From organic product selections to return policies to car buying benefits,
here's everything you need to know in the big box showdown between Costco and Sam's Club.
The first thing to consider when deciding which warehouse store to join is the yearly
cost of membership. It does cost you more to belong to Costco compared to Sam's Club,
but let's look at what each membership actually gets you.
For the average consumer, Costco offers two membership tiers. For $60 per year,
a Gold Star member receives two membership cards,
one for yourself and one for another member of your household. You can shop in stores and online,
and if you're unhappy with your membership, you can expect a full refund. For twice that amount,
an Executive member receives all of those benefits plus discounts on
additional services and a two percent annual reward on qualified purchases up to $1,000.
As for Sam's Club, for $50 per year, a Club member can expect discounts on purchases, access to the
tire and battery center and bonus offers program, add-on memberships, and curbside pickup. For $110
per year, a Plus member receives all of that, as well as free shipping, early shopping hours,
pharmacy and optical savings, and two percent back on qualified purchases up to $500.
One area where Sam's Club has an obvious edge over Costco is what they accept as payment.
Both in stores and online, Sam's Club accepts all four major credit cards: Visa, Mastercard,
Discover, and American Express. Their stores also accept cash, checks, and debit cards.
On the other hand, Costco only accepts Visa credit cards at both the warehouse
stores and gas stations, as well as cash, checks from members only,
and most debit cards. The website accepts two additional credit cards,
Mastercard and Discover. American Express cardholders are completely out of luck at Costco.
This isn't to say that you can't shop at Costco if you don't have a Visa. But if a different credit
card is your preferred method of payment, this is a drawback that you should seriously consider.
Many grocery stores have their own private-label brand that they use to sell items at a lower
price than name-brand products. And Costco is no exception, as their store brand is
Kirkland Signature. Kirkland has always been popular with customers, especially if you're
budget-conscious or if the name brands are flying off the shelves too quickly.
Back in 2018, Kirkland reportedly made up nearly one-third of all Costco's sales.
As retail analyst Karen Short explained to CNN,
"It is one of the reasons people go to Costco. That's not necessarily
something you can say about many private labels."
Furthermore, Kirkland's lower prices have persuaded name-brand companies to lower
their prices in order to remain competitive. In general, Kirkland products sell for 20 percent
below the competition, and that can add up to a lot of savings in just one shopping trip.
"It's one name, one brand. We put it on everything from alcohol to luggage."
Not everyone has easy access to both Costco and Sam's Club. For example,
you won't find either store in the state of Rhode Island.
(sad Price is Right horn)
Costco is an international corporation with locations spanning the globe. That's a real
bonus for the world traveler, but it's not necessarily helpful to the average
consumer. As of March 2023, they have 585 locations within the United States and
its territories. Nearly one quarter of them are located in California,
and the store is also well represented in the Atlantic, Pacific, and Great Lakes areas.
Sam's Club, meanwhile, has 600 locations, and they're more evenly spread out across
the country. Their locations are less clustered around major urban centers,
thereby offering access to a wider customer base. This includes the
entirety of the Midwestern and Mountain states, some of which Costco leaves out.
Both Costco and Sam's Club boast a 100 percent satisfaction guarantee to their members. So it's
in the fine print where you'll find any differences. In some instances,
like when it comes to alcohol or tobacco sales, both companies are restricted by
state regulations. But most other sales fall outside of those restrictions.
For the most part, neither chain charges a restocking fee. Costco never does this on
any item and neither does Sam's Club, though the latter has certain time periods in which specific
items must be returned in order to get a refund. For instance, cell phones must be returned within
14 days, and the store doesn't accept returns on gift cards, tickets, custom-made items,
prescriptions, or items purchased through their Wholesale Trading Program. Costco has
similar return policy exceptions, except that the window for all items is 90 days.
When returning items that were purchased online,
Costco will cover the cost of return shipping. But Sam's Club will only cover this sum if the
item was damaged on the way to your door or if you didn't receive the correct item.
When people say that you can buy anything at a warehouse store, that's not far from the
truth. Indeed, you can even buy a new or used automobile through both Costco and Sam's Club.
"You get a car! You get a car! You get a car!"
Sam's Club uses the info and pricing site TrueCar as its buying service.
Members can take advantage of special deals and post-sale benefits when both buying and
selling a vehicle. When you're in the market to purchase, you can save a lot of money by
taking advantage of price comparison. According to LendingTree, in 2020 Sam's
Club members received a $3,463 discount off the Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price.
Costco's auto program doesn't use TrueCar, so you lose some of the advantages that that
service offers. As reported by Four Wheel Trends, the prices of the automobiles are
fixed and non-negotiable, as Costco has already taken care of the negotiating for you. If you
require additional financing, Costco can help you out there as well. As reported by MotorBiscuit,
using Costco to purchase a new vehicle saved members an average of $1,000 off the MSRP.
Both Costco and Sam's Club offer food courts for the convenience of their hungry customers
and employees. Sam's Club Cafe hawks things like hot dogs for the low price of $1.38,
as well as pizza, pretzels, yogurt cups, and fountain drinks. The Costco Food Court is similar,
selling its hot dogs for $1.50. And you can also buy burgers and sandwiches,
salads, ice cream, baked goods, and more.
The menus aren't the only things that distinguish these two eateries. Sam's
Club Cafes are accessible to non-members, but Costco locations were no longer allowing
non-members to eat at their food courts as of 2020. Furthermore, they were always supposed to
be reserved for members only. Many stores just didn't enforce this rule as they should have,
so people began to assume it was open to anyone. So if you're not yet a member and
you want to sample the food court offerings, only Sam's Club will officially allow you to do that.
A survey by the Pew Research Center conducted in 2016 revealed that 40
percent of Americans eat at least some organic food. An additional
44 percent answered that they eat "not too much" organic food. In general,
organic product sales have been on the rise for a while, and there's no sign of that stopping.
When it comes to carrying organic produce, meat, seafood, and other grocery and household items,
Costco wins out over Sam's Club. The chain also carries organic
beer and wine and several cleaning products that use organic ingredients.
If you're looking for organic at Sam's Club, you might end up feeling like a shopper who
wrote about this topic on the website All Natural Savings. The writer noted the chain's
lack of organic meat and produce options, as well as their poor customer service when
asking about certain products. Sam's Club isn't completely without organic options,
but in general, Costco is the much better option in this area.
"You can literally buy everything you need from birth to death."
Costco has been operating exclusive gas stations for its members since 1995. It even uses its own
Kirkland Signature brand. The stations are also equipped with extra long hoses so that it doesn't
matter which side of the vehicle the gas tank is on. This helps prevent everyone from facing
different ways and circling around to find a pump that you can easily pull or back into.
Sam's Club also offers fueling stations, and some locations also have car washes.
And if you're a Walmart credit card holder, you can use your card at Sam's Club stations.
But what if you don't drive a car that has an internal combustion engine? Can
you recharge your electric vehicle at either of these chains? The short answer is yes,
although this availability isn't yet widespread. In 2022, the majority of Costco charging stations
were located in California. The cost to charge an EV varies by location. Sam's Club and Walmart
also both offer charging stations for EVs, and just like with Costco, prices vary by location.
Speaking of filling up on gas or charging your EV, both Costco's Anywhere Visa Card
backed by Citi and the Sam's Club Mastercard offer rewards for gas and EV charging. Both
cards also reward you for shopping anywhere, not just at gas stations.
But when it comes to cashback rewards, Sam's Club manages to just edge out the competition.
The Costco Anywhere Visa offers four percent cash back on gas and EV charge purchases,
up to $7,000 per year. After that, it goes down to one percent. The Sam's Club Mastercard,
on the other hand, offers five percent cash back on gas and EV charges up to $6,000,
after which it also goes down to one percent.
As reported by Value Penguin, in 2022 the average American household spent $131 per
month on gasoline. That's less than $2,000 per year. So for the average consumer who doesn't
spend more than $6,000 per year on fuel, Sam's Club offers a greater benefit in this area.
"Smells like gas."
As major corporations with hundreds of locations, both Costco and Sam's Club
employ a lot of people. The temperament of the staff can make or break a customer's experience
within the store. And in that regard, Costco has a greater number of happy employees, hands down.
According to the employment website Indeed, the average Costco cashier makes $17.64 per
hour. At Sam's Club, the same employee makes only $12.82 per hour. Glassdoor reported a
closer gap with $18 at Costco and $16 at Sam's Club. Either way, Costco comes out on top.
Indeed also notes that even the opticians at Costco are paid more than at Sam's Club,
by about $6 per hour. And 83 percent of Costco employees report being happy with their salaries,
while only 54 percent of Sam's Club employees report the same.
If you're the type of person who factors in fair wages and the happiness of employees at
the places you frequent, this is important information. Depending on where you live,
these wages may sound high for their positions, and your personal experiences
may differ from national averages. So you may see differences in particular regions or locations,
but on the whole, Costco wins out when it comes to employee satisfaction.
So, back to the main question at hand: Costco or Sam's Club? While both companies have very
similar business models, there are enough differences to make one more appealing
than the other to different consumers depending on their needs and priorities.
If you're most concerned about your driving needs,
then Sam's Club is the clear winner. If you're in the market for a new automobile,
then you're much better off buying through Sam's Club than you are Costco. And if you use the
Sam's Club Mastercard, you also receive better rewards on fuel and EV charging than Costco.
But if groceries and other household products are your main concern,
then Costco is the top dog. When using the chain's branded credit card, you earn
higher rewards on in-store purchases, to the tune of 2 percent cash back,
whereas Sam's Club offers 3 percent for Plus members but only 1 percent for Club members.
And Costco's wide variety of Kirkland brand items helps to keep costs down whether you
have an Anywhere Visa card or not. Plus, they have a much larger selection of organic goods.
Ultimately, what it really comes down to is which store you have easier access to, what your typical
shopping habits are, and what you prioritize when choosing where to spend your money.