After a year of Sam's club, I came back to Costco and see what a hellhole it was.

This commercial brought to you by the good people of Sam’s Club.

Sam’s Club....buy our shit!

Costco is fine, OP. They don't care if you quit them. I go once or twice a month and I love it. Times to avoid it are weekends around the 1st of the month. So fuck off. Costco leans LEFT LOLOLOLOL! Your people shop at Walmart.

Costco pays their employees well.

Costco is OK, but Sam's is closer to my house so it gets my voluminous biz. They're practically identical inside.

Kirkland = Member's Mark

Uh no R1, this is a real testament. Apple to apple, Costco is more expensive than Sam's on many key product. Berry Sundae is 2.5 in Costco, but only 1.60 at Sam's. Fried Rice is $13 vs. $10 at Sam's. These are real thing you can see now on the prices if you do not buy my experience. But visit one yourself. Also, Sam's does not check card membership at the door like costco. Another plus.

A store that's crowded, imagine that! They're all fucking crowded honey, you just have to deal.

Costco Hell……the Iwilei Honolulu Hawaii location. I just go directly to overflow parking about half a mile away. Few folks on the mainland have ever experienced anything like this. No matter what hour or day you shop.

Which Costco store makes the most money?

Also the largest store out of the three in Oahu, the Iwilei Costco rakes in a lot more money than others, according to The Seattle Times. While the average Costco warehouse rings up $129 million each year, the Costco in Iwilei posts $300 million

Use Instacart. I love that Costco is on there.

I belong to both.

Costco is consistently insane. Crowded and understaffed, and as some noted, compared to Sam’s, overpriced.

I’ve also noticed Sam’s often has human sized portions of milk, half & half, etc.

It is, in my mind, comparing Whole Foods vs. Safeway.

Does Whole Foods have higher quality products? Probably but it hard to measure that, and they WF is always more expensive.

That said, my Costco has a full liquor selection so ….

[quote] Use Instacart. I love that Costco is on there.

You pay extra on Instacart, though.

I’ve tried them both, but warehouse stores just aren’t worth it for me. Costco definitely has the edge on Sam’s for product quality and being a better employer, but it has a cult like fan base of more affluent customers, which makes it a douchier shopping experience (like Whole Foods).

Where the hell is your Costco OP, in some red state's all white hick town?

My Costco is nothing like the one you describe. WTF are you smoking? It's not super large as some other states Costco stores, but even when it's crowded it's never elbow to elbow! I avoid Costco on the weekends and alway shop after 6PM on weekdays.

Monday through Friday, my Costco is usually empty about an hour to 90 minutes before closing time, that's the best time to shop.

IIRC, their Seattle employees make over $20 an hour, not bad for that type of work. Then again, Costco workers really bust their asses.

The best time to go grocery shopping is 8pm. The fraus and olds are all at home and it's mostly just a few single people in the store. Quiet and peaceful.

I like how people are pretending there is a blue state / red state divide here. But, actually, this is just fat people across the political spectrum shopping with other fat people from across the political spectrum.

I will go as someone’s guest, but it has always been unfathomable to me that people pay money just to spend money.

R12, see R14.

The OP described the typical shopping experience for Costco from Des Moines to Los Angles.

Affluent customers? Again, depends where your Costco is located.

My Costco is in a mixed area, the customers are mostly the working poor and middle class. The affluent people in my neighborhood, the ones who are now buying up the $1-2million new build co-ops on the waterfront which face Manhattan, are likely getting everything delivered. Typical lazy-ass Yuppies and trust fund hipsters.

Of course, there is a red and blue state divide. That's a whole other shopping topic. Most people in red states refuse to wear masks, Costco has a strict mask wearing policy, they've had it in place since the beginning of the pandemic. My local Costco does not allow anyone in without a mask.

R6 It is not crowded, it is Black Friday crowded. These are newly built stores too, so they should have known to build them big like Sam's. But nope. Costco decided to cramp us in like sardines while charging higher than Sam's

I usually shop at the Costco in San Francisco, and it never feels too crowded, nor do I ever have to wait more than 10 minutes to check out. I always go on weekdays though. Parking is very easy, since I ride my motorcycle there.

[quote]I like how people are pretending there is a blue state / red state divide here. But, actually, this is just fat people across the political spectrum shopping with other fat people from across the political spectrum.

Only fat people shop at Costco? Where do some of you get this utter bullshit? Lots of clueless annoying people in this thread.

The types of foods Costco sells are also determined by a neighborhood's demographics.

Lots of South Asians, Hispanics and Japanese people are moving into my area. The types of food now being sold at Costco reflect the changing demographic in my neighborhood as well as the changing economic demo. Jeez.

Frau Thread Alert

R20, are you in Plano?

[quote][R20], are you in Plano?

No, NYC.

there are fat asians and latinos.

Does Sam's Club sell clothes? I've gone from Dressed for Success to "wardrobe by Costco" because who really cares any longer?

[quote]there are fat asians and latinos.

Not many where I live, sure not the affluent foreigners, especially the fashionably dressed young Japanese women in Chanel, Prada and Louis Vuitton.

There are TONS of fat Latinos. TONS.

I love how the fatties try on the clothes in the aisles since there are no dressing rooms. Pull off their sweaty T Shirts and pull on a shirt two sizes too small and then drop the stretched garment back in the pile loaded with BO and funk. Or remove the lid to the garlic shrimp, take a taste and put the package back.

Are you in Wichita, R28?

{quote]it has always been unfathomable to me that people pay money just to spend money.

The savings on gas alone probably pays for our membership. We buy our cars through Costco and rent cars both in the US and overseas through them. Plus we go through a lot of the Kirkland version of LaCroix. We get a rebate on the Executive membership.

I think the membership dues is their profit, the items they sell is the cost they pay to purchase in bulk.

I love their easy return policy.

Y'know what does not pay for itself? Costco's weird carry in requirement. One time, I carried my amazon package with me and they would not let me in! At Sam's, I would have all kind of bags other stores, and I can waltz in.

I once rented a car through Costco for $30. And drove it 1300 miles over 3 days.

Paid for that year’s membership and then some.

What year was that gramps? 1978?

R31, why would you want to carry stuff into Costco?

The Kirkland LaCroix is cheaper and better than the real thing.

b/c I dont drive and I need to stop by costco after picking up my AMZ package R34

BJ’s has deli prosciutto at only $8.50 a pound.

I have 2 Costcos within 5 miles of each other, the newer one is incredible, rarely very busy & lots of space. The newer one has gas, the older one doesn’t, so I alternate between them. I’ve heard only bad things about Sam’s.

R33 - Cute. Costco didn’t even exist in 1978.

This was in 2013. Someone erroneously enabled a $10/day rate on the Costco Travel website, so I grabbed it and Avis honored the reservation.

I go to Costco maybe once every other month. I get the shit I need and get out of there. I don't really notice the other people, and I'm not really concerned whether or not they're of my own socioeconomic strata. I am not concerned about shopping at a store where there might be some people who are below me on the economic chain, particularly a store I patronize so infrequently. Some of you are really fucking strange and downright ridiculous.

R40 we are strange because you are not one of us dear

No, I'm not working class or even middle class r41. But I don't care if others in a store with me are. DLers are so preoccupied with identifying "trashy" people.

[quote]No, I'm not working class or even middle class

..so, you're either Princess Grace or homeless.

Costco is 5 miles from my house. I’ve never had trouble getting my things and getting out quickly. They know how to move people through lines.

R40 lives on a sink estate.

Sam's and Walmart need to be boycotted for pushing CRT training on their employees.

Costco, high class? Oh OP hunny. 🙄

[quote]The savings on gas alone probably pays for our membership.

The membership fee sure does pay for itself. My yearly Costco rebate from using the card is usually more than the membership fee.

Not to mention, a Costco customer receives a second cash rebate when they use the Costco Visa card, which, btw, has no limit per purchase. I use that credit card in other stores too.

It's not wise to use the Costco rebate check there, just cash it while checking out. If you use your rebate towards a purchase, you won't get the full percentage back on the total cost of those purchases.

I can tell many here don't belong to Costco, the shit they are spewing proves it.

Sam's Club allows a second card with with the same account number to be issued to a relative.

COSTCO also allows a second card to be issued for a relative, but the relative MUST LIVE IN THE SAME DOMICILE.

Free shipping for purchases on samsclub dot com for Sam's Plus members. Plus members also get similar rebates based on purchase volume, like COSTCO.

Have no idea if COSTCO does the same. Is there a COSTCO plus membership available?

I hooked up with the Costco sample guy once.

R49 I think so. I don't have it but if you pay double the amount ($120) you get an Executive card which gives you a percentage back rebate at the end of the year.

[quote]I will go as someone’s guest, but it has always been unfathomable to me that people pay money just to spend money.

Like R48, I haven't paid a Costco membership in years. With the Exec membership's 2% back, you only have to spend $6000 a year there (which for me I spend on liquor alone in.a year at Costco - myself and my parents).

But nobody is going to do a wonderful social-research website on the "People of Costco."

Sam's Club, after all, is Walmart-adjacent.

The People of Walmart site just reminds me how many people are total, utter trash.

I worked there once. I was the guy folding the fucking shirts after you moo cows dug thru the piles. You don’t need the XXL size at the bottom. The one on top is exactly the same.

Then they put me in the chicken skewering department. You whores don’t have to root thru the rotisserie chickens in the display to find that perfect chicken. Again, there is no difference between the bird that came off the skewer five minutes after the others.

And finally, don’t argue with me when you can’t find a product that was there last week. Some items are promos and are not restocked. I have nothing to do with inventory. Take your nasty attitude out on your husband, not me.

And while you’re at it, return your cart to the cart corral. Leaving it in a handicap stall or propped up into a planter is just nasty lazy entitled.

I have to be a Karen with Costco this week. We ordered a bed two months ago and they hired the worst freight company in humanity to deliver it. Still isn't here.

[quote]Sam's and Walmart need to be boycotted for pushing CRT training on their employees.

What a waste. Nobody even manufactures cathode ray tubes anymore.

[quote][R49] I think so. I don't have it but if you pay double the amount ($120) you get an Executive card which gives you a percentage back rebate at the end of the year.

Both Costco cards give you a percentage back in the form of a check rebate. Have you read every post here?

All of the Costco cards give you back a rebate, however the Executive card gives you more cash back.

The Costco Visa card also gives you a cash rebate and you can use this Visa card anywhere.

Both rebates are in check form, you have the option to cash them in at the store or use them towards your purchases.

Is it me or costco rotiss chix has beeen horrible lately? It was watery and mushy, nothing like sams. It was like chicken in a can. I swear costco needs to up the chicken game.

R2 best time to go to Costco is 7pm on Wednesday night. The place is a ghost town.

[quote] Berry Sundae is 2.5 in Costco, but only 1.60 at Sam's. Fried Rice is $13 vs. $10 at Sam's.

Berry sundae and fried rice savings? I guess if that's all you're buying.

As time passes, there are less exciting things about Costco. When I drank (alcohol), I did like the red wines (Kirkland).

I still get Michelin tires there.

Yes, do your Costco shopping at night. I usually go on a Monday or Tuesday night.

The car rentals are a good deal and quickly payoff my membership. The liquor and wine prices also are an easy way to pay off a membership.

Sam's has been a failure for Walmart. They've had a good year or so recently, but Walmart still close quite a few stores.