Community Chat

[buyornot]

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@meonlybetter wrote:

Love Sams Club! My membership was free so no cost there. When I go to renew, my employer has a good discount.
I am there every other week. I buy milk (cheapest around this area, fruit (they have the best fruit!), hot dogs, big pork loins (cut into small pork loins, and pork chops), frozen veges, frozen fruit, greek yogurt, spices galore, candy, mints, paper products. Honkin box of baby wipes for my daughter. Did I mention love Sams? I have a Costco membership and like a few things there. I won't renew Costco. WIll just buy a gift card and shop that way so no membership fee.

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What do you mean by this-I'm interested.  Do you show the gift card when you come in the door?

[DiAnne]

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@geegerbee wrote:

So is that correct that I could buy a Costco gift card and shop there without being a member?

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I am not sure about that but I am pretty sure you can shop at Costco.com without being a member.  

[MaggieMack]

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@DiAnne wrote:

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@geegerbee wrote:

So is that correct that I could buy a Costco gift card and shop there without being a member?

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I am not sure about that but I am pretty sure you can shop at Costco.com without being a member.  

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Sort of. You can walk through the store, but if you want to buy something, you have to purchase a membership first.

[bonnielu]

We have Costco and Sams.  I prefer Costco but do go into Sam's to look around and often find frozen fish products that I like better than the ones offered at Costco.  It is a hit or miss and I just like to see what is being offered.  In general our Costco has a better selection of everything.  

[sunshine45]

10 Ways Non-Members Can Shop at Costco

http://www.cheapism.com/blog/3796/costco-without-a-membership

When it comes to savings on household goods, groceries, and more, Costco has always been a winning solution in terms of slashing costs. Warehouse shopping is usually cheaper and Sam's Club, Costco, and the like provide exceptional membership benefits. But what if you don't have a membership? All is not lost. There are still ways to land discounts at Costco without paying the annual membership fee.

[lOVETOSHOP]

We go to Sam's every week.  We buy papertowels and toilet paper, my husband buys coconut milk (cheaper than the grocery store by far!) batteries, bottled water, boneless chicken breasts, frozen pizza, organic bananas, heavy cream, half and half, books, magazines discounted by up to 30% off grocery store prices, children and baby clothes (Carter's brand) at a deep discount, occasional jewelry purchases, copier and printer paper for my husband's home business, good quality bath towels, bread products which we always freeze, premade veggie trays for parties, cd's, mouthwash, fresh flowers, we love Sam's and feel the money we save shopping there more than pays for membership fees.

[Moonchilde]

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@Kachina624 wrote:

I have a Sam's and a Costco within about 15 minutes of my home but I'm not going to pay to shop in anyone's store.

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But that's like Amazon Prime. Some people will never spend enough to make the membership "worth it" while others will get their $$ back many times over depending on what they buy.

I was on my own so rarely bought food for one. I did buy electronics, batteries, small electrics, and came out about even. 

I'm now living in a household where I'm not doing the buying, but kept my membership mostly for OTC drugs and drugstore items (which are often half the price of OTC in the drugstores) and for seasonal & gift items. I'll come out ahead on ibuprofen & allergy pills alone ;-)

But there were years where I didn't belong and didn't miss it, so I get that too.

[Moonchilde]

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@MaggieMack wrote:

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@DiAnne wrote:

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@geegerbee wrote:

So is that correct that I could buy a Costco gift card and shop there without being a member?

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I am not sure about that but I am pretty sure you can shop at Costco.com without being a member.  

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Sort of. You can walk through the store, but if you want to buy something, you have to purchase a membership first.

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You can buy liquor and get prescriptions in the pharmacy without being a member. If a Costco member buys you a gift card you can shop there with it. You can get a flu shot without being a member.

You can also buy anything on costcodotcom with a 5% surcharge.

[IamMrsG]

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@Kachina624 wrote:

I have a Sam's and a Costco within about 15 minutes of my home but I'm not going to pay to shop in anyone's store.

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@Kachina624  You might want to re-think this.  We pay $100 annually for our Sam's membership, but use their credit card for everything throughout the year. Our rewards/rebate check this February was over $900.  

[drizzellla]

We are members of both Sams Club and Costco. In fact they are both about 6 miles (opposite directions)  from our house. We end up going to Sams about once a week. Have to say that Sams has such a nice and extremely fresh assortment of fruits, that is why we go about once a week. I make a fresh fruit salad every day for my son's lunch and a salad for mine. 

Many times I have gone to Costco and they say they aren't getting raspberries in until the weekend. Or there is no peach mango salsa or guacamole on the shelves for sale. So it is just easier going to Sams. And not have to deal with the hit or miss of Costco.

It is so easy to overbuy because both have quality products. And we seem to buy more than we eat.  

We like the cold cuts at Sam's they have sliced turkey and corned beef that is always good and their bakery always is making fresh croissants, pies or rolls. Just walking around we have no trouble filling the cart, even if we don't need much. 

Also, we are looking to buy another tablet to replace one we lost. The prices for electronic products are better than many electronic stores.

Happy Shopping