# Costco or Sams Club?



## 8thDayStranger (Jan 30, 2013)

Maybe this question has come up before. If so please kindly point me in the direction. 

I'm planning on getting a membership to one for bulk buys. Which do you guys prefer? Why? We have both SAMs club and Costco about the same distance away. Which has better deals and selection? Thanks!!


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## partdeux (Aug 3, 2011)

Costco is anti gun


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## PackerBacker (Dec 13, 2012)

I've never been in a costco. I checked out sams but didn't really find anything worth the cover charge.

This may change that though.

http://www.livingsocial.com/deals/628922



> • $45 ($79.84 value) for a one-year Membership package (new members only)
> • Includes a $20 Sam's Club gift card and $19.84 in food-service vouchers
> • Food vouchers valid for an Artisan Fresh Rotisserie Chicken, a 16" Artisan Fresh Take-and-Bake Pizza, and two boxes of 6-, 12-, or 24-count Artisan Fresh Cookies


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## mdprepper (Jan 22, 2010)

Go to both of them and compare prices on the items you use the most. When I checked them out (a few years ago) for my family Sam's was the better choice. YMMV


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## HamiltonFelix (Oct 11, 2011)

I had not heard that Costco is anti-gun. Is this "at local discretion" or is there a corporate policy? I have certainly never seen any signs in Costco. I am in Washington State, where about 1 in12 adults has a CPL. 

I know Walmart (Sam's Club) is despised by unions as a hellish place to work, sneered at by many consumers as "Chinamart, your all American source for cheap Chinese crap." They have a reputation for vicious business practices and have destroyed and/or nearly destroyed a number of suppliers. But they are also the world's largest retailer. When in Walmart I concentrate on the things they cannot make worse. Panasonic may build a factory in China and make a cheaper product with their name on it, because Walmart agrees to sell ten million units; T-fal very definitely makes a different and cheaper, crappier version of the cookware you can buy at Kohl's, just for Walmart to sell. But Remington or Ruger will not make a crappier gun for Wally World to sell, nor will Federal make worse ammo or Castrol make worse oil to sell for less. 

I have heard Costco is much better to work for, and they certainly do support Veterans. Costco takes cash, debit or Amex. Wally World takes more credit cards. Costco tends to deal in large quantities, so does Sam's Club. I gather both have been offering long term food storage packages. 

While I work with someone (she's also my Shop Steward) who will not set foot in Walmart or Sam's Club, I do go into Wally World. I do more business with Costco, though. I would be very interested in verification of the anti-gun claim. That's not what I have heard.


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## sgtrunningfool (Dec 8, 2012)

ANother thing to look at is whether either one sells gas. I belonged to Sams club in other places I lived because they sold gas about 5 cents cheaper than anywhere else, which at the time added up a lot of savings between the boat and truck. I also stocked up their as well.


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## Dakine (Sep 4, 2012)

this doesnt show them as being "anti gun" per se, but it shows what political parties the corporation supports. Given the statements that come out of the democratic representatives, painting them with an "anti-gun" brush, might not be unjustified at all.

http://www.goodguide.com/contributions

click on their name and it will show a bunch of stores and their leanings. I just found this myself though, and I have barely scratched the surface on fact checking or even seeing how they compile what they have... so if you find blatant errors, let me know.

ETA:

This is a cool site! so you can pick a company and see other retailers in that category, or you can just sort by dem/rep leaning, and if you mouse over the company branded icon, it shows you how much they donated to which party and if it was individuals or PAC's and this is data harvested from 2004-2008.

Very interesting!


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## PackerBacker (Dec 13, 2012)

HamiltonFelix said:


> I know Walmart is despised by unions as a hellish place to work


Well if the unions don't like them. 

The unions don't like WM because they haven't been able to unionize WM.

You know why? WM really isn't that bad of a place to work.


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## Dakine (Sep 4, 2012)

PackerBacker said:


> Well if the unions don't like them.
> 
> The unions don't like WM because they haven't been able to unionize WM.
> 
> You know why? WM really isn't that bad of a place to work.


I dont know about that... I know they have been taken to court and settled with their employees for some shady shit. (that doesnt make them bad, my company has had to do the same thing and when I found out the BS we were pulling with some of the employees I couldnt believe we didnt lose Sr Execs over those policies. Ridiculous!!!!) but I digress...

The thing that happened at walmart that really sticks out in my mind was at the end of the night when they're having employees clean up the various areas they work in, lets say you work in electronics... your team gets done.... boom clock out and call it a night. Not so fast... it's Yes and No.

Yes they clocked out, but No, it was not the end of the night.

The doors are chained shut until all depts are ready to leave, if you want to go earlier, you have to go help them clean up on your own time. That was a class action suit they settled recently from what I recall reading.


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## PackerBacker (Dec 13, 2012)

One is free to believe what they want I guess.

Saying something was settled doesn't say anything.


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## hiwall (Jun 15, 2012)

If you go to Sams Club website you can print a day pass to buy things there(with a 10% up-charge). At least you can look around and buy something if it strikes your fancy. We shopped at Sam's Club when we still had kids at home(no Costco close). Now we don't buy enough to make it pay.


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## 8thDayStranger (Jan 30, 2013)

I've shopped at SAMs before and I liked it. I've just never been past the parking lot of a Costco. They are pretty close to each other. Ill probably just cruise through both and check them out.


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## goshengirl (Dec 18, 2010)

I'd say try a one-day pass at both places and check them out. There are some products at Sam's that are 'regulars' for my family, and we use their gas stations, so Sam's works for us. But each family is different. Check to see which one (if either) work for you.


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## Dakine (Sep 4, 2012)

PackerBacker said:


> One is free to believe what they want I guess.
> 
> Saying something was settled doesn't say anything.


You're right, it wasn't "settled" they lost the lawsuits!

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/10/13/business/main2088901.shtml



> Wal-Mart must pay at least $78 million for violating Pennsylvania state labor laws by forcing employees to work through rest breaks and off the clock, a jury decided Friday.
> 
> Michael Donovan, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, had asked the jury for at least that amount in compensatory damages for what he said were missed or shortened breaks, or time employees worked off the clock.
> 
> He will now seek an additional $62 million in damages because the jury found that Wal-Mart acted in bad faith. Common Pleas Court Judge Mark Bernstein is expected to rule on that issue later.


http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/12/20/national/main533818.shtml

and again in Oregon...



> Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, forced employees in Oregon to work unpaid overtime between 1994 and 1999, a federal jury found Thursday in the first of dozens of such lawsuits across the country to come to trial.
> 
> A separate trial will be held to decide how much Wal-Mart should pay in damages.
> 
> More than 400 employees from 24 of Wal-Mart's 27 Oregon stores had sued the retailer, accusing it of violating federal and state wage laws.


and in Minnesota...

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/02/business/02walmart.html?_r=0



> A state judge in Minnesota has ruled that Wal-Mart Stores violated state laws on rest breaks and other wage matters more than two million times and as a result could face more than $2 billion in fines. The judge has threatened to impose a $1,000 penalty for each violation.
> 
> The judge also ruled on Monday that Wal-Mart owed $6.5 million to 56,000 current and former employees because of contractual violations, including a failure to give workers promised rest breaks at least 1.5 million times. The judge also found that Wal-Mart managers in Minnesota had systematically broken the law by having employees take in-house training while off the clock.


I'd say that settles it...


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## DJgang (Apr 10, 2011)

8thDayStranger said:


> I've shopped at SAMs before and I liked it. I've just never been past the parking lot of a Costco. They are pretty close to each other. Ill probably just cruise through both and check them out.


I'm starting to think neither, especially how far we have to drive....

I'm starting to like kroger's. I've been getting some fairly good deals there, especially 10 for $10 items.


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## Dakine (Sep 4, 2012)

DJgang said:


> I'm starting to think neither, especially how far we have to drive....
> 
> I'm starting to like kroger's. I've been getting some fairly good deals there, especially 10 for $10 items.


I like Costco, I like to eat lunch there, the pizza is good, and that chicken bake thing is tasty! And a very berry sundae for desert is pwnsauce and the entire bill is like $5 or $6

Their customer service, in particular their return policies are a big win in my opinion.

I haven't been to Sam's yet but I intend too soon, I think there's one nearby I just keep forgetting to make time for checking it out.

I like Walmart (despite my posts above where I'm just saying yeah that did happen) Their prices are good, they have a huge inventory and I know what I'm getting.

With all of that said, yep, I really like Kroger too. and those 10/$10 sales are a real bargain! There's two different brands of Kroger stores near me and I use both depending on what I want to buy.


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## partdeux (Aug 3, 2011)

Costco user agreement says no firearms. Some stores are posted, but most are not. There are stories all over the net where people carrying have been ordered to leave the store.


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## HamiltonFelix (Oct 11, 2011)

My wife is picky about food. (Gee, fancy that, a Prepper Woman who cares about quality and is tickled pink to have a pantry bigger than her kitchen ). 
She often shops at Costco and at WinCo. 
A couple of nights ago, she had her hair done and, well, Walmart was right there... so she picked up some groceries. 

Later that night, she had a very outraged expression when she showed me the amount of water she got out of the hamburger. All soft and mushy with water, but pretty tasteless when you got down to the meat. Remember, you buy it by the pound and water is cheap. 

She was unhappy with the roast beef. She makes good roasts, but this one was tougher than usual and had less flavor. 

She bought the Walmart version of Jack Links "Sweet & Hot" jerky. So we put the packages next to each other and compared. Same weight, same ingredients, Walmart much cheaper. Open bags, sniff: she said Jack Links smelled "inviting," while Walmart smelled "like cat food." So I ate some of each. Given the same listed ingredients and Walmart's penchant for making everything cheaper, I'd say they used less of everything, and if the process of curing/smoking takes time, they took less time at it. Definitely not as good as Jack Links. However, when she told me the prices of both, I gasped and said "we need to make our own." 

I am well aware that most car batteries are made by only a very few manufacturers. Whether it's Costco "Kirkland" or Walmart "EverStart," it's made by Johnson Controls. Once, I had occasion to buy two identical Subaru batteries a week apart. First one, Costco; second one, Costco was out of that size and I bought Walmart Everstart. Same exact price, but the Walmart EverStart had less Cold Cranking Amps and less Reserve Capacity. They are made by the same outfit, but they are made to the wholesale purchaser's specification. 

Caveat Emptor! 

I should look for some of those Costco stories and note the states they come from. Costco began in Kirkland, Washington. About one in 12 adults in Washington has a Concealed Pistol License (and CPL holders are likely to have incomes if they can afford guns). Only a stupid businessman would deliberately chase that many customers away.


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## Navajo (Mar 4, 2013)

We have belonged to both at various times. Mainly because we didn't have a choice. One or the other was present but not both.

Now we cook from scratch for most everything and try to avoid chemicals as much as possible.

That said, we now live in a place where we have both available.

Sams Club is where we now shop. Cheaper too.


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## Wanderer0101 (Nov 8, 2011)

Had memberships with both. Right now it's Costco. I have found that they have quite a good selection of freeze dried foods at a reasonable cost and they don't charge for shipping so that's a winner for me.


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## Jason (Jul 25, 2009)

I prefer Sam's Club over Costco. Sam's is closer and on my way home from work. I've started buying gas there because it's been running 10-20 cents cheaper per gallon than the rest of the gas stations. That alone pays for the membership fee. I get coffee, raw almonds, shredded mozzarella cheese, and snack bars almost exclusively at Sam's, but you do have to watch because bigger does not always mean cheaper.

That said, Costco is not prohibitively far away and they do have good stuff. I like their no salt seasoning for my scrambled eggs. 

Right now we have a Sam's membership and my parents belong at Costco. We go together if one of us needs something at the store they don't belong to. If possible, the OP could maybe set up an arrangement like that with a friend or something, and just shop together, using the member's account at the respective stores.


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## ksmama10 (Sep 17, 2012)

Jason said:


> I prefer Sam's Club over Costco. Sam's is closer and on my way home from work. I've started buying gas there because it's been running 10-20 cents cheaper per gallon than the rest of the gas stations. That alone pays for the membership fee. I get coffee, raw almonds, shredded mozzarella cheese, and snack bars almost exclusively at Sam's, but you do have to watch because bigger does not always mean cheaper.
> 
> That said, Costco is not prohibitively far away and they do have good stuff. I like their no salt seasoning for my scrambled eggs.
> 
> Right now we have a Sam's membership and my parents belong at Costco. We go together if one of us needs something at the store they don't belong to. If possible, the OP could maybe set up an arrangement like that with a friend or something, and just shop together, using the member's account at the respective stores.


Another way to bring down the cost of membership is to split it with somebody; I don't know about Costco, but SAMs allows two cards per membership. My dh and I usually go together or I go alone, so we don't need two cards. Same with one of our daughters...so we split the cost.


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## jeff47041 (Jan 5, 2013)

We go to sams about twice a year and do a big restock. We found out a few years ago that the sams closest to us (about 30 miles) is 2- 5% more expensive than the one that is about 40 miles from us.


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## Viking (Mar 16, 2009)

We don't have Sam's here in S.W. Oregon but there are two Costco stores equal distance from where we live. Costco seems to sell many foods that don't have a lot of bad additives and so far I've not found golf cart batteries (For solar system) anywhere else at the reasonable price they have, even with the membership cost factored in.


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## BillS (May 30, 2011)

HamiltonFelix said:


> I had not heard that Costco is anti-gun. Is this "at local discretion" or is there a corporate policy? I have certainly never seen any signs in Costco. I am in Washington State, where about 1 in12 adults has a CPL.
> 
> I know Walmart (Sam's Club) is despised by unions as a hellish place to work, sneered at by many consumers as "Chinamart, your all American source for cheap Chinese crap." They have a reputation for vicious business practices and have destroyed and/or nearly destroyed a number of suppliers. But they are also the world's largest retailer. When in Walmart I concentrate on the things they cannot make worse. Panasonic may build a factory in China and make a cheaper product with their name on it, because Walmart agrees to sell ten million units; T-fal very definitely makes a different and cheaper, crappier version of the cookware you can buy at Kohl's, just for Walmart to sell. But Remington or Ruger will not make a crappier gun for Wally World to sell, nor will Federal make worse ammo or Castrol make worse oil to sell for less.
> 
> ...


Wal-Mart is despised by unions because unions are make up of crooks and thugs. They skim money from their members to give to the Democrats against the wishes of many of their union members. Anybody that the union thugs don't like is OK in my book.

Wal-Mart wants low cost products. Suppliers are pressured to make something cheaper that they can sell cheaper. It used to be that suppliers held all the cards. They would make stores take crap they didn't want in order to get the stuff that they did want. For instance, theaters had to take all Disney movies in order to get the ones they really wanted. Stores had to stock ALL Marvel Comics including westerns that would never sell. Now it's swung in favor of the retailers with Wal-Mart having the most power. Wal-Mart is good for America and they're good for their poorest customers.


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## BillS (May 30, 2011)

But to answer the real question, Sam's Club has things that make the annual membership fee worthwhile. For me, it's cheap name brand batteries, 6 packs of packaging tape and especially their padded shipping envelopes. I spent about $160 last year in tape and shipping envelopes for my home business. I also got a GREAT king size office chair for about $190 that's rated to hold 350 lbs. It's very comfortable.

There aren't any Costco's in our area. I suggest going to each store and looking around.


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## Acetylsleeper (Sep 30, 2013)

They are a confirmed anti-gun establishment.


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## rawhide2971 (Apr 19, 2013)

I have memebrship in SAMS and BJS (Another Warehouse club local).
I Carry in both clubs and nither is posted (so lets get that issue out of the way).
As for the political issue I don't pay much attention becauas I think all business do what it takes to stay in business at a certain level (so that isssue is dead to me).

Costco is within driving distance and I have checked them out but they are not convient because they are in Charlotte NC and the the traffic pattern is terrible for the time of day I would have to be there. 
The Sams and BJS are in Pineville, NC a subburb for all intents and purposes of Charlotte and usually good for traffick when I have to go and are litterly across the road from each other. 

Sams just opened in our Town and is 10 minuted from my work place.....it now is going to get a nod.

BJS was more Family sized friendly and I will now say no more about it....but its a good place for a warehouse club.......

SAMS value - If you can buy in bulk and then store your stuff in bulk I think you can recoup your card memership easily and then some. If you can't then its not much better than going to Wally world. However, during the holiday season and during the spring time I have seen some pretty good "bundeled" deals. 
They are stocked up for Christmas now and they have some pretty nice stuff for the kiddies in stock. We have for the last few years bought the boys TUBES of metal cars that I thought were good buys, thinks like that, of course when I step on them barefoot in the dark at O dark 30 when heading to P I dont think it was a good idea but I digress.
Charcoal is usually pretty good priced, fertilizer and yard stuff, coolers things like. Bottled water, case loads of stuff you know, problem with SAMS to me is you really need to be able to buy in bulk to get the best savings. I have a big basement, I can do that. Big bundles of toilet paper and paper towels great prices. 

SAMS and other warehouse clubs are just like any other stores I think, not all that glitters is as good a deal as you might think.


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## Mase92 (Feb 4, 2013)

I'm a COSTCO member. I just like it better. 

I despise Walmart and generally feel dirty any time I shop there, Sams doesn't give you quite the same effect.


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## Mase92 (Feb 4, 2013)

BillS said:


> Wal-Mart is despised by unions because unions are make up of crooks and thugs. They skim money from their members to give to the Democrats against the wishes of many of their union members. Anybody that the union thugs don't like is OK in my book.
> 
> Wal-Mart wants low cost products. Suppliers are pressured to make something cheaper that they can sell cheaper. It used to be that suppliers held all the cards. They would make stores take crap they didn't want in order to get the stuff that they did want. For instance, theaters had to take all Disney movies in order to get the ones they really wanted. Stores had to stock ALL Marvel Comics including westerns that would never sell. Now it's swung in favor of the retailers with Wal-Mart having the most power. Wal-Mart is good for America and they're good for their poorest customers.


No, just NO! Walmart is not good for this country. They outsource outsource outsorce. No matter your stance on unions or guns or whatever drum you want to beat....any company that pushes companies to lower their prices so much they have to take business offshores *IS NOT GOOD FOR AMERICA*! Its good for big business and profits and that is all. Those poor that are getting such a good deal are spending twice as much as the cheap stuff breaks faster. On top of that, Walmart DRIVES workers to welfare and food stamps. Things you RIGHTIES hate, yet you thank Walmart? WOW 
http://articles.latimes.com/2013/jun/07/business/la-fi-wal-mart-wages-20130607

And please, next time you have the need to call 911 or need a cop/fire/EMS please forgo the need to call a thug and drive yourself to a union hospital that work to save your life. THUGS I tell you.


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## Caribou (Aug 18, 2012)

I've heard things about both that I don't care for. I've had memberships to both, sometimes both at once. The ones I shop at are from one to five minutes apart depending on how you hit the lights. Although they are 400 miles away from me I spend enough to make a premium membership cost effective. For the past several years I have settled on Costco.


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