After having been a member of Sam’s Club for nearly 16 years, decided it was time to give it up for Costco. Wanted to years ago but Sam’s was so much closer and more convenient.

Last year, V-Tail brought me to Costco to have a look around and saw their products are probably more along with what we look for now. They seem to have more organic products than Sam’s. Plus the Walmart stance on ammo irked me and those are the same company.

First impressions as a member is that the place is cleaner, people working there are friendlier and we hear more English spoken than Spanish LoL One thing of note was how fast we managed to check out. They had the cashier plus someone helping out the items on the belt trying to get you checked out faster. Stopped at the snack bar and they had some of the automated kiosks. There was even a nice young lady there to help with those and they had 4-5 people getting orders ready. Huge contrast to Sam’s where the cashier is usually also the person getting the food.

I did the $120 membership. I enjoyed my visit yesterday and am glad with the decision so far

Question for you more experienced shoppers with Sam’s and Costco: are their house brands pretty similar?

quote:

Sam’s and Costco: are their house brands pretty similar?

I think that you will find that the Kirkland Signature (Costco's house brand) is premium quality stuff!

Now that you are a member be sure to take advantage of their online "2-day groceries" which has everything from peanut butter to toilet paper. All non-perishables and if you order $75.00 or more the shipping is free to your door.

Samsclub lets you check yourself out by scanning items as you place them in your cart. You then bypass all checkout lines and head directly to the exit. Not sure Costco has that feature yet.

Yeah, Sam's is trash compared to Costco.
The only Kirkland product I didn't care for is the beer, everything else is top notch. Check out the Citi Bank card too, pretty good cash back amounts.

Start with the Kirkland bacon. Great bang for the buck. Their choice beef and pork is the equivalent of other places premium cuts. Get the $5 roasted chicken. Yum!

Jim

kirkland columbian coffee is my choice.

Member of both (for now). Kirkland branded products seem to be a cut above Members' Mark when you compare like products. That Kirkland thick sliced bacon is excellent. Also, Costco' gasoline is Top Tier whereas Sam's is not. Similar price per gallon.

"Joined Costco yesterday"

Holy synchronicity, Batman! So did I. ($60 membership)

I have been following the Costco threads on SIGforum.
My brother purchased hearing aids from them last week and I am probably due.

It’s the difference between turd and a tootsie roll. They might look the same but you’ll know when you have it in your hand.

I'd definitely like to check it out as an alternative to Sam's or BP's, but our closest one is nearly 75 miles away.

Pizza at the Costco. front counter by the slice is great. Frozen whole pizzas in the back not as good. Not the same pizza.

The only bad "Kirkland" item I have found are their flashlight batteries. I have a number of them leak.

We switched from BJ's (4 miles away) to Costco (20 miles away) at the end of July. We went to check it out and ended up joining with the exec membership and the Citi card.

We tried the Kirkland brand paper towels that while they aren't Bounty I'm still good with them. We just picked up a pack of Kirkland brand toilet paper but haven't used it yet, been using the Cottenelle Ultra so we'll see. Unfortunately the Costcos by us don't carry the Cottenelle.

that will put space in your massive wallet

For us, Costco is (unfortunately) not an option. None are in this state (Arkansas)

Sam's Club: 12 Miles
Costco: 150 Miles

When we lived in Arizona, all of our shopping for the Resort was at Costco. I had a Business account and used their AMEX CARD for cash back.

Selecting Costco because of Wal Marts stance on guns is silly since Costco is worse on guns.

That said, we're members of both and prefer Costco due to the product selections.

quote:

Originally posted by LBTRS:
Selecting Costco because of Wal Marts stance on guns is silly since Costco is worse on guns.

That said, we're members of both and prefer Costco due to the product selections.

True, Costco doesn't have gun ban signs up here since they carry no weight in FL, however their membership terms explicitly state no carry of firearms and you lose membership. That being said, nobody is checking, and it shouldn't be a deal breaker since we all agree property rights are important as well..

Been an executive member for years, so we still get a little money back from that as well as the card discount. Kirkland stuff is generally as good or better than name brand.

Link

Welcome to the 200 dollar store!
The only way to get out under $200 is to not get a cart. Sometimes that doesn't even work.

We've been Sam's Club members for over a decade and one year I didn't know what to get the wife for her birthday so I got a Costco membership and have renewed the last couple years. With 3 kids we are at Sam's Club weekly and Costco maybe monthly. I like how Costco rotates items more but Sam's is cheaper for name brand items. After Sam's renovated to look more like Costco and put in the self service aisles, the experience there vastly improved.