 2 adults, 3 boys so bulk buying is cheaper and saves on constantly going shopping for the same things.

The main things we get are, juices, water, toilet paper, cheese (feta and cheddar), soap powder, organic pasta and cereal.

AyeCorona

I love our Costco! To echo the Wolfman- Costco give you a rebate every year for 2% (I may have to get the Amex since we have an exec membership and would like 10% too).

My household is just my husband and I so we don't load up on ketchup and such, but we get great deals on meat and produce. Also, we buy a lot of the ready to go meals. Best tatziki too.

I will warn- the food court has footlong hotdogs and a drink for $1.50- hard to pass up.

Dgadd17

Costco is my "buy a gallon of ketchup" store of choice. The meat selection alone is worth the price of admission. Add in the excellent kirkland brand, the in-store and online coupons, the travel/cell phone/electronics deals, and it comes out to be the better of the two, IMHO. We have a Sam's and a Costco within a couple blocks of each other where I am, so I decided to comparison shop, and Costco won hands-down. Plus, all my friends who have Sam's memberships for whatever reasons always ask me to pick up things at Costco that they can't get! lol

richardheath

I love Costco! But I have to be careful - it's easy to just pop-in for some steaks* and come out having spent $400 on stuff you didn't know you needed!

Never done the Sams thing, but then I try to stay away from Walmart too.


*They have great prices on their meats, but I do find their ground beef goes off quickly. I divide it up and vacuum pack some to stick in the freezer if I'm not using it right away.

♥Amy♥

We currently have a SAMs membership, only because I got it for free on LivingSocial. We've bought some items there, but not a whole lot. My ILs have a Costco membership (& Gave us one for Christmas that we are going to activate once our SAMs one ends). I prefer Costco due to the cheap gas prices and the availability of healthy and organic choices, which SAMs doesn't carry as much of.

dixiech1ck

My best friend has a membership to Costco. It's pretty decent. I, on the other hand, have a membership to BJ's. I tend to like it, however, when you do the unit price vs. what I can get individually, sometimes it's far greater than if I go to a small place to get it. For instance, the Whey protein I get at Walmart, though 18 bucks for a 2 lb bottle, I can get a 5 lb bag for $32 at BJ's. So, I'm saving almost 2 bucks in the long run. Whereas, it's going to take me $2.00 in gas to go there to buy it. But things like my Brita filters - mega cheaper to buy in bulk. And BJ's takes coupons!! So double score.

sillygoosie

I like Costco better because1) they treat their employees well 2) are not a WalMart company and 3) their food is better.

GetSoda

I like Costco better because1) they treat their employees well 2) are not a WalMart company and 3) their food is better.

This.

Costco steak mui bueno!
And many locations have grass-fed!

tuckerrj

We've been members at both. We prefer Costco. Helpful friendly staff. Love the Kirkland brand stuff. We purchased rotted hamburger surrounded by fresh meat at Sam's. The second time it happened, we moved to Costco.

sillygoosie

I have to add that the Kirkland brand vodka is fabulous (rumored to be repackaged Grey Goose) and their wine isn't too shabby either.

coolraul07

I'm a WalMart shopper but the only reason I go to Sam's over Costco is distance. I have 2 Sam's about 10 mi of me but the nearest Costco is 20-25 mi easily! If they were the same distance, I'd consider switching even though I'm happy with the product selection/quality. Also, my preferred Sam's had several self checkout lines with wireless price guns. Even when I buy a huge cart or two of stuff, I can checkout much faster than waiting in line.

ETA: I used to shop at BJ's years ago because:
1) They were the closest warehouse to my job at the time
2) They accepted manufacturer's coupons (neither Sam's nor Costco do)
3) They created a lot of their own coupons and had the flyers as you walked it.
4) They had more items that were sold as "a lot" of standard-sized items rather than 1 huge items (e.g. 10 regular cans of tuna rather than one ginormous can). That method is a lot friendlier for smaller households.
5) They were the first warehouse store in my area to have self checkouts. Had it years before any Sam's did and I still haven't seen them in Costco.

seltzermint555

I have seen Costco when traveling but have never shopped there. We don't have it in my immediate area so it's off my radar.

As for me personally I would NOT consider Sam's Club if it was a 45 min drive from my home. It is 5 min from my home and I still do not have a membership.

I'm childfree by choice (married no kids) and my husband and I have ZERO need for anything from Sam's Club. I got a membership in the past to get a set of inexpensive tires there (which my automotive-inclined husband says are CRAPPY). Walked around the store 3-4 times and all I saw that suited my tastes was a 3-pack of Laughing Cow wedges and some cheap bananas.

Sam's kind of makes me sad in a way. All of the people rushing around and having like 4 choices on giant bottles of shampoo acting as though this is going to save them so much money and be such a boon to their budget. Um no.

My dad on the other hand (also in a couple household w/o children) loves Sam's. He has a business membership and enjoys going in the early hours before others are allowed in. I think that's the biggest part of the attraction for him ;-)

Also...I detest Walmart and therefore not inclined to go back to Sam's. I had an interview there 2 years ago for a part-time cashier position during the holiday season and their wage was crazy-low and expectations were insane. Like sell x number of memberships every shift - as a regular cashier - so probably most people coming through your line would already be members, right? Ugh. I literally laughed when they told me the wage and I knew that part-time temporary retail wasn't going to pay big bucks. Unimpressive.

sillyvalentine

We have to drive 45 minutes to our Costco. We go once a month. We buy meat and dog food and paper products (TP, Paper Towel, Ziploc bags). We also get laundry and dish soap there. Sometimes I'll get a book or a video game. We also buy our movie passes there. (2 tickets, 2 drinks and a popcorn for $24)

To us, the $50 a year membership pays for itself in dog food alone. We save about $780 a year on dog food and so much more on meat.

I would never buy vegetables there because they are often old or half frozen.

Timshel_

I love Costco! But I have to be careful - it's easy to just pop-in for some steaks* and come out having spent $400 on stuff you didn't know you needed!

We call it the $100 Costco Cover Charge. lol.