Sam's Club or Costco?

In this spine-tingling final installment of my bit of price comparison, I present Sam's Club vs. Costco. Let the battle begin...

Yesterday, I mentioned that Best Buy wasn't much of a competitor to Costco. I went to Sam's today to get a few items and tried to price the vacuum, printer, and TV that I found at Best Buy and Costco. But I couldn't find two of the three. It was obvious that Sam's Club had a much smaller selection of printers, TV's, and vacuums.

But here is the comparison of the vacuum, with Sam's club on the left:

Vacuum

Again, Costco wins.

For what it's worth, I did find the same HP printer next door at the Wal-Mart. We had to go there to get my son a notebook for school. Here's Wal-Mart's price on the left, Costco's on the right.

Printer

I did find other, more household-type items at Sam's that I could compare to Costco. Here they are, with Sam's Club prices on the left and Costco on the right.

Cheerios
Mach 3 Razors
Yukon Jack

I own "memberships" to both. My goal was to learn which is better for my wallet. Costco wins, because Sam's Club can't offer me anything at a better price.

Tags: best buy | costco | sams club | walmart
by Brett Rogers, 3/9/2005 8:47:43 PM
Permalink

But as I understand it, a costco membership costs about $100/yr where Sams club is more like $35. So you start $65 in the hole.

Posted by Stefanie, 3/10/2005 4:24:37 PM

Hey Stef

Actually, I just bought my Costco membership, and it cost me $40.

Posted by Brett Rogers (http://www.beatcanvas.com), 3/10/2005 6:19:40 PM

You do pay a few more dollars for your membership @ Costco, but aren't the intelligent employee's you'll find there worth a few bucks? The speed of service @ Costco blows Sam's Club away!

Posted by Dave Crosby, 2/7/2007 7:44:09 AM

Well where I am from Costco memberships are $50 for a basic houshold card and $100 for a small buisness. Outrageous! At Sam's Club they are $35 for small buisness cards and $40 for household cards. The reason for a warehouse is to help small buisnesses because they are the majority of the customers there. Most of the individuals that shop there only do so because they belong to a large family. Those are the two major reasons for shopping in bulk. Also, Costco treats their members and employees like dirt and see them as expendable. Sam's Club treats their members and employees with respect. So I don't know where this Dave Crosby comes off saying that Costco's employees are more intelligent! He has obviously never had a conversation with a Costco member of management.

Posted by Ryan, 7/6/2007 12:47:02 AM

I have worked for both Costco and Sam's Club. I can say without any hesitation that Sam's Club is much better to their employees and members. Costco may pay more per hour, but there awfully quick to remind you of that fact. They constantly hold it over your head, well you know what, I would rather make less working around tolerable people than the bunch of creeps at Costco.

Here's a story for you. I worked in the Tire Center at Costco. A member came in with a car they wanted a set of four new tires installed with the best of their old tires kept for their spare. When a fellow ex co-worker of mine neglected to read their invoice, he carelessly tore each tire from its rim, forgetting to save one for the spare. When he asked the supervisor what to do, he said, "F*** it, it's not my problem. Tell 'em it was broken when they brought it in."

Yeah, Costco is a real class-act, alright.

Sam's Club believes when a customer pays to shop there, they deserve everyone's respect and great customer service. When someone purchases a Costco membership, they believe that person is privileged to shop at their facility.

Well, without members there's no money. I think Costco has severely misplaced its loyalties.

Posted by Tom, 7/6/2007 12:53:39 AM