Sams vs Costco

[Dusty Britches]

Well, here I am, getting ready to renew my Sams membership in College Station. Costco opened last week and it has been the biggest news since Johnny Manziel was drafted by the Browns.

There's been so much hype around it, I'm wondering is it really that much better than Sams or is Sams a tried and true favorite?

Costco membership is $60 and Sams is $45. Costco seems to have more things, but I'm not really into "things".

What is your take?

[Olympic Recurve]

We love our Costco. We had a Sam’s membership years ago, but like Costco much better

[MontagueMech]

Family member says Costco is mo betta.

[txoutdoorsman24]

COSTCO all day. We let our Sam's membership go years ago. Seems Costco has better quality and better selection.

[Charlie80]

I have both memberships. Every time we go in to Costco we get frustrated because of how many people are in there. You can barely move and people will run you over with their carts if you get in the way. The checkout lines are usually very long as well. Sams is way less crowded and I didn't notice much difference between merchandise other than Sams doesn't have the Kirkland golf balls I like, because Kirkland is exclusive to Costco. Both stores I am talking about are in Cedar Park though, so yours may be different.

[lilavidhunter]

We Like COSTCO better but they don’t take the Discover Card if that’s what you use.

[Riceguy]

I am a member of Costco and use my mom's card through the Sam's app and always do self checkout there. I prefer Costco because it's cleaner and laid-out better, but the items are comparable. Sams has a larger selection of items, but I prefer the meat and fish at Costco. I think the bakery at Sams is better too.

You won't be losing out by leaving Sams for Costco, but you may be able to sneak in at Sams using the app. Costco is not chill when it comes to using even your spouse's card and I ran into issues during Covid when I was the grocery-getter.

[AntlerCollector]

I’ve never been. So what are you paying $60 to do at Costco, does that just get you in the door?

[Rush2Judge]

We use both. For awhile, we leaned into Costco. Now I would say we primarily use Sam's. The absolute tie breaker is the self checkout with the Sam's app. Just scan the items and pay with your phone. No checkout line. When you get to the door, they just scan the QR code that is created in the app. If you purchased alcohol, the QR code is red and they check your ID at the door (or not if you obviously look older than 21). This is a game changer in terms of time to check out.

There are still items we prefer from Costco so, it is probably 2-to-1 purchases at Sam's versus Costco.

[Dale Moser]

I much prefer Costco, especially their meat, and other fresh foods.


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[Gclyde28]

We've got a Costco membership and like it. Depending on how often you shop at Costco, it may be worthwhile to upgrade your membership to the $120 version, If you have that membership you get 2% cash back, I think the breakeven point is something like $200 per month to cover the cost of the upgrade. Then again, that upgrade may be a complete waste of money for you.

Also, they only take Visa.

[Walker]

I go to both. Mostly Costco but Sam's has some stuff that Costco doesn't. Mainly the bakery.

[Bayouboy]

Sam's is so yesterday.

[bowaddict40]

We are sams members and the meat section is outstanding. They have great meat for smoking.

[Hunteraudit]

You can get the sams membership way cheaper. I paid $15 for mine on Groupon.

That said, I like the products from Costco better. The things I tend to buy are of higher quality (the store brand stuff). And the pizza and hot dog are way better.

Plus our Costco has whole pork belly but our sams does not.

Minus is I have to go to Costco with my mother in law because I’m too cheap to buy a membership.