Sam's, Bj's or Costco?

[tiff211]

My Sam's club membership runs out this month and before I renew I am wondering if I should consider the other 2 clubs. Which one do you like best and why? Thanks!

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

This topic has been discussed many times here; I seem to recall Costco is usually the winner. Try searching this forum; you'll find a lot of opinions.

 

[MillauFr]

Costco gets my vote. They have great people working there, low prices, and great service.

 

[mrsp1030]

Costco hands down. Better quality products, great coupons/sales, more organic options, I could go on and on!

 

[tiff211]

Thanks, I will search some more. I saw discussions for each individual club but none all together.

 

[aprilchem]

BJs for us. They take coupons, are open longer hours (I think our Costco closes at 6?), and aren't cash/debit card only. I often have to make very large bulk purchases for work and I don't want to use my debit card to do that.

 

[amcnj]

Only have a BJ's and Sam's close by (within 5 miles) whereas Costco is 25 miles away. Everything I have read always seems to favor Costco. As for the choosing between BJ's and Sam's, BJ's is a little more convenient to go to (due to its being near other stores/places and also being sort of between my work and home commute) and accepts coupons as well as putting out their own coupons, both in store and on-line. The last time I did an in-store comparison check with Sam's, they only gave the coupons to those with the higher tier membership, though that was over a year ago so that may have changed. Otherwise both had many of the same items and prices I thought. Oh, one other difference for the ones near me is only Sam's sells alcohol.

 

[wallawallakids]

Costco hands down. Better quality products, great coupons/sales, more organic options, I could go on and on!

YES! Costco is better. Sadly we moved and are now 2 hours from one so I have Sam's club which is the closest to our home. (There is a BJ's too but it was 20 min further, so went with Sams). I have been to all of them and hands down Costco was the best. I hope they put one in Maine someday! Good luck OP.

 

[tiff211]

Thanks for the helpful responses! I think I may go to Bj's and Costco as a guest and walk around to see what's what. I have no complaints with Sam's club, they have awesome hot dogs but I want to compare before renewing especially since so many rave about Costco.

 

[kidshop]

Thanks for the helpful responses! I think I may go to Bj's and Costco as a guest and walk around to see what's what. I have no complaints with Sam's club, they have awesome hot dogs but I want to compare before renewing especially since so many rave about Costco.

I actually like sams better. I have both due to living social deals. But at sams, it is less crowded, the gas is less crowded, and you can pay for gas with any credit card. The also sell smaller packages of stuff...eng muffins are 9 pack at sams, 18 pack at Costco. Carrots are 3 pounds at SAMs, 5 pounds at Costco. I guess it depends on the stuff you buy.

I had a trial at bj's and I liked it, so I am waiting for a deal to join there!


So for me it is SAMs, bj's then Costco.

 

[melissalee]

Sams! Better prices than Costco and more brands I use. Plus I got sams business (ask ur local store if they do this for RNs, teachers, first responders) and I'm allowed to go at 7am after I get off work. So the hours are much easier for me than costco

 

[ajwolfe]

I really like the sales Sam's has been doing the last few months were select items are on sale. Everytime there are several that we use like $3 off toilet paper or $2 off orange juice, etc. And this is with the regular membership, not the higher membership.

 

[wallawallakids]

Oh and they take different cards. I think Costco is American express or cash (not sure if they take anything else). Sams is Discover card, cash. They might take one other, not sure. I know they do not take Visa cards. I tried to use my Disney Visa there for points and I can't. I also know you cannot use American Express there. Just a heads up!

 

[Tink575]

BJs, they sell items in smaller bulk packages. They have their own Visa card and take coupons. The packaging makes a difference for us, since we are a family of 2, when buying milk, eggs, potatoes etc.

 

[vaDisneyGuy]

Costco a nice selection and they treat their employes well.

 

[tvguy]

None anymore, let my memberships expire to Sam's and Costco now that we have Walmarts and Smart and Final all over here. Sams and Costco were always a zoo and the sizes and selection just weren't what I was looking for. Although when they were younger my kids were delighted when I brought home a 5 pound can of chocolate pudding.

And I'll be honest, I just do not understand people who sit in line for gasoline at Costco when the ARCO station around the corner is 2 cents a gallon cheaper.

 

[tvguy]

None anymore, let my memberships expire to Sam's and Costco now that we have Walmarts and Smart and Final all over here. Sams and Costco were always a zoo and the sizes and selection just weren't what I was looking for. Although when they were younger my kids were delighted when I brought home a 5 pound can of chocolate pudding.

And I'll be honest, I just do not understand people who sit in line for gasoline at Costco when the ARCO station around the corner is 2 cents a gallon cheaper and no line.

 

[Judyat]

We have all three. If you only want to pick one I would recommend whichever is closest. Bj's for us is closest and we use it the most. We have several costco that are further away and one Sam's. Bjs is about 3 miles away while costco and Sams are about 10 miles away. For us the closest works best. I will add that I like costco and it's rental cars. You do need to check often because they
do fluctuate but I haven't found a better site for rates. If the rate goes down it's easy to cancel and rebook and of course you do not pay until you get to the rental place.

 

[JenzyHP]

None anymore, let my memberships expire to Sam's and Costco now that we have Walmarts and Smart and Final all over here. Sams and Costco were always a zoo and the sizes and selection just weren't what I was looking for. Although when they were younger my kids were delighted when I brought home a 5 pound can of chocolate pudding.

And I'll be honest, I just do not understand people who sit in line for gasoline at Costco when the ARCO station around the corner is 2 cents a gallon cheaper.

Our Costco is routinely 20-30 cents cheaper in gas and doesn't jump in price often. I've never seem a line. Last week, it was $3.11 at Costco when it was $3.40+ everywhere else.

 

[usd2bmd]

We have a BJ's membership. It was about 5 minutes form the house but within the last year has moved so it is now about a 15 minute drive. The closest Sam's club is about 30 minutes and we don't have a Costco near us.

We did have a Sam's membership as will for a year about 10 years ago but it just wasn't convenient to use it.