Costco and/or Sam's Club

[1730V]

Looking for some opinions here.

I've never belonged to either but we're thinking about it. It's just the wife and I so we do not buy huge amounts of groceries, etc.

Is it worth it?

Which one do you prefer?

 

[rob711]

Re: Costco and/or Sam's Club

its just me and the misses as well..we belong to costco...i say its worth it..we dont buy much, there prices for things like bottled water, beer, soda, dog food are worth it..they acually sell good meat but u have to buy like 4 steaks at a time...i never have luck freezing them. tp and paper towels laundry and dishwasher soap....oh batteries...now that i'm listing all this stuff its definatly worth it...costco does not advertise this but they will take anything back as a return without a reciept or the box it came in...i got a dehumidifier from them last year and it stoped working...took it ther with out the box and it was not a problem..they tell u that u need the date it was puchased but thats not true they can look it up...all in all its a good place

 

[kmk_7110]

Re: Costco and/or Sam's Club

I prefer Sam's Club but i work at their counterpart.

 

[JUSTINTIME]

Re: Costco and/or Sam's Club

i have both and shop at both, but it is a bulk supply

 

[QC]

Re: Costco and/or Sam's Club

costco does not advertise this but they will take anything back as a return without a reciept or the box it came in

I have had an amazing experience with this as well . . . I thought I heard they were changing this policy. I am not sure, but I recall maybe reading that here about TVs or sumpin' . . .

 

[BLU LUNCH]

Re: Costco and/or Sam's Club

I once belonged to both but I had a Costco card for 11 years. I needed tires for my truck the best installed price for tires in town was 491 for 4 no names. I bought name brand tires installed for 360. from Costco's so on one purchase I'm 75. a head of the game .........

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Costco and/or Sam's Club

i've had both, when in business, and it was worth it, hands down, buying bulk. now retired i find walmart almost as competitive, as i don't need or want to store bulk. i need a costco or sam's for boat parts.

 

[ezmobee]

Re: Costco and/or Sam's Club

We just decided to let out BJ's membership lapse. It just wasn't worth it. Their prices just weren't that lower than the regular stores and for 2 of us we rarely wanted the kind of quantities they sold there.

 

[1730V]

Re: Costco and/or Sam's Club

Tashasdaddy mentioned boat parts. Like what? Realize I've never set foot in one of these places. Thanks.

 

[Haut Medoc]

Re: Costco and/or Sam's Club

They are OK if you need bulk & can deal with the mad house that they generally are......​

 

[Fly Rod]

Re: Costco and/or Sam's Club

I & the mrs. belong to COSTO. We basically do not buy in bulk.

You still need to know your prices, some things are not a bargain. It is worth going for the vegatables and things like lemons. Lemons around my way in a super market are 2for a 1.50 and a bag of 20 at Costos is 4.00 Also we buy printing ink for our coping machine there.

We have a Demoulas Market coming to town and they are going to "Knock The Socks off of the BIG CHAIN STORES."

 

[bassboy1]

Re: Costco and/or Sam's Club

Seeing as we have 4 kids in the house, we are members of both. The bulk quantities of house brand stuff is quite a help. Course, we have 3 fridge freezer combos, and 2 whole freezers, so storing it isn't as much of a problem. But, we get almost all of our prescriptions from Costco. Big savings there.

 

[mscher]

Re: Costco and/or Sam's Club

We were with Costco in the past (which was fine) and Sam's now, since it is the only one avaliable.

We are not big shoppers there, but we probably save what we spend for the annual fee.

Fresh 10% lean ground beef for around $2 pound. Since it comes in 5lb package, we split it into 2lb bags. not big deal.

Canned soup, baked beans, etc, usually come on a 6 or 8 pack, so you are not storing huge amount.

Commercial trash bags and some other paper products, as well as cleaning products are priced very well. Water softner salt is usually cheaper.

Some items are priced better elsewhere.

Both stores will let you in free to take a look, to see if there are items you can use.

 

[mike176]

Re: Costco and/or Sam's Club

We only have a Sam's and they have some nice deals. Super walmart is comin to town and i can't wait to give them a try. I dunno why but the people in this town fought superwalmart for years. Now the sam's club wants to add on and the city is fighting them too.

 

[Boomyal]

Re: Costco and/or Sam's Club

Many of Costco's goods are a cut above. Many products they offer come better bundled than the competition, more features or extras. Their food item are inveriably cheaper and often a better grade than you find in the market, especially meats and produce.

I always look at Costco first.

 

[JustMrWill]

Re: Costco and/or Sam's Club

I have BJ's Wholesale Clubs around me. I have 2 kids and 2 100# labs. We went with the Premium Membership for $80/year that gives us 2% back on all purchases. This is the 3rd year with the 2% and we have never not had it pay for itself.

Dog food alone saves us a BUNDLE! BJ's brand (kibbles and bits clone) 55# bag $14.99.

Definitely good deals with the bulk...sometimes stuff cheaper at Wally world when on sale. Anything that is a single item (electronics, etc) you have to shop around...sometimes good deal..others...nto so much.

I don't have a Sam's or Costco near me so I have never been.

-JMW

 

[hal2814]

Re: Costco and/or Sam's Club

I'm a Sams Club member. There's one about a block from where I work. I love it. Dog food, prepackaged snacks, Nestle Quick, coffee, and baby wipes are what we buy regularly that make it worth the membership fee. Diapers and sodas are almost a rip off. Meat is priced good but my local grocery store (Quality Foods, a semi-local chain) has awesome meat deals like $1.70 per pound ground chuck, their monthly $5 per pound steak deals (usually alternate between t-bone and ribeye with the occasional NY Strip thrown in), and the occasional boneless skinless chicken breast for $1.70 per pound sale. We also buy all of our electronics from Sams Club thanks to their very liberal return policy. Technically it's 6 months on electronics these days but they'll take it back if you kept up with the receipt. They also have a 6 month return policy on computers that its well worth it. No restock fees or any crap like that.

 

[Kenneth Brown]

Re: Costco and/or Sam's Club

We shop at Sams, no Costcos around here. We don't go nuts there but we buy way enough that the savings outweigh the membership fee. One cheat that we do is the wife and MIL split a membership. You get two cards with each membership and they each pay every other year. It makes it a pain for me because the wife has to be with me to buy anything but saves money and thats the whole point.

 

[frayedknotarts]

Re: Costco and/or Sam's Club

I belong to BJ's (nearest Sam's is across the river) and find that things like coffee, bottled water (don't forget to recycle!), some pastas, soups, butter and chicken are a definite savings... just the two of us so we go once a month and I freeze a lot of stuff. Also some cheeses, and household goodies, detergent and batteries.

Name brands are usually just about the same or a little less (or more!) than the regular retail stores, unless they get a batch with a box misprint.

Many things like frozen veggies only come in grmongous packs and so it's not worth it to buy them, but there are sufficient savings that the membership fee is well covered and if you DO need a big-ticket item, (last year I bought an 8-man tent for a ridiculously low price), often the savings will take care of several years of memberships right then. At $40 a year for both of us, I figure I'm covered until 2050 or so.