Sams membership expiring, debating Costco - give me your thoughts

[Narnia_girl]

As I mentioned above, Costco is not an option for us, so we have to do Sam's.
And while I like it much better than WalMart, there is one thing I cannot stand about Sam's Club: The in-club special item sales representatives. They set up a special display for knives, skin care, pots/pans, Direct TV or whatever and you cannot walk by without them trying to get you to stop.
Sometimes they are downright pushy. Sometimes they do the fake "special contest" where they walk around the store handing out tickets...and everyone wins! You win a chance to listen to their spiel and watch a miracle cleaning liquid do its thing. Then you can buy it for $29 a bottle. No thanks! Just let me shop in peace and I'll let you know if I need something. I actually go out of my way to avoid the aisles where these salespeople set up.

 

[Grace&Carolinesmom]

I agree with previous posters that you should really do a walk-through, or at least a search on their website, of the items you usually purchase to compare.

I considered dropping our Sam's Club membership back in June because we have a great store in our area called Woodman's that carries a HUGE variety of foods at prices as cheap or cheaper than Sam's. BUT, I cannot get a specific brand of gluten free protein bars at Woodmans, Costco, Meijers,or even Amazon for the price I pay at Sam's. It is something I eat for breakfast every day. The savings I receive for buying these at Sams basically pays for my membership so other savings are just gravy.

 

[kymom99]

Another vote for Costco here. We have been members for years, and still love shopping there. We buy so much there - meat, fruit, vegetables, vitamins, electronics, tires, glasses, uggs, Patagonia jackets, etc. You name it and we have probably gotten it there.

My vita mix stopped working after 14 months and Costco happily refunded the price. Where else does that happen?

We also book our cruises with them. For our last Disney Cruise, Costco gave us over $1200 back. Free money which more than paid for our membership.

Sams club gave me a free membership a few years back. I tried to like sams club, but just couldn’t. It just didn’t live up to Costco, in my opinion.

About the travel. Can you just book online or do you need to call?

 

[MillauFr]

Walmart. Target.

You can't get USDA Prime Beef at Walmart or Target. The steaks at Costco even blow the Whole Foods steaks out of the water.

 

[MillauFr]

We've got both Sam's and Costco memberships.

Most of the items you can find and one store can be found at the other. They offer similar merchandise.

I have to give the edge to Costco, though, because the customer service is so much better. At the Sam's club here, the employees aren't friendly and act like you are bothering them.

That is because the Sam's workers are getting minimum wage. Costco pays the cashiers $20-$25 per hour.

 

[MillauFr]

Sam's Club is better for people who need to save money on products they like. Costco is better for people to like to save money on stuff they don't need.

I really don't need to buy first growth Bordeaux, USDA Prime beef, or Copper River King Salmon but the prices at Costco are so low for these products I can't help but buying. Costco was selling copper river for $13 per pound vs. $50 per pound at Whole Foods. Costco has far better steaks than any other grocery store in town. The only place I have found equivalent is by ordering them online from Flannery Beef.

 

[tvguy]

You can't get USDA Prime Beef at Walmart or Target. The steaks at Costco even blow the Whole Foods steaks out of the water.

Local stores have it, but not a big seller. Some thing like 3% of all beef sales.

 

[LuckyMamaInDE]

About the travel. Can you just book online or do you need to call?

We've booked a cruise (not Disney, but Princess to Alaska) and rental cars online.

 

[kymom99]

We've booked a cruise (not Disney, but Princess to Alaska) and rental cars online.

Thank you. I don't have a membership but I've ready it's worth the cost for savings on cruises. I'll check to see if anyone in my traveling group has a membership.

 

[MaryLovesPoohBear]

We have memberships for both. Sams's is about 10 minutes away. Costco is 45 minutes away.

But I bet that this is the last year for Sam's.

We don't buy much in the way of bulk food, other than fruits and vegetables. And nothing that Sam's has can come close to the quality that Costco carries. We used to go to Sam's every week and Costco, once a month. Now, we are planning trips to Costco every other week and "making due" with local grocery stores between our trips.

I only wish that Costco would carry more low fat dairy options. I am talking about cheese and such.

 

[SL6827]

We have a Costco membership and yesterday I purchased the Sam's membership through the Groupon thing. Going tomorrow and getting it all set up and such. Giving the extra card to my sister-in-law, so she is happy about that. Sam's is further away from us than Costco, but I will enjoy seeing what all they have to offer for at least one year. I am also hoping to be able to purchase some Disney Gift Cards there with discounted WalMart gift cards, but I am not holding my breath on that. But for nearly free, we will get to experience Sam's for one year.

 

[RangerPooh]

We have both. We pick up Sam's Club memberships when they have a Groupon special and rotate each years whose name it's under (mine or DHs). Having said that, we prefer Costco. The customer service/employees are much nicer as well as the cleanliness of the store. Costco's Kirkland brand is also better than Sam's Club Members Mark IMO, as are many of the other brands that they carry. Occasionally we can find certain things at Sam's Club that we cannot find at Costco, or in a better variety/quantity. However, if it comes down to selecting one store it would be Costco.

 

[DawnAurora]

About the travel. Can you just book online or do you need to call?

I book online.

 

[cvjw]

Thank you. I don't have a membership but I've ready it's worth the cost for savings on cruises. I'll check to see if anyone in my traveling group has a membership.

Costco does not save you any money on the Disney Cruise fare. The fares are the same, no matter where you book them. Costco gives you cash back on the Disney Cruise fare, which adds up to some serious cash!

I book my Disney cruises by calling Costco travel. You can also book Disney cruises online yourself.

 

[dgthree]

My closest Sam's Club closed abruptly in January of 2017. I liked that they had a better variety of gift cards and candy bars in the store, but was not overly impressed otherwise. I also have a Costco membership, and prefer Costco.

The two things I always buy there are allergy meds (Kirkland brand fexofenadine, generic for Allegra at $34.49 for 180 tablets, as opposed to 120 tablets at Sam's or BJ's), and 40 packs of 16.9 oz spring water for $4.99.

Other items I pick up include Dixie paper plates, Kerrygold butter, Noosa yoghurt, Tasty Bite packaged Indian entrees (mostly madras lentils), grape tomatoes, Rainier cherries and Honeycrisp apples in season, and a variety of Kirkland (store brand) items, including pecans for holiday baking, kitchen trash bags, albacore tuna, baguettes or multigrain bread from the in store bakery, ibuprofen liquidgel capsules, toilet tissue, AA & AAA batteries.

I used to go past a Costco with a gas station, and would always buy my gas there, as they had the lowest prices around, but in NJ, you don't have to be a Costco member to buy gas there.

 

[pblack]

I'm also in the club of holding both a Costco and Sam's membership. I do tend to shop at Costco more, but that's just because we are now closer to Costco than Sam's. I find that prices at the two are pretty similar, but each place tends to carry a different variety of items. (i.e. costco = more single bulk items, sam's = more individually wrapped items, but still in bulk) Sam's carries one item that we absolutely love in my house though that Costco doesn't carry, and to be honest it's probably why we keep the card. Plus i like to shop the coupon books from both stores to see who has a better sale going on. Sometimes it's sam's, other times it's costco. I also like to keep both cards for the Holiday season as each store carries different holiday items.

 

[kymom99]

Costco does not save you any money on the Disney Cruise fare. The fares are the same, no matter where you book them. Costco gives you cash back on the Disney Cruise fare, which adds up to some serious cash!

I book my Disney cruises by calling Costco travel. You can also book Disney cruises online yourself.

Disney cruises are out of my league. We are looking at carnival.

 

[J'aime Paris]

I have a membership at Costco .
They do have a super return policy!
I've gotten great rates on their rental cars, including a $20 Costco gift card for booking my rental online.
DH will be purchasing new prescription glasses, at a much cheaper price.
I've found some nice red wines, cheaper than area stores.

 

[qv09vvp]

I purchase a lot of gift cards at Sams around the holidays.... chilis, subway , chic fil a, etc....does costco carry those? someone at work told me costco does a good deal on movie tickets ...anyone have a similar experience?

 

[kid-at-heart]

Costco, better quality, better selection of goods.