Sam's Club vs. Costco

[booksie]

I'm posting this under Parenting, because I'm looking for advice from other parents. I'd like to maybe join either Sam's or Costco (they're both nearby and right next to each other) and I'm wondering if anyone has an opinion on which is better for a family with little kids? I'd like to find out which one has the best price on diapers, which has the best toys, school supplies and most stylish, practical & unique items, and of course best prices, etc. : )

Any thoughts?

[EJM]

We are having the same debate right now. What is putting us on the fence is that Costco stopped selling Pampers diapers and now only sells Kirkland which is the Costco brand. I understand they are made by Huggies, but our friends who have tried the Kirkland diapers don't really care for them.

I've very interested to see what others say.

[emschwar]

I thought the kirklands diapers were fine. We'll probably switch to those once we're done with the backlog of huggies we have now.

I'm a costco member. I used to have both Costco and Sams, but when my folks stopped paying for my memberships, I decided it was only worth it to have 1. I preferred costco. I find the quality of goods is better. Plus, costco has gas, which saves us a lot of money, especially now!

[JenniferEC]

I prefer Costco. I don't support Walmart, so I won't go to Sam's. We get DS's Huggies there, although when we were just there to buy some, they also had Pampers Cruisers and their own brand. I really like the coupons they send out and like emschwar, we get our gas there.

[cgmom313]

I like Costco more. We just rejoined after DD was born. The sams club near us does not have as much variety and the prices seem a bit higher. Also the Sam's club near me is older and a bit run down. I dont think it is kept up. On the flip side the Costco is newer and is always very clean and organized.

I just bought a bunch of Carters onesies there. 3 in a pack and they were 3.99 compared to babies r us at 7.99.

They also have great ready made dinners. So when we shop there I pick up 2 of them and we have dinner for the next 2 days. Nice for us with a baby.

[vjel]

I've never been a member of Sam's but am with Costco. They do have better quality stuff there in general, particularly their furniture ;) . We also have a BJ's membership and I have to say they have a TON more baby stuff there, Costco doesn't even compare. They have baby food (gerber and Beechnut), clothes, baby gear, toys, etc. We now buy our Pampers from there now that Costco doesn't carry them. Also, BJ's Wholesale (http://www.bjs.com/ ) takes manufacturer's coupons where Costco doesn't. If you have a BJ's near you, it might be worth checking out.

[emschwar]

I checked out BJs last week, and yes, they did have a lot more different things than costco, but on the items that costco had, I found they were about $2 more expensive on each item. Also, they had a much smaller collection of books and toys (though the toy stock varies at costco by season).

[ButterflyJen]

I voted other, because we don't have Costco around here. :) So I'm a Sam's member and we like it just fine.

[ce_Kathleen]

I voted for Sam's but that is only b/c there is no Costco or BJ around us so all we have is Sam's. Our Sam's is new so its really nice and it has the cheapest gas around!

We more than paid for our membership buying diapers and wipes, I just wish they accepted manufacturers coupons.

[Winter Biscuit]

You might want to call each store and ask if you can have a guest pass to tour the facility and decide if you want to join.

Sam's Club is always sending us free guest passes that allow us to shop there 1 day (but in the fine print it says that we would pay an extra 10% on top of their prices unless we joined). We did use the pass once to walk through the store and see what they had, but we just didn't think a membership would benefit us so we didn't join. We were just curious to see what they had to offer, and what their prices were.

I know that my friends were allowed to walk through Costco and check out their selection before they made a decision to join. Maybe do a quick walk-through and see what they have, what their prices are, etc.

[tinkerbelljenny]

We don't have a Sam's club where I live but I have been a member of Costco since 1991 and I love it.

[SingleWhiteFemale]

Not a parent, but I have shopped for diapers/wipes/baby clothes at Costco for gifts (we're an odd family :rolleyes: ).

We have both BJs and Costco. I have been informed there is a Sams club somewhere in the area, but no one has spoken of it so I'm taking it there's nothing to rave about. I wouldn't purchase a membership there because I'm not happy at all with the Walmart corportation as a whole.

BJs was great as they had an optical dept, but Costco just got one too. The meat at Costco tends to be beautiful ;) They do have some of the nicest steaks I've ever seen, and not cut paper thin like at the area grocery stores, with a really good price. Ground beef is $1.99 on a regular basis (last time I checked anyway), so that's the bet best unless you hit a great sale at the supermarket, but I rarely see 93% at any price near that. Milk is over $1 cheaper than any supermarrket around here at Costco, but only about a quarter cheaper at BJs.

What is carried really just depends. They may get a palate of Huggies this week, a palate of Pampers the next. The selection isn't guaranteed, but you can learn to count on certain things like sodas, frozen chicken/hamburger patties, cheese slices. Kirkland brands are something that you can pretty much count on being there time and time again. I've heard that the Kirkland brands are great, that their dog food is better/more premium than the stuff one can buy at pet stores. I have never looked at formula prices and have no idea as to what they carry in that respect. But I always see Huggies, and Kirkland diapers here. The stack is no where near full on the Kirland diapers, so they're working wonderfully for some people (or, just one person with a kiddo that won't quit ;) ). The baby clothes are well priced, as are all of their clothes. They have brand names, and if you have a problem, they do stand by their products.

Costco also has a no questions asked returns policy. My kitty died, so I brought back an entire case of Fancy Feast over a month past the purchase (the expiration was still really far in th future), and they gave me a full refund. I had to return a DVD to BJs (wanted widescreen, picked up regular) and it took me over 1/2 hour with no other person in line. Costco is much quicker, the checkout lines move faster.

Our BJs is slightly dumpy, but all in all it's a warehouse club so I'm not expecting glamour. They accept manufacturer's coupons, and every major credit card. Costco only accepts debit, AMEX, their Costco AMEX, and of course cash. That's how Costco keeps their prices lower--they have the exclusive contract with AMEX and don't have to pay Discover, MC and VISA a percentage of the sale for using it. So, in doing that, they're able to keep their prices lower than BJs.

Oh, and Costco has free food samples :D

[ManteoChik]

Plus, costco has gas, which saves us a lot of money, especially now!'

I'm a Sam's Club member just because we don't have a Costco near us, however the Sam's I go to has gas as well. In fact it's one of the biggest gas stations I've ever seen in my life. It has over 20 pumps at least and is usually a lot cheaper than the regular gas station. They also sell AeroShell Oil (used for airplanes) which is a plus because bf is a pilot and uses a lot for his airplane.

[emschwar]

Our BJs is slightly dumpy, but all in all it's a warehouse club so I'm not expecting glamour.
I felt that when I checked out BJs too. Costco is a warehouse as well, and isn't glamourous, but it felt a lot nicer than BJs. FWIW.

[mimieliza]

Costco all the way! I'm not a parent yet, but I just like that Costco is a Northwest-owned company (headquarters in Issaquah, WA) and fares much better in terms of corporate responsibility than Sam's/Wal-Mart. And, we don't have Sam's out here, anyway. I did shop at Sam's when I lived in St. Louis (no Costco there), and even if I had a choice out here, I'd still choose Costco.

[Weddings by]

I prefer Costco. I don't support Walmart, so I won't go to Sam's. ... I really like the coupons they send out and like emschwar, we get our gas there.

Ditto. :) Plus, recently they've been giving the coupon price w/o the coupon. Maybe they've always done this, I don't know as I used to actually take my coupons with me. :o

mimieliza--I am pretty sure that there is one at the Supermall, and one where 405 and 167 meet. Not that you will shop there... :D

[Dasha]

Since Sam's Club is a division of WalMart, I refuse to shop there. I belong to Costco and have been very pleased with everything about the store. I was able to purchase very expensive fertility medicines through Costco's pharmacy at a substantial savings.
Costco is known for the positive way they treat their employees; commercials notwithstanding, I don't think that can be said about Sam's. Sorry if I'm making this political, but I absolutely hate WalMart and everything it represents.

[Camara]

I love Costco. I use to have a membership and both Costco & Sam's but Costco was so much better. It's cleaner, more organized, the selection is better, the cashiers are very fast and experienced and I love the coupons they send out. We bought our Dyson vacuum cleaner there (they had the best price after shopping around for a month) and the cashier said to keep the reciept in a safe place b/c it's a lifetime return policy if the vacuum dies on us.

Business Week had an article comparing the two and they said Costco treated their employees so much better with almost twice as much pay and better benefits. As a result, you have better employees who know what they're doing. The article said Sam's doesn't treat their employees very good so they spend a lot of money in turnover training new employees which gets passed on in prices to the consumers. I'm all about supporting a company that treats their employees great.

[booksie]

We stopped by Sam's Club and Costco today and to us it seemed that Costco was MUCH cleaner and MUCH less crowded. The product selection seemed slightly boring but much of it was higher end. Sam's Club seemed to have more unique items that I hadn't seen before. Both places had high gas prices. Sam's Club was 20 cents higher than a station a couple of blocks away!! (Is that the non-member price or something??) Costco's was less than Sam's but about 10 cents higher than the regular station. The sign said it was the member price.

I'm still undecided. I don't think we'll join right away.

[mimieliza]

mimieliza--I am pretty sure that there is one at the Supermall, and one where 405 and 167 meet. Not that you will shop there...

I don't know where that is... I live in the middle of podunk nowhere, so I do most of my shopping in the Tri-Cities area. Seattle's about 4.5 hours away.

Boo that there's a Sams in WA, though!

[ellybelle]

We only have a Costco nearby, and I'm very happy with it. They sell Costco and Huggies diapers (Huggies tend to be better), Costco formula, Huggies wipes (my favorites!), kid's clothes, the Baby Einstein boxed set, etc. They also have a jogging stroller.

Sure wish they had a gas station at our local one, though!

[spencer's_girl]

can someone tell me how much a membership to costco costs
TIA melissa

[RyeRye]

I paid $45 for my Costco membership.

I have a Sam's club and a Costco membership. I prefer Costco overall, but I bought a Sam's Club membership because they carry Pampers. I know some Costco's still carry Pampers, but mine doesn't. If you don't mind buying Huggies, get the Costco membership.