warehouse clubs

[willidan]

Is anyone a member of a warehouse club? Anybody have any pro or con stories to tell? I'm thinking of joining Sams, but haven't quite gotten to the point of justifying the $50 a year membership fee.

Edited 11/14: I'm convinced. I'll take some of my Christmas money and invest in a membership. Thanks!

Comments

I Drank the KoolAid

[jumpuphigh]

I used to belong to Costco and I found it was worth it for me for a number of reasons.

They have high-quality, organic, fresh produce in large containers at a really cheap price. I rarely spent more than $30 a week on food and the size of the containers were perfect for me.

I needed some fairly pricey tech that they offered cheaper than anywhere else. The cost of my laptop alone saved me more than the cost of the membership. Plus, they have an awesome concierge service for tech purchases which I used heavily. I'm tech-savvy so by the time I call for help, I need someone way more experienced than me and I never got anyone who wasn't able to help me (and if the help included needing to contact the manufacturer, they would do that and call me back in order to resolve the problem).

Cheap sheets (cheaper than anywhere else), TV seasons on DVD (cheaper than anyplace other than online), cheap trash bags, cheap alcohol, etc. etc.

You do have to think about purchases though. I have a box of trash bags that I bought ~3 years ago that is only half-empty. I don't consider that a bad thing since they were a size that I had spent at least 6 months trying to find.

I'm actually thinking about renewing right now but just haven't gotten around to it. I've been building a mental list of things to wait to buy there.

That said, I get the impression that Sam's Club is not nearly as nice as Costco's. (It's been a long time since I was in a Sam's Club - more than 15 years.) I know Costco will allow you a day visit to check them out. You'd then have to buy a membership to make purchases. Perhaps Sam's does the same thing?

Re: I Drank the KoolAid

[holyschist]

Oh yeah, things like trash bags, toilet paper, ziplocks--those can be good, too, depending on how fast you go through them.

Re: I Drank the KoolAid

[willidan]

I think Sams has day pases in the paper every now and then, but I haven't come across one in a while. But I think I'll take some of my Christmas money and buy a membership to Sams. It sounds worth investigating.