Sam's Club???

[jenfur]

I have passed Sam's Club alot and heard about great buys in there but somehow have never actually went in . If anyone is a member - what sort of stuff is in there ? Anything helpful at WDW ? How does one become a member?

 

[jrrandme]

Never went into Sam's Club...if you like to shop it is an experience...
Everything is sold in bulk, sort of, or large sizes, but then there are sigle things also. I know what our club is like and have been in a few others that are pretty much the same. A lot of people complain about the size/quantity you have to purchase but there are only 2 of us and I do a lot of shopping there. The prices are good on some things great on others, really bad on some...a comparison shoppers dream come true. As for what they have...fresh produce, dairy, bakery items, meats, motor oil, shampoo, laundry detergent, fozen food, books, film, car tires and batteries...a little bit of everything. If you have a lot of freezer space it is great...divide and freeze! you do need a little extra storage space, bulk TP takes up some space...or just buy one large size shampoo instead of 3 or 4 smalls over the next year... It really does work, after all you wont do all your shopping there.

I am pretty sure the club still offers a "trail membership" one day pass to check things out. I would check it out. We belong thru a business so it is cheaper than a sigle membership but from what I remember the single membership is not outrageous.

They also have a monthy rebate program...it's been hit or miss on good or bad.

As for WDW...I think there is a Sam's in Orlando, I think I was there once (ok I have a shopping problem...but I can deal with it!!!) For my next trip...I watched a collapsable cooler come down in price from $24.99 to $9.99 (some on this board found it even cheaper), I will
buy the baby cereal boxes, nephew eats cereal as breakfast and snack, Grab a package of their fresh made muffins, freeze and go, my film (on a rebate), disposable cameras for the nephew, and a book for the plane.

Got anymore discount shopping questions...ask, I can "smell a good store" from about 5 miles!!!

 

[Jordan's MOM]

The warehouse clubs like Sam's are a great place to get prepackaged snack foods to take into the park with you.They have everything you could want from good-for-you to total junk.We plan to hit our local one before our next trip.
Jordan's Mom

 

[bigsis1970]

Ours here in Maine sells all in bulk, PB,jelly, bread, chips, drinks-soda and juice, pasta, frozen meats and veggies, ours also has fresh fruit and veggies too, clothing cleaning needs , camera and film, computer .... UMMM that is all i can think of at the moment .. I will be checking with mine here to be sure my membership is good in FL so i can stock up for our 14 night stay..
hope this helps

83 days to go !!!

 

[Luv2Roam]

The Sam's Club we go to sells gasoline 20 - 40 cents below regular gas stations.
Bargains at Sam's are hit and misses. Sometimes the prices are fantastic, sometimes higher than regular stores (cola drinks as an example).
We buy a lot there and are very happy with most prices.

 

[Minnie's Mate]

I needed a USB cable to hook up my new printer. I went to one of the "big box" electronics stores a few blocks from a local Sam's. A 6 foot cable was $19.99 at the national chain. I thought Sam's might have it cheaper. I was right. Only the type they had were two to a box...one box $6.99! I saved $13.00 and got an extra 6 foot cable to boot! Unfortunately, they didn't have the appropriate ink cartridge for my printer. If they had, I could have bought two for $48.00 vs. one for $34.99 at the "Big Box".

While there, I filled my 34 gallon gas tank (pick-up truck) and saved $.06 per gallon.

Those two purchases alone saved at least half of our anual membership.

 

[OhMickey]

A couple of weeks ago, I found a Mickey desk set. It was on clearance and they had 2 left. I bought one. I took it home looked at it and loved it. I went back to get the other and it was gone.

I thought this would interest people since it is a Disney Board we're on!

 

[dtauer]

We've spent thousands at Sam's Club over the past few years. They often have the best prices on most items, especially electronics. The problem we've found is that often they get a good buy on something and once it's gone, thats all they have. We once bought a crib, didn't get around to setting it up for about a week, and found it was damaged. We went back to exchange it and they were already sold out of all of them and there must have been 10 there the week before. There was no problem getting a refund, but certain things are only in stock for a few days and if you want to "think about it" you often miss the item.

Sam's Club is usually slightly more for items like oil, soda pop and diapers. This is because discounters such as Kmart and Target use these items as loss leaders and sell them with very little profit or at a loss to get you in to the store. Sam's Club doesn't seem to have loss leaders and generally keep a pretty consistent price on these items.

Another thing to remember is that as a member of Sam's Club you get a travel discount for National Car Rental. We used the code from Sam's together with a internet coupon and got a fantastic deal on a rental this year.

 

[mar3990]

[We too have used the Sam's discount for a national rental car. It was the best deal I could find. The membership is a really good deal if you can find a couple other people to sign up at the same time as you. One thing we buy a lot is the birthday cakes because they are far cheaper than any grocery store or bakery. Their croissants and buns are a great deal too and if you have any parties, open houses, showers, etc. the membership will pay for itself.

 

[Daisimae]

If you get to Sam'e first thing in the am. They have discounted meats that you can split up into portions for your family and freeze that way. We have saved a lot of $$ on meat that way.

Daisimae

 

[Muushka]

If you see something at Sams that ends in .91, it is a clearance item and the price is usually pretty good. I just learned that the other day and walked thru the store looking for .91 and sure enough I found my favorite pickles that I usually pay around 3.00 for 91 cents. A good deal!

Also, don't forget about their prepaid phone cards. They sell for 4.16 cents per minute. If you purchase them over the internet you do not pay sales tax or shipping. A really good deal. I use this card for all of my long distance (at home or otherwise) and have saved quite a bit of $$.

 

[ceecee]

We go to Sam's, but don't buy a lot. The prices are not much , if any better than our grocery stores here. Maybe it is because we have 2 competitors near by. Sometimes at Christmas you can get good prices on toys. Videos are a little bit lower as well. We buy flavored water by the case and save on that. Sometimes you end up buying a lot more than you normally would with the "impulse" buys.

 

[Snurk71]

I am a SAMS Club member, but I have had no luck getting a code to use for National's site when making car rental reservations. Whenever I call either SAMS or National for assistance, they tell me to just use my membership number. This hasn't worked for me, though. Could those of you who have used SAMS Club to get good rates at National tell me how you did this?
Thanks!

 

[Debi]

Sams Club also has great rates on phone cards - something like $0.04/minute. I bought two for my next trip to WDW, as they never expire. As another poster mentioned, the gas prices are excellent as well. It's well worth the membership price!

 

[jrrandme]

Hi! Remember me...the one with the shopping problem...
You can use your Sam's card anywhere, last year a friend of mine renewed her membership in Mexico! It was cheaper to do there!!! As for the phone cards don't stock up on them for one trip, there is an option to "add more mins." when you are near the end. They also have a website, sorry can't find the address (probably samsclub.com) that has a store locator, rebate info, and some other stuff on it. Hopefully we have talked you into "venturing into" Sam's club...have fun and don't forget your checkbook!!!!

 

[mar3990]

I believe I found the Sam's Club code from a search on the transportation board. Everyone over there has alot of discount ideas on rental cars.

 

[tarmand]

As someone stated before, bring your checkbook! If I'm not mistaken, Sam's Club only accepts cash, checks, and Discover Card. They may have changed this, but I don't think so. You can apply for the Sam's Club credit card. That card works as your membership card and a credit card. I like this very much because I don't need to worry about having enough cash on me when I go in. If I see impulse items, I can just buy them. Of course, as with all credit cards, be sure that you only charge what you can afford to pay off each month. The interest rate is about 22% I think.

 

[GAIL HAYDEN]

They also accept debit cards.

 

[Daisimae]

Our Sam's Club here only accepts Visa credit/debit cards.

Daisimae

 

[nuthut]

Sam's club is the poorest excluse for a store I have ever seen. Wal-mart is a very close second.