Costco or Sam's Club?

[Steve Kroll]

A little background. I've been a member of Sam's Club for many years. At one time it was the only option in my area. Now we also have a handful of Costcos as well. After talking to several people, I am considering switching over to Costco.

Just looking for some opinions. What I'm wondering is if anyone has had experience with both places and, if so, which you would recommend?

The things I buy most are:

• Meat
• Fish
• Fresh and frozen vegetables
• Wine

I don't buy a lot of prepackaged foods, so I don't care about those. Right now, I can't buy wine at Sam's, so that weighs in Costco's favor, too.

 

[Dawgluver]

My understanding is that Sam's is sort of Costco's ugly stepsister. Sam's is affiliated with Walmart. Personally, I would go with Costco.

 

[CraigC]

I have no preference, except which is closest. Right now we are members of BJ's. We only use them for stuff like drinks and household goods. For meat, cheese and some seafood, we use either Penn Dutch or Restaurant Depot. We are now only 3 blocks from the local Penn Dutch and maybe 5 miles from a Restaurant Depot.

 

[Sir_Loin_of_Beef]

I do not belong to any big box stores. I live alone so I have no need for large quantities, regardless of how much money I could purportedly save.

 

[Kayelle]

For a time I had memberships at both Sam's and Costco. Now I have only Costco, as they have more choices than Sam's.

 

[GotGarlic]

We used to have a BJ's membership, but it's not in a convenient location so we didn't use it enough to make it worthwhile. Costco is in an even less convenient location. I also ended up buying more than I intended, every single time (the cheese! the fresh pasta!), so I don't consider it a good value. Kroger and Total Wine do it for us.

 

[Silversage]

Costco! Hands down!

I used to have memberships at Sam's, BJ's and Costco.
Sam's was the worst of the 3 in a lot of ways. I dropped that years ago.
BJ's is more convenient, so I've kept it for stocking up on household stuff. Plus their credit card gives me 5% back.

Costco has better prices than BJ's but is 45 miles away, so I don't go as often. However, I always go there to stock up on meat & seafood. Both are even better quality than the grocery store. I have Publix, Fresh Market and Whole Foods near me, and I would choose Costco over all of them. They not only carry an outstanding selection, the quality is top-notch. They even have a good selection of Prime beef if you want it. U-8,-10 on shrimp & scallops. The cheese selection is wonderful. Wine prices are very good, similar to or a tad cheaper than Total Wine.

You really need a Food Saver and plenty of freezer space.

The only downside is if you don't have an Amex card. They only take Amex or debit. This summer they are supposed to be switching from Amex to Visa in the US (they did that in Canada already). Sam's and BJ's take whatever you want to use.

I don't buy a lot of fresh veg there, because of the quantities, and I'm not a fan of most frozen ones, so I can't speak to those.

 

[Dawgluver]

I have to put a leash on DH at Costco. He loves their wine selection, and by the time we get to wines, I'm done with shopping. He's busily loading up with reds and whites. He's more of an oenophile than I am.

Our nearest Costco is about 45 minutes away, probably a good thing. We do load up on paper products.

 

[Aunt Bea]

I'm with SLoB, I don't buy enough to bother with a membership.

I find that I can save on groceries by buying the "dips" and taking advantage of the promotional prices offered by the regular grocery chains in the area.

 

[Sir_Loin_of_Beef]

I now do all my grocery shopping at Smart & Final Extra. They are a grocery store and a restaurant supply store and they have the large quantity packages as well as normal people sizes, an expanded fresh produce section with both organic and inorganic produce, and there is no membership fee. The closest store is about 5 miles from my house, but the good news is they will be opening a new store about 4 blocks from my house and right on my way home from work in July of this year.

 

[Andy M.]

We have had memberships in all three. We now have only Costco. I feel it's well worth the price. Their meat quality is very good and the prices are competitive vs. supermarket regular prices.

 

[kleenex]

I would choose Costco over Sams Club as food quality is better imo. Even Store brand clothing is not that bad at Costco.

ALSO you have a better return policy and warranty policies if you buy a TV set.

NOW Costco is changing credit cards this year so waiting a few months would not be a bad thing.

 

[Andy M.]

...NOW Costco is changing credit cards this year so waiting a few months would not be a bad thing.

Tell me more!!

 

[Zagut]

Had a Sam's Club membership years ago. Let it expire due to lack of use. The savings was nice but you had to be prepared to be able to accommodate the large sizes of product.

I've found that using the discounts offered by savings cards (Safeway & Giant) I can save $ and not have to get such large quantities.

But I have been thinking about checking out Costco because I've heard good things about the quality and price of there meat and other products.

I'm at a place in life that I can begin to view longer term storage as a viable option. It also might become more of a financial reality for me.

I have none of the above mentioned stores close to me so I need to find out locations and then figure out if travel time and energy use is really a savings or not.

Also quality is important and better quality negates a small bit of time and fuel.

 

[Whiskadoodle]

One word, ok 3-- Costco rotisserie chicken.

 

[GotGarlic]

I know this isn't much help to you, Steve, but just FYI for people: Our Kroger has online coupons that can be added to your discount card and we buy our gas there. You get purchase points which get you a discount on the gas. Plus the sales. Lots of ways to save.

 

[Andy M.]

One word, ok 3-- Costco rotisserie chicken.

The best chicken.

Costco only accepts American Express, no coupons.

 

[Kayelle]

The best chicken.

Costco only accepts American Express, no coupons.

These coupons are on my desk right now, and come in the mail.
Costco Ad March 3 - 28, 2016 | Weekly Ads and Circulars March 2016 US Retailers and Groceries, posting their latest offers, promo, coupons and deals.

 

[Andy M.]

These coupons are on my desk right now, and come in the mail.
Costco Ad March 3 - 28, 2016 | Weekly Ads and Circulars March 2016 US Retailers and Groceries, posting their latest offers, promo, coupons and deals.

To clarify my comment: No manufacturers' coupons just Costco coupons.

 

[PrincessFiona60]

Costco gives you the coupon price in their instant savings. I am a Costco person...even though it's at least two hours away. Dad has a small trailer, we fill it up with necessities. We take a cooler so we can stash the hot rotisserie chickens in it and get them home to eat while hot. Another cooler or two for the frozen/perishable and we are set.

I have a Sam's membership because it is closer, but will let it lapse when the year is up, I really prefer Costco.