Costco, BJ's or Sam's Club?

[VirataMama4]

We just recently moved to the MD/DC area and are trying to figure out which one of the club warehouses are worth it. We had a Costco membership that has now expired, but have never shopped at Sam's Club or BJ's. So I'm asking all the budget minded Disers, Which one do you shop at most and do you think its worth it?

Thanks in Advance

 

[Bren's Mom]

We shop at BJs because that is most convenient for us. We used to have a Costco membership but dropped it when BJs opened 20 mins closer. However, I still long for Costco some days and make arrangements with a friend who has a membership to go with her. Mostly because our BJs is a smaller one and doesn't have clothes. It's one of the things I miss. But, I think BJs is just as good with returns, they have a good selection and their meat and produce are as good as Costco.

I'd suggest checking the 3 near to you. All of them will let you walk around and see what they've got before buying a membership. And also, if you do choose Costco and change your mind later they do have a 100% non-prorated membership guarantee...if at any time you're not satisfied you can get a full refund of your membership fee.

 

[scard192]

My daughter has a BJ's membership that we share (I pay 1/2 and we shop together). BJ's is the only club really close to us. I think it's worth the money. My daughter buys diapers, wipes, formula and saves a ton. I get cat food and litter as well as items for my lunch at work. The savings more than cover the cost of the membership.

 

[Disneylover79]

We have a Costco membership...we love it, the meat is good, as are other things...we used to have a Sams and we dropped it for Costco...also my parents have BJ's and they love it...

 

[puffkin]

We used to belong to BJ's but I found that I save so much more money now doing the CVS/Rite Aid thing and the local grocery store (I am talking THOUSANDS of dollars). The only thing I have consistently found cheaper at BJ's were trash bags.

 

[luvdisney00]

We have had all 3 and use mostly BJ's since it's closest. You should check them all out, but one thing in BJ's favor is that they take coupons.

 

[jsalam]

We don't have BJ's here (Indiana) but we have memberships at both costco and sams and I'm about to let my sams go...costco has MUCH more variety, and AMAZING customer service. You may return anything anytime, even w/o a recept - you'll get what you paid as a credit.
Their selection changes constantly, which keeps me begging for more. We DO NOT buy everything there b/c it's not all cheapest there! I like buying with costco coupons, and only buying things that I want to have in bulk on hand.
I like the limitless variety and the unparalleled customer service. Good luck!!

Jackie

 

[Ephany]

I'd definitely see if you could walk around all three and see which one appeals to you most. Me, I'm a Costco girl all the way. It's a bit more of a drive, but well worth it for us. We make it there once or twice a month, and since it's near the AG store, DD doesn't even mind the drive. We have our staples, (cat food, dog food, tp, water, apple packs, etc) but I really enjoy their selection. I also learned this week they sell personal checks online too, and they were much, much cheaper than the bank. I also get my photo cards printed there at Christmas, and their bakery cakes/cupcakes are yummy.

 

[dizluvah]

We have had memberships to all three over the years. IMHO Costco is the best - just better selection, etc. Unfortunately our closest Costco is 45 minutes away. We have a BJs and Sam's each 15-20 minutes from our home in opposite directions - so we went with Sam's because we tend to be in that town more often. I have nothing bad to say about Sam's I buy many many things there -all paper goods, k-cups for our kuerig, lunchmeat, dishwashing soap, cleaning supplies, even gifts during holiday time.

Near us, both Sam's and BJ's have gas stations - but I understand that is not the case at all locations - we have saved quite a bit on gasoline over the years with our sam's card (usually around 5 cents per gallon) of course like everything it fluctuates and there have been times when the gas was the same price as other stations or just like 1 cent difference.

As other posters have mentioned - you will still need to price compare because there will be things you can get cheaper on sale or with coupons at local stores - if you are so inclined. Some people just like to be able to get everything at one place - but I have lots of time and can run to several places on errand day to get the best deal.

Good luck with your decision - I think convenience and location should be your deciding factor - whichever is closest to your home, etc.

 

[Jenn4615]

I prefer BJ's over Sams... Since Walmart owns Sams... u can get alot of the same deals in Walmart... Of course not usually in the BULK size.
I live in Maryland too...Costco is pretty far from me. But I have belonged to Both BJ's and Sams... which are both close by.
Probably doesnt make much difference in the long run...they are all about the same... bjs vs sams... I am not speaking for costco as I know nothing about them!

 

[DVCsince02]

Another BJs member here. Coupons are accepted at BJs and I find more name brand name items there than I do at Costco.

 

[VirataMama4]

All 3 are within 15 miles of our house, so distance really isn't an issue. My husband is in the Navy so we do most of our grocery shopping at the commissary. I was thinking that paper products and maybe some of the other stuff would end up being cheaper at one of the warehouse stores. I think I will see about going to each one and price comparing! Thanks again for all the quick replies!

 

[Bren's Mom]

Coupons are accepted at BJs

Oh! I forgot to remind everyone in my earlier post that BJs policy is they will accept one coupon per item inside of a multi-pack. So a 2 jar pack of peanut butter...if I have 2 $.50 coupons each good off 1 jar of pb I can use BOTH coupons. This is great for deodorant (I buy Secret sometimes, a 4 pack I think they are) and I can use (4) $1.00 off coupons since the coupons are each good for one deodorant. That's a huge savings. I've also been able to use (4) Wholly Guacamole coupons on a multi pack since there are 4 shrink wrap packs inside...even though they're not individually marked.

http://www.bjs.com/help/index.shtml#sav

"Can I use coupons?
Absolutely! BJ’s accepts all manufacturers’ coupons — including the ones that come in your Sunday newspaper — giving you additional savings on top of our everyday low prices. Plus, we offer BJ’s Members-only coupons throughout the year. After all, saving you money is what BJ’s is all about.

You can get your exclusive BJ’s coupons:

•Online. To access and print online coupons, you will need to activate your Profile by creating a Password.
•In BJ’s Journal, a BJ’s Member magazine
•Through special-offer mailings
•In BJ’s in-Club coupon flyers

Can I use more than one coupon?
You may not use more than one coupon on a single item. However, if you buy a multi-pack (a pack that contains multiple full-sized packages of a single product shrink-wrapped together) you may use multiple coupons.

For example, if you have 2 coupons for 50% off an 8-oz. bottle of face cleanser and you are buying a multi-pack that contains 2 or more 8-oz. bottles of face cleanser you may use both coupons."

 

[HsvTeacher]

We have memberships at both Costco and Sam's. Each store has different things we like, and we figure for the cost of a couple of meals out, our memberships are paid for the year. We don't have a BJ's near us.

Gas is cheaper at Sam's, and we like some of their dry goods. We've also bought some big ticket items like a mattress set and shelving systems at Sam's. Costco has a better selection of food, and we like their paper products.

 

[andrews_dad]

I have Sam's as it is my only close option, but I hat ethe fact that they do not take coupons. If they took coupons in multiple like posted about, I'd be in heaven. Without coupons, sometimes you could do better at a grocery that doubles coupons and buying multiple times with mutiple coupons.

 

[My3kiddos]

We only have Sams here so that's all I know. I mainly shop there for meat, frozen items, water, laundry detergent, trash bags, and occasionally clothes & electronics. I will say meat from Sams is NOTHING like meat at Walmart. Walmart's meat is that prepackaged gas filled stuff and Sams is cut there by the butcher. I do like the fact you can buy extended warranties on items and the return policy is apparently easy (I've never returned anything after years of having it but I do know from someone that works there that you can). We have seen many tvs that have production dates of before 2005 returned and resold for a very low price out of the box because someone used it for so many years and decided to return it

 

[samefay]

My husband is stationed at Andrews. We lived there about 10 years before moving into VA. When we were there we used Sam's Club. Andrews commissary is AWESOME. We now live near a Navy base and husband makes the drive into MD for work. Our commissary here is VERY small. We live near Fredericksburg and only have a BJ's and a COSTCO. (I know you're close to all 3 there) We loved BJ's but now have a membership at COSTCO. Our favorite is COSTCO but we've run into one major glitch. We usually buy our steaks by the side and have them cut - COSTCO is telling us that they don't do that. I'm thinking you cut meat, you sell meat, you sell cut meat - but anyway BJ's will cut the meat and sell it to you. Weird - It's a big savings. Sometimes $2 a pound or more.

 

[pilesoflaundry]

We just recently moved to the MD/DC area and are trying to figure out which one of the club warehouses are worth it. We had a Costco membership that has now expired, but have never shopped at Sam's Club or BJ's. So I'm asking all the budget minded Disers, Which one do you shop at most and do you think its worth it?

Thanks in Advance

When I lived there it was Sam's for me because the only bj's I know of stinks! I don't know if there is another one closer to Andrews, we were at Belvoir if that helps.

Normally I would answer Bj's right away because their membership fee is cheaper and they take coupons so stuff is cheaper but the one in Alexandria rots.

My friend that still lives in the vicinity of you, swears by costco.

 

[ssawka]

I would vote for Costco. First, Costco seems to be prevalent in the DC area. Second, Costco has an awesome return policy. Lastly, some may not care about this, but Costco has some business practices that I really like (i.e. it seems to be more socially responsible) then Wal*Mart (not sure about BJs).

 

[Local_Girl]

I've never been in BJs so I can't compare that...but we've had Sam's memberships for years (because there were no BJs or Costcos nearby) and have been mostly happy. We buy most of our meat there, as others have already mentioned.

That said, we've had many friends who have said that Costco is the best. We recently moved to a new town and Costco is the closest store to us, so we went in and took a look around, intending to buy a membership if we liked what we saw. We (meaning me, DH and our 2 teens) were really unimpressed. Some of the prices on comparable merchandise were higher than what we see at Sam's and we actually didn't like the selection of most items. The Costco store also didn't look as clean as either the Sam's we had been shopping at or the new one that is about 20 min away from us now.

I think the bottom line is you need to check out all of the options closest to you and decide for yourself. We went into Costco expecting to be wowed due to the ravings of our friends, and we weren't impressed at all. But I'm sure some Costcos locations are probably better than others, as are some Sam's and some BJs. I'd go in and check them all out, focusing on the things you would probably buy on a routine basis. I realize you can't really tell about the service until you've shopped there a few times, but hopefully you can get a "feel" for each store and make your decision.