Costco or Sam's Club?

With the impending arrival of mini-me #2, I am seriously considering joining one of these clubs. The savings on diapers and paper products alone would be worth it. I think.

Any feedback on either of these places?

Sam's Club is very close to our house and has better prices on the diapers we like. Costco is down the street from my work, not really close to home, but this is the place my FIL swears by for everything.

Thoughts on either or both?

BJ's

I've never been to a Costco, don't know if there are any in my area at all. But I can tell you Sam's Club has saved me lots of money on diapers, wipes, and although I don't use it anymore, the formula. Thank goodness, my daughter is on regular milk now and we are trying to potty train her, so all of those costs should go away soon. This stuff is so ridiculously priced.

In the same boat cant wait to replace the diapers with designer clothes

Odd! Aggs is talking about discount warehouses!


Shame on you!

We have a large family, and I swear by Sam's club. We have to drive 2 hours to it, but it's worth it. No more babies, but we do a grip of grocery shopping there, bottled water, paper products, gatoraid, and meat. And anything else we can store, like pasta or frozen foods. It saves a lot of time and money.

I've only been to Sam's Club and like it.

they sell beef jerky, lots of it

Went to BJ's once or twice - thought they were more expensive than Sam's. Never been to a Costco (don't know where one is in our area but my SIL loves it). I love Sam's. Heck, even if you go for just bacon and butter it's a LOT cheaper than the supermarket! I get a lot of my DVDs there and we have bought two HD tvs (make sure you purchase the extended warranty - the first tv we got died after almost two years (just before the extended warranty ran out). My husband and son took it to a shop on the list in center city. Two days later they said they couldn't fix it (part was no longer available). We received a check for the full purchase price within a week! We even forgot to register the warranty online but they still had a record of it. We deposited the check and then went back to Sam's and got another tv and purchased a longer warranty. I've been a member since about 1994.

Sam's and Costco are great for diapers and formula twice during your lifetime - once when you are raising kids (Pampers™ and Enfamil™) and then again when you reach the point of being "Pale Old" (Depends™ and Ensure™).

LMAO @ tj

Does Sam's Club have prepared meals you can freeze? My FIL buys stuff like that from Costco and it's always quite tasty. I was thinking that with the baby's arrival, it would be easy for my hubby to run to Sam's Club and buy a few frozen meals to heat up for dinner, etc.

It may be a few years for the baby to eat frozen dinners

We don't have a Costco, so I'm a Sam's Club member by default. We do buy a few things there but use it mostly for the discount on gas. I've only been in a Costco once. I liked it better than Sam's for regular grocery shopping.

The Sam's Club nearest me closed about 4 years ago, and Costco is less than a mile from me. I go there for gas, their ready-to-bake pizzas and vodka. It's been so worth it.

Sam's Club needs to sell bigger cans of baked beans. One can just isn't enough.

Belong to both but am dropping Costco. Did Costco because we needed rice milk for littlest gran for first four years due to her allergies which she's outgrown...yea!!! Sam's has lots of frozen food and now rotisserie chickens, etc. Also the BEST fresh chicken.

Husband and I were actually at Costco last week doing a comparison to make sure we wanted to drop them. They were out of so many things that they used to have, even potatoes!!! Husband said 'guess nothing good fell off the truck this week, huh?' That about summed it up. Sam's on the other hand, can be relied on to find what you got there last time unless it's seasonal like Christmas stuff, of course.

You can go to both of them and do a dry run before you have to buy in. I highly recommend it. That way you can check out who has what you're likely to be buying.

Agree with Truffle Royale; try them both, or at least go in and look around. Most places offer free trial memberships and also allow to come in for free and look around. Check them out at different times and days to ensure that what you want is stocked, etc. Also consider that most people bank (or shop) where they live or work.

Do you have any pets? If so, go Costco all the way.

FYI, I have had the opposite problem as Truffle. Sams never had what I wanted, Costco is reliable!

Sam's it is!

Costco is too far for us, so we go to Sams. Word is they may build one less than 2 miles from us.

One thing we really like is their ground beef. It is very lean. Sometimes we'll brown a pound of ground beef and have almost no grease to drain off. We buy a lot of produce there too.

I find you can beat their beer and wine prices if you watch the sales, but they will have some good specials on liquor.

They will have some good deals on clothes too, if you're not fixated on trendy name brands.

be sure when leaving Sam's Club to walk right past the person checking receipts on your way out

check out their reaction

I am about and hour one way and 2 another to a Sam's and that is where I always shop. There is a Costco about a mile or so down the road from Sams at the one in Ft Worth...I have never been to one so i can't really give you a truly honest opinion. I say try both of them out look at what you would be wanting to purchase write down the prices and the size it is, then go to the other to compare and see who can give you the best for your money.

Oh, Costco has their own brand, "Kirkland", and it is all great stuff. From $15 blue jeans that hold up to dish/laundry soap, to dog/cat food to just about anything you can think of, theirs is as good as the name brand.

I second that.

It's Costco for me! Great products (on household items and groceries) and awesome fresh produce. Consider an executive membership - you receive cash back at the end of the year that helps offset the cost of membership. Also, their return policy can't be beat!

<------ diehard Costco fan.

Almost forgot one reason alone to buy Costco.... Kirkland vanilla ice cream. Yummmmmmmmmmmmmm!

You can get Kirkland at Aldi's too, I believe.

Not a fan of Sam's and never been in a Costco. I always got great diaper deals at Walgreens, CVS, or Target. Never paid more than $3-4 a pack thanks to coupons and deals. Even got paid one time to take the Walgreens brand diapers off their hands and that brand holds up just as well as any of the others.

Have been a Sam's member for about 20 years...we do not have a nearby Costco. Unit prices at Sam's are far cheaper than regular retail. Some Sam's label clothing is great, too. I bought a pair of Sam's label jeans and a pair of designer name jeans. The Sam's jeans seven years later are still going strong with only the front pocket edges starting to wear. The designer name jeans were far beyond that wear popint after two years. I now wear them when mowing the lawn.

Aldis should not be selling Kirkland products. They are exclusively Costo's products.

Aldi's contracts with third party suppliers, I just verified it.

I would suggest comparison on what you buy & what each stock, as we learned they are different store to store due to demographics. We prefer Costco, for 1 reason you get back your membership if you dont save equal to it. But, we love their Kirklands brands..the sausage lasagna and bourbon chicken is so good! love their produce and meats. Don't know anything about diapers & formula, as that ship has sailed.

46 oz cans aren't large enough?

Midwest, are those dinners in the frozen aisle?

Oh, that sausage lasagna is SOOOO good!

They also carry a really good salmon burger at mine from Trident.

Another advantage of Costco is that they have made arrangements with companies outside of Costco to save their members money on insurance, home repairs, etc. too.

For Peepers - Nope.

all you Costco fans, have you noticed a drop off of availability at your store? Seriously, not one potatoe, of all things, last week when I was there. In fact, the entire lot of produce and fruit was pretty slim pickings.

I caught the tail end (no pun intended) of the Danny Bonaducci show on the radio this AM and they were talking about [censored]. I don't know, I guess there was some type of story in the news about someone breaking wind and people passing out?

I have read that more people are shopping at these places looking for bargains. That might be the reason Truff.

Peepers - Is that you?

pull my finger and find out for yourself

For those with babies (or grandbabies) I've found a super place. Amazon.com! Enroll as an Amazon Mom, then subscribe to shipments of your brand of diapers. I've signed up for a $58 case of Pampers Sensitive #3 (156 ct) and with free shipping it comes to $28. I get a notification a week prior to the shipment that I can cancel for that month or change the size/style or cancel altogether. I have them shipped directly to my kids. Amazon Mom is good for discounts in the Baby Store, so wipes, formula, all that stuff can be subscribed to.

Not at all. The only time the store I go to runs out of something is if they sample it and it is really really good and they sell more than expected.

GL, I do the Subscribe & Save too, it's great! You can use it for all sorts of household items you use on a regular basis. It's like going to Costco, without having to actually GO to Costco.

Amazon Mom plus Subscribe and Save is the ONLY way to go for diapers, wipes, and other baby supplies. My daughter's diapers work out to about half price like GL says. Through Subscribe and Save you can get things like coffee, detergent, lots of household products, really anything at a big discount and have total control of how much of an item, the size, the delivery date, etc. LOVE IT!

Costco is definitely my choice. I went into Sam's once on a trial membership card. The fresh meat was green!!! My husband works for Costco. I called him to tell him about how gross everything was as well as the poor layout. He and a few managers went there within the hour. They had a good laugh. No, in NJ the produce is always fresh and well stocked.

That must have been a pretty bad store! I've never seen that in any of the Sam's that I've been in. Everything has always been fresh as far as the meat, fruit and veggies. My hubby and son like to go to Sam's for the free samples. I always know where to find them!

We have both, my parents have the sams with an extra card for me, and I have the Costco with an extra card for them. It really depends on the store on how well stocked they are. I prefer the Costco, they seem to have more food items and a very decent wine selection. (not that that was my determining factor)

pffft, yeah right

I like Sam's club for 100 count packs of slim jims

Been members of both.

Both have good prices, and decent selection. One determining factor - if you read Consumer Reports, whenever a Costco private brand name (such as Kirkland) is tested, it almost always is rated at the very top and rated a best buy for the combination of price and quality - I've never seen a generic Sams club product mentioned in the top 5.

Another plug for Costco, Clark Howard (radio commentator, specializing in how to live cheaply) regularly mentions Costco as where he finds the best buys in comparing all of the wholesale clubs.

The predominant factor most likely is which is most convenient. I would rather go to Costco, but it is an hour away - Sams is 15 minutes.

Southern Banker, did they do a cost comparison between Costco and Sam's?

Sam's is closer, but Costco isn't that far away so if the prices are the same, I may try Costco when our Sam's membership is up.

Do not forget to factor in the cost of gas to get there at $4+ per gallon it may make a difference if it is 20 miles away.

werd, Ed. Our truck gets about 15 in mixed driving, so that is definitely a factor, but Sam's is, literally, less than 5 minutes and Costco is about 10 minutes away.

drive your Smart car

That would fit in the bed of my truck.

Consumer reports does cost and quality comparisons by product (e.g. AA batteries), and always, the Costco (Kirlkand) brand has always been at the top for price and quality. They have a decent line of their own baby products. Costco Baby Stuff

In another issue on store comparisons had Costco as #1 beating out Macys, Penny's etc.

I've been to both -
Like others mentioned - distance and time are money though.

I went to Costco this weekend. Why do they have to keep moving stock around? It makes me crazy!

I think you answered your own question

To make room for more stuff?

The staples tend to stay in the same place. The seasonal stuff moves around!

Furthermore, every retail store will move things around. It is a key to good marketing.

haha - I get them too! and the box of 1500 Sweet & Low

All it does is tick me off.

dont worry they do not sell tanq or smokes at costco

They do, too. So there.

have minion call in advance for the location before goes for you.

Her hubby is a mgr there. Maybe I can get him to deliver?

Another major compliance issure resolved and it is only Monday.

Is this why you hired the minion? She better not be getting you a discount on the side.

NP: raspberries!

FYI, if you haven't tried the salmon burgers from Trident that they sell at Costco, you are missing out! Mmmmmmm tasty!

salmon =

I have belonged to both, Sam's strikes me as glorified Walmart and Costco as an upscale wholesale grocery store. Kirkland is a better brand. I think Sam's might be cheaper as far as price but Costco is so much better quality. I prefer Costco all the way. IMHO

Kirkland brand must meet or exceed requirements and quality of top brand of item. Kirkland is great.

Were you the one that put Kirkland Gin in the Tanq bottle and a certain BOL poster did not know?

How is Kirkland priced vs. the regular brand names?

Usually, much lower.

2 1/2 hours away from a Sam's and have no idea where to find a Costco!!

As one example, the equivalent of Cascade Liquid Dishwasher Soap costs about a dollar less for twice as much, and works just as well.

Another nice thing is they send you coupons in the mail each month, and if you forget them, you can get them at members services. If you scan one of the coupons, and don't realize you've picked up something else that is on special, it will automatically pull that coupon too. In fact, most cashiers will scan a coupon just to see if you got anything they can discount at my Costco.

Plus there you can get more stuff from the website at good prices, their photo development is top notch.

In addition, I don't believe Sam's Club has arranged with just about every auto dealer for pre-set discounted pricing for members, a group discount on health insurance (i just found out about this!), dental insurance, car and home insurance, etc.

BF, is that the Finish product?

Will Costco and Sam's Club let me go in there on my lunch break and browse? I don't want to buy anything, I just want to see it for myself before I pay the membership fee and decide which store fits my needs better...

You can probably call and ask, Aggs...

Costco has "guest" passes

Well see, there you go!

no, you will have to buy something

freakin cheapskate

Yes, both places will let you go in if you stop and tell them you just want to look around.

I have done this before. Also, at least at our local Costco, you don't have to belong to grab a bite at their prepared food stands in the front of the store.

It is just called Liquid Gel, and is the equivalent of the Cascade Complete product in performance.

I think the matter is very specific to the particular Sam's Club and Costco stores. I am a very happy Sam's member, and I have evaluated Costco a couple of times over the past 2 years and been unimpressed with my local Costco store: they don't carry as many of the items I would buy as my local Sam's store. I wouldn't drive 30 minutes to the next closest Costco, so that's out of the question for me personally.

As for the Kirkland dishwasher detergent, my brother used to use it and had a dishwasher repairman (on his second visit out there) tell my brother it's the worst possible thing you can use in your machine. Any savings he saw with the detergent were eaten up in repair bills. This repair guy recommends only Finish (formerly called Electrasol) and only the hard tablets over the liquid, which is what I've used for years and years and never had an issue. Of course, your results may vary.

::wipes brow:: I use Finish!

^^You have dirty dishes? I thought you drank straight from the bottle.