topic Re: Sam's Club Vs Costco in SmorgasBoard

Sam's Club Vs Costco

The-Credit-Disciple — Fri, 08 Nov 2019 16:05:52 GMT

Great morning Fico Fam😀!! So I am thinking about joining 1 of these stores, they require a membership to shop there. Whichever one I choose I will eventually get their Credit card. Which of these stores are better? I have never shop in any of these stores but have went in with friends just to browse. I noticed that both stores sale in Bulk which is great. Sam's club appears to be associated with Walmart. Is these stores good? And how are their Credit cards? Thanks

Re: Sam's Club Vs Costco

2Hogrider — Fri, 08 Nov 2019 16:28:11 GMT

I personally like sams club and have their store card ( was offered their MC after a couple of years but turned it down) which is good at Walmart as well. The reason I like Sam's is that they are more convenient for me. either one offers great deals and perks like travel discounts, car buying, vehicle tires batteries, etc. in addition to saving a lot of money on items throughout the store.

Re: Sam's Club Vs Costco

2Hogrider — Fri, 08 Nov 2019 16:36:26 GMT

I almost forgot that the reason that I joined sams was the savings on my prescriptions by joining their premium sams plus membership ($45 basic membership vs $100 sams plus membership)my savings on my prescriptions was over $200 a month a no brainer for me

Re: Sam's Club Vs Costco

staticvoidmain — Fri, 08 Nov 2019 16:43:01 GMT

I should be biased for Costco, but I actually prefer Sam's Club's shopping experience by a huge margin. They have [a lot] more options, and you can shop without ever looking anyone in the eye (almost). And they are always less crowded.

For their card providers though, I prefer Costco because it is backed by Citi, while Sam's uses Synchrony (not a big fan of Synchrony right now). Since they are both gasoline cards, Sam's kinda wins because it gives 5% vs Costco's 4%. However, when pumping gas at their respective store-brand gas pumps, Costco wins in my book easily because it is certified Top Tier. I actually ended up saving more in gas costs because I only pump Top Tier gas.

I have both cards by the way, and the only reason I do not use my Sam's Club Mastercard anymore is that they closed all their warehouses in our region (PNW), and there is no way for me to redeem rewards.

Re: Sam's Club Vs Costco

The-Credit-Disciple — Fri, 08 Nov 2019 16:56:51 GMT

So Sam's Club is Synchrony and Costco is Citi. That's great information. Thanks, I have a good relationship with both those banks. Especially Synchrony

Re: Sam's Club Vs Costco

Anonymous — Fri, 08 Nov 2019 17:19:54 GMT

I think Costco is a better credit card. As for store....it depends. Sam's sells national brands in bulk at a discount. Costco does too but where you can save more money is by buying the Costco brand (its called Kirkland). With most stores off brands are made by random companies. Costco actually makes deals with the national brands to make their Kirkland products. For example the Costco brand coffee is made by Starbucks. Turn the bag over and it says so right on the bottom.

Costco Credit Card:

4% gas first $7,500 a year

3% restaurants and travel

2% Costco

1% all other

Sams Club Credit Card

5% gas first $6,000

3% restaurants and travel

1% all other

I choose Costco for big ticket electronics because they extend the manufacturer's warranty to 2 years for everyone and 4 years for credit cards customers. That's insane

https://www.costco.com/concierge-two-plus-two-warranty.html

The return policy is no questions asked return any thing at any time, except for electronics and diamonds.

Re: Sam's Club Vs Costco

wasCB14 — Fri, 08 Nov 2019 17:21:49 GMT

It's mostly a question of which is more convenient.

The Costco credit card offers a good extended warranty (2 years from the store + 2 years from the card = 4 total) on some products, but no longer has price protection.

*Morpho was 1 minute faster!

Re: Sam's Club Vs Costco

Anonymous — Fri, 08 Nov 2019 17:31:37 GMT

Not a fan of Costco after a cashier rudely refused to accept Apple Pay when I didn't have my physical card on me yet. Make sure you really like the place before you commit to the credit card. I believe if you cancel your membership you lose the credit card and your rewards. The BOA Cash Rewards Visa is similar to the Citi Costco Card sans gas and some other small things. Sam's Club you can use any card.

Re: Sam's Club Vs Costco

Anonymous — Fri, 08 Nov 2019 17:52:16 GMT

I am a bicycle ride away from Costco but am not a member. I am a member of Sam's Club and have a $20k Sam's Club MC. I also live across the street from a WalMart Marketplace and can get a rotisserie chicken for $5 there.

Straight up. I chose and keep Sam's Club for the $20k MC supplied by Synchrony. If not for the CC I may have let my membership expire by now. If you're not careful you'll get suckered into a bulk deal that really isn't a deal.

Re: Sam's Club Vs Costco

wasCB14 — Fri, 08 Nov 2019 17:58:11 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Not a fan of Costco after a cashier rudely refused to accept Apple Pay when I didn't have my physical card on me yet. Make sure you really like the place before you commit to the credit card. I believe if you cancel your membership you lose the credit card and your rewards. The BOA Cash Rewards Visa is similar to the Citi Costco Card sans gas and some other small things. Sam's Club you can use any card.

I assume you mean the credit card and not the physical membership card. The latter many (all?) Costco locations produce on-site when joining. I'm not sure if all Costco locations now accept NFC payments, but some were certainly faster than others to adopt it. So it's possible the payment terminal just didn't support it.

Re: Sam's Club Vs Costco

The-Credit-Disciple — Fri, 08 Nov 2019 18:08:33 GMT

So what's the difference between the standard membership and the Plus membership?

Re: Sam's Club Vs Costco

staticvoidmain — Fri, 08 Nov 2019 18:12:38 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Not a fan of Costco after a cashier rudely refused to accept Apple Pay when I didn't have my physical card on me yet.

What? How could a cashier even refuse your payment? Aren't you supposed to pay yourself on the terminal and not hand your payment to the cashier?

Re: Sam's Club Vs Costco

Anonymous — Fri, 08 Nov 2019 18:17:43 GMT

Yes had my membership card but my Chase card didn't arrive yet so it was on my phone. Payment terminal did support Apple Pay. Cashier demanded to see my ID and physical card after it went through. Transaction immediately voided. Supervisor came over and informed me it was fraud prevention policy to check ID and suggested I use a debit card. Was a frustrating and unpleasant expereince so I walked away.

I realize other people have postive experiences with Costco but I wasn't happy with how I was treated. Glad I didn't lock myself into the Citi Costco Card

Re: Sam's Club Vs Costco

2Hogrider — Fri, 08 Nov 2019 19:25:18 GMT

here are some of the benefits of the Sams Club plus membership
2% cashback
30% discounted prescriptions, over 600 different drugs for $10 or less and some even being free
free shipping from website
early shopping hours 7am-10
20% off eyeglasses with free shipping for contact lenses

Re: Sam's Club Vs Costco

OmarR — Sat, 09 Nov 2019 01:16:34 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Yes had my membership card but my Chase card didn't arrive yet so it was on my phone. Payment terminal did support Apple Pay. Cashier demanded to see my ID and physical card after it went through. Transaction immediately voided. Supervisor came over and informed me it was fraud prevention policy to check ID and suggested I use a debit card. Was a frustrating and unpleasant expereince so I walked away.

I realize other people have postive experiences with Costco but I wasn't happy with how I was treated. Glad I didn't lock myself into the Citi Costco Card

When that happened, how long had you been a Costco member?

Re: Sam's Club Vs Costco

Guyatthebeach — Sat, 09 Nov 2019 03:27:22 GMT

I am a member of both and have credit cards for both. I like the 5%CB on Sam's for gas anywhere. I haven't had an issue yet. Also I like Sam's for most things, but I find myself getting more groceries at Costco.

To me, it's more of a personal preference. You can't go wrong with either.

Guyatthebeach

Re: Sam's Club Vs Costco

ScoreSizzle — Sun, 10 Nov 2019 03:44:22 GMT

I'm glad you asked this question, because I have a Sam's up the street from me but I've had a Coscto card in the past.

Re: Sam's Club Vs Costco

Anonymous — Mon, 11 Nov 2019 19:52:19 GMT

Wal-Mart anything is a hard NO from me. Maybe Sam's is better, but I can't shake the notion of all the low quality items I see there.

Costco sells quality, pays their employees well, treats their customers right, and stands behind their products. Kirkland for life! LOL.

There is a reason Sam's is in deep trouble and Costco is taking over.

Re: Sam's Club Vs Costco

iced — Fri, 15 Nov 2019 14:56:14 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Wal-Mart anything is a hard NO from me. Maybe Sam's is better, but I can't shake the notion of all the low quality items I see there.

Costco sells quality, pays their employees well, treats their customers right, and stands behind their products. Kirkland for life! LOL.

There is a reason Sam's is in deep trouble and Costco is taking over.

I'm not a Wal-Mart fan either, but we can't exactly say they're in trouble when they're still the largest employer of people in 22 states and 7 members of the Walton family are billionaires.

Can't say I've ever set foot in a Costco and the last time I was in a Sam's was 1996. I thought they were just budget warehouses where people can buy a forklift palette of toilet paper instead of a 6-pack. Has something changed or am I missing something that makes these places appealing?

Re: Sam's Club Vs Costco

Anonymous — Sat, 16 Nov 2019 13:59:23 GMT

@iced wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
Wal-Mart anything is a hard NO from me. Maybe Sam's is better, but I can't shake the notion of all the low quality items I see there.

Costco sells quality, pays their employees well, treats their customers right, and stands behind their products. Kirkland for life! LOL.

There is a reason Sam's is in deep trouble and Costco is taking over.
I'm not a Wal-Mart fan either, but we can't exactly say they're in trouble when they're still the largest employer of people in 22 states and 7 members of the Walton family are billionaires.

Can't say I've ever set foot in a Costco and the last time I was in a Sam's was 1996. I thought they were just budget warehouses where people can buy a forklift palette of toilet paper instead of a 6-pack. Has something changed or am I missing something that makes these places appealing?

I was curious about the topic and had been doing some reading online before that last post. I don't think Wal-Mart as a whole is in trouble, but Sam's has closed/is closing a considerable amount of stores across the country. Some articles cite their problems as having never developed a GOOD store brand (i.e. Costco's Kirkland) and also the fact that their business model has them competing against themselves (their Wal-Mart stores.) There is also a direct correlation to the stores that are closing and whether or not there is a Costco nearby.

The appeal beyond the bulk household goods you've mentioned are Pharmacy items, Automotive, Electronics, Optical Liquor, and Clothing which have AMAZING deals. I'm not ashamed to admit that my wardrobe probably consists of at least 50% of items sourced at Costco that are all brand name, and just about never over $20-$30 per item (sometimes less.)

Stocking up on the household essentials you mentioned is huge for me. Compared to what toilet paper, paper towels, laundry soap, etc. costs at a Duane Reade in Manhattan, it is unbelievably cheap at a warehouse store. When I first moved to the city 10 years ago, I was able to justify the cost of keeping my car (payment, insurance, and I even had a garage at the time) with the savings of buying everything I could in NJ. I actually saved money owning a car so long as I was diligent about this and Costco was a big part of that. I'll tell you though that I had to get creative storing that stuff in a 295 sq ft Manhattan studio, but I did and managed to not have the place look like a warehouse!