Costco or Sam's club?

Hi Ladies,

I hear from lots of people that though Wal-Mart claims "Always low prices", it is even better to buy regular items especially consumables in bulk from stores like Sam's club, Costco, etc.

However, both these stores insist on annual membership with them. I'm sure many of you here have membership with either of these stores. Please can you all throw some light on the following comparing Sam's & Costco:

- advantages/disadvantages about going for membership with them
- which are the products that are worth going in for membership
- Are the item prices still low even on considering the membership cost?
- finally, which one is best?

Thanks in advance for your valuable thoughts that will help me decide the best!

hi,
i have taken costco membership card. there i buy apple juice, milk, yogurt , olive oil, crems , shampoos and particularly my baby diapers and wipes. it saves a lot for me on the whole. might be i am saving 70-90$ /month.

Hi,

In my opinion, membership in either of these stores is almost the same kind of deal.

Costco is very good for buying appliances like microwave, conventional oven, fridge, washer/driers, etc. They give a good warranty period.

Sam's is very good if you would prefer buying gas there. Especially, during this gas price hike period, I found Sam's gas was still cheaper than the rest of the places.

Otherwise, I would say both are the same in terms of the bulkier items you can by from them.

Hi Ladies,

So far, I have avoided joining either Sams Club or Cost Co because we were just couples and these stores make us to buy in bulk and we end up wasting a lot of it. Now that we have a kid on the way, I am thinking of joining one of these discount stores to manage our expenses :)

Would like to get the recommendation of other ladies on which of the two discount stores should I join? Any suggestions?

Varshini

Dear Varshini

Even for 3 members in a household,I find costco and sams club a waste of money.We did think of joining costco some time back..then we decided not too...everything comes in bulk,fruits,vegetables,anything.

First of all, you should have a huge family which can consume all these perishable items,because how long can you store them in the fridge,moreover u should have that much space in the fridge.

Maybe it will help when you want to buy non-perishable items like diapers,cosmetics,laundry soaps etc...then also there is a question of space to store these items.

This is my personal opinion...maybe others who are members can give more details.

Dear Varshini,
I agree with Sunitha. As far as food items it goes waste after a while,unless you have a big party. But we did join costco due to one reason. First make sure you membership is recovered in at least six months. With the gas price soaring and with an SUV we do save a lot. Probably it is our luck this year and because of that I end up buying diapers, laundry detergent,soaps and lotions.
Do the math and if it seems useful for your family it makes sense otherwise it is definitely space consuming.

Love,

Hi,
We have joined in Costco. but everytime I was there, I thought it was useless.
Eventhough the veggies cost less, the wastage is more and space consuming.
We are only two members now. Sometimes I think we can get the fresh and desired
quantity of veggies from other shops. Whenever I go around Costco I do not have anything to purchase as such a large scale. If two families share the membership fees and the perishable items then it will be useful.
One thing, the digital photo printing and one hour photos are the cheapest in Costco.
Next year we are not going to renew the membership, if you ask me I won`t suggest
you to go for Costco.

HI,
I am a member of costco. But I agree with everyone that for two people it does not make sense to join . I joined when my older son was born. Those days, the diapers used be more expensive outside and cheaper in costco. But now adays, even walmart has thebig pack diapers for almost the smae price.
Also if you want to buy formula, then costco definitely works out cheaper. I have found that as my family grew, i do buy more stuff in costco. Of course i limit perishables to only what we will use up quickly. But i buy all my laundry detergents, papertowels etc from there. It is also good for me for all the stuff i have buy for my son's numerous school parties etc. So we recover our membership cost very quickly.
Yes we do buy a lot of stuff for our folks back home from costco .

As to Sams Clubs, I think the price will be the same as costco. Only Sams Club Chain are not here in CA.

The costco member ship is abour 45 dollars. May be you can enrol for a year and see if it suits your needs.

Vandhana

Hi,

We are a member in Sam's club. But we have shared our membership with one of our neighbours here. That way membership cost is less and can be recovered easily.

I agree with most of you here, since items in stores like Sam's are available in bulk quantities, for a small family it is not worth going in for more perishable items and moreover storage space a concern especially while living in an apartment.

But some of the things I prefer buying in Sam's for the reasons being as follows...

Milk - In addition to a price difference of approximately 50c/can, lifetime for Milk in Sam's is generally more than buying in any other stores.

Onions, potatoes & tomatoes - These can be stored for some time compared to other vegs, so I grab them whenever I go to Sam's. Worth the price difference.

Cereals, Spice powders (like Pepper, Mint, etc.), Salt, Sugar, Oil are all cheaper to buy in big quantities and they are storable for some time.

Detergents, Soaps, Body wash, Lotions, paper towels, bathroom rolls can be bought in bulk and stored. Not going to get spoilt easily and can forget replenishing them for 3 to 6 months.

More than all of these, while planning for a trip to India, we buy choclates, nuts & raisin, ziploc bags, stationeries, etc. from Sam's club and definitely find a lot of difference in price.

Hope this info is useful.

Best Regards,
Rathi