Why Costco Is Better Than Sam's Club, According To Reddit

Sam's Club and Costco are both wide-reaching chains that offer membership-based shopping. Just join a store, and you unlock great deals on items, often in bulk quantities, from food to toiletries, plus clothes, electronics, and more. At first glance, they might not seem much different from each other at all.

However, if you take it from customers, there are plenty of things that vary between these two companies. On Reddit boards, you'll see comparisons made between the Sam's Club brand Member's Mark and the Costco brand Kirkland, as well as the breadth of inventory at both stores. Sam's Club has been reported as having better technology like scan-and-go shopping, which can improve the all-around experience, but upon some further digging on this Reddit board, we found some major factors being cited in declaring Costco the clear victor. Despite some Sam's Club wins and matters of opinion among shoppers, there are some things that simply make Costco the better choice for both patrons and employees.

"Why Costco over Sam's Club?" Reddit user antdude asked.

Some users summed up their feelings like thatfamousgrouse's comment, "Cheap and good vs. just cheap," often agreeing with each other that Costco promised better quality items. User musicman1980, however, was one of the Redditors who really broke it down. "Costco has fewer products, but they are usually better products, and their house brand is as good as name brand (or better). Just a better overall shopping experience. And everything else people have mentioned (living wage, well run, responsible corporation). Costco is the best retailer in the world right now for a lot of reasons," musicman1980 wrote.

Without a doubt, Costco pulls ahead of Sam's Club with draws like its beloved food court. While Sam's Club has a more varied inventory with more name brands, people seem to overwhelmingly prefer the conveniently tight curation at Costco. Additionally, its brand, Kirkland, is seemingly better than most other brands, plus it's apparently cheaper. Maybe most important is how Costco treats employees — the chain has a pretty great reputation in this department, which naturally makes you feel better shopping there.

In February 2021, Costco announced they'd be raising its minimum wage to $16 an hour (per NPR). Apparently, many of Costco's 180,000 employees already make over $25 hourly, and the company believes treating workers well is just good business. Employees also get affordable health insurance, a 401(K), and fair, good working conditions. With that in mind, it's seemingly easy to see why many customers choose Costco first.