Sam's Club - Costco

[riverdees05 Platinum Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close riverdees05]

We now live where there is a Costco. We have been Sam's Club members for several years. Is it worth the money to have membership at both?

[tonyg Goomba & Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close tonyg]

I don't think it's worth the membership fee for either.

[wackymother Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close wackymother]

I don't go to Sam's Club, but Costco is GREAT!

Really high-quality merchandise, especially food, very good prices, and excellent customer service--a no-questions-asked return policy. They have items you don't see in other stores, too. The prices on electronics, DVDs, music, and books are especially good. Also, Costco has excellent labor relations and treats its workers well.

We have a family of five and we buy a lot of things there, usually food, but we also got our computer there. On computers, they have a 90-day return policy. They also did a $200 price adjustment on the computer when the price dropped soon after we bought ours. And they were very pleasant about it.

[starlifter Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close starlifter]

Is it worth the money to have membership at both?

We think it is worth having a membership at both. Yes, I lot of the items are similiar, but I have found enough different items to warrant both memberships. Go ask Costco to let you go in and look around and see for yourself, if its something you want to do. Thats what I did several years ago and then I joined.

[Luanne Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Luanne]

We don't have a Sam's Club near us either, but I agree that Costco is wonderful. Dh goes weekly. We get so much there. Their meat department is wonderful. We've been buying our prime rib for Christmas Eve there for years. We also get steaks, ground beef, and chicken. Since they come in large quantities we split them up and freeze them. The fresh produce is great. Pretty much all paper goods and cleaning supplies come from them as well. And of course there is always something we just didn't know we needed until we got there. Our Costco doesn't have a gas station attached, but for those that do gasoline is much cheaper there as well. We've used our Costco card when we've traveled, and it's come in very handy in places like Hawaii, where the prices are the same as they are on the mainland.

I've seen posts in the past where folks who had both in their area chose Costco over Sam's Club.

[katiemack Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close katiemack]

We had memberships in both, but found that Sam's Club quality and variety had deteriorated about 2 1/2 years ago....so we dropped them. Additionally, we saw that most of the items that Sam's offered, Super Walmart offered, sometimes at a better price.

While we have enjoyed some things with Costco, the prices are no longer competitive with sale items in our local stores, and we are considering dropping the Costco membership. It used to be more of a savings.

We have found some great items that we wouldn't normally have considered purchasing if we hadn't seen it at Costco. The latest is the Big Foot Massager which Costco sold for $99 on special. We love it. The infrared heat alone is worth it to us, but the variety of speeds, heat and ability to use it with a remote control made it a great deal.

We also got our Sony Bravia LCD 32" for a price (including shipping) of $849.

For these special deals, it makes it hard to definitely drop the membership. But for every day items, the membership is not as worthwhile as it once was.

[c5f3de Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close c5f3de]

I like both a lot. I think neither's inventory is 100% complete, and so the two complement each other very nicely. We often get a couple bulk food/various household items at Sam's whereas we recently bought two LCD TVs from Costco. Both are comparable in price, and (not sure if this is the same around the country) but whenever you cancel your Costco membership you get your money back, no matter when it is.

[JWC Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close JWC]

For what it is worth, Consumer Reports rates Costco considerably higher than Sam's.

[mshatty Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close mshatty]

Sam's Club v Costco is like Home Depot v Lowes. Basically the same but different.

[vintner Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close vintner]

The reason we don't have Costco is the payment requirements, cash or Amex, or I think a Wells Fargo bankcard only. Sam's Club does allow checks, Discover and I think another card. I can't walk around with that much cash, my bank isn't Wells Fargo, and won't have Amex, so I stay with Sam's Club.

If you have their accepted payment, I would probably go Costco over Sam's.

[Luanne Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Luanne]

The reason we don't have Costco is the payment requirements, cash or Amex, or I think a Wells Fargo bankcard only. Sam's Club does allow checks, Discover and I think another card. I can't walk around with that much cash, my bank isn't Wells Fargo, and won't have Amex, so I stay with Sam's Club.

If you have their accepted payment, I would probably go Costco over Sam's.

I wonder if this is regional. We've always used checks at Costco. I think only recently did they start accepting any kind of credit card, prior to that it was cash or checks only.

[BoardGirl Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close BoardGirl]

I wonder if this is regional. We've always used checks at Costco. I think only recently did they start accepting any kind of credit card, prior to that it was cash or checks only.

We have numerous options, including debit card and checks. Since I almost always use my debit card, this is not a problem for me.

I'm not sure I would pay to belong to both, and I do prefer Costco. their return policies are exceptional. Stores are well-maintained, excellent staff. And with the Exec membership, I get a rebate at the end of the year. Ours does have the gas station and I can almost always save 5-10 cents a gallon so the membership pays for itself. There is also the service station, which I haven't used yet, but plan to buy my next tires there.

I like the sample stations, as there are many products I would not buy in bulk if I didn't know how it tasted ahead of time. I like the quality of the products, also. I do hate that they keep changing the store around so you don't always know where to find your favorites.

I'm not sure if other Sam's have coupons (ours didn't), but aside from savings by buying in bulk, the periodic coupons at Costco save me even more.

[vintner Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close vintner]

Correction to my statements

After thinking about things, I believe the issue with the checks was for a one time pass. At that time, we had to have the Amex card or cash, could not use checks. So, as I think back, checks would work once you were members.

I can't remember last time I carried checks. Guess if I want to join Costco, I will need to find the checkbook again.

[BoardGirl Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close BoardGirl]

After thinking about things, I believe the issue with the checks was for a one time pass. At that time, we had to have the Amex card or cash, could not use checks. So, as I think back, checks would work once you were members.

I can't remember last time I carried checks. Guess if I want to join Costco, I will need to find the checkbook again.

I don't use checks either, just debit card. Do you not carry one of those? There are other forms of payment, but I do think they have to be tied into one of their 'preferred provider'-type things, and I'm not about to get an AMEX to shop there! I also don't carry much cash, ever.

[Ryne08 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Ryne08]

I wonder if this is regional. We've always used checks at Costco. I think only recently did they start accepting any kind of credit card, prior to that it was cash or checks only.

We used checks at all Costco locations.