BJ's, Costco, or Sams?

[Totoro]

That is a tough one. IMO I have to give the vote to Sam's. We have been members of all three clubs at one time or another. Right now, I have Costco and Sam's. I like Costco for the variety in snacks and dairy. Sam's sells gasoline in our area (the other two do not). I have to say that I like Sam's fruits and vegetables better for price and quality.

 

[dd50]

I have a membership in BJ's and go there all the time. I also like Costco but it is about 25 miles away and know that I wouldn't use it as much. BJ's is only a few miles away. I think I pay for the membership in gas alone.

 

[marcemc]

Another vote for Costco

Best products, best variety (specially when it comes to organic produce), best service, best price.

 

[EPCOT is a verb]

I voted for Costco, and wish we had one close. We have a membership at BJ's in our town, but if Costco were closer, there would be no contest!

 

[ToodlesRN]

I have both Sams and Costco. Both memberships expire this month and can't afford to renew both, so were going to renew with Costco. I think the overall selection is better at Costco vs Sams.

 

[Yoshi]

I have all 3 in my area and I like Costco the best.

BJ's doesn't seem to have as great of a selection of merchandise, the prices don't seem as great and the food court isn't as cheap as Costco and Sam's

Sam's is better than BJ's and has better clearance deals but I hate how slow the service is there. There are many times they only have 4 - 5 registers open with long lines at each and they are never in a hurry to open more registers. I have seen this happen at multiple locations. Also the inventory control isn't the greatest. I have tried to buy video games before, stood in line with the card you take to the register, then have to wait at customer service to get the game only to find out they don't have it and then have to get refunded. This has also happened to be at multiple locations.

I think Costco is the best because the stores seem cleaner and brighter than Sam's Club, the lines usually move very fast, the coupon books they mail out usually have great deals and the food court is awesome.

 

[bigmama67]

We used to have BJ's but we joined Costco last year and are very pleased with it. They have really good deals with the coupon books and they now take debit cards (they used to only take cash and Discover which we don't have). We went for the Executive membership because there was a deal...it's up in May so we'll see how much we get but I expect it will be at least the difference between regular and executive in the rebate check. Also since we bought our house Costco is closer than BJ's is but I am happy with it. In fact, I'm doing some grocery shopping there this week (organic carrots, 10 lb. bag for $6.90!) REALLY delicious, huge rotisserie chickens for $4.99 at all times...3 pounds of Craisins for $6.29! (These cost only a little bit more than one pound in Shop Rite!)

I don't remember deals like that at BJ's though I could be forgetting...

 

[npmommie]

We have a BJ's card, used to have Sam's but much prefer BJ's.
ours has a huge selection, they have tons of organic items, and items that I used to pay way more for at regular stores....( example Amy's burritos )

ours also has great customer service. never an issue, an example........a couple years ago, I bought a digital photo frame but did not open it right away, it was at least a month or two for whatever reason til I finally broke it out and discovered it didn't work properly, well by that time I lost the receipt.
Took it back, and they were able to look it up and they gave me a full refund of what I paid for it.

oh and the coupons are great, and if the item is multi pack you can use more than one coupon, so you can end up with even better deals

we don't have a Costco near us, but if we ever get one I would check it out.

 

[npmommie]

3 pounds of Craisins for $6.29! (These cost only a little bit more than one pound in Shop Rite!)

LOL I just bought the 3 lb bag of craisens at BJ's last week! and I think the price was $6.99 plus there was a coupon in the booklet for it!
I love craisens and they are so expensive at Stop and Shop

 

[JCMHutch]

We love BJs! I love the fact that they take coupons and have their own. Lately they have been running coupons online that you can print out. We've gotten the following free with those: 3 lbs bananas, corn bread, green giant carrots & Welsley Farms French bread. Plus, they offer discounted renewals through some employers - we renewed for 16 months through DH's company for $35.

 

[KigerKat]

I chose Costco, only because I have never been so BJ's and I despise the Wal-Mart company. I wish we had a BJ's near us, because I hear that they accept manufacturer's coupons and have regular sized items in their stores. With just my husband and I, sometimes buying in bulk isn't such a good idea.

 

[java]

Costco hands down. Kirkland dog food alone saves us at least$25 a month! And that rotisserie chicken is HUGE! Great price on it too. It's harder to stick to your list here but if you go in with one and stick to it you can save big. I keep hearing the Kirkland olive oil is the thing to buy but ours doesn't sell that for some reason. I'm going to ask today.

 

[Swimalie]

For those of you that are BJ's members, do you get coupons from them in the mail? We joined in Nov and haven't gotten any yet. I know they have some in the store but our store is not that close (Costco is closer and we're a member there as well so we go there more often). I'd go to BJ's if I had more of a reason to more often.

 

[herdtoDisney]

I vote for Sams. Mine is always cleaner and better organized than BJ's and Costco. It's also closest for me. I do, however, also have a membership to Costco, because it has a hearing aid center-I saved over $1000 on my hearing aid! The audiologist there is great too. But for usual trips, I go to Sams.

One thing that annoyed me at Sams, though-they did not have the Disney gift card deal at my SAms (the one out in Dec that had the $100 for $98 plus $10 free) and told me they were not getting it. I paid for my trip end of Dec, and what did they have a whole pallet of, in Jan? Yes, the gift cards...

 

[DCLbrideSept2009]

Costco set the bar...and others have been trying to reach it.

Costco's quality and customer service is the best around. I like everything from their monthly magazine, to the rebate checks (one for my executive membership and one from AMEX), the samples, return policy, prices, quality, consistency of employees, food court, ordering photos online, bakery, ... well just about everything.

I totally agree!!! They also have the best return policy around (they'll take anything back at any time)! Of course, some people take advantage of it like when we saw someone returning a used Christmas tree a week or so after Christmas...

We have bought a memory foam mattress from them, memory foam pillows, couch, clothing, all sorts of things on top of the groceries we buy there also... they have *some* organic stuff, which I love... we get their organic chicken breasts, organic apples... we go through string cheese like crazy in this house and always get the big thing of 'em... we buy our dog food from there (good quality stuff and very reasonable price - DH is kinda picky about what our dogs eat!) Paper towels and toilet paper (Kirkland brand), cleaning stuff, laundry detergent... we buy a lot of the Kirkland brand stuff... we Costco!!! We also have 4 kids, 3 dogs and a cat, so a lot of people/animals to feed!

We should be getting our refund check right around the time of our June WDW trip, which we will use for food for the trip... will hit the Costco there up after we arrive for easy meals in the villa!

 

[Tanzanite]

Ido big shop there every other month i always spend between 600 -800 dollars but get lot of things just there its a lot but only get fruit and little bits in between. Ilove it my daughter and i go they know us we have 2 or three carts they help us load up the car.

 

[Aristomommy]

I love Costco. I find their brands and variety better than Sams Club. I am glad we finally got a Costco near us. DH and I refuse to shop at BJs because of the name, LOL!!

 

[ThisIsTheYear]

We belong to Costco and BJ's. Costco is less than a mile from my house and I still prefer to drive 15 miles to go to BJ's because Costco is always so crowded. Also, I like that BJ's takes coupons. Costco is good if we needed to get a cake, or a few things in a hurry.

 

[eeyoregon]

Costco!

1.) Return policy is best in the industry. No receipts, no questions, no time limitations (except on certain electronics).

2.) The additional years of free warranties on electronics are outstanding.

3.) Get an Executive membership and earn 2% cash back on all purchases. If you don't save enough to cover the $100 annual membership, they will move you back to a basic membership and refund you the difference. Win/win.

4.) Thousands of generic prescription medications for a 100 day supply for $10 or less.

5.) They are an outstanding company to work for and treat their employees very well.

The list goes on but those are the ones that stick in my head.

 

[Pigeon]

I wish we had Costco around here, but we don't. I've been to them, and I think they are the best.

We have the other two, and prefer BJs. Sams is no bargain.