In order to purchase items at Warehouse Clubs (i.e. BJ’s, Costco,
Sam’s Club) you have to pay a membership fee usually around $40-$50
a year. Before you pay the price for admission ask yourself these
questions to figure out if it is worth it.
How far away do you live? Similar to a gym
membership, if you live far away (20 minutes or more) from the
Warehouse Club, the chances of you using it on a regular basis
decrease significantly. If you live close by (5 minutes or less)
and you are able to purchase milk and other staple items, the
prices are considerably less then other stores. Also these staple
items rarely go on sale at most grocery or other stores so the
prices will always be less at the warehouse clubs.
Will you use the entire product? Most items sold at
warehouse clubs are sold in bulk. If you have a large family or
business, your odds of using up the entire food product before it
goes bad increases. However if you have an average size family
buying in bulk might equate to throwing away a lot of food.
How do the prices compare to nearby stores? This requires
some research, but in the long run you will save either the price
of the membership or you will save money from purchasing less
expensive items at the warehouse club. If you already have a price
log of items you purchase on a regular basis, bring it with you to
the warehouse club you are considering and compare prices. You will
need to do some math to figure out the price per unit for the bulk
items. If you don’t have a price log create one for a few weeks
making sure you write down the prices of items you purchase
especially when the items are on sale since the sale prices can be
noticeably lower then warehouse prices. Also keep in mind most
grocery stores double coupons and warehouse clubs do not.
Does the warehouse offer a free trial membership? Before
purchasing the membership, ask if you can do a month or more free
trial membership (without the surcharge fees). BJ’s usually offers
a free three month holiday membership in October. Obviously if you
can try it for free first, you have more time to use the above
questions to figure out if it is worth paying for the rest of the
year.
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User post: Should you pay for a warehouse club membership?
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Comments 1-8 of 8
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Posted by Thu Feb 12, 2009 8:43am PST
Report AbuseI have membership at Sam's and I got it mostly for the gas discounts. This came in pretty handy last year when any little amount saved was a blessing. Even now, with gas prices at kind of a normal rate, I still usually save anywhere from 5-12 cents a gallon. I pass right by the club on my way to work and back home so it's convenient and close by. I also buy grocery items and some HBA, so it's worth it to me.
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Posted by Thu Feb 12, 2009 10:30am PST
Report AbuseFor my husband and I it was a waste of money. Now if I do need something from Costco (thats our closest one) I just have a friend pick it up and pay them back. Or a friend and I will go buy what we need and get home and split it.
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Posted by Thu Feb 12, 2009 10:59am PST
Report AbuseMy husband and I have a membership to Sam's. We have 2 children in diapers and the cost of their store brand diapers makes up for our membership fee in 2 trips! We also buy alot of our canned food items, shelf stable products and cleaning products there because they will be used before they go bad.
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Posted by Sat Feb 14, 2009 9:59am PST
Report Abuse"Should you pay for a warehouse club membership?"
Yes, and then you should make it pay for itself!
If you can't make it pay for itself, don't buy membership!
If you can make it pay for itself, buy membership and use it.
On our regular membership, when we had two children at home, we made the membership back with just about every visit.
We upgraded to Executive membership two years ago and have bought (cash) two new vehicles via the vehicle program. Total savings: $7600 = well worth the $100 a year!
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Posted by Sat Feb 14, 2009 6:11pm PST
Report AbuseI have a Sam's Club membership. I am single. I buy all my meat at Sam's. I spend about $100 every roughly every 3 to 4 months on meat, divide it into meals, and freeze it. If I bought the equivalent amounts of chicken, beef, pork, and fish at a regular grocery store over that same period, It would cost me about $50 a week to have meat. So it's worth the membership price for me .
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Posted by Sun Feb 15, 2009 7:24am PST
Report Abusei'm not about to pay to spend my money somewhere for a supposed discount (i also refuse to pay for a membership to stay at hotel suites, etc). i can discount shop for groceries online in bulk, locally at my co-op, and at aldi's. if i need something from sam's, i can ask one of the many people i know to pick something up for me. but in as many years as i can remember, i haven't done that. i'd rather pay a few more cents at my local co-op for locally grown and manufactured items, and keep the money in my neighborhood.
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Posted by Sun Feb 15, 2009 1:21pm PST
Report AbuseYes it is well worth the fee if you do your homework and use the goods you purchase. Paper and plastic goods are a great savings. The large bags of produce are mainly in the store for restaurants. The average family wouldn't use 20 lbs of onions before they went bad.
Sams also has better packaging on some items. The Boca Burgers are much larger in the size of the pattie than a regular grocery store.
The meats are good and the chances of getting anything spoiled is very low because the turn over in the meat dept, and produce is very high.
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Posted by Sat Feb 21, 2009 8:30am PST
Report AbuseWhen FedMart went bankrupt, I took the name and have done parking lot blowout sales under the FedMart name. Now in 2009, with so many regular department stores going broke, I intend to reopen FedMart (again) as a Membersip warehouse store. I can sell items far below regular Walmart prices, because I buy truckloads of 1) overstock 2) stock from bankrupt stores and 3) direct from the manufacturers, when their sales are slow. Costco is run by FedMart's former Exec VP; and between what he did at Fedmart and at Costco, I believe that FedMart will give Costco and Sam's club a real run for the money. Anyone that says that they cannot save big at FedMart, Costco, Sam's Club and BJ's Warehouse, has not seriously looked over the price difference between them and regular "discount" stores.
Comments 1-8 of 8
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