answer:At least in my experience..they both had about the same (good) prices on similar bulk dry-good items like chips, snacks, candy, brand name paper products like Kleenex, or detergents like Tide..but what made me like Costco better than Sam’s were these three things: 1) Quality of the meats/produce at Costco were bar none, the BEST in our area. The meats weren’t always inexpensive..but they were very high quality. The “fresh” items (cheese, veggies, fruits, seafood, soups, deli meats) and bakery items were always MUCH nicer and higher quality at our Costco. 2) Costco employees are treated very well. I have some dubious feelings towards Wal-Mart (which Sam’s is a part of)..and Costco is known for treating it’s employees very well in turn, this means that I always dealt with the same pleasant, knowledgeable folks every time. Almost no employee turnover..it was kind of neat. They became familiar faces and could recognize me on sight, too. So, when I need groceries for our large family or for entertaining a large group—it made it easier to choose Costco and I felt better about supporting them than Sam’s. 3) Our Sam’s doesn’t have gas pumps, our Costco does—and it offers discounts (usually about 5 to 10 cents off per gallon as compared to the lowest pump prices in our area). So, if I was going to make the effort to drive out to shop and fight the crowds..I’d choose our Costco for the inexpensive gas at the pumps (where I’d fill up the car tank on my way out of the lot) ..because it made it a better use of my time than going to Sam’s. So, in short: I’d pick Costco over Sam’s every time.