Which to choose? They are both about the same distance - which is not close enough to make the cheap gas at either a deciding factor. I'm only considering the standard membership. I'm not doing both.

Costco.

Sam's Club is just an extension of Walmart stuff sold in bulk.

Costco curates their products so aggressively that you can literally buy anything off the shelf without research and know that you are getting a good product. Very rarely am I disappointed by something I've bought at Costco.

Costco meats are also top notch, and they provide a ton of other services such as car insurance (I have my insurance through them, and it's the cheapest around here--I reshop annually).

They also have a fantastic return policy for most items.

Costco, by a country mile.

Costco

Another vote for Costco.

Sam's Club really is just an extension of WalMart

We belonged to both. Decided Costco had the best quality goods.

Sam's was good, about 15 years ago...

Costco has been very good to me. They have good travel deals for cruises and other vacations. I went to Cancun with Costco and saved about 20% over other travel options.

Watch out for some of the more expensive things at Costco though. If your only goal is too save the maximum amount of money Costco can be kind of tricky in that they get you to buy an expensive product for 20% less than you can find it elsewhere but there are lower cost options availabe elsewhere.

Personally, I don't need to save every penny possible but like to buy at a good price.

Another vote for Costco. They have good deals and put their Kirkland brand on some pretty good products.

I like both but Costco is easily the best of the two by a wide margin.

Try them both out.
They both carry different things. We have both memberships.

I've had a Costco membership since the '80s when they were Price Club.

I got a Sam's Club membership around 15 years ago.

I realize Costco has a larger selection of items, but both Costco and Sam's carry the items I want and Sam's is a nicer and friendlier place around here so that's where I go. Also, Sam's doesn't have a "no guns" policy and Costco still does even though the signs are down.

I buy the super thick pork chops from Costco, but I don't buy any other meat from either one, though. I purchase it elsewhere.

We have both. We use Costco more than Sam's. So if I were to have to decide between the two, it would be Costco.

My wife tells me Costco takes care of its employees better than Sams.

But by some standards here that would make it a leftist socialist organization.

You guys really think that Sam's Club is just walmart in bulk? I don't know but both Sam's Clubs in my area butcher their meat on premises. The walmart sells packaged meat shipped in from who knows where. There are also very nearly zero product overlap between the two. Sam's is way better quality than walmart.

I’ll give Costco a try when they get Scan & Go checkout. The few times I visited Costco, the checkout lines were jammed. I know there are times when they’re not but still.

Their stance “ Costco does not offer scan and go as customers tend to purchase less merchandise in one shop. Additionally, cashiers connect with customers at the checkout to improve their overall shopping experience. Instead, Costco offers several self-checkout lanes.”

To which I say horse hockey.

Costco. Not even close.

quote:

Originally posted by Tn226:
I’ll give Costco a try when they get Scan & Go checkout. The few times I visited Costco, the checkout lines were jammed. I know there are times when they’re not but still.

Their stance “ Costco does not offer scan and go as customers tend to purchase less merchandise in one shop. Additionally, cashiers connect with customers at the checkout to improve their overall shopping experience. Instead, Costco offers several self-checkout lanes.”

To which I say horse hockey.

You got your wish. The Costcos I've been to in California and Arizona have scan it yourself corrals. I don't use them myself.

Costco in my city now has two or four scan stations. I can't remember but I think it is two and they are recently installed. Someone is there to help in case you have issues. There is no Sam's or Wally where I live.

Its the difference between Target and Kmart.

Costco all the way.