Reader Question: Shopping at Warehouse Stores
This reader question comes from Anne. She was wondering if anyone had any tips or recommendations on whether or not to shop at BJ’s or Costco.
Question:
We have just recently moved and have both a BJ’s and Costco close by. I can’t figure out which membership I should sign up for, if any! Does anyone have any suggestions on shopping at these Warehouse stores?
Do you have any advice for Anne?
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The difference between the 2 near me is BJ’s sells alcohol and Costco does not. Otherwise they are pretty much the same. Although the bakery is better at Costco.
I have a BJ’s and know nothing about Costco as it’s not in my area. BJ’s takes manuf coups and stacks with their store coups. Also, if the smaller packages inside the larger bulk pack have their own barcodes (able to be sold seperately) you can use manuf. coups by the barcode qty. So say you have a store coupon for $3 off a 3 pack of body wash. Since each bottle has it’s own barcode you could use 3 $1/1 or a $1/1 and a $1/2, ect, along with the store coup. You still have to pay attention to unit pricing of course.
Costco only allows Costco coupons (no mani q’s) and they only accept Amex credit cards (but they don’t take cash and debit).
sorry. should read, but they DO take cash and debit.
I also save a lot of BJ’s by buying my gas there. It averages 3-5 cents cheaper per gallon than the other stations in Westminster, MD! I LOVE BJ’s! My husband and I have also started to eat healthier, and they have great prices on natural meats. Hope this helps!
BJs offer two months free. Why not try that out first. Ths way you are not committing to anything yet. You also need to see if you need things in bulk.
The 2 months free offer makes you pay an extra 5% of your bill…
a few times a year, you can get a free month or two at BJs. Only 2 adults in our house, plus cat and dog,,,,Shoprite and CVS work out just fine without having to pay for a membership to buy 20 gallon pails of mayonaise!
BJ’s let’s you stack coupons. I believe they are the only warehouse store that allows manufactures coupons. That being said, even with double coupons (with the exception of diapers) it’s rare that BJ’s saves me money over following Cindy’s regular grocery store matchups. They do have great produce though, so if we go, we usually stock up on that and milk.
I just recently signed up for BJ’s last week. The coupon stacking got me interested. I went in with a postcard for 2 free months. I got 2 membership cards for 14 months for 40 dollars. They had a 10 dollar coupon for the membership. I will experiment for the next 14 months and then decide if I will renew.
well if you decide not to, because you’re not entirely impressed, don’t forget to also get your money back!
I belong to both but prefer Costco hands down. Costco has better prices, more variety, better bakery, better seasonal choices, better jewelery and puts out its book basically every 6 weeks. BJ’s book comes out monthly and has good coupons but they are repetitive. I love to stack coupons especially for the dog food but have not had much success with using multiple mfg. coupons , just never seems to work!
My advise which is what I do – if you can’t decide which club to join, find people to split membership fees with you so that you can join both for same price as one! ( I just joined BJ’s for $40 for 13 months. And Costco is $55.00)
Remember that both clubs are “satisfaction guaranteed” and will refund your membership in full if you are not satisfied.
I like BJ’s because they will allow you to stack a manufacturer coupon with a store coupon, on some items like toothpaste, deoderant, etc, its not worht it for me still cause i get them free at cvs all the time. but its really good for the food products, especially organic. And when i have a free product coupon, i will try to use it at bj’s to save even more, they’ll just adjust it down to the max value. then there’s the free 2 months and you can always get all your money back before the end of the year if you move or aren’t satisfied.
They also, in their policy allow you to use multiple coupons on shrink wrapped items, as long as they each have their own upc code, so if you have 3 bottles of mouth wash you can use 3 coupons. except, i’ve had trouble doing that the one time i did try so im going to have to print out the policy next time, the guy looked at me like i was crazy and said you’re already saving so much getting wholesale prices.
I just dropped our Costco membership after 4 years. In Florida, our Costco sold liquor and had a gas station. In NJ we have neither so I find that following Cindy’ s suggestions for couponing, w e do much better shopping the supermarkets. Unless you have a large family and limited time, you’ll probably do better with supermarkets, drugstores & Cindy’s suggestions.
BJs will let you split the cost of a membership with someone. This makes it only $25 for me and $25 for my friend. That is a good deal.
I have a membership to BJ’s, used to have one to Sam’s, and used to shop with a family member at Costco. I think I prefer BJ’s. Their prices when I first joined them seemed a little high, but that was because Sam’s club had just opened relatively close and Sam’s was offering promotional pricing. After a while of shopping at Sams and Costco I noticed I was paying the same or more at those stores and was not able to use coupons. I still do most of my shopping at shoprite, but there are certain things that I find great deals on at BJ’s. I’ll see how my couponing continues to progress this year and then decide if I’m renewing BJ’s. At BJ’s you can stack coupons mfr and store, and multiple mfr if what’s in the package can be sold separately. In other words, if there is 3 toothpastes and each has a barcode, you can use 3 mfr coupons with a store coupon to maximize your savings. Recently a friend bought 2 BIG bottles of head & shoulders at BJ’s and paid $1… seems great to me. Good luck with your decision.
My BJ’s also has a gas station, which is consistently, AT LEAST 8 cents cheaper. Which isn’t a ton, but I’m close to it so it keeps me coming back.
This is the one in Linden, nj. Right?
I have had memberships to both club’s a one time and i have to say bj’s is the best you can use manufacturer coupons there and you cant at Costco also at bjs they have a deli and i can get my cold cuts at a better price the the super markets my son is ultra picky about cheese and will only eat land o lakes cheese and it is 3.50lb there with coupon its 2.50lb my savings there pays for my membership and bj takes all credit card at Costco they only take amex or debit
I live in an area where Sam’s, Costco and BJ’s are within a 2 mile radius of each other. I’ve had a Sam’s membership for about 8 years, and checked out the other stores to see if there was an advantage to switching. Then I realized I’ve use the club membership less and less. I’ve been doing so well at ShopRite and CVS using coupons, that I hardly ever use my Sam’s membership. I used to go for milk and eggs and produce–until I discovered Smart Balance milk (with coupons), Land O Lakes eggs (with coupons) and produce from the farmer’s market.
I signed up for a year-long (refundable) membership at BJ’s, and ended up getting my money back. I found I was not saving any money, and that was before I started couponing! It may be a deal if you need to purchase some large ticket items, but for day to day shopping I don’t think they’re worth it.
If you still have young children, or send out Christmas Card photos Costco has the cheapest deals around on cards. I think it’s 25 cards 5×7 cards with nice foil lined envelopes for under $15 and 25 additional cards are $5. 50. I joined for that reason alone, and have found great deals on milk, bread, produce. Been really happy with the decision to go with Costco.
I belonged to Costco for several years and found it only semi-worthwhile. The best savings for me was on prescription glasses…so much cheaper than anywhere else! I almost never bought produce at Costco because the amount of food was more than our small family could use. And I *loathed* the Bridgewater Costco nearest us because it was mega-crowded from the minute it opened every day.
When we moved, I found that the nearest Costco was too far to be a regular shopping spot, so I did the trial membership at BJ’s and ended up getting the same deal Cindy mentioned above. I actually like it better than Costco for a few reasons. First, it’s rarely as crowded as Costco. Second, some of their bulk packaging is in more manageable sizes for our family (2 half-gallons of milk bundled together rather than 3, more produce items sold individually or in smaller packages). The produce at my BJ’s is also better quality than at the regular supermarkets here, and they have a decent selection of organics.
I’d agree with the comments that Costco has a better bakery (by far) and probably a better selection overall when you compare all categories of products.
There are a few things Costco is consistently a good for – a good price on chop meat, the great Rotiserie chicken, the great bakery. It’s also good for buying discount gift cards, or buying Christmas gifts for people you don’t know too well or too personally. I’ll go sometimes when other people go, but I won’t splurge on the membership. They think $20 for toilet paper and paper towels is a great price. And, it’s really not. You can get a better deal on most of that stuff at the grocery store when it’s on sale – even without coupons.
BJ’s does take the coupons and credit cards other than Amex. But, Costco does have better variety. However, that can be a bit of a trap. There are lots of interesting things at Costco, but if you buy them all, you really aren’t going to save too much.
I have a membership at costco and ever since I discovered this website I haven’t been there… at all. I even had a friend brag to me about how cheap he was getting baby wipes from them. Then I told him about the stopnshop special last week and he said “what was that website again?” Ive basically threw the money out the window for the membership but ive well made up for it with all my savings thanks to Cindy!!!! Thank you!!!
Aww, thanks Chuck. So, glad you are able to save so much! Makes me happy to hear that
This is a little off topic, but if you do a huge warehouse trip right before your membership expires, you can stretch out your membership a bit. Instead of renewing when the membership is going to expire, you can let the membership lapse, wait a month or 2 after your big trip and then come back and renew later.
We have bot costco and bj’s. They each have some products the other does not. Due to location, I mostly shop at bj’s over costco. Plus, the gas, deli and coupon stacking are major bonuses! We go through milk like crazy, and my one son has to drink lactaid. Lactaid is $6.49 for the big jug at my acme, but only $4.99 at bj’s. The milk prices are lower at both compared to non-wharehouse retailers. This year I upgraded to the membership at bj’s where you get 2% back. The first 6 months I got a bj’s gc for $53.65. If that happens for the second, I will have gotten my membership for free!
Costco’s produce is excellent! I can not compare it to BJ’s in my area but every store can be different. I find Costco to be a better quality store than BJ’s.
Shop at bj’s without a membership!
You do not have to be a member to shop there.
You will pay 15% more than the shelf price. However, for my family unless I am buying a high priced item, the savings doesn’t justify the membership.
So If I want to shop at Christmas or pick up a chicked on a Friday night I can without paying out $$ for a membership.
My sister loves Costco for meat, pharmacy & eyeglasses.
But she is a DiNK and shops a lot.
I’ve had both BJ’s and Costco memberships. Although you can use coupons at BJ’s – - you still have to buy bulk items so you’re never going to make-out like you do at the grocery store getting items for next to nothing with coupons and catalinas. That said – I stuck with Costco. They are worth the price of an executive membership ($100) IF you stay true to the REAL deal items. Hillshire Farm lean deli meat package – $9.99 for 3 lbs. That’s 3.33 per pound for great quality ham and turkey. Their milk is ALWAYS cheaper than the grocery store, currently $2.49 for a gallon of skim. American cheese – 5 lbs (which I bring home, split into 1 lb packages and freeze) $10.99 – or $2.20 per lb. And cheddar cheese – buy a 2 lb block of Kirkland brand, shred it with the kitchenaid mixer tool . . . $5 for the brick, I freeze 5 decent size bags of cheese . . . $1 a bag. Eggs are always MUCH cheaper, and bread, giant bags of chips . . . . Also, the big ticket items they sell – - – - – do you know if they reduce the price on something you bought, they’ll refund the difference within 6 months of the purchase date AND if something breaks, they return or exchange it, NO QUESTIONS ASKED. I had a toaster over that broke after 3 months . . . they took it right back and I didn’t even have the box! AND with an executive membership, you get 2% cash back so, after Christmas, birthdays and regular shopping . . . I wind up applying my cashback check to renew my membership again. If you KNOW prices at the grocery store, you can absolutely find great deals at Costco – - – - as long as you don’t do what most warehouse clubs count on . . . stray and put those xtra goodies in the cart!!!!
Depends on how much u spend for the executive. Regular membership is only 55 so u would have to spend an extra $2250 per year in order to recover that extra $45 charge. $5000 total is u want to cover the whole membership. I have a reg membership, but im thinking of canceling. I ususally only end up buying my chicken breasts and other misc. snacks and appetizers. I really dont think im saving money over my local shoprite w/ coupons
Depends on how much u spend for the executive. Regular membership is only 55 so u would have to spend an extra $2250 per year in order to recover that extra $45 charge. $5000 total is u want to cover the whole membership. I have a reg membership, but im thinking of canceling. I ususally only end up buying my chicken breasts and other misc. snacks and appetizers. I really dont think im saving money over my local shoprite w/ coupons
Costco! Bjs seems a bit more expensive. There are certain things that are very worth it! Bread, milk, eggs, bananas, meats, and produce are very cheap!!
I can’t help myself because I am an accountant so I look and analyze prices all of the time. Hands down it is more cost effective to use coupons and shop at your local grocery store for day to day items. I have had memberships to Costco and Sam’s off and on. I just joined Costco again because they had the best option for a new desktop computer. Also, they provide two years of unlimited tech support since I bought it there. The tech support is in the US so I can actually understand what is being said! They also can refill printer cartridges for almost half the price of a new one. That alone will probably save the membership fee for us. The services that are available will make it worth it not the bulk items.
We used to have all 3 memberships BJS,Costco and Sams. Now we do not have Sams because we rarely when there no coupons: ( now we have BJS which I split my membership with my Mom and Cotsco we been getting it for FREE for the past 3 years from my husband’s company but I like both at BJS I like it because they have a deli (Cotsco does not),BJs carry some things that Costco does not ***but I did not know you can stack coupons like that at BJS SWEET. I need to try that out is this in their coupon policy? ? Costco I love their food samples my kids too. I like the cupcakes you can order for special occassions like the Elmo shape so cheap too you can get restaurant,theme park and movie tickets at a cheaper price my Costco sales liquor and a gas station which I advise not to go weekends is packed like peak hour on the NJ turnpike CRAZY and they only take credit no cash BJS you can barrow a friends membership is alright but Costco check if your picture and name matches your card so both are good in their own little way
::::: althought I have not used both much lately since I found livingrichwithcoupons.com (Cindy thank you) you are as nice and sweet in picture as you are in person (coupon workshop in New Brunswick)my family of 5 have saved alot since 1/29/12 when I started couponing for real and we hardly gotten so many freebies too Thank You
*I mean we had got so many freebies.
I work in BJS what a great store it was brought by Whole Foods so they have alot of Organic products. Yesterday I brought Hersey Chocolate for 4.99 clearance and used 1.00 man. paid 3.99 for 24 bars ,
It depends on what your family uses.
I have memberships to both. I use Costco a lot more than I use BJ’s. A friend and I split the BJ’s membership, which we got at a discount last year. BJ’s has smaller size items. Plus, like everyone else said, they stack coupons. I don’t plan to renew my membership since I’ve hardly gone this past year.
Overall, Costco has better quality than BJ’s.
What I get at Costco: gas (get 3% back w/ Executive membership), eye glasses, ingredients for baking ($9/3 lbs of almonds, $4 for enough yeast to last over a year), high quality natural dog food ($25/ 40 lb bag), photo Christmas cards, gift cards to local restaurants for 20% off, cameras (saved $400 on a DSLR kit), books (if I buy a book in print, Costco is even cheaper than Amazon), chicken, frozen fish, some produce. If I’m throwing a party, Costco is a great place to get cheese, crackers, dips, chips, cake, salad greens etc. They just started to carry their own brand of Frontline flea treatment.
One of my dogs has allergies, so I have to buy high quality natural food. I save enough on dog food alone to pay for my membership. The same with gas, and eye glasses. The difference in price for flea treatment will be another category to save me more per year than my membership.
I don’t buy paper products, cereal, toiletries, cleaning supplies or any of the things I can get for much better prices via Cindy’s match-ups.
I have a regular Costco membership and a Costco Amex card. I get back approximately $600 a year for using the card on most all our purchases anywhere that accepts Amex. I NEVER buy paper products, or feminine supplies anymore at Costco, because of Cindy’s match-ups. I still love to buy my K-cups at Costco at 47 cents a cup. The sheet cakes are excellent and the $5 rotisserie chickens. I’ve recently switched to the Bank of America Visa card for the cash back option, since Visa is accepted in more places Amex is not. I’m still holding on to my Costco membership, but I am finding that I do not shop there too much since it is just too tempting to leave there buying a couch, when all you needed was a case of water.
i have a bj s card and i entertain alot so it pays off for me. I just ordered two 3 foot subs for my daughters birthday, they are $25.99 each and there is an online coupon you can print saving you an additional $5, so they will cost me $20.99 and they taste great! Paper plates and cups and soft drinks are also inexpensive and k cups. They also take manufactor coupons and you can oair them with bj s coupons to save even more.
I love my Bj’s! I try to stock up at the grocery store using coupons, but some things we run low on or aren’t on sale, I can get cheap at BJ’s (and use Qs there!). In January I got children’s advil 3 pack for .99- even CVS can’t beat that!
So you pick and choose what to buy there. Milk, bread, and OJ are way cheaper at BJ’s so i get that there (instead of the grocery store). Meat is usually a good deal, and my hubby gets his contacts from there. My store also has a verizon wireless kiosk that always had better deals than the ones in the mall. And we got new laptops at christmas from BJ’s- saved about $100 each over the closest advertised price (at Costco!). Also love BJ’s brand diapers.
I just wanted to respond that – warehouse clubs do NOT make sense for everyone. I have a family of 5 and Costco definitely works for me. To the poster who said you have to spend $5000 to cover the cost of the membership in cashback . . . . if you buy one big ticket item per year (a computer . . . a tv . . . . a piece of furniture . . . pool supplies), save on food purchases (I forgot to mention a GOOD one – — frozen Tyson chicken breasts $1.99 a pound – when it’s NOT on sale) – - – gas, which in this economy adds up QUICK – - – plants and other gardening items in the Summer, and prescriptions!, and glasses and contacts . . . $5,000 may seem like a lot to spend at one store annually but when you consider all they offer and the great prices they sell for AND the fact that everything is returnable/exchangable (including furniture up to 6 months!) and someone else mentioned, free technical support . . . Costco absolutely saves me money.
I have belonged to Costco and BJ’s and now only go to BJ’s, primarily because they take manufacturer’s coupons. I personally think it is worth it. I tend to buy medicine’s (BJ’s brand Ibuprofen was $6.99 for 500 tablets, BJ’s brand Zyrtec was $14.99 for 365 pills), meat and cheese at the deli, bagels are a great deal, bday cakes, gift cards to name a few. I went this past weekend and bought a 3 pack of Aveeno Body Wash. It was $11.49 originally. I used a BJ’s coupon for $4 off and then 3 $2/1 Aveeno manufacturer coupons – paid $1.49 for 3 body washes. Land o Lakes Cheese is also a good deal. They sell the cheese at the deli or you can buy a 3 lb package. They often have $2/1 BJ’s coupons plus you can find manuf. Land O Lakes coupons and end up paying about $5 for 3 pounds of cheese.
We actually had two at the same time for a few months. Although BJ’s was closer and much more convenient, we dropped that one and opted for the Costco one for a few reasons. First, we felt that the meat and bakery were far superior at Costco. Plus, in comparing prices they were always $1-2 cheaper. For instance, when we had both a box of 80 K-cups was $37.99 at BJ’s and $35.99 at Costco. I know they have gone up in both places, but assume Costco’s is still cheaper. Secondly, we wanted the pharmacy and optometry section. The BJ’s here has neither.
I have a bj’s membership and I LOVE it. I go through 4 gallons of milk a week and it is almost 4.00 a gallon at the supermarket, but only 2.56 at BJ’s. I also can pick up deli cheese for only 3.50 a pound! They are very customer oriented and I find the people to be nice. I had a Sams membership for awhile, but I got tired of their long lines and no deli. Other staples at BJ’s are frozen chicken breast in a bag, frozen strawberriers, cat litter and trash bags. Good luck!!
I have a Costco business membership, $50/year. I originally joined just to save money on prescription eyeglasses. I was sick of paying $400.00 for a 6 year old, and having them always break (that’s my boy!). My first pair for my son frames, and lenses was $80.00!!! So the membership was taken care of easily with the order of the glasses. Everything else, icing on the cake!
Their service is outstanding. The frames were VERY well made and weren’t breaking. My son at age 11 was in a full contact Karate competition in Conn. The last fight of the day, his opponents first kick was to his face which broke his glasses in half (yeah, not allowed to kick in the face, but it happens). On our way home to Northern NJ we just made it 15 minutes before closing to the Costco in Spring Valley, NY (where we bought the glasses). The guy looked up our file and we were 2 weeks past our 1 year frame warranty. Both of my boys were in full Karate uniform, the clerk asked how it happened, so he told him. It was obvious we were rushing to get there before closing. He said wait here, left for about 3 minutes, came back and told us he could do a managers override and would replace the glasses (new frames, didn’t have the same in stock, new lenses) all under warranty. I PAID ZERO!!!!
I just wanted to order and pay for a new pair and get the order in before Monday. I never expected that type of service. Never would an eyeglass store give us the service we get there. THAT is worth every penny!