If you’re a big fan of both Costco and Sam’s Club, then you must have heard that there’s a major competition. Both are warehouse clubs that offer all kinds of bulk shopping opportunities at bargain prices to their card-carrying members.
They also have a very similar footprint. For instance, Costco operates 584 locations all over the United States and Puerto Rico, while Walmart-owned Sam’s Club operates close to 600 locations. It can be quite hard to determine if one retailer is overall better than the other.
However, if you weigh the unique perks and drawbacks of each of them, potential members could easily determine which warehouse is the best fit for their own shopping needs. Let’s see what the five major differences are between Costco and Sam’s Club.
Membership fees
It costs a bit more to snag an annual membership at Costco for now, even if Sam’s Club didn’t close the margin when it increased fees in 2022 for the first time in a decade. Probably the easiest and most basic Costco membership has a yearly price of $60, while the Executive Membership with additional perks costs $120.
The basic Sam’s Club membership still costs $50, while the higher-tier Plus membership costs $110. Besides these increased costs, Sam’s Club charged $45 for the basic membership and $100 for the Plus membership. Costco’s own fees won’t change for the moment.
The retailer’s CEO, Craig Jelinek, declared during its annual shareholders’ call last month that there are no plans in place to increase the membership prices. However, he didn’t completely rule out the possibility of doing something at some point in the future.
Prices
Customers generally see Costco as being much cheaper than Sam’s Club in the past, and this might still apply depending on the location and product. However, comparing the current list of prices of similar items on the Costco and Sam’s Club websites proves that customers might, at some point, spend less at Sam’s Club, at least when it comes to online shopping.
For instance, let’s take a 5-pound frozen pack of chicken patties. On Sam’s Club’s website, you will pay $16.48 for it, while a similar 5-pound pack of frozen chicken patties at Costco is $17.99. A 30-roll pack of Charmin toilet paper is listed for $29.99 on the Costco website, and a 32-roll pack of the same kind of toilet paper on the Sam’s Club website is $25.38.
Besides, a 2-count pack of Skippy Peanut Butter is $12.69 on the Costco website, compared to $10.28 on the Sam’s Club website. While we couldn’t compare the prices for all grocery categories through the retailers’ websites, especially since Costco doesn’t show their list of prices for general produce and dairy, Insider managed to craft its own comparison.
Apparently, Costco has better deals on produce and dairy, as Sam’s Club had lower prices for some types of pantry and plant-based products.
Food courts
Grocery shopping can be a very tiring and hunger-inducing activity. Luckily, both Sam’s Club and Costco operate their food courts inside their warehouses, so members can easily stop for a quick meal or snack as a reward for completing their weekly chores.
It’s worth mentioning that there is some overlap between the offerings at the respective food courts of these two retailers, like soft drinks, pizza, and ice cream. However, each food court offers a handful of super-unique items.
For instance, the Mountain Drew Berry Monsoon is a beloved soft drink flavor that you can only find at Sam’s Club. Unlike Costco, the retailer also sells ICEEs and other tasty soft pretzel iterations. In the meantime, you will find some items at both Costco and Sam’s Club, but at different prices, and it is worth mentioning that Costco’s legendary $1.50 hotdog combo is probably the best and hottest choice (if you know what I mean).
Sam’s Club also had their own version of the $1.50 hotdog combo until last year, when they decided to steal the competition and lower the price to $1.38. However, I still prefer the one from Costco. It’s just better.
Online shopping
Probably one of the biggest and most notable differences between Costco and Sam’s Club is how they decided to approach online shopping. For instance, Costco wrote on its website that products sold online might have different prices than the same products you’d find in their local warehouses.
Moreover, Costco customers reported seeing higher prices online compared to prices in stores. On the other hand, Sam’s Club states on its own site that prices don’t differ, even if customers decide to order online or shop in their physical stores.
Regular club members may find themselves in the position of paying a bit more to cover shipping costs, but Plus members automatically receive free shopping as part of their membership’s perks.
Handy services
Even if there are plenty of similarities between Costco and Sam’s Club, especially when it comes to the types and varieties of products they offer, each and every warehouse club has its own unique policies that ultimately diversify the shopping experience of members.
For instance, Costco temporarily started testing curbside pickup in some of its stores in New Mexico, but they haven’t decided to release the initiative on a wider spectrum. On the other hand, both tiers of Sam’s Club members are offered curbside pickup.
As Sam’s Club offers customers a Scan & Go option that automatically allows them to pay for their groceries on the app and skip useless checkout lines, Costco doesn’t offer any type of in-app self-checkout service. Besides, both clubs accept different types of payment methods.
For instance, Costco takes all Visa cards, most PIN-based debit and ATM cards, cash, checks, and various other methods. On the other hand, Sam’s Club’s list has some overlap, which is slightly longer, such as Walmart credit cards and credit cards for other major providers such as American Express, Visa, Discover, and MasterCard.
Costco vs. Sam’s Club: The Food Court Edition
Their two food service counters have recently gained a lot of attention, which further pushed the retailers to make their best moves in this sector. Costco decided to bring back the famous chopped onions, a beloved topping for the retailer’s legendary $1.50 hot dog, which was removed during the whole COVID-19 period of time.
Moreover, it has been heard that specific Costco locations have reportedly resumed selling another beloved food court item, and that is the delicious Chicken Caesar Salad.
In the meantime, Sam’s Club made headlines by dropping the price of its own hot dog combo from $1.50 to $1.38 (as I mentioned earlier), which supposedly undercut its competitor’s famous food court item. Then again, I’m still a fan of Costco’s.
The Walmart-owned club also added special limited-time menu items, such as the Birthday Cake Sundae, as a “birthday gift” to the retailer’s 40th anniversary in business. Among some of the best food court products you can find, you might want to try the hot dog combo, pizza, chicken bake, pizza pretzel, and sundae.
Next time you’re going on a shopping spree, you probably need a proper planning notebook, and that’s exactly why we recommend you get one of these. Trust me, you will thank yourself for buying it! If you enjoyed reading this piece, then you definitely need to read other articles on our website. Read next: 8 Things You Should Sell Before Retirement, According to Experts
