Costco or Sam's club??

[gweny70]

Ok..I want to join one of these warehouse stores but not sure which is better??? I know there is also a BJ's around...but it's quite a good distance from me compared to Costco's or Sam's. Anyone have any input on which is the better place to join?

TIA!

 

[tycopj]

I haven't been to Sams in years, I love Costco. I think that their name brand items "Kirkland" are really good. My vote is for Costco.

 

[kellia]

We've had both, currently have Sam's since we moved to an area with no Costco. They are pretty comparable, it really just depends on the brands you buy. We preferred Sam's when we lived near a Costco, but you can get a day pass, go check both out for yourself!

 

[Chicago526]

I've never been in a Sam's, but I love Costco!

I agree with kellia, get a day pass and check them both out!

 

[jonestavern]

We've been to both--and BJs, which we like, too.
We prefer Costco for their variety & business practices

Jean

 

[kacaju]

Around here Costco only accepts cash, check or Amex.
BJ's will accept all other credit cards.I don't know about Sam's...
that being said, I had both BJ's and Costco and dropped the BJ's because I found myself only going to Costco

 

[the Fidge]

I miss Costco we have a Sams club near us we only used it for one year, and ould join a Costco hands downs for qualtiy and variety!

 

[WDWfor5]

We've been to both--and BJs, which we like, too.
We prefer Costco for their variety & business practices

Jean

Same here. We were members of Sam's Club and it was fine but we decided that CostCo is at least as good and are now rewarding them for their better business practices.

 

[POOHDRMR]

I worked for Costco for almost 10 years and now I live right down the street from Sams. I use Sams for things like prescriptions. garbage bags ,butter and the big name brands like frito lay and such. For the store brands I think Kirkland is better than the Sams choice on many things(kirkland used to be the big name brand but packed for costco like duracell and tide-I have not worked there for a few years so I don't know if it changed)I think Costco's meat quality is better and I go do a big shop there before any holiday or party.Also costco's return policy is great and they accept American express if you like that credit card.Sam's accepts m/c and I think they also have a good return policy-haven't returned much from them.

 

[kfeuer]

I belong to both, and like them each for different things. I prefer Costco's bakery and love their Kirkland brand products. Their gas is usually a good deal, too. I also like their meat.

On the other hand, I find more bargains at Sam's Club (look for items that end in a penny, they indicate markdowns). It's amazing what you can find if you just walk through Sam's and look for clearance stuff.

Luckily for me my office pays for both memberships. If I had to pick one, it would probably me Sams because they have more locations and are more convenient to where I live.

 

[kfeuer]

Also costco's return policy is great and they accept American express if you like that credit card.Sam's accepts m/c and I think they also have a good return policy-haven't returned much from them.

Clark Howard's newsletter just mentioned that Costco has had to revise their return policy on electronics to 90 days. It seems that people were returning TV's that were several years old to get new ones Like always, a few bad apples have made things tougher for everyone else. I don't blame Costco one bit for doing it.

Sam's return policy is 90 days and it's very easy to make returns. They will also do one adjustment if something you buy goes down in price, so I keep my Sams receipts with me if I suspect something I've bought will be clearanced.

 

[gweny70]

Thanks for the great feedback everyone! I think I will take your advice and get a day pass for each and see which I like better! I would luv to join both but to be honest don't want to spend the $$ to join both especially not knowing how much I'll use either of them. Ahh...decisions, decisions. So neither of them accept Debit/Visa card? Does anyone know? Guess I will find out when I stop in!

 

[Tinkerbelle99]

As it has been said - the best thing to do is to try them both out. In the beginning it may be hard to know what you will be shopping there for. The first few times I went I dont know that I bought too much really, just getting a feel for it all. It progressed to the point where I did most of my shopping there.

Later on my parents joined Costco and I would tag along on their trips and they would tag along with me. Infact if you were to overhear my dad and I speaking the praises of each store you would think we owned them or something! "I bet you couldnt get that at ***" , one of us is always saying...

In our area the trend seems to be that Costco carries more of the high end brands, so that is something you may want to take into consideration. There usually is a better choice of DVD's at Sams...its a ping pong game really.

You really owe it to yourself to check them both out.

No BJs here, so not sure how they would rank.

Sams always took Discover and now they accept MasterCard. Debit has always been taken aswell.

 

[solotraveler]

Costco here for sure.

In my personal experience (YMMV, fo course), we've found Costco to fit our needs much better, the store is considerably cleaner than the local Sam's, the lines move much faster (even in the busiest of times) and the service has been wonderful.

We prefer Costco's selection as well-- Kirkland Signature is their house brand and have only ever been disappointed in their quality once (their shampoo). We find their beer/wine/liquor selection and prices to be great and it's the only place we buy meat anymore too.

 

[KristiKelly]

Costco.

They have great meats.

 

[gweny70]

Thanks for more and more helpful info. I'm thinking I'm leaning towards Costco...in part because of all of the great reviews here..plus it's a little closer to us and also because I'm thinking now that my mom might have a membership with Sam's. I will have to check with her but if she does then I think I'll stick with Costco...as I can always tag along w/her to Sam's and vice versa. Thanks everyone!

Does anyone know if the fee to join renews on a calendar basis or is it a year from when you originally joined? For instance if I pay a $50 membership fee now in March..will I have to pay again in Jan 2008 or will it be March 2008?

 

[madge]

Does Costco charge an upcharge, like Sam's? I know if you have a paid membership at Sam's, then there is no upcharge... but, for a day pass there is. Does Costco work the same way?

 

[bellarella]

Sam's Club is part of Walmart. For me, that is enough not to go. But even before I knew that, I always like Costco much better. Better selection, better quality, better employees in my experience.

 

[kate]

Costco is a much better store.

 

[daughtersrus]

Thanks for more and more helpful info. I'm thinking I'm leaning towards Costco...in part because of all of the great reviews here..plus it's a little closer to us and also because I'm thinking now that my mom might have a membership with Sam's. I will have to check with her but if she does then I think I'll stick with Costco...as I can always tag along w/her to Sam's and vice versa. Thanks everyone!

Does anyone know if the fee to join renews on a calendar basis or is it a year from when you originally joined? For instance if I pay a $50 membership fee now in March..will I have to pay again in Jan 2008 or will it be March 2008?

I guess that I'm in the minority since I prefer Sam's Club for a few reasons. I've had a Business Sam's card forever but Costco won't allow me to have a business card since I use my SS# instead of a tax ID# for my home daycare. I even brought them a copy of my tax return showing the business records and they wouldn't budge. I don't know if the hours are the same at all of their stores but they don't fit well into my schedule.

Regular Hours:
M-F 10:00am - 8:30pm
Sat. 9:30am - 6:00pm
Sun. 10:00am - 6:00pm

The hours for Sam's are much better for me.

Monday - Friday
7:00 a.m. - 8:30 p.m.
Saturday
7:00 a.m. - 8:30 p.m.
Sunday
10:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.

The other thing that I noticed is that Costco was much smaller than Sam's and didn't carry a lot of the brands that we use. For example, my DH likes Miller or Budweiser and neither are available at our Costco. The only beer that they had was all imported bottles. They only sold Huggies diapers and they are about $10.00 a case more than the Members Mark brand at Sam's.

I LOVE the meat at Sam's. I was just there yesterday morning and stocked up. If you get their early enough, they have a lot of items marked down that need to be frozen or sold by that day or the next. The 90% lean ground beef was $1.81/lb!

I do have to say that Costco was great when I asked for a refund on my membership. They didn't ask why but maybe they should be more concerned about why people want to cancel.

I've returned items to Sam's without a receipt without any problems. My dh bought Pull-ups instead of diapers and they gave me a gift card.

As for membership, I just renewed mine yesterday. It expired Feb 27. I'm not sure about Costco but with Sam's if your membership expires and you don't renew right away, when you do renew, it goes back to the original expiration date. I'm sure that I didn't explain that well. Sorry! I'll try again. My membership expires Feb 27th. One year, I didn't go back to Sam's until April. At that time, I had to pay my renewal fee but the new membership didn't start that day, it went back to Feb 27th so basically, I lost out on those 2 months.

Since both stores offer a refund on your membership if you're not happy, you could get both and see which you use more often and cancel the other. That way, you don't have to pay the "up-sell" fee.