Sam's VS Costco

[ProudGrandma]

Now that we are moving to a big city we will now live close enough to shop at one of these stores....but 1) we aren't sure if it's worth it for us since we don't have the need to normally buy things in bulk and 2) if it was worth it, which one is the "better" option.?  Please share your opinions on this. 

Thanks. 

[mmasc]

I have and like both, but for different reasons. But I also use both for bulk buys mostly. So I’m not sure if it would be worth it if I didn’t. For the things I like that aren’t really bulk buys, I’d probably prefer Costco. Their produce is way better than my local stores. I also love their stuff around the holidays (LEGO sets, food gifts, advent calendars, etc). I also buy a decent amount of clothes from Costco—for myself and my teens. I like getting dishwashing tabs and paper towels/plates at either place. We used Sam’s for the best deal on a new set of tires. And I actually preferred Sam’s for my rx sunglasses, too, even though I’d heard great things about Costco eye glasses. I love Sam’s large garden planters and giant bags of potting soil (seasonal). Costco has good sheets, but we like Sam’s Member’s Mark pillows. 
 

Those are just a few things off the top of my head that aren’t your usual food things. (I get food, too, but I was thinking of other things that might be more helpful for your consideration.)

[Pawz4me]

We joined Costco early last year and have been very satisfied. My understanding is that Costco has more items/more selection than Sam's, but it's been a very long time since we had a Sam's membership. At Costco we save way more than enough to cover the membership fee just from buying household supplies like paper towels, toilet paper, laundry detergent, dishwasher pods, bar soap and body wash, Brita filters, batteries, and things like that. It's not so much that we need to buy in bulk (there are only three of us here) as that it saves money and I like stocking up on things and not having to think about the need to buy those things again for a good while.

[marbel]

I have both. 

We've had a Costco membership for years, but when we moved, there was a Sam's Club closer to our house than Costco, and it had gas (our closest two Costcos did not at that time), so we got a membership there too. 

Both have their advantages and disadvantages. Overall, I like Costco better. The store is cleaner, and the employees are so much better than the ones at Sam's. The difference in attitudes is remarkable.  

One advantage Sam's has over Costco is the way the self checkout works. At Sam's I can just scan the items in my cart; at Costco I have to move them out of the cart onto their counter, then back into the cart. This is becoming more significant for me as the arthritis in my hands progresses.  However, Costco's attended lines go fast and the workers are pleasant and appear happy, so it's not a burden to go to an attended line.

We buy all our tires at Costco, always. They have been so helpful when we've had a slow leak and they repair at no cost.  

Returns at Costco are easier than at Sam's, in my experience, and the customer service people are not surly about it, as they are at Sam's. So I never buy something I might have to return, such as clothing from Sam's, but buy without hesitation at Costco. 

Costco's breads and other bakery items are significantly better than Sam's (in my/my family opinions). Both have good produce. Sam's is generally a little cheaper. Costco has the best meat, always. 

Packaged foods are comparable. Bags, of nuts, say, or boxes of crackers, stuff like that, no difference between the two places. 

Oh, back to gas. The nearby Costcos have gas now too, and while the prices are similar to Sam's, pumping is not. I'm not sure I can explain this right. At Costco, I can go to pump on either side, as the hoses are long enough to reach the other side. (Pump on passenger side, gas door on driver's side.) At Sam's, they don't actually reach around unless I position the car perfectly. Also, there is more room to maneuver at Costco. These are small things to most people, probably, but not to me. I don't like driving in close areas, kwim? 

Anyway, as we become closer to the empty nest we will still shop there. It's worth it even if we don't buy much food (though we have a freezer so buying big packages of meat is not a problem). The less often I have to shop, the better!

Edited July 14 by marbel

[ProudGrandma]

thank you all for these thoughts and opinions.  I greatly appreciate it.  You all have given me something that I didn't consider...so that has been very helpful as always!!! 

[Innisfree]

I joined Costco recently (maybe six months ago?) for the first time, primarily to get eyeglasses. I have been pleased with the glasses, and the family has enthusiastically endorsed various Costco products. They like things like the dried mango slices, some refrigerated and frozen foods, some shelf stable foods that are easy lunch options, some bakery products (naan, croissants).

The taste and convenience of these are good; if anything, I’m a bit disturbed that they make it so easy to eat processed foods instead of cooking from scratch. After indulging in exploring what’s available for a while, I’m trying to dial back on using them, except as needed for occasional times when we’re stressed. They’re nice to have on hand in the big freezer, though.

We don’t have a lot of space for storage, so I don’t get everything that I might otherwise in large quantities. Selective use of bulk items does make sense. Some of the savings are significant.

At this point family members would be upset if I quit buying some of the Costco items, savings or not. No experience with Sam’s at all, so I can’t comment there.

[Corraleno]

I've had a Costco membership for almost 2 decades, and I had a Sam's membership for one year. To me, Sam's was basically just a bulk version of Walmart, and the quality of the food, other products, and staff was the same as the parent company. I found the quality of the food and other items to be much higher at Costco, and they are always rated as a great place to work. They pay well, with good benefits, and are known for training and promoting from within — the current CEO started as a forklift driver in a warehouse 40 years ago.

I buy most of my groceries, all glasses and prescriptions, gas, tires, all paper products, most cleaning products, lots of household and gardening items, and some clothes at Costco. Even though I'm mostly just shopping for myself these days (plus DS when he is home from college), it's still worth it for me to do most of my grocery shopping there, and just fill in with a few other items from Trader Joe's. If you eat meat and dairy, their meat, seafood, and cheeses are absolutely top quality for good prices, and their rotisserie chickens are still only $5 and are larger and better quality than most other places. Their produce is also better quality than most grocery stores around here, for the same or lower cost. They often have sales on things like TP, paper towels, detergent, and shelf-stable food items, which is when I stock up. This year they had an amazing sale on GreenWorks battery powered lawn tools, and I saved a total of ~$250 on a lawn mower, strimmer, and leaf blower. And their return policy is amazing, they will take back pretty much anything at any time for any reason and give a full refund even without a receipt. 

I have an Executive Membership, which gives 2% back on Costco purchases, and I also have the Costco Visa card, which gives an additional 3% back on Costco purchases (plus 1-2% back on other purchases), so in addition to the lower and/or sale prices, I get another 5% off, and the cash back at the end of the year is always way more than the membership fee. But if you get an Executive Membership and the cash back does not cover the difference in price between the standard ($60) and Executive ($120) membership, they will refund the difference.

Edited July 14 by Corraleno

[gardenmom5]

Just the savings in gas can be worth it if you drive much.  Sam's club is not a thing here, but even 2dd is in DFW and only has a costco membership.  (bit of a drive.  dsil was confident they didn't need a membership, she bought one anyway since she grew up with it.  He's converted to the advantages. . . .)

We're in the Seattle area, so we have multiple Costcos to choose from (yes, there are differences - Issaquah (headquarters) has a sushi chef in house making sushi that is shipped to a few other locations).  South Seattle has a car wash.
dh and I have different costcos we patronize based on where we are.  And there is always Costco online.

[Lady Florida.]

We've done Sam's, BJ's, and now Costco. I would say Sam's and Costco are comparable though they don't always carry the same items. I didn't care for BJ's (I know you didn't ask about them but am giving my opinion anyway lol).

We had Sam's for years because it was the only warehouse club within reasonable driving distance. A few years ago Costco opened up much closer and for a while we had both memberships, partly because we didn't know if we'd like Costco and partly because our Sam's membership hadn't yet expired. In the end we didn't renew Sam's. 

We tend to buy paper products in bulk - Kleenex (I'm brand loyal there), TP, and paper towels. I have a freezer in the garage and I like to buy meat in bulk so I'll often buy the pack of chicken breasts or pork tenderloins. I split the chicken and pork tenderloins into amounts we'll use, the freeze them. I like the frozen fish selection at Costco as well. I haven't been to Sam's in about 2 years so I don't know if anything changed but Costco has a big selection of organic food, both fresh and packaged. 

If you like Asian food Costco has the better selection. 

[Lady Florida.]

Oh, I'll also add that we've bought a number of electronics at Costco: a smart TV, Galaxy tablet, Galaxy smartwatch, and Epson inkjet printer. We did quite a bit of research before buying those items and they had the best price. I bought my newest laptop elsewhere recently because they didn't have quite as big a selection and the choices didn't include the features I wanted. 

Costco's clothes aren't bad either. I've bought a few items there and am happy with all of them. 

Their wine selection is decent too and reasonably priced. We don't drink spirits so I can't say anything about the liquor store.

Our Costco has a gas station and the price is always the best (as a pp said, comparable to Sam's). 

Finally, we recently had to replace a blown tire and again, the price was the best around.

[marbel]

2 minutes ago, Lady Florida. said:

Their wine selection is decent too and reasonably priced. We don't drink spirits so I can't say anything about the liquor store.

I second this, if you live in a state that allows it. My state does not have wine, beer, or spirits in Costco (or Trader Joes', Aldi, etc, only state stores and some grocery stores).

Recently on a trip, we went into a Costco in another state and were blown away by the wine selection and prices. We did buy some, and it was all very good, and less expensive than what we usually buy (and I go for less expensive wines overall). This store only had wine, not beer or spirits. 

[Lady Florida.]

Just now, marbel said:

I second this, if you live in a state that allows it. My state does not have wine, beer, or spirits in Costco (or Trader Joes', Aldi, etc, only state stores and some grocery stores)

Oh yeah, I forgot about this. I think this came up a few years ago when I started a thread asking about Costco once I found out we were getting one. Or maybe it was a grocery store topic. Grocery stores can sell wine and beer here. You can even buy beer and wine in drugstores like Walgreen's and CVS as well as in convenience stores. Grocery stores and warehouse clubs can't sell spirits in the main store but they often have an attached liquor store. 

[kbutton]

I’ve not completely explored every nook and cranny of Costco, but I would say it’s a toss up unless you have very specific things at one that aren’t at the other that you want to buy.

We are equidistant between one of each, but because gas near Costco is overall more expensive than in the area around Sam’s, Costco had not turned out to a savings for gas.

If one of your clubs is significantly bigger than the other, you might also find that makes a difference.

[kbutton]

You might also compare perks—Sam’s recently announced that in late August, free curbside pickup is coming back for non-Plus members when you spend $50 or more. I don’t remember what Costco’s curbside policies are.

[PeterPan]

Two observations. One, you can usually walk in to one or both, at least in our area. Two, you can pull up all their offerings online to compare prices and see what is worth it to you. You can laugh, but my dh likes to go with his friend to these stores to shop. They walk around having guy time and buying manly food (massive bags of cheese slices, huge bins of nuts, etc.). He had me send a list with him when he went with his friend to Sam's Club last week, so I went through the website to see what might be good for him to look for. It was fun and things were cheaper, but for a family of 3 it wasn't enough cheaper to be worth paying for a membership.

I've gotten glasses at I think costco one year. They worked out to be a deal and were definitely better than Zenni glasses. Now I get my glasses from the "bargain bin" at the optometrist and the lenses are better still. So even for that, I'm not sure if it would be worth it. I guess just be very mathematical about how it works out for you. Maybe make a friend and go once before you decide. 😄 

[Corraleno]

15 minutes ago, PeterPan said:

you can pull up all their offerings online to compare prices and see what is worth it to you.

Just be aware that although online Costco prices are often cheaper (for members) than prices elsewhere, for items that are sold both online and in store, the in store price is often even lower. So if you want something that is available both ways, it will almost always be cheaper to buy it in store.

Edited July 14 by Corraleno

[cintinative]

So we are weird. We only  joined Sam's because they sell Toll House Chocolate Chips (Costco doesn't sell them, and none of the kinds they sell are gluten-free).  That first year I think I got the membership for $20 but they offered a $20 gift card also, so it was a net zero cost to join.  So if they are offering something like that, you could basically join a year for free and see how it goes. 

Overall, I prefer Costco. It's closer and as mentioned, it tends to be cleaner and nicer. 

There are a couple things we have found at Sam's that Costco doesn't sell: the Luzianne Decaf Tea bags, Toll House morsels, and Hershey's Cocoa.  I do a lot of baking so those are nice. They also sell Superpretzels which Costco rarely has and my husband loves.  That said, we probably only hit Sam's 2-3 times a year. It's about a 30 minute drive for us. I just majorly stock up when we do.

One thing we noticed is that they have men's small sizes of clothing at Sam's and they pretty much never do at Costco. That's not a big deal for most people. For my boys, we have been able to get some clothing at Sam's that we would have had to buy online from Costco. As noted upthread, if you buy online at Costco, it is slightly more expensive because they build in the shipping fees. 

[livetoread]

We had memberships at both for awhile after Costco came to town, but ended up cancelling the Sam's. We like Costco better for a lot of reasons mentioned already. Here's a little something else though. The parking lot of our Costco has huge parking spaces and also designed areas to walk in the lot with your cart that are in between the rows. You have room to maneuver those massive carts, and your car is way less likely to get dinged. Our Sam's parking lot has typical spaces and it always feels crowded both as a driver and as a pedestrian.

[Spryte]

We’ve tried both and greatly prefer Costco. Partly because we prefer the way the treat their employees, and we are not fans of WalMart in general. 

We buy what we can at Costco, but for specific allergy-friendly foods we need, we hit Wegman’s. Costco is our first stop, though, and the quality is usually very good.

We’ve bought food, electronics, appliances, clothes, gifts, you name it. They have a good return policy as well.

 

 

[Lady Marmalade]

My best suggestion is to do a one-day membership to both to compare them yourself in your area, because they vary by location.  I have both memberships and prefer each one for different things, but I'm always surprised when I'm traveling and stop at one counting on them to have something specific and then they don't have whatever it is at their location. 

I'm always surprised when people say that their Costco has the best produce, because in my city, I find the Sam's Club produce to be far superior. Always fresh and a great variety.   I also prefer the bakery at Sam's, with the exception of the sheet cakes, because Costco has the better tasting frosting.

Alcohol selection is very good at both. Their store brands of high-end liquors really are the high-end liquors re-packaged and they are worth the price. 

Prepared foods, frozen convenience foods are better at Costco, but I prefer the fresh meat selection at Sam's Club way more than Costco. Costco just doesn't have very many options for fresh meat, where Sam's has all the different cuts of beef, pork and lamb.  

I gravitate towards Sam's 90% of the time, for two very specific reasons. One is that I buy the plus membership at Sam's, so I can get in the door at 7:30 in the morning if I'd like. Costco doesn't open until 11, and I generally like to do shopping runs first thing in the morning.  The second reason I favor Sam's Club is the most important to me though, and that is Scan-N-Go. Using the app, I can scan items as I put them in my cart, swipe to pay for my order and walk out the door. I can be in and out at Sam's Club in minutes. My club also recently installed some kind of gate that you walk through on your way out of the exit so you don't even have to have your cart checked by an employee. I just hold up my phone and they wave me by. If you've ever been in a warehouse club on a Sunday with the after church crowd, you might understand how glorious it is to fill your cart, swipe, and walk right back out. 

If I could only pick one place to have a membership it would be Sam's. 

[dsmith]

We have Sam's, Costco and BJ's. We like each one for different reasons. We love the olive oil at Costco, the lightly breaded chicken breast chunks for my son, their frozen organic fruit for my smoothies, otc medications, their little bags of mini chocolate chips, their eyeglasses (this alone saved us over $200 just for my son, but dh and I both need new glasses) various household items, etc. We got a great price on a TV, and when it went even cheaper a few weeks later I was able to go online and request a refund of the difference. It was very easy to do and took only a few minutes. I've bought some clothes for all of us there at decent prices. Our Costco doesn't have any flour that we like, so we get that at Sam's. We were able to get the Sam's membership for $20, and I often see promotions for a reduced membership fee. Their prime rib sliders are really good! We pick up at least 3 packs every time we go, along with their brioche slider rolls. They have a good alcohol selection - our Costco doesn't have alcohol. We don't buy much meat at any of them - we do better at our local supermarket. There are quite a few items that are good deals at both places, like broth, various spices and sauces, pantry staples, etc. Sam's has scan and go, which is a must. Their checkout lines are awful most of the time, and not as well managed as Costco's. Our Costco has great self checkout. I don't know why more people don't use it. We usually end up with someone scanning for us anyway, and never wait on line for more than 5 minutes on the busiest days. Visa only if paying by credit card in-store at Costco FYI.

[kbutton]

23 hours ago, Lady Marmalade said:

I'm always surprised when people say that their Costco has the best produce, because in my city, I find the Sam's Club produce to be far superior.

Our has a basically identical selection right down to brands, lol!

I think the point about selection being different at different stores of the same chain is important. I would also say that the quality of meat from one store to the next can vary. We like our Sam’s beef, but we don’t like the pork. My parents’ Sam’s has great pork though.