If I remember it correctly, Costco is most expensive among Sam's and BJ. I admit they do have somethings that Sam's doesn't offer. Just look at the rack of lamb, you will know where to shop. My wife is absolutely correct in this.

Costco - most expensive

smalldeal said:If I remember it correctly, Costco is most expensive among Sam's and BJ. I admit they do have somethings that Sam's doesn't offer. Just look at the rack of lamb, you will know where to shop. My wife is absolutely correct in this.

Costco - most expensive

Ha. That's one person who wrote an article on a single visit to each of the stores. I've been a member to all three and Costco is far and away a better place to shop IMO. Seriously if you're worried about crumbs on a food court table he should shop exclusively at Whole Foods. It's a warehouse. You aren't there for customer service. You're there to get bulk quantities of stuff.

To each is their own I guess.

Maybe not at this Whole Foods http://chicago.everyblock.com/news-articles/by-date/2008/7/11/1073456/

Thanks alot....

Any deals on BFGoodrich tires ...

I dont want to spend alot of money on tires for a old car.

Yes, but Sam's is just Wal-Mart's very own bulk warehouse, while Costco offers quality that puts Whole Foods to shame while keeping the price only a fraction over Wal-Mart's. I guess if you're super cheapo and not worry too much about what quality you get, Sam's would be ideal choice. With Exec membership at Costco, the 2% rebate I got more than cover my membership fee and this is not offered by Sam's.

Agree 110%. I have both Sams and Coscto. I think Sams has a rebate membership, but I only due the Costco one, since that is where 90% of my money goes. When Sams wiped out Pace, two weeks later they tossed all the better quality stuff and in came WalMart. You can still play the warrantee game with Sams, since they do have a good guarantee (maybe better actually on electronics, not sure) like Costco, and better extended service contracts. Overall, I use Sams for produce buys, since they have a faster pipeline (due to WalMart) and thus fresher produce. IMHO.

Any details on the HP laptop? costco link dont have ANY detail. If someone knows...pls let me know here!!!
Thanks !

I like this one from Sam's
HP- Intel with Blue ray, 4gb, 320gb disk for $800...I think its a best deal around.

SteelRing said:I guess if you're super cheapo and not worry too much about what quality you get, Sam's would be ideal choice. With Exec membership at Costco, the 2% rebate I got more than cover my membership fee and this is not offered by Sam's.
although i hate walmarts for their tactics in marketing, and their association with china, it's practically impossible to buy a lot of things NOT made in china today, including at costco.

to say that costco has higher quality with all their food isn't true. i've had to take things back to costco, and that never happened in the past. i will say that the majority of their food is premium quality, and that paying the same price for meat there as at a grocery store is a better deal, but there isn't anything automatic about them being better than sam's, at least not now.

as far as getting money back at sams, you can get 1% back on everything if you use the mastercard that has no annual fee. the same is true at costco if you use an American Express. if you got in on the recent fatwallet costco/am ex deal, you got $45 just for taking the card, plus 1% off your costco charges.

the executive membership at costco has an annual $100 fee, which is $50 more than the standard fee, so you have to spend $2500.00 just to get back the additional $50 member fee.

the electronics return at sam's is 6 months vs 3 months max at costco, so that's better.

it might be a good idea for anyone who wants to find out about sam's to get a $40 annual membership and check it out. you can get your membership fee refunded before the end of the year, and anything you don't like you can return, so there's really no risk.

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disposable said:
although i hate walmarts for their tactics in marketing, and their association with china, it's practically impossible to buy a lot of things NOT made in china today, including at costco.

to say that costco has higher quality with all their food isn't true. i've had to take things back to costco, and that never happened in the past. i will say that the majority of their food is premium quality, and that paying the same price for meat there as at a grocery store is a better deal, but there isn't anything automatic about them being better than sam's, at least not now.
As I understand it (explained by a friend who was working on an MBA, and for whom WalM@rt was a marketing case study), the policy at WalM@rt is to deliberately solicit manufacturers to cut costs in any way possible - including lowering quality - while encouraging / requiring them to put the items in packaging that made them indistinguishable from their "regular quality" products. Brand name manufacturers tend not to reduce quality (or at least not by much), because it has a negative effect on their brand quality identification; but the generic imports are typically of very low quality, so that the margins can be kept more reasonable.

Regardless of whether this is true, I do know that the differences between how Costco treats its employees and how Sam's treats theirs are very significant. It is for that reason alone that I don't shop at Sam's.

edit - fixed grammar

Off-topic (I should be shot for taking this off topic)...

One day shopping at Costco I was late getting somewhere, had to wait in line forever to check out, and then there was a huge backup at the receipt checker at the exit. I had kind of decided that I thought this second process amounted to an illegal search anyway, so I headed for the door.

They asked me to stop, but I just kept walking-my receipt was already in my wallet and I didn't feel like getting it out. A whole crew of shopping cart retrievers ended up at my car as I got in. I asked if they had grounds to stop me, no one answered. They had no grounds to detain me, as no one had seen me walk out of the store without paying for anything, since I had paid. So I got in my car and drove away.

After reading the membership agreement, they do spell out this exit door procedure, so if I'm not going to comply, they have the right to take away my membership. At any other non-member establishment though, I think this would still be considered an illegal search-that's why we only see it at membership places.

I thought it was a funny story, thought I'd share. I've shown my receipt since then, once I realized I had agreed to it by being a member and shopping there.

They do that at Frys and Best Buy here