As the world has been figuring out the new retail landscape, we’ve been investigating warehouse stores like Costco and Sam’s Club as your electronics alternative. Well, as it so happens, Sam’s Club is in the middle of Member’s Mark Month. Now through June 16, when you sign up for a Sam’s Club Membership you can get a special rate. A Sam’s Club member at the ‘Club’ tier now costs only $20 instead of the usual $50, a savings of $30, and a Sam’s Club Plus membership costs $60 instead of the usual $110, saving you $50. Of course, it needs to be a new Sam’s Club membership or (at the very least) you couldn’t be have not been one for 6 months to qualify for the offer.
If you’re intrigued, be sure to tap the button below and sign up. Alternatively, keep reading to see which membership is best for you, how the memberships can pay for themselves, and what you should buy at Sam’s Club to make it all worth your while.
While there are plenty of perks to a Sam’s Club membership, if we’re talking discounts, lets also talk money. What is a warehouse membership, anyhow? To reiterate on a point that we’ve stated over and over again, you pay for a membership and gain discounts and services. In theory, and hopefully in practice, this means that the membership could pay for itself. This membership deal makes it easier to tip the balance in your favor. Consider it your opportunity to weather the trade war — whether you continue with the membership afterwards is up to you, after all.
So, here’s the value: We did a lengthy look at the perks and discounts Sam’s Club (and Costco) can give you. As before, the Plus tier membership gives you the most benefits, and we zeroed in on just three (of many) to examine what you’ll get. Of these, the most critical is the 2% back you get on purchases. That’s $2 back to you per $100 spent, or $3,000 for the full $60 your membership costs. If you think you spend anywhere close to $3,000 per year on electronics and other Sam’s Club buys, then you can benefit from this membership. Remember, this isn’t the only perk you’ll get (again, check out our guides for extended coverage) so there will be plenty of chances to turn the whole affair into a savings machine for you and your family. If you’re having trouble thinking about what you may buy, check out our warehouse store electronics shopping guide for ideas on what you should buy (and what you should skip entirely) at these stores.
Right now you can get a Sam’s Club ‘Club’ membership or ‘Plus’ membership for just $20 and $60, respectively. That’s a savings of $30 or $50 off of the usual prices of $50 and $110, but those savings are only yours now through June 16, so be sure to sign up and start saving now.
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If you love shopping for bargains, you should get a Sam’s Club membership. The Walmart-owned warehouse retail chain offers some of the best discounted prices you can get anywhere, and if you’re not yet a member, you can already start enjoying savings when signing up. Instead of $50 for a year of Club membership, you’ll have to pay just $20 right now. That’s $30 lower than usual, but you’re going to have to hurry if you’re interested because the special price is only available for a limited time — only until May 12.
Why you should sign up for a Sam’s Club membership
In our Sam’s Club versus Costco comparison for buying electronics, the major advantage of Sam’s Club is its lower membership cost, which is even more affordable with this ongoing offer. Of course, signing up will give you access to discounts across all types of products, including groceries, household essentials, health and wellness, and so much more. Signing up for a Club membership gets you two cards, so you can share it with someone else in your household for separate shopping runs.
The Sam’s Club membership perks are also not just for electronics. In addition to generous return policies and proper technical support, Club membership will give you access to fuel savings at pumps that are located in select Sam’s Club locations, as well as the Scan & Go option when you’re shopping that will let you skip the checkout lines by scanning your items as you pick them up and paying for them all through the Sam’s Club app. Club members can also enjoy free curbside pickup on eligible orders of at least $50, so that you can save time if your day is packed with errands.
Sam’s Club takes Walmart deals to a whole new level with its wholesale prices, and if you’re not yet a member, now’s an excellent time to sign up. A full year of Club membership is available for just $20, for savings of $30 on its original price of $50, but not for long as the limited-time offer only lasts until May 12. You’ve only got a few days left before you miss out on the special price, and we highly recommend taking advantage of the discount right now just to make sure that you don’t forget. Sign up for Sam’s Club now to start accessing the enormous benefits!
Welcome back to another article on the world of warehouse retailers. The idea is that warehouse retailer electronics savings just might be the solution to the economic uncertainty we’re currently facing. Last time we looked at membership electronics savings, detailing what to buy at Costco and Sam’s Club, as well as what you should skip from the favored warehouse stores.
But we all know that there’s more to a Costco or Sam’s Club membership than simple savings. You can get gas deals, tire changes, and so forth — many even do their grocery shopping at the stores. But, as we think about how warehouse retailer membership helps electronics purchases, we notice that there are plenty of extras and bonus that help you as an electronics consumer, too. And so, here we present these “hidden” Costco and Sam’s Club electronics membership benefits that can help with with everything from product setup to fixing a broken screen.
Earlier, we when compared Costco and Sam’s Club directly, we closely scrutinized both the Costco and Sam’s Club return policy on electronics. To condense the work, the Costco electronics exchange and return policy was deemed to be better, but only slightly. Each lets you return electronics items within 90 days and lets online buyers return via return shipment or in physical store locations. The only major issue comes with returning smartphones. Costco’s policy mentions that unlocked phones are covered by their typical return policy, while carrier-specific phone purchases might have restrictions based on the carrier. Sam’s Club, meanwhile, limits phone returns to 14 days.
If you compare these guidelines to the Best Buy, Walmart, and Amazon return and exchange policies, you’ll find — generally speaking — that Costco and Sam’s club returns are quite generous and come down on the side of the customer.
Costco is known for going above and beyond, however, when it comes to returns. Or, at least, trying to prevent them by keeping you happy. While it does make sense to go with the manufacturer for your technical support needs, not all manufacturers have a technical support number or will necessarily have the kind of snappy response you desire. For select products, you can get help from Costco’s team of technical and warranty services representatives. This isn’t necessarily going to be groundbreaking (you shouldn’t expect them to have tech wizardry skills with offbeat products, for example) but it will create a personalized help environment for the common, confusing issues you may face during the installation and operation of the kinds of common products you buy from the store.
Meanwhile, if you shop via Sam’s Club you can get certified technicians to help you connect your devices and get them set up, with specific mentions of TVs, computers, and tablets. It’s important to note, however, that these services are all in conjunction with an Allstate warranty (see below).
When we discussed the warehouse club electronics perks and ultimate value of shopping at Costco and Sam’s Club, we also went into their customer service philosophy to some degree. Part of this can already be seen by the two stores’ generous return policies and Costco’s technical support staff, but it goes further than this.
Sam’s Club, for instance, has a ‘Scan & Go’ mechanism for their stores to allow you to leave without enduring lines. Costco has a famed food court for in-person shoppers, help for your tech issues, and more. These are companies known for their willingness to help you out on another level.
Warranty options (Standard & Extended)
Costco’s electronics warranties include Allstate Protection plans and something called Costco Technical and Warranty Services. This second category gives a warranty directly from Costco for up to two years after the date of purchase or delivery on specific electronics. At this time, TVs, projectors, and most computers are able to be covered. When you combine both the Allstate and the Costco warranties, you can get up to five years of combined extended warranty. That’s a long time for any product, and especially for tech products that many manufacturers might expect you to replace every couple of years.
You may have also heard of the Costco Concierge Services, which are made to serve you as a customer long after the purchase has been made. And these interactions can be absolutely delightful for you. In a Reddit thread about experiences with Costco Concierge Services, we’re seeing reports of concierge staff visiting homes to help solve issues and finding out that a troubled TV was so old that they simply got sent another one. It’s not a totally perfect service, however, and sometimes things are simply not covered, but there is care built-in to the service.
The Sam’s Club electronics warranty follows a similar pattern. Beyond the satisfaction guarantee and any manufacturer’s guarantee, you can also get an Allstate protection plan. Sam’s Club differs from Costco, however, in that the plans are more varied by product and include tablets. These plans are broken up into “Standard” and “Accident” protection plans. For example, if you buy a TV you can get a five-year standard plan that provides tech support and covers failures from everyday use or power surges. On the other hand, you might get a three-year accident plan on a computer or laptop, which will cover you in incidents such as liquid damages and hard drive failure. Their two-year portable electronics protection plan is notable for its coverage of drops, spills, and cracks that can easily affect even the best-designed tablets.
All in all, we think you’re going to find that warehouse stores have surprisingly strong customer-centric policies despite the profit motive reputation that phrases like “warehouse retailer” invokes. And part of that makes a ton of sense. You’re not just getting a membership with Costco or Sam’s Club for a one time shopping frenzy. Well, maybe you are, but that’s not what the companies are hoping for. When you pay for a Costco or Sam’s Club membership, you’re buying a service even if it doesn’t feel like it. Just as there are always new things to watch on Netflix, demonstrating that the service has continued value for you, Costco and Sam’s club are there to provide long-term value. This includes everything from long-term support via customer service to a peace of mind that there is a low risk of problems getting something fixed or replaced if you buy electronics from their warehouses.
If you’re following our ongoing saga dedicated to investigating Costco and Sam’s Club for electronics, you may think that we’re under the impression that all electronics are best purchased at these warehouse stores. That’s not the case. There are some categories of products that tend to be great to buy at these stores and others that you should avoid. Here, we’re aiming to provide a comprehensive warehouse club electronics buying guide, so you can stick to the good stuff and avoid the duds. We’re hitting all the major product categories and things you’ll see, with some helpful tips and notes along the way.
So, what are the best electronics to buy at Costco? What about the best electronics to buy at Sam’s Club? While you can find good deals on electronics throughout these and other warehouse stores, some categories are just better than others, plain and simple. Here are the electronics categories that we think you should spend extra time on when shopping at Costco and Sam’s Club.
TVs (large screen)
TVs and large screen TVs are some of the smartest electronics buys at Costco and Sam’s Club. Bulk purchasing power on these (often) mass-produced goods result in competitive pricing. Plus, a larger TV is often right at the price point where you start to need to get whatever discounts on them you can get.
But, it’s trickier than that and worth a deeper look.
Most makes of TVs have several models, with different sizes and (sometimes) subtly different features. Once you get the base technology, UI, and software/hardware combo just right, making TVs in different sizes is apparently not nearly as giant as a leap as you might expect it to be. Unfortunately, each model also comes with a sort of minimum acceptable price — a price that retailers can’t go below. However, we’ve found that warehouse retailers can pass along special savingsby requesting unique warehouse models just for them in exchange for buying mass quantities of said models. Then, you can get some of those savings passed along to you. When it works right, it is a win-win-win scenario. And while, obviously, this kind of deal can work with any product, it is just especially noticeable for TVs due to the (already) large number of models that each line uses.
Smart home devices (bundles and kits)
Smart home devices that include cameras, Wi-Fi extenders, and home security tend to come in bundles. Those bundles can give you bigger savings. For example, as we browse Costco’s security cams we currently see some quality Reolink bundles. Checking Amazon, we see that similar bundles with roughly equivalent stats are more expensive. That being said, don’t immediately slam the breaks on good old Amazon — we’re largely finding different bundles, they just have similar stats and camera numbers and come from the same brand. But, when you compare two sets of eight security cameras from the same brand, both with 12MP cameras and 4TB of storage, a $450 price differential is a big deal.
The bottom line here is that there is the potential to pay significantly less at a warehouse store. But it isn’t quite the same as TVs. If you seek true clarity on a dollar per value gained perspective, you’ll have to do deeper research.
Accessories (Cables, batteries, etc.)
Costco and Sam’s Club may buy things in corporate level bulk, but you can buy from them in family level bulk and still get great savings. This can be especially convenient on things like batteries, wires, and cables that you buy a lot of at one time and are relatively tiny (i.e. you won’t need to take up garage space storing them all). As an example, we’re seeing a 40 pack of Duracell AA Power Boost batteries is $12 cheaper at Costco than the competition. If you have a Costco or Sam’s Club membership and need some small, consumable thing like this, it is always worth giving a quick search on the site to see what is available.
Even if you agree with us that Costco and Sam’s Club are excellent for electronics, it doesn’t mean that you should go blindly forth and buy everything that you see. As a result, this half of our warehouse retailer electronics guide is dedicated to the electronics to avoid at Costco and the electronics to skip at Sam’s Club.
High-end, specialty electronics
One of the big advantages of warehouse stores is their potential to distribute savings to you that they get from gigantic bulk buys. High-end and specialty items don’t have that bulk, so probably won’t get that advantage. Be cautious here.
Popular consumer tech (headphones, laptops, etc.)
You might’ve come into this just assuming that you’d be able to find better deals on an Asus Vivobook or pair of Bose headphones with no problem at Costco or Sam’s Club. This was the base assumption we started with, too. However, as the search was on, finding products that matched up with brands and the same processors, RAM, and storage (product names alone don’t always tell the full story due to the way products are labelled for Amazon success, for instance), we found that finding the best deal on a warehouse site was not easy.
There were many times in the search that I’d get excited for a moment — “Oh, the Vivobook 15 here is even cheaper than the one on the Asus website!” — only to keep looking and comparing and find some critical stat was way different. There always seemed to be a better or equivalent price elsewhere, and the number of times that something looked like it had a great price at a warehouse store but was on sale at a place like Best Buy for even lower was way too high. Even marked down items often struggled to make a case for themselves as a clearly superior buy at the warehouse store.
This all being said, we don’t think you should skip Costco or Sam’s Club altogether for these items. If the price is equivalent, that can actually bend in your favor if you’re getting 2% back from your membership card, for example. At the end of the day, for many product categories your Costco, Sam’s Club, or other warehouse retailer is just that, another retailer — not a magical dispensary of cheaper goods.
Conclusion
Be sure to always check the price differences between Costco, Sam’s Club, and other stores. Just because you’re a member, it doesn’t mean you should ignore Amazon, Best Buy, Walmart, and brand sites altogether. Keep your due diligence high. As we begin to introduce Costco and Sam’s Club deals into our regular coverage, we’ll do the same.
Where should you go for tech deals in an uncertain economic environment? We recently established that Costco and Sam’s Club, as well as other warehouse retailers, are increasingly interesting to us when we look for places to shop for electronics. But the “and” does a lot of lifting. If you’re already sold on the value of these warehouse retailers, which one should you choose? This time around, we’re mashing the two main warehouse stores head-to-head a little harder. What is the value proposition of Costco vs Sam’s Club electronics? What is the experience like shopping at Costco vs Sam’s Club for TVs, laptops, and more?
One of the first things you need to consider when comparing the two warehouse giants is their memberships. As we discussed in our previous article, warehouse retailer memberships have an odd basic premise: pay to pay less. If you buy a membership, you are promised lower prices. And, as before, the advice is the same: only get a membership if you are planning on using it, as they are only worth the cost if you are going to use them enough. It sounds obvious, but it is worth stopping for a second and thinking if you are really going to use that Costco or Sam’s Club membership more than once before snapping one up for a deal.
We went into the details of the memberships and all of their benefits (including those beyond electronics) before. For a quick summary, know that Sam’s Club has a lower upfront cost than Costco and has some perks along with their “Plus” membership plan that can make getting your $110 back much easier. That being said, Costco memberships are not that much more expensive and there is a wonderful value calculator on the Costco membership page that can guide you to a more precise value of the membership.
Winner: Sam’s Club (Slightly) The slightly lower cost to entry from Sam’s Club makes it the winner of this category.
Since we’re looking at Costco and Sam’s Club as an ideal best place to buy electronics cheap, it only makes sense to look at what electronics are offered at each store, because you can’t get warehouse retailer electronics savings on products that aren’t sold at the warehouse. As such, it makes sense to get a feel for the average Costco TV on sale vs. a similar Sam’s Club TV on sale.
First of all, there’s good news when it comes to category selection. Though it is easy to think of Costco and Sam’s Club as glorified grocery stores if you’ve only heard about them from afar, both stores have about every type of tech you might want. Costco does a slightly better job of breaking down the categories, offering 20 primary categories to Sam’s Club’s 16, but you can find everything from the best tablets to the best speakers at either store. And, if you keep scrolling, there is an extended category range down near the bottom of the Sam’s Club electronics page. For some brands, such as Apple, there may be more product categories available at Costco.
And that brings us to brands. Again, you’ll be happy to note that both warehouses offer Apple products, even highlighting Apple as a special store section in their online electronics store pages. Costco has a tendency to show off their brands more, as can be seen by the “Shop by Brand” panel in the Costco computers section. Upon closer inspection, however, two things become apparent. One, all of the brands represented here are also available at Sam’s Club. Two, some of the brand labels are doing some heavy lifting for more niche brands — Costco only had one iBuyPower PC on offer at the time of this writing (for comparison, Sam’s Club also only had one). At the same time, we are able to find FitBits at Sam’s Club but not Costco.
Winner: Tie Both companies have some brands they are lacking in, so check your brand loyalties at the door.
Now that you know what is on offer, it comes time to figure out the all important question: Is Costco or Sam’s Club cheaper?
[Note: One interesting aspect of buying at a warehouse is the interesting way that minimum advertised pricing (or MAP) rules are circumvented by warehouses — unique, store-specific model numbers. By getting special models for their store alone, a warehouse can sell that model much cheaper than they would be allowed to if they were selling the same model numbers that regular stores have. A consequence of this is that it can be difficult to directly compare prices on a one-to-one basis from warehouse to warehouse on certain, individual items.]
If you aren’t careful, you can fall into a quick trap of just looking at price numbers. Take the single iBuyPower PC available at both stores. The one at Costco costs $1,200 while the one at Sam’s Club costs $899. So surely Sam’s Club is cheaper, right? Well, not so fast. The Costco one has an RTX 4050 (among other superior features) while the Sam’s Club one has an RTX 3050. This isn’t to say that the Sam’s Club offering isn’t the better deal, that would take more time than eyeballing to figure out, it just means that you can’t quickly glance at prices to determine which store has the best prices.
So, to avoid comparing apples to oranges, let’s compare apples to apples. Or, at least Apple products against each other. The following prices are taken from the Costco Apple brand page and Sam’s Club Apple showcase at the time of this writing to give you an idea of how the prices match:
Apple Product
Costco Price
Sam’s Club Price
Apple AirTag 4 Pack
$70
$80
Apple AirPods 4 with ANC
$149
$169
Apple iPad Pro 11-inch Wi-Fi with M4 (2024 model)
$1,500
$1,549
Apple MacBook Pro with M4, 16GB of RAM, 512GB of SSD
$1,550
N/A
So, what can we see? When both places had the product, Costco tended to be cheaper. At least for the items I tested. That last comparison, however, shows something that matters for comparisons like these — you can only get what a store has, and Sam’s Club doesn’t have MacBooks right now.
I also compared two 14-inch Asus laptops that both cost $250. The Costco one has 8GB of RAM and 128GB storage while the Sam’s Club one has 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage. From raw stats, the Costco product gives more for the money.
Note that both stores have regular deals and sales, with Sam’s Club having an “Instant Savings” program and Costco has a “coupon book” and that any deals currently going on are reflected in the sample prices above.
Winner: Costco Costco seems to have better electronics prices, if only slight, but remember you’ll need to buy more to offset the upfront cost of membership.
Customer service and return policies (for electronics)
But what if you don’t like something? Can you return it?
The Costco electronics exchange/return policy is actually pretty great — it lets you return items within 90 days and, for select products, you will also be able to get assistance from Costco’s technical & warranty services representatives. If you bought online, you can return online or via any Costco warehouse. However, if you buy from a physical location, you must return to another (it doesn’t have to be the same one) Costco warehouse. If you buy a smartphone tied to a particular carrier, there may be some special limitations based on the carrier, however.
And what about the Sam’s Club electronics return policy? It’s actually nearly identical to Costco’s. You have 90 days with most electronics and, just like with Costco, you can either return it to a store or (if you bought it online) ship it back. You may have to ship some extra large items back instead of returning to a store location, but there is a helpdesk number to support you with this. The main difference between the two is for smartphones; at Sam’s Club you only have 14 days to return smartphones.
Winner: Costco (Slightly) Costco offers more easily accessible chances to get help from staff before needing to make a return and has a longer return window for smartphones.
Which is better for electronics, Costco or Sam’s Club?
To summarize:
Quality
Winner
Membership
Sam’s Club (Slightly)
Product and brand selection
Tie
Pricing/deals
Costco
Customer service/returns
Costco (Slightly)
However, these qualities are not everything when it comes to doing your electronics shopping. So, if you want to figure out if Sam’s Club is worth it or if Costco is worth it for more particular scenarios, read on.
Sam’s Club is better if you’re happy to pay less upfront and intend to spend less throughout the year.
Costco is better if you don’t mind the higher upfront costs and know that you’re going to spend more throughout the year. It also has a slightly more premium experience outside of just being able to shop for electronics.
Conclusion
Ultimately, both of the warehouse retailers are good options, but you might be more inclined to choose Costco vs. Sam’s Club electronics based on your particular situation. And even then it can be a very tight choice. Sam’s Club has a lower cost to entry and requires you to spend less per year to make up for the upfront costs.
As you’re surely aware the availability of some Costco vs Sam’s Club TVs, printers, tablets, and more will differ throughout the year and as new wares trickle in and old wares sell out. Additionally, prices will change and offers will, too. As such, if you aren’t sure about which one to pick, it may very well be in your best interest to start with the one that has a physical location closest to you for added value in the non-electronics parts of your life.
After years of a pandemic, it can feel like a tired line, but we’re about to face a “period of uncertainty.” Many of our favorite electronic items are getting more expensive due to inflation, tariffs, and market demands. Indeed, we have already seen an Acer laptop price increase announcement of 10% to help cover tariff costs. Meanwhile, we’re seeing expensive price leaks on next gen AMD chips. Whether your personal worldview is to cheer or jeer when it comes to incoming tariffs, the outlook is clear: You need to brace yourself for tariffs because, evidence suggests, the extra costs are going to be passed along to you, the consumer.
While you can purchase TV deals and laptop deals now, to get ahead of the damage, the party won’t last forever. In the long-term, shoppers are going to have to look elsewhere. Here, we’re taking a second look at warehouse retailers for electronics. That means we’re talking about Costco electronics, Sam’s Club electronics, and the like. These retailers, who buy in bulk, pass on those savings (at least somewhat) to the customer — and have surprisingly good customer service to boot. So, are warehouse retailer electronics savings the be all, end all solution to tech tariff woes? We think so, and here’s why.
The warehouse formula is refreshingly simple: Buy in bulk at a discount, store it all in a large warehouse, sell off items to retailers and warehouse members.
Typically, there’s less focus on appealing displays and gorgeous stores for these warehouses. Instead, it is all about passing on the their bulk supply to individual members at a discount. Your membership (entrance usually costs a small fee) helps pay for staff, as some low cost products can have very thin margins. That’s why Sam’s club warehouse hours, for example, are still so good — my local Sam’s Club is open 7 days a week, for instance.
But it isn’t just small dollar items with tiny margins that get the warehouse advantage, big items that can handle deep price cuts are also available. And that’s why we’re starting to think a warehouse just might be the best place to buy electronics cheap.
It isn’t a perfect science, but you can look at current deals to get a sort of idea about the kinds of margins we’re talking about. For example, when we look at the best printer deals at the moment of this writing, we see numbers like 50% off, 46% off, 36% off, and so on. Retailers don’t do this out of the goodness of their heart, of course. Instead, these large numbers can give us quick hints at what kinds of margins electronics have and, with it, a small idea of where savings might lie. It is by no means a perfect system, and if you find really good Amazon deals on something you want, by all means go for that, but as economic uncertainty rises, every little dollar will count, and these warehouse stores just might be the way to save.
Beyond Price: Quality and customer service
It’s not all about money, either. Costco and Sam’s Club are genuinely respected as great places to shop. Costco is already infamous for the $1.50 hot dog combo at the food court, but you should also know that the Costco return policy on electronics is particularly generous at 90 days. Meanwhile Scan & Go at Sam’s Club allows you to skip annoying lines.
So, to reiterate and get back to our main point, here’s the summary: You pay for a membership, then get access to discounts.
Paying for discounts, in and of itself, can seem somewhat convoluted. However, you get a lot more than membership electronics savings with your purchase. First of all, you get discounts on all of the other items in the store, too. You can buy groceries and eggs (yes, eggs) at these stores.
Then, there are special programs that make memberships even better. For example, the Sam’s Club Optical Center gives you 40% off pairs of glasses after your first. And this is just one bonus of many.
Finally, warehouses often feature percentage rewards programs, where members get back a certain percentage back on all of their purchases up to a certain amount. Effectively, this gives you a small (but universal) “deal” on products with that warehouse store. For example, Costco perks include a 2% reward on Costco and Costco Travel purchases if you are a member at the Executive level.
As it is with any membership from the gym to your Disney+ subscription, it is only worth it if you use it enough to get value from the costs. If you want to join Sam’s Club it will cost you $50 for the basic membership and $110 for the “Plus” tier membership. While the basic Club tier membership gets you in the door, gives you members-only fuel savings, and more, it is still somewhat intangible on whether or not you’ll get your money’s worth. The part of your brain that decides if the gym or Netflix is worth it while also have to be used here.
The Plus tier membership, on the other hand, offers straight up numbers that can help you figure things out. Now, there’s a long list and we’re not going to look at each item, but these three perks alone can give you a big idea if the $110 fee is worth it:
2% Sam’s Cash bonus
“$0 prescriptions” (see below)
$60 Sam’s Club gift card with T-Mobile
For every $100 you spend at Sam’s Club, you save $2 with the Sam’s Cash bonus at this level. $5,500 in spendings is enough to cover the whole year, which is pretty easy to burn through on electronics alone. The listed “$0 prescriptions” benefit is somewhat misleading, as only some Sam’s Club prescriptions are $0 while many more are capped at $10 for generics. However, the average American spends over $300 on prescriptions each year and if you’re in the nearly 50% of Americans taking two prescription drugs then this benefit could possibly save you $60 or more dollars each year alone if your medicines qualify. Likewise, the T-Mobile gift card also saves you $60. With just one of these savings of $60 you could cover the rest of the Plus tier membership with just $2,500 in spending at Sam’s Club (i.e. one TV and one laptop). And, of course, if you save with both, that’s the whole cost.
Bottom line: Sam’s Club is worth it if you use it. Sam’s Club Plus has more ways to save, and the typical electronics purchaser should see savings in a typical year.
Much like Sam’s Club, Costco is only going to be worth it if you plan on buying stuff from the store. If you don’t use it, you may as well lose it.
The base level membership for Costco is slightly more expensive than the Sam’s Club offerings at $65. Costco’s basic memberships are actually broken up into two types as well, Business and Gold Star. The Business version even lets you purchase items at the sale for resale in your business.
There there’s the Executive Membership for $130 per year. This is the one that gives you the 2% back. Luckily, there is a Costco value calculator on their signup page to help you decide if Costco is worth it for you.
Bottom line: Though slightly more expensive upfront than Sam’s Club, Costco is worth it if you use it. Use their calculator to decide if you want the more advanced membership level.
Shopping at Sam’s Club, Costco, or any other member warehouse store isn’t for everyone. Individuals, those that don’t do much shopping, and those living far from a physical location may want to think again.
However, if you have a family, are a budget-conscious tech lover, and have a location nearby then you should probably check out Sam’s Club and Costco. Remember that even though you can shop online for tech at these stores, to get the most of the membership you’ll also want to buy groceries at the store, use their gas station for member discounts, and possibly even partake in some of those famous Costco food court wares — which is to say that having a local store in a convenient location near you truly does sweeten the deal when it comes to getting a membership.
In today’s economic climate, ordinary people and tech writers like ourselves are widening the gap in places to search for electronics and electronics deals. One way we’re going about this is embracing warehouse electronics, such as those from Sam’s Club and Costco. In the near future, we’re going to be looking more at what these stores have on offer, from the top tech brands at Costco to regular Sam’s Club deals that we think you’ll be interested in. Looking at Sam’s Club, Costco, and other warehouses is going to be an ongoing project for Digital Trends this year and beyond.
Both warehouse chains are unsurprisingly popular in the suburbs, but Sam’s Club is more popular among rural households and Costco has more strength with city dwellers.
On the surface, Costco and Sam’s Club have a lot of similarities.
A deeper look reveals some notable differences between the two brands’ customer profiles.
For example, Numerator data indicates wealthy urban shoppers are more likely to be members of Costco than Sam’s Club.
On the surface, Costco and Sam’s Club have a lot of similarities.
Both are sprawling warehouses stocked with palletized displays of bulk goods at bargain prices. Both charge an annual membership fee to access the deals. Both were directly inspired by the visionary entrepreneur Sol Price‘s original club stores.
However, digging a little deeper into consumer data reveals some notable differences between the two brands’ customer profiles.
For starters, the typical Costco shopper spends nearly twice as much a year and visits more than 50% more frequently than Sam’s Club members do, according to 2024 data from consumer analytics firm Numerator.
The typical Costco shopper visits about 32 times a year and spends a total of $3,086, while the typical Sam’s Club shopper makes 20 trips and spends $1,583 in a year, according to Numerator.
As part of their overall retail budget, Costco shoppers spend roughly one in eight of their dollars at warehouse stores, which is almost 65% higher than the overall US average.
That wallet share is a bit lower for the typical Sam’s Club member, who spends about one in 12 of their dollars at wholesale clubs — still higher than the US average by about 13%.
Costco shoppers also tend to be wealthier — earning more than $125,000 household income on average — while Sam’s Club shoppers tend to have more mid-range incomes of between $40,000 and $125,000. Even so, Sam’s Club members are slightly more likely to be homeowners than Costco members, Numerator finds.
And while both chains are unsurprisingly popular in the suburbs, Sam’s Club is more popular among rural households and Costco has more strength with city dwellers, according to Numerator.
The data indicates that both chains tend to be equally popular among shoppers who identify as white. Walmart-owned Sam’s Club is slightly favored by shoppers who identify as Black or Hispanic/Latino.
Meanwhile, Costco is exceptionally popular among Asian-identifying households, who are nearly twice as likely to shop there as at a typical retail brand.
Costco shoppers are also much more interested in organic foods than their Sam’s Club counterparts.
In terms of age, Sam’s Club shoppers skew slightly older than Costco shoppers, though Gen X shoppers are equal fans of both.
Kantar retail analyst Gina Logan told Business Insider that Gen Z and Alpha shoppers are increasingly seeing the appeal of the club store model, which could bring down the average customer age at both chains.
Lastly, both chains are seeing a strong start to 2025, with visits up more than 7% from last year — double the increases for Walmart and Target — according to foot traffic data from Placer.ai.
Numerator’s data indicates nearly half of American households shop at either Costco or Sam’s Club at least once in the past year, underscoring that US shoppers love finding a good deal.
