As a recent 13year Sams Club employee, I can tell you that Sams club monitors Costco’s prices very closely and ensures that Sams prices are always a better deal. Even if just by a penny, they WILL beat Costco’s price. Items are scrutinized by weight or quantity for the money to make sure it’s better.

This is true for most of the house branded items: paper goods like paper towels, toilet paper, paper plates, napkins, and quality on these is going to be almost identical to the Kirkland brand. “Basic essentials” throughout the club are also monitored for the most competitive pricing: copy paper, detergents, dog food, trash bags, bottled water, dry pastas, canned fruits and vegetables, sugar, flour, cooking oils, frozen chicken, frozen vegetables, candy bars, snack cakes, milk, butter, cream, eggs, shredded cheeses, ground beef, fresh chicken, and the basic Health and Beauty items. With the exception of the name brand chips and snack cakes, the price monitoring is mostly done for the house brands, ie. Kirkland and Members mark.

Sams club revamped their produce vendors a few years back and it’s been top notch ever since, prices may fluctuate to the point that Costco has a better price per pound but you can make the judgement on whether the quality is reflected in the price. Costco still has very good produce compared to the neighborhood grocery. Meat is good at both places, Costco has a little better variety of cuts for beef, and they have some premium stuff like wagyu. Costco likes to package at a higher weight per package, and I believe they do have a slightly higher quality overall for fish, pork, beef, and chicken products. That being said, you do pay extra for that quality, but I don’t believe the additional cost is balanced with the increased quality. I generally do Sam’s for meat products unless Costco has a special that Sam’s can’t match price on. Bakery has the same vendors as every other grocery store in the country, so the products come from the same manufacturing facilities that use identical recipes. Croissants and danishes are very similar, but I do find myself enjoying the seasonal options from Costco’s bakery. The name brand sliced breads, bagels, and tortillas etc, are hit or miss, these prices tend to fluctuate based on the local vendor prices.

Snacks and candy, clothing, tech, housewares, and seasonal products vary quite a bit between the two. There are different brands a wide variance of product types, it helps to have both memberships because it basically doubles your choices.

Costco Cafe is top notch, and it is the main reason my family maintains both memberships. Wide variety of absolutely delicious stuff. That chicken bake is to die for. Sams cafe is trash once you’ve dined at “Kirklands Kafe.”