Information

[tinkerbelldani]

I think it depends on the area. I never visited Sams before. I have Costco and Bj's. I like Bj's because I can't find everything that we eat at Costco, but we buy Gas in Costco because they are usually have it 10 cents cheaper.


You will need to get a one day free membership and compare the things you buy most in both places.

[Charleneanne]

Costco has the gas discount too but read signs on the gas pumps at both Sam's and Costco. The gas contains 10-15% ethanol and that is why it is cheaper. And Costco also has the super cheap photo developing with great quality prints that Sam has.

[scrapscot]

I love having a Costco membership; love their samples on the weekends. Yummy! I like buying toilet paper and dishwashing soap from them. Used to use their photo department but I print most of my photos myself but their 8x10 Kirkland photo paper is wonderful!! I love the quality!

We don't have a Sam's near us at all, but I think I'd still prefer Costco and their Kirkland products. I also don't like dealing with Wal-mart and that's who owns Sam's.

[sdwhru]

I have belonged to both sams & costco. I like Sam's better. I get my dog food & treats there. Have bought electronics, too, when they are on sale. I got $100 worth of iTunes gift cards for $80. Have bought stainless steel pots and pans there, too. I price check while I'm in the store on my iPhone. hehehehe

You might try going to each company's website and checking them out, too - just an idea! I have bought off of the Sam's website and have it delivered to me, too.

[1grandma]

We only have a Sam's in our area and do use it about every other month. I hate running out of toilet paper so i buy paper products, garbage bags, paper plates, etc there. Cheese, sometimes fresh veggies, dairy, when I need a lot like during the holidays, and anything else that we just eat more of and doesn't spoil when bought in larger quantities. If you know your grocery prices, it's not hard to compare and see if it's a good deal. It's only my husband and I now, so our list from there is simple and small compared to years ago. I just about always come home with a baked chicken though..Love them and they are cheaper than even Walmart's.

Ditto what she said. And those rotisere chickens are so delicious!

[Ayla]

I've never been in Costco...we only have a Sam;s but it is great for those things I really use. I buy 20# of bread flour for just a dollar more than it costs for 5# at the grocery store!

[1grandma]

I've never been in Costco...we only have a Sam;s but it is great for those things I really use. I buy 20# of bread flour for just a dollar more than it costs for 5# at the grocery store!

I have not priced flour, but now that I have a Kitchen Aid mixer, maybe I should. I want to bake bread.

[gine]

I do Costco simply because it is the store closest to my house(even closer than my grocery store). I also had a BJ's membership but they ****** me off so no more.
some stuff are a lot cheaper, but watch out it is not all the products that you save on. I think that goes for them all

[scrappininAK]

we belong to Costco but I have gone to Sams on a guest pass. We buy at Costco once a month - they have great prices on fruit and meat and dogfood. I think they're pretty much similar here just stock some different items

[4peasinourpod]

We JUST got a Costco, and my friend is a member. i am not.
I have a Sam's Club membership. I go there often. I love it. First of all...I get all of my pictures printed there. I sent one picture to 5 different sites, and theirs was the best. HANDS down. Also....their fruits and veggies are fresh (at least here) because the turnover is so high. Their cakes are GREAT, and made to order. My kids don't eat cake anymore, but when they did, they BEGGED for Sam's. I also know that Tuesdays and Thursdays (at ours, anyway) they mark down their meats. I got beef tenderloin yesterday for almost half off.



I actually was there yesterday, and am going back today. (Long story, but suffice it to say that RIGHT NOW Evan's Drivers Education schedule is ruining my social life, lol) I am getting my baby from school and we heading there. Best, cheapest lunch in town, btw



My ONLY beef with Sams (and I am sure with Costco, too) is that OCCASIONALLY i am a brand shopper. If you like a certain product, it may not be available. I only eat Hellmans mayonnaise, and for the longest time, they only carried Miracle Whip. I did a cartwheel yesterday when they had the Hellmann's again in the smaller containers.

[sakura-panda]

You should be able to walk in to either store just to browse and see what you think. To buy something, you need a membership, although I know in the past they would do a 5% markup for non-members. I've done that several times when I'm between memberships to see if it's worth renewing, but that was also a long time ago -- these days I automatically renew.

I buy different products from Sam's and Costco so I have both memberships for different reasons. Sam's Club is actually more conveniently located, so I'll go there if I'm in a hurry or already in the area. Costco isn't any farther away distance-wise, but it's in the opposite direction and I have to make a special effort to go there. I buy more (and spend more money) at Costco than I do at Sam's, but it's mainly a personal preference thing, not because they are better. (Well, they are better to *me* but that won't be true for everybody.)

I like their photo departments equally for prints, but prefer Costco's for 12x12s and photo cards.

Both clubs have premium memberships which no one has mentioned (that I've noticed.)

Costco's Executive Membership is an extra $55, but you earn back 2% of everything you spend there. You also get added discounts for other services, although I've only used the check printing. I spend enough there to get back just enough to cover the additional cost. I guess that means I'm not getting a significant benefit compared to not having it, but if I ever have an extra spendy year, I'll benefit then and I'm not losing anything now!

Costco has a flyer with coupons that go out about once a month or so -- they are extra savings off of their warehouse prices and I think that's where most of my money goes -- saving extra money on products that I'm already buying, like laundry soap!

Oh, and Costco also has an unconditional return policy on everything except for certain electronics. (It used to include electronics, but people were abusing the policy and they had to change it.) It's a really nice service and makes buying a lot easier knowing you can return it if it doesn't work out.

Sam's Club' Plus Membership has member-specific coupons and travel offers. We have had this membership for the last year and a half and will probably not continue it -- there doesn't seem to be much added value if you don't use their travel services. The coupons have not been very targeted; we've been in it for as long as we have because we thought after the first six months, maybe they just didn't have enough data to give us coupons we could use, but a year later it hasn't gotten any better. It might be because we don't buy as much from there so the computer doesn't know what to offer us, but in any case when our membership comes up for renewal in the summer, we're going to drop back to the regular one. I suppose Costco's money-back deal has us spoiled.

Good luck in whatever you decide, but I really think the best thing for you to do is to walk around both stores and see which one has the most products that you would want to buy.l

[jmo95]

Thanks for all of the input. Sam's and Costco are literally right next door to each other here....so I think we are going to see if we can go in and browse before we decided. I blow through baking items and things like cereal and household basics like water. We are hoping that we will be able to find deals.

[scrapy1967]

I am a member of Costco and I love going there. They have the best meat and in the spring they have awesome flowers and lawn a garden stuff. You also get coupons a couple times a month so you can save even more.

[cat1393]

We go to BJ's warehouse..love it there. AND we can use manufacturer's coupons.

[1grandma]

I keep hearing that Sams has a nice photo department, but I have not had good luck there or at Walgreens. Other ladies that go to the LSS to scrap swear by Sams for photos so maybe it is me who is a fault. Just saying.

[pawprints]

We have been Costco members for a long time, back to when they were known as Price Club. It is literally 10 mins or less from me, and right next door to Target, so I am there quite often. I buy my paper products there in bulk... Scott and Bounty and the Kirkland brand of Tissues. I get my Cascade dishwasher pillow packs there a lot cheaper than the supermarket sells them for, and as everyone else that goes to Costco has mentioned, they send out coupons quite often so I get many of the things I buy even cheaper then. Since I print my own photos I stock up on ink for my HP printer when they have the coupon where you get $20 off if you buy two packs of cartridges, and they sell the packs of XL cartridges so they last me a long time. We get our bread there, meat, oh and we LOVE their bags of ravioli! They are great and so much cheaper than any supermarket ravioli. We buy our fruit there, especially bananas and blueberries, which are always cheaper than the supermarket. I get eggs there and milk, and packaged deli turkey breast so much cheaper than the supermarket, and as someone else mentioned there are always seasonal things and surprises that show up from time to time. They only thing is, as someone pointed out, is that they don't carry many different brand names. Like if you want paper towel, it is Bounty. If you like a different brand, they won't have it. They carry their own brand of most items too (Kirkland), and the quality is usually very good. In fact, I find the quality of all the products they carry to usually be very good. And as someone else mentioned, the samples are so much fun. If you go at the right time you can basically eat lunch off of the samples lol! I was there the day before the superbowl and OMG it was the most samples I have ever seen! They were set up all over the place in the food section!

I've never been to a Sam's so I can't say how they compare.

[pawprints]

Oh and I forgot to mention, as someone else did, if you get the Executive Membership you pay more but you get money back. Between that and the American Express Costco card we get money back to use at Costco two different times during the year. It pays for most of if not all of a days shopping trip there.