Costco v BJ's v Sam's
 

I have never been in a Costco store, but many on this forum wax lyrical about them.

What are the main differences between a Costco and the other two?

Thank you

Different sources have done comparisons in the past. My recollection is all three were basically the same but with minor differences that might be important to certain customers.

For me, Sam's is close, BJ's wanted me to cut coupons to get good prices, and Costco wasn't around. I'll probably take a look at Costco but it will take something significant to make me switch.

Chevy Truck vs. Ford Truck.

:ho:

Hmmm. Never driven (or been in) either of those :-)

Our neighbor takes us to Sam's and we recently joined BJ's (golf-cart accessible, plus it cost $50 for the year and we got $50 credit, plus a free turkey).

Mrs Fox has been to Costco (once) and loved their kitchen utensils and Hallowe'en candy.

I went for the first time into a Costco a while back. If someone had put a blindfold on me and led me to the middle of the store and took it off, I wouldn't have been able to tell you if I was in a Sam's or Costco or whatever. I quit going to these places years ago, I don't need to buy items in the quantity sold there. Unless you have serious gastro problems, why do you need to buy a pack of TP that would last an army platoon for a month?

Costco will have numerous(sometimes as much as 10) areas in the store which allow customers to sample food. Around holidays they seem to be better. At least for me, Costco does sell better quality hot dogs for 1.50 including a drink and they are very efficient(will have 5-6 people working there and Sams has 3-4 people doing the same)

Sams does sell a lot more junk food.

I've been members of all three. Sam's Club and BJ's are pretty good, having cheaper gasoline and pretty good quality meats (in bulk, of course!). Costco is usually bigger with more choices, perhaps a shade lower in prices. What I notice mostly is how enthusiastic and helpful Costco employees generally are in comparison to the employees at the other two. I guess you get that when you pay a better wage, offer better benefits and don't try to keep employees under 40 hours a week to keep them from getting benefits. Or maybe it's the fact that the CEO of the company makes something like 7 times as much as the average employee (I may have the number wrong; it's from a special I saw on them years ago) instead of 50 or 100 times as much.

Some people just freakin' LOVE the $1.50 quarter-pound hot dog-and-a-soda deal that Costco has had for years. I tried it once and I thought it was a tube full of gas instead of meat. But then, I'm annoyingly particular about hot dogs.

Hot dog and a soda at Costco: $1.50
Hot dog and a soda at Sam's: $1.38
Hot dog and a soda at BJ's: not sure they even offer it

I like the basically middle class stuff at Costco, their service when installing appliances or furniture. Doubling of warranty when you buy from them, and the usually lower price than what most retailers ask. The jewelry, Costco has an authentic diamond background. The reliability of many of the brands they carry, the fresh food etc etc.

I can tell something they all have in common? You have to pay just to shop in them…

Heart burn $1.50

Heart burn $1.38

Maybe no heart burn :a040:

You might want to see your PCP if a hot dog gives you heart burn ;-)

Sam's club seems to have more fresh fruit and vegetables than BJ's. BJ's seems to have more seasonable items than Sam's club. Costco has everything.

BJ's is golf cart accessible, but it's WAYYYYYYY up on the furthest northeasterly part of The Villages that you can get. So if you're down south of 44, or near Brownwood, or even south of Sumter, it's not convenient at all. They offer the same dog and soda deal the other two offer, $1.50. Their dogs aren't as good as Sam's though, and their condiments (watery relish, watery yellow mustard, watery ketchup) are pathetic. For an extra 50 cents you can swap your soda out for a frozen coke. BJ's gas is the cheapest in the area, even less than Sam's but it's members only. If you have a BJ's credit card, it's even cheaper than that. They don't have a pharmacy but they do have a full-service optical department.

Sam's is not golf-cart accessible at all, it is also on 441 but further south, across from Kohl's. It's not very convenient if you live south of 44, or east of Buena Vista, north or south. Their hotdogs are pretty awesome. Sam's has both optical and full service pharmacy, more "tasting" areas, more variety in their butcher/seafood department, and the store itself is larger.

I've never been to any Costco ever so I can't comment on what it has/doesn't have. But it won't be convenient to anyone north of Sumter, and it'd be pretty pointless to be a member if you live in the Historic Side since BJ's is right there. Would probably be a great occasional visit though, I think they offer day-passes.

I haven't been in the other 2 for years, but I believe that Sam's Club is the only one where you can watch them squeeze orange juice, then buy it and take it home.

I happily pay the membership fee, just for the OJ. 3.5L/week. My Dr. says it's not incontrovertible scientific evidence, but I haven't had a cold since the 90's.

But the new one will be golf cart accessible!

Right now we are members of BJ’s but I'm looking forward to what Costco offers.

BJ’s has some deals, But one has to clip coupons, in the beginning no signage that that item was less cost with a stupid coupon. Once I returned home opened the ad book, I could have saved $36) Not a fan of their deli products, basically 4 items at snack bar. Good thing, nobody in the store and less lines for gas. Best thing for BJs WaWa’s in right in front. It was a one and done.

I have belonged to both Sam’s and Costco since opening in our area. Sam’s always easy to find parking, less people, our business membership got us in at 7am. Sams has certain items not found at any other box stores. Save on pets food, I like to buy just one meat, poultry, or seafood item counter. I buy their Salmon, office supplies. I don’t eat anything at their snack bar. Staff is few and far between if you need help it’s not at Sam’s.

Costco best return policy than any retailer. My Dyson ($450) stopped working at 15 months. I asked at the desk if still available. Desk looked up my account saw the purchase, told me to return for full refund, and shipped same item to my house. I like their chicken, salad and soup better than Sam’s. We use their optometry department 2 pairs of glasses a year, buy tires, batteries for all 3 cars. Most of the items I buy aren’t bulk that some seem to think. Over 20 years, never paid a yearly membership, because my year end check is more than membership fee. I grab their chicken Caesar salad and frozen latte at the snack bar, on my way out to fuel up for the ride home. Their customer service is worth every penny.We had 7 Costco within 20-55 minutes from our house. So no matter where I had to be there was a Costco near by.

If I had to only pick one it would be Costco. (I buy my eggs at TJ’s if farm is not available)

It'd be around 40 minutes each way by golf cart from my house. I sometimes make a Tuesday drive to Fresh Market to get ground meat for $3.99/lb. Have lunch at Culver's, walk the strip malls, browse in Marshall's, etc. It's been awhile since I've done that, does Fresh Market still offer that?

You don't have to clip coupons if you have the app.

That means I have to add another app to my iPhone, spend more minutes than I want trying to find if there is a better price. It was a struggle to find products that I used. Now that we are south of 44, I am rarely think let’s drive to BJs when I can get to Costco faster in Clermont.

I've been a Costco member for 30+ years. I've also been a BJ member for a year (didn't renew) and I'm an active Sam's member (2+ years) but used to "borrow" a friends membership for a decade before that.

Costco is unparalleled. You're essentially getting only top quality goods at a great price. They're return policy is probably the best in the US among all retailers. They will take anything back without question in most cases.

Sam's is good. Definitely better than 5-10 years ago. They sell good stuff but sometimes a little lower end things than Costco. When the Costco gets built here we might keep our Sam's membership for the great car wash and a few meat items that we like to buy sometimes at Sam's.

BJ's is like a mini version of both. Much less food selection. I don't see how they will survive here when the Costco opens up.

Where I live, the attendant at the door at Sam's doesn't really care if you show him your membership card. Costco is anal about checking your card when you enter, to the point of installing scanners that display your photo ID for the gatekeeper. Also, again unique to us, our Sam's is closer to poor neighborhoods, and has lots of customers we would probably not care to associate with, as opposed to Costco, which is suburban.
Also, the Costco near Iowa City has the biggest indoor parking lot I've ever seen. Rumor is that when they bought the land, there was a huge factory on it, which they kept and use for parking. Indoor parking: sweet.

Check Costcos stock price, that will answer your question

Costco has a wide selection of Prime meat. Costcos lamb is the best. The packaging of the chicken is bette, to me. There are a lot of similarities otherwise. The Kirkland Vanilla ice cream is the best I’ve ever had.

Surprising (to me) answers to this question, most of them by people who don't shop at Costco. Gotta love it when people have an opinion about something they've not explored.

The difference is quality.

I've been a Costco member for well over fifteen years in other locations. When we moved to TV, I tried both Sam's and BJ's because they were close. Neither one came up to the same standards as Costco. So I continued to drive down to Tampa (now Clermont) to go to Costco. There are lots of boxed/wrapped commercial items (toilet paper, kitchen appliances, etc.) for which there is no difference. But most of the foodstuffs are simply better quality at Costco: better flavor, better choice, better price. I look forward to their opening here in TV.

I mentioned this in another thread about Costco coming here. I've been a member of Costco for about 10 years. I've had a membership at Sam's for a year when I first moved down here. When I found out they were opening a Costco in Claremont I let my Sam's membership lapse and now choose to drive 50 minutes (one way) and pay toll fees over shopping at Sam's.

Why?

Costco has the best:
Meat department: I compared steaks at Sam's, BJ's, and Costco. Costco steaks are about 1-1/4" to 1-1/2" thick. At Sam's you're lucky if it's 3/4" thick. BJ's meat department isn't even worth mentioning. Costco has awesome sirloin, ribeye, and New York strip.

Bakery: the stuff actually tastes like it was made by a real bakery, not store-bought like Sam's. Again, BJ's bakery isn't even worth mentioning.

Generic product line (Kirkland): almost everything I've gotten has been top notch. Probably the best generic product line anywhere. Much better than members Mark as far as I'm concerned. Couple of examples: Kirkland organic salsa is the best store-bought salsa I've ever had. Their frozen tilapia is sourced from India I guess, not China, so it's much cleaner and better quality. The Kirkland beef hotdogs are very good.The Kirkland red tail shrimp shrimp is incredible. Their bedsheets, toilet paper, kleenexes, and paper towels are all excellent.

Never tried anything from BJ's generic.

Return policy: 90 days on most everything, even if you've opened it and eaten part of it (for food). The only question they ask you is if there was something wrong with it. zero hassle returns. A previous neighbor of mine bought a couch and had it for over a month. They ended up not liking it so he just threw it on his snowmobile trailer without any of the original packing and brought it back. It's really kind of crazy.

Sam's carries a lot of namebrand food products that you would find at a Walmart. Costco seems to carry names you wouldn't recognize but are of a higher quality.

This might not be important to everyone but Costco treats its employees pretty well. when I was in Minnesota, I talked with a cashier and her assistant who loads the carts. Both of them had been there for over 10 years and loved working there.

In my opinion, it's not even close between the three.

Everything is different.
If you buy anything defective just bring it back. Even if you bought it year before I bought a Christmas tree that 1 row of lights just would not light — manager said. “Just bring it back for Refund. I don’t care if you drag it here on a chain behind your car

I will buy a wide variety of items at a warehouse store but I would not by stocks there.

Poor neighborhoods, not care to associate with, hmmmm!

I’m surprised that nobody has mentioned the travel benefits through Costco. Everything you book through their travel department earns you a cash card upon completion of your trip. We got a $400 cash card for booking our Alaskan cruise through them.

Longtime Costco and 1 year BJ’s.

Both have your daily need stuff in bulk at good prices. Costco snack bar has a lot more choices than BJ such as oversized pizza slices, salads, soft ice cream etc

Costco has a larger variety as well as occasional novel itens they are “trying out”.

Where do you get the idea that most are commenting on something they have not explored? It looks to me like 11 of the 15 answers that mentioned shopping had actually shopped at more than one. Those answers have to be at least as valid as the person who has always shopped at Costco but "tried" BJs and Sams once to confirm they were not the same and now continues to shop only at Costco.

2 things that stink about Costco. Much of their meat is “blade tenderized”. Meaning it’s poked full of holes by dozens of needles as it passes down the processing line. To me, that’s a seriously hi chance of contamination.
Then there is Costco announcing their W0ke policy. When that seems to be in the opposite trend than it recently has been. As many other companies have rethought that policy, as it had a negative impact on their business.

We’re hooked on the fresh squeezed orange juice too.

Both have pluses and minuses. Where Sam’s beats Costco is in hours and checkout. You can use the Sam’s app to checkout rather than waiting in long lines at Costco. It’s always a 15 minute wait to checkout there.

Costco uses fewer suppliers, so gets deeper discounts, and uses those suppliers to make its own brand of merchandise. Less choice better quality, allegedly.

BJs is a pain in the neck, coupon centric, poor choice, higher prices.

Sams is a better grade of Walmart, and has a great meat department. Wide variety, better quality, good to fair prices.

I really don't know as I don't frequent any of them. I hate the big box stores and don't understand why retirees have a need for buying in large quantities.

I don't shop at Costco or any other big box stores but if I did, I might go to Costco. Why are you hung up on Woke? Do you even know what it means or do you just parrot what your station tells you?

While I no longer eat them, I found the best hot dogs were the ones sold by the vendor in front of Home Depot.

I have been a member of all 3 and currently I am a snowbird with a Costco membership up North and BJs in TV. Will continue paying for both because of savings and convenience. I golf cart to BJs and am 2 miles from Costco by car up North. Costco is the best. May drop BJs depending on how far new Costco is from my village home, even if by car. Gasoline savings alone pays for either memberships.