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Posted: 6/10/2022 9:08:06 AM EDT
[#1]
We do both.
Sam's is good for staple items - milk, eggs, breads, pasta, etc. Costco is higher quality, but also a lot of up selling - organic, non-gmo, etc. Costco has a lot more keto stuff, if that's your thing. Most folks say Costco meat is better, but we actually prefer Sam's. Up to and including beef tenderloin. Our spend is probably $5 at Sam's for every $1 at Costco. |
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Posted: 6/10/2022 9:22:06 AM EDT
[#2]
Quote HistoryQuoted: We do both. Sam's is good for staple items - milk, eggs, breads, pasta, etc. Costco is higher quality, but also a lot of up selling - organic, non-gmo, etc. Costco has a lot more keto stuff, if that's your thing. Most folks say Costco meat is better, but we actually prefer Sam's. Up to and including beef tenderloin. Our spend is probably $5 at Sam's for every $1 at Costco. Same for me. I use both but tend to buy more at Costco than Sam's as l prefer the quality of some things there over what sam's offers. Sam's scan and go is so much more convenient. My Costco finally came out with self checkout but still no app like the one Sam's has. |
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Posted: 6/10/2022 10:50:29 AM EDT
[#3]
I do both. Costco checkout is how checkout should be. they get you rung up and out very quickly.
The app at sams is super nice - no checkout at all. I usually get gas at Sams since it is closer. |
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Posted: 6/10/2022 10:56:52 AM EDT
[#4]
You should be able to get Sams membership for free.
If you spend enough at Costco, that will also be free. Get both. |
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Posted: 6/10/2022 10:57:17 AM EDT
[#5]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Same for me. I use both but tend to buy more at Costco than Sam's as l prefer the quality of some things there over what sam's offers. Sam's scan and go is so much more convenient. My Costco finally came out with self checkout but still no app like the one Sam's has. |
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Posted: 6/10/2022 11:07:32 AM EDT
[#6]
Quote HistoryQuoted: You should be able to get Sams membership for free. If you spend enough at Costco, that will also be free. Get both. How do you get a Sams membership for free? My gas savings at Sams is probably enough to pay for the membership alone but that doesn't make the membership free. |
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Posted: 6/10/2022 11:07:33 AM EDT
[#7]
Quote HistoryQuoted: You should be able to get Sams membership for free. If you spend enough at Costco, that will also be free. Get both. How does that work? I've bought discounted memberships through Groupon, but have never seen an offer for a free membership. |
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Posted: 6/10/2022 11:10:17 AM EDT
[#8]
Like buying a gun, I say do a little footwork and see what fits you best.
Costco will or used to give you a day pass to walk around and see what all they have before buying a membership. A few years ago I bought a gun safe there that I'd been looking at and saved like 500+ bucks on it, which well paid for the membership. One of my buds split the member ship with me. I bought the safe, he bought a digital cam and a few other things and neither of us ever went back... Honestly, its more about location for us as neither are real close. We have a Sams an hour+ North or us and an hour South of us, no idea where the closest Costco is now. |
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Posted: 6/10/2022 11:10:46 AM EDT
[#9]
Last time I looked, CostCo had better booze.
They had Macallan 18 for a bunch less than Total Wine/ Bevmo locally |
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Posted: 6/10/2022 11:12:04 AM EDT
[#10]
One is HQ’d in a deeply liberal area.
The other is HQ’d in a solid red zone. You decide where your dollars go. |
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Posted: 6/10/2022 11:28:36 AM EDT
[#11]
Quote HistoryQuoted: One is HQ'd in a deeply liberal area. The other is HQ'd in a solid red zone. You decide where your dollars go. |
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Posted: 6/10/2022 11:44:32 AM EDT
[#12]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Care to share the details? Kirkland is in King County (ie: Seattle). LOL. There’s not even a blue county within 200 miles of Bentonville AR. |
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Posted: 6/10/2022 11:57:34 AM EDT
[#13]
Quote HistoryQuoted: How does that work? I've bought discounted memberships through Groupon, but have never seen an offer for a free membership. |
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Posted: 6/10/2022 11:57:44 AM EDT
[#14]
I only have a Costco in my area 10 min away. Sams is 50 min away.
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Posted: 6/10/2022 12:10:09 PM EDT
[#15]
I've done both for years.
Sam's has more items in the store than Costco. More selection. You don't have to buy huge quantities of items to get the discount. Quality is pretty similar. I've bought a lot of tires from Sam's. Much better selection than Costco. But Costco still gets the majority of my spend because of convenience for me. |
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Posted: 6/10/2022 12:56:42 PM EDT
[#16]
Quote HistoryQuoted: I've done both for years. Sam's has more items in the store than Costco. More selection. You don't have to buy huge quantities of items to get the discount. Quality is pretty similar. I've bought a lot of tires from Sam's. Much better selection than Costco. But Costco still gets the majority of my spend because of convenience for me. Only have Costco in NW Montana. That makes the choice easy. Sam's from my previous experience has come a long way with brand image in the past decade or so. If I had both available I'd try to get a free membership to one and pay for the other to have options. |
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Posted: 6/10/2022 1:52:41 PM EDT
[#17]
But, Sam's is owned by ChinaMart.
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Posted: 6/11/2022 9:12:58 AM EDT
[#18]
Quote HistoryQuoted: I do both. Costco checkout is how checkout should be. they get you rung up and out very quickly. The app at sams is super nice - no checkout at all. I usually get gas at Sams since it is closer. The part in bold gets a big  from me. Use the Sam's scan and go app and you can skip checkout entirely.. |
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Posted: 6/11/2022 10:26:15 AM EDT
[#19]
The closest Costco is over an hour away, I go maybe once a month. My local sams really blows, place is depressing. I regret getting a sams membership.
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Posted: 6/13/2022 10:18:22 AM EDT
[#20]
It depends on what you are looking for. For now I have both.
Sams is good for bulk every day items - while Costco focuses on the value added items or higher cost items. There is still have a lot of overlap. Costco doesn't have the big variety of wholesale items - they used to. I think at some point in the past 20 years Costco determined they could not compete with Sam's being a pureplay wholesaler like they were before and went higher end. I see more restaurant buyers at my local Sam's than Costco. My local costco no longer stocks bread flour and we bake weekly so I'll need to keep the Sam's membership for a bit - buying at in the 5lb bag at Walmart is not as good a deal and there are other items I only buy at sams for preps I cannot get at costco. You should be able to get a one year sam's membership for close to nothing on promotion - google it and give it a try. The app for checkout is a big plus - both locations are stupid busy - go in the off hours if you can. You'll notice the diff in employees too - like Tacobell vs Chicfila. If I died in Sam's my body would be there for a while and found without a wallet. |
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Posted: 6/13/2022 10:34:12 AM EDT
[#21]
We dont have a COSTCO close to my house, which sucks. when I lived in VA, i had one down the road and shopped there all the time. Sams and BJs are what I have. Sams for the good stuff, BJs for misc. crap. BJs is the walmart of the clubs in my opinion.
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Posted: 6/13/2022 1:02:51 PM EDT
[#22]
Distance would probably be the first consideration. But if they're both convenient, I think Costco is quite a bit superior to Sam's. I'm sure others have had differing experiences, but here are my opinions on the two:
Kirkland products are VASTLY superior to the Walmart store brand stuff. Costco has one of the tightest profit margin of any retail store in the United States. It's so rare that you'll find non-sale prices that are lower than Costco's, that you need to check to make sure it's actually the same product. Lots of stores negotiate deals for unique SKUs for their stores, but Walmart is known for carrying cheaper versions of products that have the exact same name (tires come to mind as something that you definitely should avoid buying at Walmart/Sam's). If you shop there regularly, getting an Executive membership will earn you cash back credit that will pay for your membership (and maybe put some dollars back in your wallet) at the end of the year. Both regularly offer Groupons for new membership. If you care, Costco treats and pays their employees much better. Sam's has an active union busting work section, while Costco doesn't oppose unions (but almost all stores are non-union because Costco treats their employees well enough that there's no interest). Both do plenty of business with Chinese companies, but I think you'll find a much higher incidence of American made goods in a Costco than in a Sam's. Costco's return policy is the best on the planet. They'll take back anything you bought there. Sam's reputation is the opposite. |
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Posted: 6/13/2022 5:12:08 PM EDT
[#23]
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Posted: 6/13/2022 8:07:32 PM EDT
[#24]
I have never had a Costco membership, but I remember a discussion on here one time about them being extremely anti-gun, having no guns allowed signs, etc. The Sams club I usually go to used to have one I think, but if they still do I haven't noticed it in a long time. That may vary state-to-state also.
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Posted: 6/13/2022 8:12:42 PM EDT
[#25]
No Ragrets |
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Posted: 6/13/2022 8:21:06 PM EDT
[#26]
Quoted: We have had a Sams membership for years. We like shopping at Sams and we love the checkout on the app….no lines. We usually buy meat and certain items we use all the time. Stock up on TP and paper towels there. We recently got a Costco in town. Never shopped there before but have heard good things. Sams membership is a little cheaper. Both Costco and Sams in my area sell gas and the price is usually the best in town. One of the Sams stores is a little more convenient for me but not a big difference. So, which one would you go with? Or just spend the money and get both? This is arfcom. Get both. We shop each store weekly. Sam's has my mocha coffee, commercial toilet paper and paper towels, better frozen crap. Costco has a better pharmacy (reason we went there initially) with a competent staff. Costco meat and seafood is top notch. I dig their polyester shorts and shirts(late boomer/gen-x) here). The Costco near us has no aggressive panhandle peeps prowling. Costco gas is a plus. Gotta go early or off hours. Done seent fights in the gas line. |
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Posted: 6/13/2022 8:37:31 PM EDT
[#27]
Do both.
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Posted: 6/13/2022 11:01:06 PM EDT
[#28]
Costco is better than Sam's by me.
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Posted: 6/15/2022 1:01:48 AM EDT
[#29]
Target vs Walmart.
We prefer Costco. |
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Posted: 6/15/2022 1:25:20 AM EDT
[#30]
Most people say COSTCO is better, but really I think it's closer then that. Sam's has frozen crab leg clusters, usually at the best bang-for-your-buck. COSTCO doesn't. Sam's always has good fishing/swamp shirts and often better summer outdoor activeware, at better prices. And Sam's has better underwear. Sam's and Costco both have jumbo beef hotdogs with soda for $1.50. Sam's has a better vision center, if you are looking for glasses, with a better frame selection. For a time, SAM'S was selling Pelican Knockoffs for NOTHING. I picked up Pelecan 1600 cases with handle/wheels for $25 each. These are $400 Pelican cases, and they are the same cases. That was some time ago. Sam's has better Shelving at better prices as well. COSTCO tends to have better food at a higher grade - such as Geridelle brownies, vs Hershey's brownies.
Sam's check-out sucks, and takes 3-4x as long as COSTCO. COSTCO has better coffee. They both have the same wine/beer selection, and in Texas at least, there is no hard-liquor. Though COSTCO often will have an affiliate liquor store attached to the building - for very overpriced mediocre liquor; don't shop there. |
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Posted: 6/15/2022 2:05:52 AM EDT
[#31]
IME, sams has a more stable selection of goods, whereas costco rotates.
I have both locally, but stick with sams since it's 10 minutes closer, and no id check. |
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Posted: 6/15/2022 9:57:56 AM EDT
[#32]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Sam's check-out sucks, and takes 3-4x as long as COSTCO. try Sam's scan & go checkout. Game changer. |
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Posted: 6/15/2022 10:14:15 AM EDT
[#33]
Do you prefer Target or Walmart?
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Posted: 6/15/2022 12:01:10 PM EDT
[#34]
Quote HistoryQuoted: try Sam's scan & go checkout. Game changer. This right here. Only way we check out. |
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Posted: 6/15/2022 5:13:05 PM EDT
[#35]
I have both. Admittingly I work 500 yards from Costco and the gas prices (*normally) are worth the membership alone. Costco is a little nicer experience to me than Sam's but the prices are comparable. Sam's has a particular frozen chicken that tastes like Chik Fil A, and a few other items that Costco doesn't carry. I will say that because I go into Costco so often because of proximity (like 3 times a week), they will randomly discount products with no notice, often times its 30% and a few days later its no long on sale.
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Posted: 6/22/2022 1:33:36 PM EDT
[#36]
We do both. Wife likes Costco but I like Sams. Sams has the food & frozen goods I like but Costco has the things my wife likes but Costco also doesn't accept mastercard. I do like the Kirkland brand of chocolate covered raisins though.
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Posted: 6/23/2022 11:28:56 AM EDT
[#37]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Kirkland is in King County (ie: Seattle). LOL. There’s not even a blue county within 200 miles of Bentonville AR. Quote HistoryQuoted: Quoted: Care to share the details? Kirkland is in King County (ie: Seattle). LOL. There’s not even a blue county within 200 miles of Bentonville AR. Sad thing is that Walmart/Sams has attracted/imported in a lot of the blue types to the area. I wouldn't be surprised if Benton and Washington Counties are solid blue in a decade or two. |
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Posted: 6/23/2022 11:38:13 AM EDT
[#38]
Quote HistoryQuoted: We do both. Wife likes Costco but I like Sams. Sams has the food & frozen goods I like but Costco has the things my wife likes but Costco also doesn't accept mastercard. I do like the Kirkland brand of chocolate covered raisins though. I’m a little unclear on the Master Card thing. I know they are restrictive on credit cards but what about a Master Card debit card? From reading on line, it’s not clear to me |
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Posted: 6/23/2022 12:53:21 PM EDT
[#39]
FYI Sam’s has $8 membership until the 26th , walk-in only
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Posted: 6/23/2022 4:36:17 PM EDT
[#40]
Quote HistoryQuoted: FYI Sam’s has $8 membership until the 26th , walk-in only I might be wrong but I think that’s for new memberships. I’ve been a Sams member off and on for at least 15 years. |
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Posted: 6/25/2022 10:57:36 AM EDT
[#41]
I had a Costco membership for a few years then a Sam's opened up nearby.
We tried both for about a year and just stayed with Costco. |
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Posted: 6/25/2022 4:25:19 PM EDT
[#42]
Used to have both Costco and Sam's. My take was Sam's beef wasn't near as good, poor selection of other stuff and awful lines. I stopped going there about 10-15 years ago. Have had Costco membership for over 20 years.
Yesterday, I decided to get Sam's $8 membership. Line at customer service was LONG but moved very fast. Employee walked the line telling those wanting new memberships to download app. Quick and easy. I was in line 5 minutes or less. I was very pleasantly surprised with the changes they've made. Much higher quality beef and other meat, wide selection of everything in the store. $5 rotisserie chicken was actually a lot bigger and better tasting than the ones at Costco. Never thought I'd ever say that. Best of all was the slick self checkout on the app. App even automatically imported my personal and credit card info from my WalMart app. No need to enter anything. Scanned everything, in my cart, clicked pay and walked out the door. |
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Posted: 6/25/2022 4:27:32 PM EDT
[#43]
Double tap
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Posted: 6/25/2022 4:30:24 PM EDT
[#44]
Costco, absolutely Costco.
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Posted: 6/26/2022 1:13:53 AM EDT
[#45]
Quoted: We have had a Sams membership for years. We like shopping at Sams and we love the checkout on the app….no lines. We usually buy meat and certain items we use all the time. Stock up on TP and paper towels there. We recently got a Costco in town. Never shopped there before but have heard good things. Sams membership is a little cheaper. Both Costco and Sams in my area sell gas and the price is usually the best in town. One of the Sams stores is a little more convenient for me but not a big difference. So, which one would you go with? Or just spend the money and get both? In Columbia, SC right now Costco is better-stocked. |
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Posted: 6/26/2022 1:36:40 AM EDT
[#46]
I just got my $8 sams membership today but have been going to costco for past 7 years.
It is basically the same thing. Even the layout is essentially the same. I felt like I was in costco. Many of the same brands and stuff. The big difference was the people at sams was basically walmart grade. I would say costco is better overall. |
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Posted: 6/26/2022 2:12:11 AM EDT
[#47]
Get both.
We have both. Each have their own advantages. With the supply chain the way it is when they start to have in store limits or limit how much of a product you can buy in a given time period (Costco did this with Rice a few years back) it’s good to have other options. |
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Posted: 6/26/2022 7:32:57 AM EDT
[#48]
Sam’s is gun friendly.
Costco is anti-gun. |
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Posted: 6/26/2022 7:37:42 AM EDT
[#49]
Costco is better in general but they prohibit guns and will call the police I've seen open carry at Sams.
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Posted: 6/26/2022 8:15:01 AM EDT
[#50]
I’ve had a Costco membership for years.
Just got a Sam’s because they’re running a 8$ membership deal right now and Sam’s is much closer than Costco. Gas prices being what they are I’d rather not drive more than necessary. Also,Sam’s sells diesel, Costco does not. |
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