From a price perspective alone, Sam’s Club is totally worth the membership cost. You can save money each trip by buying in bulk, plus take advantage of their curbside pickup or delivery options to avoid the crowds. There’s also the fact that a Sam’s Club membership is cheaper than Costco’s right off the bat. And the cherry on top: Sam’s Club often beats a ton of stores for the cheapest prices, including Kroger, Amazon, Target, and even their sister store Walmart.
While not everything in the warehouse is the best value around, it’s true for a significant enough portion of my shopping list. Below, I’ll show you the best Sam’s Club deals based on their value.
Just bear in mind that prices are always subject to change ever so slightly — especially if you’re shopping in different areas of the country.
For more smart shopping tips and Sam's Club deals, download the KCL app or text HACKS to 57299.
The Best Things to Buy at Sam's Club
1. Member's Mark Paper Towels, $0.02 per square foot
You can get the cheapest high-quality paper towels at Sam’s Club, at just $0.02 per square foot.
The Sam’s Club store brand is Member’s Mark, and Member’s Mark paper towels are some of the best I’ve used. Even though they’re crazy cheap, they’re still super absorbent. No joke, I personally think the quality’s comparable to Bounty.
The best part is that these paper towels are half the price of name-brand competitors. That’s right, the pack of Member’s Mark paper towels (1,031.3 total square feet) costs $19.98 at Sam’s Club, which comes out to just $0.02 per square foot.
If you compare a brand that everyone carries, like Bounty, consider that you'll pay $0.04 per square foot for it at Sam’s Club.
Related: Use our Sam's Club savings hacks to learn even more ways to save.
2. Member's Mark Rotisserie Chicken, $4.98
Member’s Mark rotisserie chicken ($4.98, Sam’s Club) is juicy and drenched in Lawry’s seasoning. Plus, it’s super cheap, coming in at just under $5 for a 3-pound chicken ($1.66 per pound).
That's a cent cheaper per pound compared to the rotisserie chicken at Costco ($1.67 per pound), and IMHO, Sam's version tastes even better. Note that you can only buy this in-store or order it for pickup.
3. Canned Soup, from $0.09 per ounce
Whether you’re buying Campbell’s or Progresso, Sam’s Club almost always has the cheapest prices on canned soups compared to other grocery stores. Let’s start by looking at how Sam’s Club prices stack up against the competitors for a basic can of Campbell’s condensed chicken noodle soup:
Now, a difference of $0.01 - $0.04 per ounce might not seem like a whole lot, but soup cans tend to come in 10.75-ounce sizes, so the price difference can add up to savings of $0.11 - $0.32 per can. The only price that beat Sam's was Amazon's (surprisingly), but you'll need a Prime membership to get free shipping without an order minimum.
And, Sam’s Club has the best price on Progresso soup — especially since my Costco doesn't currently carry Progresso soup. Here’s the pricing per ounce for Progresso chicken noodle soup:
4. Soda, $0.53 per can
Whether you call it pop or soda, you’re going to find some of the lowest prices per can at Sam’s Club. For example, Coca-Cola is only $0.53 per can when you buy a 35-pack for $18.68.
The next cheapest grocery store is Walmart, who sells a 24-pack for $0.54 per can.
As for Costco, they do win for lowest price right now — just $14.99 for a 35-pack of Coca-Cola, or $0.43 per can.
5. Heinz Ketchup, $0.08 per ounce
Apparently revealing my shopping secrets pulls the Pittsburgher out of me. Heinz Ketchup ($10.98, Sam’s Club) is pretty important to us here in Steel City. (No, Hunt’s is not an acceptable alternative.)
There are multiple prices depending on the size you purchase, but you can get the super low $0.08 per ounce price by buying the three-pack of 44-ounce bottles. That’s because you’d pay $3.66 per 44-ounce bottle and $3.66/44 = $0.08.
At Costco, the same size multi-pack costs $12.99, or $0.10 per ounce.
6. Pistachios and nuts, $0.31 per ounce
Sam’s Club sells these Wonderful brand pistachios ($14.98, Sam’s Club) in a 48-ounce bag, and because they keep so well, there’s really no reason to stress over how quickly you can eat them. And the Sam's Club price comes out to only $0.31 per ounce.
To give you some perspective, when I looked at competitor pricing, pistachios cost $0.44 per ounce at Amazon and $0.47 per ounce at Walmart.
7. Snack foods and candy, $0.16 – $0.21 per ounce
If you’ve never been inside a Sam’s Club, you need to know that the snack aisle is glorious. The selection is so huge — much more variety than you’ll find at Costco. Plus, they have killer prices. Let’s take a look at a couple, starting with Ritz Crackers:
Sam’s Club and Costco tie with the cheapest price at $0.16 per ounce compared to Amazon's $0.19 per ounce price. They’ve got the same game with mega-packs of Cheez-It crackers. Sam’s Club beats out Walmart by $0.07 per ounce.
8. Smucker's Jam, $0.11 per ounce
Smucker’s jam ($6.98, Sam’s Club) is dirt cheap at Sam’s Club, but there is a catch. You’re going to have to go through a lot of jam quickly. If you think you can go through 64 ounces of jam before it goes bad, this is the cheapest place to get it. As for me and my house, we can’t, but maybe yours can.
You can buy two 32-ounce jars for $6.98, which comes out to about $0.11 per ounce. It’s $0.14 per ounce at the next cheapest competitor, which is Costco.com (they don't carry it inside Costco stores at the moment).
9. Generic prescriptions, free with Plus membership
Granted, Sam’s Club isn’t the only place where this is true. But you’ll want to check with the pharmacy where you’re currently filling your prescriptions because if you’re paying anything more than zero dollars for the following generic meds, you should switch to Sam’s Club pronto:
Amlodipine
Donepezil
Escitalopram
Finasteride
Lisinopril
Metformin
Montelukast
Pioglitazone
Sertraline
Vitamin D2 (50,000 IU)
Bear in mind that you will need a Sam’s Club Plus membership to claim the free prescriptions.
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