Why I Am Not A Member At Costco Or Sam’s Club

I was reading the following post over at Live Real, Now, which describes why the blog writer does not like going to warehouse stores. The gist of it was he did not like the person standing at the door when you are leaving that scans your receipt and looks at your cart. I agree, it does make you feel like you are being accused of thievery.

This post got me thinking about why I canceled my Costco membership, even though we have plenty of room to store bulk items, and we are a family of five. (In theory, we are probably the type of family Costco based their business model on.) Don’t get me wrong, I have many fond memories of taking my youngest son to Sam’s Club when he was little to look at the fiber-optic Christmas trees and getting free samples.

However, for all the positives of shopping at a warehouse store, there were negatives. So, here are the reasons I stopped shopping at Costco and Sam’s Club:

I spent wayyy more when I shopped at warehouse clubs. Plus, what I bought was unhealthy garbage. I really didn’t need the giant bag of M&Ms, even though it seemed like such a great deal. It was rare for me to get out of there for less than 300 dollars. That is a car payment! It was very time consuming. I felt like I had to go down each and every aisle when I was there because I only went once a month or so. Then loading each item into my car, and the unloading was a nightmare. The membership fee. I didn’t like pay 35 dollars just for the privilege of shopping. Many things I bought were low quality. I bought spoiled milk at Costco, even though it was nowhere near the expiration date. The ink I bought for my color printer was garbage, even though it was HP. I bought some chicken breasts there that you could have rolled up and created the most effective super ball ever. (Probably not worth the salmonella risk to make that invention a reality though.) I found that I could buy things much cheaper if I combined coupons and sales at my local grocery stores. If you know how to work the sales, you don’t need warehouse clubs (in my opinion).

I will say though that there are a few things that I really miss about Costco. I love their frozen white corn. I swear it must secretly be soaked in sugar. I have also found that I cannot beat the price on a certain items at Costco, like giant bags of chocolate chips, vanilla, and spices. However, the 35 dollar fee does not make it worth my while for those few items. Not to mention I hate the parking lot there.

What are your thoughts on warehouse clubs? Am I being un-American by not shopping at Costco? Are you convinced the deals are better at warehouse clubs? Do you love the Kirkland brand?