I think I am done with sams club.

I know this thread is 2 years old.

We are the benefactor of Costco building a store across the street from a poorly-run Sam's.

I finally gave in over a year ago and got the Costco Visa. My rebate for 2021 was a few dollars shy of $800. I got talked into upgrading my membership when I got my check, they claim I would have gotten a $250+ check for the premium membership also.

We don't shop there for gobs of groceries and such. I do buy a lot of gas there. I have bought a lot of Kirkland oil, bought a few iPads there in 2021, a couple pieces of jewelry for the wife and maybe a few other large purchases. I will say that my average bill there is $200, maybe once a month. Laugh all you want, but I never walk in and walk out without the following three items-

Box of 0W-20 oil
Slip of paper towels
Slip of TP

We weren't scrambling for TP in the Summer of 2020. We just went into the walk-in attic and grabbed another slip, brought it downstairs and unpacked it in the huge linen closet in the spare bath downstairs.

Fact is, things cost a lot more today than we all thought they did 20+ years ago when these wholesale clubs started really growing. You spend much more than you think on household goods and everybody that shops at Sam's or Costco doesn't buy a gallon of mayonaise or 10 pounds of hot dogs. Costco IS less expensive on many household items, especially the paper products, detergents, etc. TP/Paper towels were $18/slip at Costco. I think that's 48 large rolls of TP? I heard people were paying $12 for 12 rolls at the grocery store and glad to get it? LOL
 
Never could understand why anyone would pay to shop at Costco, Sams or BJ’s. Crazy.

The first “Membership “ clubs I remember were GEM and before that, GEX. Could not understand it back then and still don’t understand it.
I would say mainly for the quality of the stuff they sell (produce for sure are higher quality there than anywhere else, other than farmer's market), and the ease of return and if problem arises how they dealt with it.

Since they use a membership fee to screen out the lower profit customers, they can charge membership fees and provide better service, attracting a different group of customers. It is just a different segment really, nothing magical about it.
 
Never could understand why anyone would pay to shop at Costco, Sams or BJ’s. Crazy.

Well for one, it keeps the Walmartians out. I can't stand to go anywhere anymore that's chock full of trashy people. If I have to pay a little extra to not have to walk through a parking lot of thrown out bubble gum, smashed wax paper cups from the fast food place and used baby diapers, I'll do it. Then I get to walk around in a store where folks wear real clothes instead of 35 year old t-shirts that don't fit with holes in them, nasty pajama bottoms and Alabama football hats on.
 
Fact is, things cost a lot more today than we all thought they did 20+ years ago when these wholesale clubs started really growing. You spend much more than you think on household goods and everybody that shops at Sam's or Costco doesn't buy a gallon of mayonaise or 10 pounds of hot dogs. Costco IS less expensive on many household items, especially the paper products, detergents, etc. TP/Paper towels were $18/slip at Costco. I think that's 48 large rolls of TP? I heard people were paying $12 for 12 rolls at the grocery store and glad to get it? LOL

One fallacy of this argument, is whenever my wife or inlaws go to Costco they ended up buying a lot more unnecessary stuff than they really should. Yes they are great deal but they aren't needed:

1) Pound cakes
2) Muffins
3) 2 lb of orange chicken they ended up didn't like
4) multi-vitamins and calcium pills that last past expiration date
5) hot dogs and pizzas they can't finish the day and ended up as left overs
6) wines even though we usually don't drink wine, and ended up using them as Xmas presents to get rid of.
7) 2 gal of milk that rot before we finish.

I'm sure everyone has a list and even I would. I just don't think I would spend as much buying stuff if I don't have a "we already paid for the membership so might as well not waste it" mentality.

For the people with less self control, I think shopping there with a gift card is better, and I think buying local grocery store / walmart / etc on demand and bulk up on sales makes more sense.
 
I wish we had a Costco near me. I mostly use BJs because I can get a super cheap membership from my work and if nothing else it is great for saving money on glasses- their optical center prices are insanely good. BJs is otherwise just okay, though a Costco is supposed to be being built in Albany in the near future.
 
Well for one, it keeps the Walmartians out. I can't stand to go anywhere anymore that's chock full of trashy people. If I have to pay a little extra to not have to walk through a parking lot of thrown out bubble gum, smashed wax paper cups from the fast food place and used baby diapers, I'll do it. Then I get to walk around in a store where folks wear real clothes instead of 35 year old t-shirts that don't fit with holes in them, nasty pajama bottoms and Alabama football hats on.
This is why I do most of my shopping at Target and Aldis these days.
 
Well for one, it keeps the Walmartians out. I can't stand to go anywhere anymore that's chock full of trashy people. If I have to pay a little extra to not have to walk through a parking lot of thrown out bubble gum, smashed wax paper cups from the fast food place and used baby diapers, I'll do it. Then I get to walk around in a store where folks wear real clothes instead of 35 year old t-shirts that don't fit with holes in them, nasty pajama bottoms and Alabama football hats on.
You need to find a better neighborhood. The Walmart near my house is nothing like that, it is clean and nary a used diaper in sight.

As for the patrons? Well maybe I'm not quite that elitist. But you are a deluxe hillbilly.
 
I would agree the level of service/employees is higher at Costco. I have both Sam's Club and Costco. The vast majority of dollars at Costco is spent on prescription drugs and gasoline. Just this past week-my local Costco just added self service check outs. If the wife and I buy anything else at Costco it's usually just a few items. We are happy to see the self service checkouts. However-it still doesn't beat the self service APP that Sam's Club has that let's you scan your items without even removing them from your cart.

I buy gas at either one-they are always the same price. I don't car about "top tier" fuel as my truck hasn't blown up yet from using Sam's Club non-top tier fuel.

BTW-Costco isn't profitable until the membership fees are added in to their balance sheet-just FYI.
Same for Amazon Prime. I was told the customer services are trained to treat Prime members better and give more leeway on some returns and exchanges.

The main difference is Amazon's main profit comes from AWS, and for retail side Amazon makes more (or close) listing 3rd party seller items than / as their own items.
 
You need to find a better neighborhood. The Walmart near my house is nothing like that, it is clean and nary a used diaper in sight.

As for the patrons? Well maybe I'm not quite that elitist. But you are a deluxe hillbilly.
People of walmart exists for a reason. I'll shop there for some stuff but for most stuff I find going to Target far more pleasant and faster. t's way less crowded, the carts actually WORK.
 
Also Target circle usually has solid coupons in it that make shopping at Target more or less the same price as Walmart for groceries, and for a lot of stuff I shop at Aldis which is far cheaper than both anyway.
 
You need to find a better neighborhood. The Walmart near my house is nothing like that, it is clean and nary a used diaper in sight.

As for the patrons? Well maybe I'm not quite that elitist. But you are a deluxe hillbilly.
In my area, Walmart does not exist in "better" neighborhood. The best Walmart is in lower middle class neighborhood where the worst Target is in the lower middle class neighborhood.

My guess is Walmart does not sell enough high profit stuff to justify the higher retail real estate cost, and that set off a downward spiral that landlord does not want a Walmart as an anchor to the mall (attract lowish income shoppers) like they want Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, Safeway, or at the very least Target. If a Walmart moves in there goes the neighborhood (i.e. the one at San Lorenzo formerly was a Target, once Walmart moves in the Black Friday robbery begins).

Also prices varies in the area. When I visited Plano, TX I noticed Walmart is significantly cheaper than Target and Tom Thumb (the Safeway there). In my area Walmart is maybe 1-3% cheaper but then hardly run clearance and sales like Safeway, and Target has shorter line, closer to most middle middle class and above population, and price matches Walmart.

So what is the reason to shop Walmart other than stuff others don't carry? I can just wait for sales at Safeway and save even more money ($1.49 cereal vs $2.99) and time (3 mins drive vs 30 mins) than going to Walmart. If I need something unique from Walmart I usually just buy online from Walmart instead of going into the stores.
 
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One fallacy of this argument, is whenever my wife or inlaws go to Costco they ended up buying a lot more unnecessary stuff than they really should. Yes they are great deal but they aren't needed:

1) Pound cakes
2) Muffins
3) 2 lb of orange chicken they ended up didn't like
4) multi-vitamins and calcium pills that last past expiration date
5) hot dogs and pizzas they can't finish the day and ended up as left overs
6) wines even though we usually don't drink wine, and ended up using them as Xmas presents to get rid of.
7) 2 gal of milk that rot before we finish.

I'm sure everyone has a list and even I would. I just don't think I would spend as much buying stuff if I don't have a "we already paid for the membership so might as well not waste it" mentality.

For the people with less self control, I think shopping there with a gift card is better, and I think buying local grocery store / walmart / etc on demand and bulk up on sales makes more sense.

That's a matter of self control just like anything else.

We buy stuff we use. A little bit of want that is used. That's about it.

And dang, how many hot dogs and pizzas are they buying from the food stand???
 
You need to find a better neighborhood. The Walmart near my house is nothing like that, it is clean and nary a used diaper in sight.

I've traveled a good bit all over the United States. I'm no fan of Walmart, but there's times when you need to make use of them and traveling can present those times more than not.

I've been to several Walmarts through these travels and they are all literally the same. I will admit I live near what I'd call the nicest Walmart that I've seen or been to and IF I am forced to go to one, that is the one I'll agree to go to.

I *think* I have been Walmart free for about 18 months now. Hopefully it's a trend.
 
That's a matter of self control just like anything else.

We buy stuff we use. A little bit of want that is used. That's about it.

And dang, how many hot dogs and pizzas are they buying from the food stand???
Each kid wants a different kind of pizza so .... 2? They complain about left over pizza's dry crust but that's what they deserve for being picky about topping.

Yup self control is key, and with my self control in money I found Costco membership not saving me money.
 
I’ll give you the cart thing.
The cart thing is easily solved by picking one from the parking lot and giving it a test drive. If it sucks, stop at the next cart corral and try again.

But yeah, I like looking at the talent in a Target more so than Wal*Mart
 
People of walmart exists for a reason. I'll shop there for some stuff but for most stuff I find going to Target far more pleasant and faster. t's way less crowded, the carts actually WORK.


I find that no matter which store I go into it’s the same type of people.
 
I like Sam’s and Costco. They each have their strengths, so I have both memberships (the upgraded versions of each). Some “pros” about Sam’s… 1. If Costco has the exact same item, it will typically be cheaper at Sam’s. 2. Not as crowded as Costco (store, parking lot, and gas station). 3. Sam’s doesn’t jack up the price of a shipped item as much (vs. in-store price). 4. No minimum for free shipping with upgraded membership. 5. $20 off Duracell-branded Deka/East Penn batteries are a frequent bargain. 6. They carry both of my main oil brands - Mobil 1 and Shell Rotella (got a $20 off a six gallon case of Rotella… I should have stocked up). 7. The freeosk
 
i wonder how much of the costco/sam’s club/bj mega-sized packages is ultimately discarded at home because of spoilage or expiration before it can be consumed? i have guest-shopped at all three and list them here in order of cleanliness. running a farm, feeding the hired help, papering multiple frequently-flushed toilets, and changing the oil on several vehicles & machines might make membership useful, but i wonder about the average family that needs to watch its waistlines and its budget.
 
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