As far as Sam’s and Walmart’s employees and some of the comments post here, get real. Let me ask you this, if its such a bad place to work then why would anyone? Like they are the only employer in town (probably not the case). So, either people believe that employees of Walmart are unintelligent or there is only one place to work. I don’t think either is true. Guess what? Walmart has created more millionaires than any other company through there employee stock investment program. All I am saying is don’t believe everything you hear. Everyone is after the big guy and in this case its Walmart. They have to have fair compensation or guess what? NO ONE would work there!

Number two…What’s with the anti-Walmart? Come on people. You can’t lie. You push all this stuff about how Wal-Mart is Satan, but seriously…No..one…can…beat…their…prices. This is why they shut out small mom & pop stores. Their prices own. If you’re rich enough to avoid Wal-Mart, why are you shopping at a warehouse club anyway? Go to your Whole Foods and pay $10 for a loaf of bread and leave us alone.

Anyway, I would choose Sam’s (and did before I worked there) over Costco for a variety of reasons, but forms of accepted payment is a huge reason. Sam’s membership gives you the option of applying for a private label (run through GE Money Bank) credit card, or a cash back Discover card (also run through GE). They also take Mastercard. Costco takes ONLY Amex. Not that many people have Amex. It’s almost an obsolete credit card reserved for those who are big, BIG spenders. Which, again, if you are…Why are you shopping warehouse clubs?

What I really get sick of is people attacking the customer service. As a Sam’s employee, I apologize for bad experiences, but we always try to rush people through the line as fast as possible, opening every checkout and pre-scanning orders so all you have to do is swipe your membership card and pay. Also, Sam’s offers Click’N Pull and Fax’N Pull services, which you can fax your order ahead of time, walk in, pay, and you’re done. It’s all ready when you get there. Costco does not offer this. Just a suggestion for those of you who think all Sam’s cashiers are idiots and the lines are too long.

Cheers,
Mike

The 25lb bags of bread flour and 1 lb. bags of yeast also make the membership worthwhile.

A Walmart recently opened in my area and the line of people trying to get a job at Walmart was staggering. They probably had 10 applicants for each job opening. These people were not forced to work at Walmart but maybe it was the best job they could find at the time. I’d like to think that the same applies to anyone who works at a low paying job anywhere.

We moved to this area less than a year ago and I joined BJ’s pretty much automatically as I had previously been a member of Costco and assumed the savings were assured. But I’m finding out that this isn’t necessarily the case.

For about the last six months, I’ve kept a detailed price comparison book of the grocery, toiletry, cleaning and household products we typically buy at either BJ’s or other supermarkets. I’ve been STUNNED to see through my own research that BJ’s rarely has the best price on anything I buy. So far the exceptions are toilet paper and ziploc bags. The savings on these items are not large compared with the next cheapest retailer. There’s no way I’m making back my cost of membership by saving less than a quarter on a huge amount of toilet paper or a buck on 132 ziploc bags. I’d have to buy a ton of these items each year to make back my membership fee.

The longer I live in this area and discover other places to shop, the worse BJ’s fares in my price comparison quest. Even with family living here, it’s still taking me a while to learn the different retailers. One of the most surprising things I’ve found in my research is that the most upscale-looking supermarket, Wegman’s, beats the pants off other stores that look less fancy such as Giant and King’s/Weis. And small retailers like an independent Italian deli offer several imported cheeses at prices MUCH lower than the supermarkets and even beat BJ’s by 50 cents per pound or more.

I would strongly recommend that everyone who wishes to shop frugally keep their own price comparison book. When you know who in YOUR area has the best price for the items YOU buy, you have an incredibly powerful tool at your disposal. Unfortunately, you have to build this tool yourself and it does take time. No one can hand you this information. But there’s nothing quite like rock-solid knowledge. With a self-compiled price comparison book, you immediately know a great sale price from hype. You can stock up with confidence when you find a good sale.

I won’t be renewing my BJ’s membership in a few months. But I will ask family members to pick up a few items for me a couple times per year. And I’ll need to find a new place to buy gas. Gas is my most frequent purchase at BJ’s right now. I save a few pennies per gallon, but even that’s not enough to make up the $40 membership fee per year.

Bottom line is: don’t assume that any store has the best prices on anything. Do the actual comparison.

I have mixed feelings about Sam’s/Walmart and am willing to make some tradeoffs.

When I was growing up in a medium city, my folks had a Sam’s membership (it was Sam’s Wholesale for a while), so the only Walmart items were toys during our annual Christmas visit to Walmart (just as close as any other store, but less comfortable). There’s no Costco in that town; I’d never heard of it until long after moving to the big city.

When I was single in the big city, I went to Sam’s every few months for things like juice (membership free through work) and never went to Walmart. Mostly went to the big grocery chain in town, and on occasion the Whole Foods for WW pasta, but WF is just as claustrophobic as the Christmas Walmart of my childhood.

Now I’m in the small city, we use a mixed grocery strategy. Only the health food place carries a WW flour we like, for example, and SO will not go to Kroger’s because it’s expensive money- and privacy-wise. So Walmart is one of three stores we go to. Will need to stop at Whole Foods for fettucine next time we are in Big City. This may change as different stores come into town.

When I first became a Costco customer, I started as a “Gold Star” member (low level of membership) and shared the membership with someone else. I was initially shopping there for the convenience and prices alone.

As time went on, as I learned more about Costco’s business ethic as a company and that of the CEO, and as I learned more about the product and service offerings, I eventually upgraded to an Exective membership and I have found myself preaching the good word about Costco to anyone who will listen, particularly if they are in the market for a house.

My home purchase two years ago was through Costco’s services, and I received $750 cash back in Realty services and a $400 Costco Cash card for using the loan services. Refinancing this year to a fixed rate will net me another $300 Costco Cash card. Obviously I more than make up for the $100 membership fee for the Executive membership each year. If I don’t, though, Costco always offers a back-refund to the Gold Star membership to guarantee you get your money’s worth out of the upgrade.

I’m obviously rambling here, but I (and it seems many others as well) just can’t say enough good things about Costco. As time goes on, loyalty to the company just continues to grow. It’s the only big box store I know of where I know the cashiers personally for over five years (because they never want to quit) and the retail employees can make as much money in a year as I do as a Business Analyst.