Costco or Sam's

I don't know about Cosco's, but Sam's has a security guard at the door who demands to see your receipt and then goes through the contents of your cart. I find it insulting to be treated like a shoplifter, so I don't shop there except when I have to buy cleaning products for a company that insists I use Sam's. (They reimburse me for supplies.)

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I used to have a Sam's membership, have never been to a Costco. Before renewing last year I decided to do some research, using the Sam's website I priced how much items we use would cost, for pick up not shiping. I also went to my local grocery store and compared. I found that H-E-B(local grocery) had about the same price or less, so I didn't see the point of paying for membership when I could just get it while doing the regular shopping. For us paying the membership wasn't worth it. One thing nice about Sam's though, is you can order online for pick up at your Sam's location, they put it together and have it ready for you. I liked that idea even though I never actually used it, if I stayed I would have, it's easier to resist the temptation of buying extra stuff if I don't go in, lol. That was also how I ended up comparing the prices too, looking at the order online option.

[QUOTE=whiterock;3646288]Which one is the best? Both are local, but I wouldn't want to get a membership to both.[/QUOTE]

the original question. I think costco, Wal-marts has what Sams does and you don't have to pay membership.

As far as either one go... Check the price per ounce on almost anything at Sams or Costco and you will see that you are getting a big bulk bag or box, but when you break it down you are not getting a deal most of the time. As far as Dog Food goes.... Call your local fed store and see what kind of deals they have... I buy my dog food in bulk with better protein and less corn fillers for about half of what I was giving Sams.

When these type of stores first opened they were selling at bargain prices, not so much any more. Compare the cost of Soft Drinks at Sams or Costco to your local grocery store... That's just one product. My Sams card was allowed to expire last month once I figured out I wasn't saving money.

I will vouch for the employee benefits. Have shopped there for 16 years.....worked there for the last 14 years.

We have a sams club membership, my wife does most of the shopping and overall we have found that while there are some good deals at Sams, we usually go to the Meijer's that is closer and don't pay much more. We do try to stock up when something is on sale. Best thing about Sams in my opinion is all the free samples on saturday! I swear you could eat lunch there from the samples. We have found that when gasoline prices spike up their station does not change price until the next day so we have benefited from that a few times.

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Sams is owned by Walmart. The nearest to me (Dubuque) has limited variety and the savings are so-so. I used to love Costco, but haven't seen one in years.

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For us, Costco. But it will vary on your personal shopping style, habits and what you use.

Our Costco has great price on certain items that we buy, Sam's does not carry those same brands so it's simply not comparable. Our Costco also has a lot of organics, that is important to us, but not as important to others.

Now saying all that, we no longer have a Costco membership because when I factored in the gas and hassle of getting to the closest one, I let it go and try and track sales the best I can at the normal grocery store.
However, they just built a new Costco closer to the house and easier to get to, I've considered going back in and checking the prices on some key items and see how they really do stack up against some of the sale prices I can get at the normal grocery store.
However, since it's really just two items that saw me to Costco, I will also have to factor in the cost of the membership and then determine how much of these items I need to consume in a normal year in order for it to break even and then make an actual cost savings.

I used to have a Sam's club membership thru my family, but rarely if every shopped there and it's less than 1 mile away. The brands that I use were not sold there, or the "savings" wasn't any better than I could do at the grocery store, plus the fact that I don't support Wal-mart. It all added up to being a "no go" on Sam's Club.

Moral of the story... check them both out and determine for yourself which corporation will best suit your needs.

Costco hands down!

I have auto insurance through them - saved 1/2 over Geico.

I get my eye glass prescription (& frames) filled there - save 1/2 or more over any place else including what I could get with the $100.00 off on insurance.

Tires - not much savings.

Quality meat.

Kirkland (Costco) brand liquid laundry soap is a Best Buy with Consumer reports.

Returns? No problem.

They even have a few furniture stores. Appears to be quality furniture & good prices. You have to buy when you see something though, as the inventory changes. Missed out on a great price on a leather recliner cause & didn't buy it when I first saw it.

The closest Costco is about 200 miles away. I save up & go about 3/4X a year filling my truck bed!

Sam's Club? Much closer - but it's just a glorified Walmart with the same cheap stuff that needs to be replaced therefore costing 2x as much.

Can't tell I vote for Costco, eh?

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Thanks folks, they opened a new costco about 10 miles away, Sam's is another 10 miles, I have gone to sam's with a friend and much of the things i saw was now cheaper than HEB, but there were some items I could find in bulk that were better deals, I went in this costco with friends shortly after it opened, and was rushed by them so I didn't have a good chance to do any comparison on prices at the time.
Ed

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I HATE the costco near me. The most lazy, racist bunch of oxygen wasters for employees and clientel. I was in there this past Sunday evening and they had 10 employees milling about the front of the store jabber jawing while pallets of frozen foods sat melting in the isles. Full pallets. Not one or two but 16+ (I quite counting after that). And the past 2 times I have been in there the tobacco lock up has been unlocked, door wide open and no one attending.

Where are all these bargains that people write about? They don't have anything that I use...like flour, yeast, sugar, salt, beans, bread, chocolate chips, motzerella, pepperoni, cat food....I could go on but you get the point.

And they only take American Express. IIRC, American Express used to be ranked lower than the Discover Card...I just don't get how a place of business, as large as costco, can not accept Visa or Mastercard.

BJ's is the place for us. They even mail us coupons every month and quarter. And unlike costco, they actually have the items in stock to go with the coupons.

I am not keeping that costco membership.

We don't have a Costco in our area.. I have (had) a membership to Sam's primarily because I can save enough money on a set of tires there to pay for it. Since we had the membership we shopped there ocasionaly for a few very specific things. In general, they have good prices on higher tier brands. That being said, a good deal on "Green Giant" mushrooms, green beans, or asparagus, is still substantially more expensive than the "generic" variety of the same thing at almost any grocery store, even their sister company, Wally-world. Unlike a lot of stores, they will carry only one brand of an item, or none at all (I used to buy big jars of bay leaves there, and then a few years ago, they decided that they did not sell enough to make it worthwhile, and so, in our store, they sell none at all) I can't home-can green beans for the price I can get them at a place like Alde's. Sure, I know they probably have stuff sprayed on them I don't want, but some of us live under the constraints of economics, and are forced into making the least obnoxious choice, instead of the "best".

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COSTCO has sam's club beat. Costco also checks your receipt as you leave and it doesn't bother me a bit. They are always smiling and thank you for shopping there.

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I just don't understand why someone would PAY to shop at a place where you can not be annonymous.
I won't even go to CVS or Food Lion because of the card idea.

Shelly

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It's 4-5 hrs to the closest Costco and 2 hrs to the closest Sam's. So that's how we decided but if we were nearer to the other it would go the other way.

But Sam's seem to be easier to find nation wide and family has had a card for 17yrs for when we traveled more.

Doesn't seem like it's going to matter anymore

Wal-Mart to close all Canadian Sam's Club stores

http://www.thestar.com/business/article/593651

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Definitely Costco. I buy all of our meat at Costco. I can find cheaper prices at other stores, but not as good a quality.

SuburbanHermit:

Too bad you had such a hard time at Costco. Phoenix has a bunch of Costco stores. I've shopped at all of them. In the years I lived in Phoenix & shopped there, I've only had an issue once with one employee at any of the stores. I spoke to the manager & know he spoke to the employee.

I don't know where your eyes were, but sugar comes in 25/50? lb bags, flour too. There's a whole isle on dog & cat food, ( I buy Kirkland dog food - 40# bags for $22.00) a whole bread/cake & goodie section to die for. Lots of spices - some under their own Kirkland brand. All stores have these items.

Maybe if you were looking for 2# bags of sugar & itty bitty jars of spices - you won't find them there.

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Lol! no. I am a serious cook. And when I go shopping I mean business! I have been told by a few that I am the only person left who cooks in this town. (But with the economy the way that it is...maybe that will be changing). And Mrs. Fields wishes she had MY chocolate chip cookie recipe!

The Costco here had for this for spices (in little itty bitty jars): Whole cloves, sea salt, ground ginger and artificial vanilla. Thats it. Seriously.

No cat food. Wet or dry. But they did have clumping cat litter?!???

They had these cute little balls of mozzarella....but that is soooo useless for my needs. I want the great big gigantic honking log of mozzarella and shred it myself if I need it to be shreded.

And no pepperoni. absolutely none. Not in stick, not already sliced.

The store here is so freaking lame. Its got to be a regional thing. The biggest section of this store is the pre-made frozen food isles. I think they were 5 freezer units, half the store wide and you could easliy fit 4 shopping carts side by side with lots of room to spare.

I have been to Costcos in WA, PA, and TX. I have never seen one like you are describing.

The spices are in the large containers (1 lb?). Flour and sugar in 25 or 50# bags. Cat food and dog food.

We go to Costco about 4 times a year, because it is a 3 hour drive. We load up on a few things that make the trip and membership worth while.
Honey - about half the cost of Walmart
Kirkland Laundry Detergent - highly rated by Consumer reports
Nuts - very good prices on Almonds and Walnuts
Craisons - half the price of Walmart
Peanut Butter - organic natural
Lemon Juice - wife uses a ton of this stuff
T-shirts - very good quality $16 for 6
We will usually spend $600-1000 each trip. I would say we save at least $200.


Costco will only have one or two brands for each item. They don't have a huge selection, but what they do have is high quality, and a good price.

I also like it that Costco pays a fair wage with benefits.

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