My Sam’s membership is coming to year end/renewal in the next few days. I like Sam’s ok but I’m unfamiliar with Costcos and we have one opening up within a few months nearby.
those of you who are familiar with both, what makes one better than another. Sounds like Costco has better socks lol I’ve heard their ice cream is better but what about meats, fruits vegetables or dairy? Anything equivalent to Sams’ cash earning black card?

I’ve never been in a Sam’s but everything you mentioned is top quality at Costco. They can also issue you a Visa card with reward points. I have an executive membership that I think runs $120 annual. My annual rebate this year was $80 so my net membership cost was $40.

I’ve nothing bad to say about Costco except their hours of operation. They’re damn handy.

Costco by a fair margin.

They may no be what they were 10-15 years ago, but an easy pick over Sams.

When we lived in areas where both were available, Costco was preferred.

Costco piss me off, they wouldn’t accept any bank ir credit card I had affiliated with Visa.

Only Mastercard

I ain’t have jack chit else with me, cash, check, nothing.

My old man was out in the caddie, I made him come in with some usaa mastercard or something to get me rolling. Wtf

I still like costco better. Sams seems a little trashy with more annoying cell phone salespeople creating a gauntlet at the entrance.

I use both depending on location. It only costs I think $60 a year for each, so I have no problem being a member of both... Check them out, as they are both better than soopah walmarx, and yes I think Costco's meat and employees are better than walmarx+ club.

Always preferred Costco.

I've gotten used to Sam's & happen to like their beef better. Any pre sliced beef at Costco has been tenderized. Sam's to my knowledge is not. Chicken & pork prices about the same.
Sam's membership cost less last I heard. Costco liquor is great but don't need a membership in my state to buy there.

Think I'll continue to get meat at Sams & vodka at Costco. If Costco runs a killer deal on something I want I'll call BIL & ask him to order it & have them ship it to me.

But, lots of folks rave on the Kirkland brand of goods across the board. Not sure I can brag on general Members Mark products. Lots of test, comparisons would need to be made to honestly answer instead of the "what I like" thing.

Had both but now it's Cosco.

They have some good quality stuff there and the veggies are not bad.

It just seemed to me that sams was just a last ditch place for goods from the mart stores to go before they die.

how do Sam's rotiserrie chigguns rate compared to the Cosscos?

That's impotent, ya knows.

Do the Sam's gots the $2.50 big ol slice a piza?

Costco has better stuff. We actually quit both of them, when we finally realized we were paying annual fees for the privilege to drive an hour and a half mostly just to buy trash bags and toilet paper.

Those membership fees will buy a pretty good amount of trash bags and toilet paper at the walmarks here in town.

one word, if you like their products.

Costco.com

I stopped going to Sam's because they decided it was Okee Dokee to charge my Master Card 50 bucks for a renewal of my membership without telling me about it or asking me. I thought some crooks have stolen my info again, and had the card cancelled only to find out that Sam's charged it behind my back. I was without a card for a couple weeks, and when I called Sam's, their only defense was..."we changed our policy and it's automatic now." I told them put the 50 bucks back on my card because I changed my policy and don't shop there now.

Have a Sams 35 minutes away and.Cosco is 2 hours plus a drive all the way across Memphis. Twice coming and going.
So no choice for me I use Sams. I like Costco better though.

We have a membership at both. Sams is only a short drive away, but there are 3 Costco's 30-45 minutes away. It's worth the drive for us to go to Costco if we're buying multiple items. Plus, all 3 of the Costco's are right on the way to places we drive by at least once a month anyway, so we rarely make a special trip.

I'd estimate that roughly 1/2 of the stuff we get are pretty comparable in quality and price at either place. But the other 1/2 is usually better at Costco and I can't think of anything better at Sams.

Sams. Cat Litter alone decided that. Costco was a weird layout by comparison. Pearland TX Stores about 2 miles apart

Costco is better if you have one near you. My problem is there's not one anywhere near me, so I'm forced into Sam's. Sam's is kind of the ghetto version of Costco. Costco will generally have more upscale stuff along with upscale people. Sam's gets the Walmart/Dollar General crowd.

I use a visa debit card every time I go in Costco with no problems.

That's some lowdown bullsheet right there. I need to check and make sure Sam's isn't charging us on the sly too.

Costco for the win!!

That would have pissed me off, too. I dropped both of the cards and I'm also considering re-upping on one of them. They're both about equal distance away, so that's not a factor. I'm more concerned with quality and price of the meats and seafood. I don't like Costco's liberal politics, so that does play into it a little bit.

Been watching this thread Geno started and interested to see who else chimes in about that.

A Costco was supposed to start a new building about 3 miles from us. The Walton cabal changed their mind for them. We are about 5 miles from the Walmart/Sam's HQ and we can throw a rock in just about any direction and hit a Sams, Walmart super center or neighborhood market (9 total - all within 5 miles). So we don't have a lot of choices. That said, I've only been to a Costco once and that was minimumapolis years ago. It was OK.

Costco by a wide margin..their overall food and especially meet quality is much better.

Kirkland products are great across the board

The wide variety of products available on Costco.com is staggering

And you can return anything, anytime for a full refund if you aren’t satisfied

Why was the man running around Costco? He heard there were fast savings.

I've got a million of them.

I haven't been a member of Sam's for over 20 years so I can't comment on them. But I love Costco. What's not to like?

Pretty much spot on. We go to Sams only for specific items and gas as it is 23 miles away. We hit Costco at least once a month and it is a 150 mile round trip. Helps to use their credit card. 2% back on all Costco purchases and 4% back on gas. The rebates pay for our executive membership.

Almost everything we use to shop Costco for we now buy online cheaper, not sure if we will pay them $60 next year.

Billings has a Sams's and Costco. Sam's is okay, but the Costco is much better for us not only because we like the products better, but they just opened a huge new one and it much closer to home (approx 35 miles) , and doubled the number of gas pumps. $2.89 a gallon yesterday.
We have a Citibank Visa Costco Club card . I know we get 2 % back. Maybe more.---I'm not the book keeper!!

Also, they sell Kirkland's San Francisco Bay coffee beans-----my favorite--in 3lb bags.

Costco did the same to me. First offered me a free bag to join autopay, then when I went in to pay dues they said we just charged the same card that you normally use. (((
Costco is Visa here.
They offer different cellphone carrier at dif stores. Closest sells ATT, next one is Verizon, farthest is the Pink one.

I still prefer Costco and the Costco dog $1.50

I have memberships with both and their credit cards. I prefer Costco, but buy a lot more at Sam's. Let me explain. Sam's is about 10 miles one way closer to me and my wife and I take a boat load of prescription meds, so we get all of our meds at Sam's. Both have the cheapest gasoline around, but again, we are much more likely to be driving by Sam's than Costco. Both have great prices on rotisiree (sp?) chickens @ $5.00 ea., but Costco's is usually slightly bigger and maybe a little better flavor. In reality, both are pretty darn close. Both have very good selections of cheeses. I don't buy much meat at either one, but Costco seems to be generally a little better quality and price. Costco wins hands down as to the clothing selections as to style, quality, and price. Both have their store brand food items and trash bags, detergents, etc. Nothing wrong with any of the Sam's store brand "pre-fabricated" food items, but again, Costco is better with selections and percieved quality. Trash bags are trash bags at either place and prices are comparable from what I have seen. As some have mentioned, Costco seems to have a little better customer atmosphere than Sam's. I have noticed this to be true in various parts of the country. Both of them have rewards back type credit cards, Sam's has Mastercard and Costco has Visa. The rewards feature is comparable. However, Sam's gives your rewards in Sam's points which are calculated and redeemable every month for Sam's merchandise. This is not a problem for us as we get all of our meds, detergent, trash bags, toilet paper, paper towels, etc. there. No problem at all spending the Sam's points. The Costco card gives you roughly equivalent rewards, but theirs is in cash. The catch is that you can only redeem your Costco rewards once a year, in February. I prefer to cash in my rewards during the next month after I earn them instead of once a year. I have a "Plus" membership at Sam's which gives me a better price on meds at their pharmacy that I believe costs me $60/year. I often earn more than that every month, so that's a deal for me. My Costco membership, I think is also $60/year and I usually get $150 - $200 back in cash once a year, so it is also a good deal for me. When I make road trips from southeast Texas to the southeastern U.S. or northern states, I try to plan my fuel stops at either Sam's or Costcos which saves usually about .12 -.15/gallon at the pump from the local competition plus 4% back as well. That is a significant amount of fuel cost savings. So, my thoughts are to use either one that you expect to be driving by. You won't go wrong with either. I intend to keep both memberships.

About 2014 the Sam's in Fairbanks, Ak. went out of business. Big empty building. Folks were whining and crying. 2015 and Costco moved in. I thi k local big wigs got costco a discount property deal.
Wife likes Costco. She gets a free membership thru her son who works at Anchorage Costco.

The Costco I go to, this is a$$ backwards. They only take a Visa card, no Mastercard.

Costco used to deal only with AE. They had negotiated a good rate with them and pretty sure that was all you could use.
Decade+ or so ago, visa wanted some of that business and won the contract. Hence the Costco visa.

Costco... the only thing i buy there regular anymore is their fish sticks... 60 fuggin $ a yr +tax so i can buy a few bags a fish sticks!...

The nearest to me Sam's is about 2 hours driving. Nearest Costco is hundreds of miles away in a different state. Neither is really convenient, but with free shipping it can help to have a Sam's Plus account.


Frog---OUT!

Costco.

Had a Sam's card years ago. Quit 'em, lines too long.

Have a Costco card. Buy about 500 LBs of Cardinal Food every year.

Too gawd damed many people. Can't abide all the friggin morons shopping, running around filing up their frizzing' shopping carts , like they are accomplishing something. I always have problems with people.

Been a good equity though.

We have both. And shop a lot at both. Costco is a better environment without the ghetto feel that Sams can have.

We buy meat, when we have to, at Costco. Pizza in the food court is way better in Costco, for what it is worth.

There are particular things that the wife gets at one versus the other.

I travel a lot, so I need to have access to both to cover my bases depending on where I might be.

That's a good idea for you, as it leaves you more money to spend on the Covtard booster shots. Go get 'ya some you freaking clown.

We prefer Costco to Sam's except in one regard. Sam's has the Scan and Go app that lets us skip the lines. Costco could use it in my opinion.

Costco. Chicken pot pie the size of your cast iron frying pan and about as heavy. Best I ever had.

Sam’s, because Costco doesn’t accept American Express.

Here's what Costco says about payment. If it's too much to read, Visa debit and credit cards instore and at the gas station. Visa and Mastercard online.

U.S. Costco warehouse locations accept:
All Visa Cards
The Costco Anywhere Visa® Card by Citi
Most PIN-based Debit/ATM Cards
Costco Shop Cards*
Cash
Personal checks from current Costco Members
Business checks from current Costco Business Members
Traveler’s checks
EBT cards
Mobile Payment (Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay)

U.S. Costco Gas Stations:
All Visa Cards
The Costco Anywhere Visa® Card by Citi
Most PIN-based Debit/ATM Cards
Costco Shop Cards*

Costco.com:
All Visa Cards
The Costco Anywhere Visa® Card by Citi
MasterCard
Most PIN-based Debit/ATM Cards
Costco Shop Cards*
Visa (For more information, please view the Visa FAQs)

No Costco here just Sam's and the only thing I bought there was 50lb bags of sugar when I was making shine, there meat and other stuff don't hold a candle to the HEB Plus.

I have had both. I made the change from Sam’s to CostCo about 15 years ago. At that time, I felt that CostCo had superior quality merchandise and wider selection.

A few years ago, I began shopping for my parents - they had a Sam’s membership and I shopped there. The food quality was much lower. Less healthy foods to choose from. Their checkers/cashiers move slowly (whereas the CostCo employees hustle).

As a broad comparison, I rate the quality/luxury of merchandise better at CostCo than Sam’s. A bit like saying CostCo is Cadillac and Sam’s is Chevy.

At CostCo, I buy food (seafood, meat, eggs, butter, nuts, grapes, grains such as hemp seed and flax seed, lemon juice, sandwich bread), toilet paper, shampoo, Kirkland alkaline water, eyeglasses, TV’s, laptops, gasoline, tires, auto batteries, clothing (Lucky Brand jeans and Levi’s, dress shirts, casual pants, dress slacks, shirts, neck ties), wine (CostCo is the second largest wine retailer in America).

I have found that some items are regional. For example, I have never seen the merino socks in Texas CostCo. Some items are available based income level of the area - higher priced wine is sold in the more expensive neighborhoods.

They have a great return policy. I have returned things two or three years after purchase.

Around Dallas, the Sam’s stores are never crowded whereas the CostCo’s are packed full of customers. That says a lot! Not sure what you will find in NC, but in Dallas, there are always a lot of Asians shopping in CostCo - they are a little crazy in the parking lots and not friendly in the stores - I helped a confused Chinese girl put air in her Mercedes tires and she didn’t even say thanks.

Costco for the gold bars:

They sold $100 Million last quarter.

https://www.costco.com/1-oz-gold-ba...can-new-in-assay.product.4000186760.html

The Sams club is local for me.

Costco is about 1.5 hrs. Don’t go as often.

I do like the Costco better. Seems it has better quality and variety.

Clothing selection is better at Costco.

They’ll have some type/ brand of canvas pants i wear for work.



I listened to a random podcast, Costco is the most profitable per square foot in retail. Wanna say they turn over product is 15 days or less. Much quicker than the Net 30 of invoices. Lot of times they sell stuff before they pay the invoice…

One thing I’ll say about Sams, if you see something you like, stock up. May not be there next time you go.

I like Costco, we use both Sam’s and Costco, with one huge issue! The founder of Costco was a devote leftest! Costco has a lot to offer, but much like buying most internet purchases…. I have to hold my nose while making the purchase!

So yes….I’m a hypocrite! memtb

I have sams and costco, end up at sams 2x as much, prices are higher at costco and I havent seen a significant difference in the quality of most items. Also some stuff they only carry "organic" options which are 2 - 3x what normal food costs...

Costco tends to carry better quality of goods. However,you need to shop at either one enough to realize any savings vs the membership fee.Somethings are not any cheaper than other stores.

However, you won' t find any better pricing on pharmacy prescriptions. Especially important if you are on Medicare or a Medicare Advantage program and get close to the dough gap of $4700 a year

Sam’s is four minutes away. Costco is forty five minutes away on one of the busiest roads in the area. I don’t buy much from either one. Seems like Costco sells higher quality merchandise and food.


We buy bottled water, fuel, and RX from Sam’s, it’s reasonable and close. Walmart for paper products, etc.

This right here might be the deciding factor pending price.

Gave up on Sam's in 2020. Ridiculous policy of only letting an insanely small number of people in the store at a time, while the outside line stretched 500 feet.

In MI, there is a competitor called BJ's Wholesale. So, for one yearly membership, I can get all the BJ's I want, any time. LOL

Have only ever waited in a checkout line maybe 5-6 times the whole 3+ years I have been there.

Thank you men for your opinions, they’re very much appreciated.

Usually Sam's ,, because my company pays for the card, go to Costco now & then on my sisters card

I've only been to Costco for hearing aids, I don't think the place is all that lower pried.

Maybe you can check out their glasses.

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Jahrs, I've been piggyback reading your thread. Interesting stuff. Thank you. Looks like I need to get a Costco membership again. I can get a Sam's membership for about $20 through my previous employer of many years ago offering everyone a membership to Working Advantage, who sends periodic emails with all kinds of deals..

A lot of what has been mentioned about Sam's I have also found to be true. Crowded and they choke you at the exit door. I don't care for that. I've already paid for my goods. Get out of my way, please. I have just walked out the door past the lines many times when there are 20-30-40 people waiting in line just to have them check receipts. It's offensive.

I also find Sam's to be more "urban". And my truck has been hit and scratched four times than I can remember in Sam's parking lot. I had a scratch down the side of my brand new 4Runner from somebody pushing a cart in between two vehicless where there clearly wasn't enough room. It's a sign of their clientele.

Those slant eyes don't like American people.

LOL, just saw this, finishing up a broaster chiggen tonight. Wife hit Sams Fri. & brought home the bird, still 5 bucks. Crazy tasty, if ya like chiggen that is.

Is wearing pajamas mandatory at either?

We stopped shopping at Costco after the kids moved out years ago. Sam's Club is easier to get too and we only go there 3 maybe 4 times a year.

🚨🚨🚨 breaking news 🚨🚨🚨


The Sams Club now has “scan ‘n go”.

Kinda like a mobile self checkout…

No lines…

No lines…..


*** still have let Quandishia check the items on the way out ***

Oh hell no

My flip phone from 1987 doesnt allow that chinese spy bot crap

Pfftt…

Then get stuck behind stinky guy with the 4 carts full of candy bars and pickles for his store…

That is my uncle

Go down the middle ...never stop.

You Indian?

(Dot, I mean)

That's my M.O.

Where ‘em if ya gottem at Sam’s just like Walmart. Also you are more than welcome to where googles over glasses with 2 masks and then finish it off with a face shield and gloves, Then sit down for pizza and remove all of it and pretend nobody is looking.
No exaggeration either. My wife and I witnessed this nonsense a few months back. We actually took a pic of a husband and wife who were both matched identically as described. I could hardly keep from LOL.

Is that dot (push button) or pull start?

I have seen it myself! There's an oriental woman that comes into the Walmart Neighborhood Market by me. Same same. Elbow length gloves, double mask, face shield, long dress. Incredible.

COSTCO

The End

I love the scan and go option. No more getting stuck behind some illegal alien with a cart so full the items are falling off the sides and after they scan everything they don't have enough money on their EBT card to pay for it.

We go both.

Costco hearing aids are good a good deal.

I'm an executive member of both. My 2% rewards for costco were about $250 this year and my 2 % rewards for sams were only about $60. So I ise costco about 4 times more than sams.

Bb