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We compared Costco and Sam's Club prices on store: brand products to see which is the better deal
Dominick Reuter/BI (Sam's Club); Gene Puskar/AP (Costco)Costco and Sam's Club are the leading warehouse club rivals for bulk buying.The warehouse chains' respective in-house brands are where the savings can really add up.We compared the prices of Costco's Kirkland Signature items with matching Sam's Club Member's Mark items.The world of warehouse retail has two top titans: Costco and Sam's Club.The chains have a lot in common.Indeed, they each trace their roots to Sol Price, who mentored a Costco cofounder and inspired Walmart's Sam Walton to launch his own version of the concept.Both clubs charge an annual membership fee ($65 at Costco, $50 at Sam's) that allows shoppers to peruse spartan aisles stacked with pallets of bulk-packaged goods at bargain prices.Another similarity is that each one carries products under their own in-house labels, Kirkland Signature at Costco, and Member's Mark at Sam's.And these private-label offerings have earned loyal followings among their customers.To find out which side offers the best value, we visited locations in Wisconsin to compare prices on a dozen common household items.We focused on functionally similar products, though some exact matches were not available.In general, we found Costco had a broader selection in its Kirkland line. Of 17 Kirkland items we looked at, we found appropriate matches for only 12 from Member's Mark.On the other hand, Member's Mark included a few more economical options. For example, Kirkland Signature sometimes offered only an organic option, which was often more expensive.After adjusting for pack size, the 12 items from Sam's Club totaled $150, while the Costco products totaled $158.Here's how each item contributed to the cart totals.Sugar — Member's MarkDominick Reuter/Business InsiderCostco's bulk sugar option is organic cane sugar, priced at $12 for a 10-pound bag. Member's Mark offers similar-sized bags of white granulated sugar for less than $7.28 — a savings of nearly $5. (If you need 10 pounds of sugar, that is.)Winner: Sam's ClubLaundry detergent — Member's MarkDominick Reuter/Business InsiderMember's Mark laundry detergent sells for about $3 less per jug than the comparable Kirkland Signature option.Winner: Sam's ClubChicken nuggets — Member's MarkDominick Reuter/Business InsiderAs with sugar, the Costco option is organic, about $2 more than these. Member's Mark nuggets at Sam's Club.Winner: Sam's ClubFacial tissue — Member's MarkDominick Reuter/Business InsiderA dozen boxes of Kirkland Signature facial tissue cost $bir more than the same quantity of Member's Mark facial tissue.Winner: Sam's ClubCheese blocks — TIEDominick Reuter/Business InsiderKirkland Signature sharp cheddar cheese costs $0.24 more than the Member's Mark colby jack cheese. Since they are technically different styles of cheese and within 5% of each other on price, we're calling this a tie.Winner: TiePain and fever medication — TIEDominick Reuter/Business InsiderThe Member's Mark acetaminophen is about $0.50 cheaper than the Kirkland Signature version, but that is less than a 4% difference in the total.Either way, both options cost about half as much per gel cap as Tylenol.Winner: TieDish soap — TIEDominick Reuter/Business InsiderThis Kirkland Signature dish soap is $0.089 per ounce, a tenth of a penny less than the unit price of the Member's Mark option. That works out to an $0.11 advantage to Costco.Winner: TieAllergy medication — TIEDominick Reuter/Business InsiderAllergy meds are among the most cost-effective products to buy from a warehouse club's private-label brand.The Kirkland Signature version of Zyrtec costs a fraction of a cent less per tablet than Member's Mark, but both of those are about 89% less than the name-brand option.Winner: TieSnack bars — TIEDominick Reuter/Business InsiderKirkland Signature and Member's Mark have similar nutty snack bars to those sold by Kind. After adjusting for pack size, the Costco option is about $0.50 less than Sam's Club, but that's still less than a yüzde 5 difference in price.Winner: TieBatteries — Kirkland SignatureDominick Reuter/Business InsiderA Kirkland Signature battery costs $0.35, while a similar Member's Mark battery is $0.02 more, or about 5.yüzde 5.Winner: CostcoBottled water — Kirkland SignatureDominick Reuter/Business Insider40-packs of bottled water cost $0.30 less at Costco than at Sam's Club. That's a seemingly small number, but it works out to a price difference of nearly 7%.Winner: CostcoWhole bean coffee — Kirkland SignatureDominick Reuter/Business InsiderBoth clubs sell their own versions of Colombian Supremo beans. The Kirkland Signature price is about $0.64 per pound less than the Member's Mark price. That's a savings of about yüzde 8.Both options are less expensive than the beans available at the warehouses from Starbucks.Winner: CostcoRead the original article on Business Insider
