slo’s SATURDAY poll - Costco vs. Sam’s Club

[scbruno]

Mostly Costco however we go to Sam's Club as well because they carry some items Costco does not.

 

[tinkerbellandpeterpan]

BJs for me. Closest and easiest to get to for me.

 

[loves to dive]

We had a Sam's membership but found we really didn't use it that much so let it lapse. We don't have a Costco within 100 miles of us so have never been in one.

 

[BlueStarryHat]

I chose Other because my sister has a Costco membership and I've gone on occasion with her. I've never been to Sam's Club.

Well, this is weird. My sister just texted me to say she'd joined Sam's Club and did I want to go with her today. Funny how things line up.

 

[MillauFr]

Sam's Club is for people who have to save money to buy stuff they need. Costco is for people who like to save money to buy stuff they don't need.

 

[fly girl]

I love Costco!

When dd was born, Costco wasn’t near us so I joined Sam’s for the diapers and formula. I was never in love with Sam’s, but it fit the bill.

When Costco came in I was reluctant to buy a membership since we were past the baby stage and with only 3 do we really need bulk? But I went with my SIL (she drive into town and said I should see it - she was a member.) I was sold!

 

[Squirlz]

We used to go to Sam's because it was the only place to get some things essential for our business. As soon as we got Costco we dumped Sam's. I always felt dirty for shopping at a Walmart related store.

 

[bakerworld]

We had both Sam's and Costco previously and have moved on to BJ's. BJ's seems to have more consistency in their products plus they do coupons, accept manufacture along with their coupons, plus give a % back on groceries (which makes the membership more than free). I also like BJ's optical.

The Sam's by us is small, although they do have gas, but the trip to get there is inconvenient. Costco is more conveniently located but it's always packed with long lines plus an inconsistent product base. What Costco has is really good housewares/furniture offerings but I don't need those products enough to join.

Groupon often has membership deals on Sams and BJs. Costco never has any membership deals - probably because so many people in our area use them that they don't need them

 

[tvguy]

I had a Sam's Club membership. We were one of the last states to get Walmart, once we had a Walmart, with similar prices, no need to pay a Sam's Club membership. We also have Smart and Final which WAS a free membership warehouse store, but now you don't need a membership to shop there.
My daughter has a Costco membership, and I may tag along sometime. She likes the prices on most, but not all items. Only thing she doesn't like is the ones here open late, not until 9 am. She (and my wife and I) like to get at the regular grocery store and Neighborhood Walmart at 6 am when they open to avoid crowds. Once Costco used to open at 8 am, but they pushed it back to 9 am.

 

[E&Cmom]

We don’t have Sam’s Club so I have never been. We have had Costco membership for years and love it.

 

[DisneyHardin]

We have memberships to both. I don't really feel like one is better than the other - both have things I really like to buy there. I buy all our OTC medications at Sam's and really do feel like Members Mark version of the medications is far superior to Kirkland version of them. Costco carries the cat liter that we like for a fraction of the cost of buying it from Target. Costco's Kirkland paper towels are the best paper towels in my opinion. Just a few examples of the things we get at each place.

Also, Sam's Club is less than a mile from our house, so we use their gas station quite a bit.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Many years ago, when my kids were little, I joined a warehouse club called PACE. The fact that I was buying 4 gallons of milk a week was worth the cost of the membership.

Fast forward several years, and PACE was bought by Sam's Club. So I have a Sam's Club membership (recently upgraded to Premium). I have visited Costco a few times as a guest of MIL who was a member.

The only difference I found was that Costco seemed to have more actual brand name products (at the time, don't know about now).

Our Sam's Club membership gives us money back on purchases (including gasoline - not just Sam's Club brand). So we're way ahead of the game on that, since we travel in our RV quite a bit.

 

[Skippy918]

We go to both. Sam’s club has a bigger variety of snack foods. Costco is great for everything else and they have a better food court. The couple of times we tried to eat at Sam’s club cause we were shopping, they were out of pizza, whereas Costco will just keep baking them.
We buy all our paper products from Costco and have booked cruises and rental cars thru them.

 

[lucas]

We belong to BJs.

 

[leebee]

I've never lived where there was a Costco, so I can't compare. We have BJ's and Sam's, and I prefer Sam's. The only reason we keep the BJ's card is for the gas. It's more convenient to stop at BJs than at Sam's. Not really a great reason for keeping 2 memberships, but we do.

 

[mylilnikita]

I’ve only had a Sams membership. But we have a Costco also closeby

 

[CynBeth]

Neither of those.

 

[Dan Murphy]

We had a Sam's card maybe 20 years ago when they came around. Then Costco came, and we had both cards for a number of years. We much preferred Costco. Sam's always seemed dirty, dark, very little help around, very slow to open additional checkouts if crowded. I mentally compared Costco to Sam's like Disney World to Six Flags Great America.

We dropped the Sam's. We always get our gas at Costco, most of our electronics, rental cars a few times, my eye glasses. Any Kirkland item is great. The deli area with the fresh food is great. We like it.

 

[mrsstats79]

We have all 3. BJ's is closest to my house but my least favorite but since it is close and has a deli I go there the most often. Costco and Sam's are about the same to me. Sam's is further away but since they have gas we do go there more often they we did before. BJ's by my house does not have gas. You get 10 cents off a gallon if you use their credit card

 

[jujubiee4]

Have both but haven't been to Costco in a least 6 months. I love Costco but stick to Sam's Club
because they open at 8 am. Manager told me they may go back to opening up at 7am. Im a very
early riser and love to get their gas then wait for the store to open. Barely anyone there at 7 am and
im in and out and back home to fix breakfast before anyone up!