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Is Costco and/or Sams Worth the Fee?

Is Costco and/or Sams Worth the Fee?


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The Giant Noodle

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I think the fees for both stores is now $50 a year for the priviledge of shopping there. :roll:
Ive looked at both stores and havent really found any bargins that I couldnt find anywhere else. In fact in some cases the prices were more (IE: meat) And on top of that the lines are generally long AND they dont even give you a freakin' BAG to put your crap in! :doh So what in the hell are you paying $50 for?

So is joining a warehouse worth it? Am I missing something?
 
I think the fees for both stores is now $50 a year for the priviledge of shopping there. :roll:
Ive looked at both stores and havent really found any bargins that I couldnt find anywhere else. In fact in some cases the prices were more (IE: meat) And on top of that the lines are generally long AND they dont even give you a freakin' BAG to put your crap in! :doh So what in the hell are you paying $50 for?

So is joining a warehouse worth it? Am I missing something?

There are some good deals, you just have to know what to look for.
I don't shop there though because the closest one is about 20 miles from me.
 
I think the fees for both stores is now $50 a year for the priviledge of shopping there. :roll:
Ive looked at both stores and havent really found any bargins that I couldnt find anywhere else. In fact in some cases the prices were more (IE: meat) And on top of that the lines are generally long AND they dont even give you a freakin' BAG to put your crap in! :doh So what in the hell are you paying $50 for?

So is joining a warehouse worth it? Am I missing something?

I'm a little confused why this is posted here... That said, it doesn't sound like it!
 
Cheap crap, factory lower end label stuff, and the people there. no thanks.
 
I would figure if you buy in bulk there you definitely save over time. It depends on how you shop. I prefer to buy limited items cheap on the internet and save deals on individual things that would be usually quite expensive (eeeebaay *laahh*). If i were head of a household in the midwest, Id prolly shop there if there was one nearby.
 
These huge warehouses are designed for large families, they may save a little..
50$ fee just to enter?
Not worth it....
The big stores are in a dither ...they do not know what they are doing and will listen to no-one...I have talked with store employees....Until attitudes change, its hopeless...
The problem is not price, its selection...
 
$50 Not just to enter once but for membership possibly annually. I dont know.
 
My fiancee and I shop at Costco, it's a GREAT place. I avoid Sams Club because it's basically a cheap Costco knock-off.

Our grocery bills are slightly higher than if we shop at Food 4 Less or something similar but we have to buy food less often so we save in the long run.
 
I think Costco is. Keeps the riff-raff out. ;-) (I can hear my dad sayin' that now. Ha!)

I particularly like that Costco gives you an automatic 2-year warranty on televisions and other electronics at no charge. What's it really worth, you ask? I'm waiting for my new Visio 42" from them right now. Broke at a year-and-a-half and they're sending a new one in exchange.
 
I think Costco is. Keeps the riff-raff out. ;-) (I can hear my dad sayin' that now. Ha!)

I particularly like that Costco gives you an automatic 2-year warranty on televisions and other electronics at no charge. What's it really worth, you ask? I'm waiting for my new Visio 42" from them right now. Broke at a year-and-a-half and they're sending a new one in exchange.

That seems nice. How much did ya pay fur er?
 
The membership is $50/year and you can split that up between two nonfamily members. I share with a friend. So it's $25 for each of us. If you mean the TV, I don't remember. I think it was around $600.
 
cheap and good food court!

*ALSO*

Costco in my experience is much better than Sam's Club, unfortunately there are no Costcos where I live so I am stuck with Sams club. Then again it probably has something to do with just where I live as it seems most businesses around my area are run much more poorly than the same businesses where I used to live, Oregon.
 
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I am a member at Sams, and I have thought it to be generally a good place. When we first became members I was in school, and their student memberships are really cheap (I think I paid $30 maybe and got a $20 gift card). It just depends on what you are looking for.

There are no Costco's in Louisiana, but you can still shop on their website and pay a small fee as a nonmember, and on certain items still come out ahead.
 
My dad has a business Sam's Club membership because he buys things in bulk that he then uses for his couple of small businesses while also taking advantage of some of the various sales they have on bigger ticket items that could be useful (For example found a really nice surveillance camera system on sale one time for far under the general suggested retail price and has been using it since then).

Thankfully, they offer to add additional individuals to the card at a lower discounted price and sometimes for free. So me and my fiance both got a card for a total of $30.

This is well worth it for us in Northern Virginia for no other reason than the gas they have at Sam's, which is routinely $.10 to $.15 cents cheaper if not more than the rest of the gas in the area. We probably both average around a fill up a week with our cars, if not more, so that's about $2-$3 a week savings. So a bit over $100 saved a year. So that by itself is a net $70. Additionally we've started buying certain non-perishable things in bulk that we find ourselves buying often. Plastic baggies, paper plates, heads for our tooth brushes, razor blades, etc. Doesn't hurt to store them for a while and generally you save a bit on it.

Food isn't really as big of a deal as since its just the two of us we're not going to be able to go through it all in time anyways. Still, there are times when there's been some useful bulk food stuff to buy.

All in all for the $30 bucks that it took us both to end up getting a card we probably will end up saving by the end of the year around $200-300 dollars. Not a huge deal, but its something. Plus it also saves a bit in time as having the bulk stuff means we go on a big shopping trip once a month and the rest is usually just running out for milk and bread (I generally will plan out about 3 or 4 weeks worth of dinners and we get everything at once).
 
I think the fees for both stores is now $50 a year for the priviledge of shopping there. :roll:
Ive looked at both stores and havent really found any bargins that I couldnt find anywhere else. In fact in some cases the prices were more (IE: meat) And on top of that the lines are generally long AND they dont even give you a freakin' BAG to put your crap in! :doh So what in the hell are you paying $50 for?

So is joining a warehouse worth it? Am I missing something?

Yep - it sure is! For people like me who shop for the bargains - it's awesome and worth that meager $30.00/year.

I shop at several stores and compare prices - not just once - but every time the price changes. Who is cheaper this week? I'll buy something at Sam's one month - and the next month it'll be cheaper at Target.

yep - I spend and entire day driving/comparing/shopping and I save a HUGE amount of money, too - I have no choice, really. We have 6 people in our family - we eat a lot of food!
 
I guess it depends on how often you go. If you have a large family or need to buy a lot of foods/items, then yes it's a good deal. But if you only go to get a good deal on candy or soda every so often... you might as well get your sugar fix at a gas station.
 
I think the fees for both stores is now $50 a year for the priviledge of shopping there. :roll:
Ive looked at both stores and havent really found any bargins that I couldnt find anywhere else. In fact in some cases the prices were more (IE: meat) And on top of that the lines are generally long AND they dont even give you a freakin' BAG to put your crap in! :doh So what in the hell are you paying $50 for?

So is joining a warehouse worth it? Am I missing something?

It might depend on what you're looking at, but I've priced things out and compared them to what I'd normally pay and I did end up saving money in the end... but you'd have to go often to make it worth your while. But at the same time, I sometimes would buy things I wouldn't normally buy simply because the deal seemed too good to pass up.
 
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In Taiwan, membership is NT$1200 (about US$38) for COSTCO and it is definately worth it. I save more than that just in milk and juice (milk is much more expensive here than in the US) in one MONTH for my family than if I were to buy it at the local supermarket. There are also other imported products from the US and Canada that are hard to get here (or if you can are very expensive) otherwise. I also love their muffins ... much better than anything else you can get here...
 
Costco, very much so. Sams Club? Couldn't tell you, as I wouldn't do business with any part of anything the AntiAmerican schmucks at Wally World Corp. are part of.
 
Yes...its worth the cost if you use it. Their gas is about 20 cents a gallon less than most places. With groceries you have to be careful. MOST of their groceries are not a good deal. I can get most of the stuff cheaper at Ralphs (Kroger) and Vons (Safeway) than Costco when I shop Ralphs/Vons sales. However, if you only shop once or twice a month and prefer not to deal with running around to other stores, their prices are decent. Their dairy (milk/cheese) is substantially cheaper. Finally, their meat, while not cheaper is high quality (USDA Prime) that you often can't get at a regular market.
 
We were members of Price Club for years, back before it merged with Costco, but we dropped our membership when we realized we weren't going more than once or twice a year. They've got lots of stuff in huge quantities, but the prices aren't much better than you get at a grocery store and the service sucks at Costco. Sure, maybe I'd save a few cents here and there, but I think service matters, I'd rather pay for it.
 
yeah - that depends on what your getting adn how often you're getting it.

I use to *only* buy boxes of diapers at Sams. Back then membership was $20.00/year. I'd go through 4 boxes of diapers (2 children in 2 different sizes) a month. One box at Sam's was (example - I don't remember exactly how much) $15.00 . . . and at the grocery store that same box was $21.00.

So by buying 4 boxes/month - for an entire year - I'd spend $720.00/all those diapers from Sam's. At the other store I'd spend $1008.00/all those diapers. Add in the membership fee - and I still saved $270.00 / year.

You betcha I shopped at Sams and was relieved - and stopped shopping there - when the kids were potty-trained :)
 
Don't ever buy diapers at costco, they are not of the quality you get in the supermarkets. :prof
 
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