Shopping at Walmart is one way to save money, but the best prices are usually at the company’s warehouse chain, Sam’s Club.
Like Costco, which Sam’s is modeled after, the retailer charges shoppers a membership fee to access the ultra-low-markup bulk goods.
At $50 to get in the door, the annual fee can deter some shoppers: Are the deals really worth it?
The question is increasingly important for US households focused on stretching their dollars, a consumer climate that has favored value-conscious retailers like Costco and Walmart.
To find out, we used a shopping list from a similar analysis we did at Costco, in which we compared the unit prices of national brands sold at both Costco and traditional retailers. We used store brands for cheese and bacon.
The list prioritizes shelf-stable items that are typically consumed steadily throughout the year, and we visited a local warehouse to check prices.
Annual consumption rates were based on ChatGPT estimates of how much of each item a typical two-person household would use in a year.
We then excluded discounts and adjusted pricing to account for the different pack sizes available in clubs versus traditional stores to determine the difference in annual spending.
Everything on the list was cheaper at Sam’s Club than at the traditional stores we checked. We calculated a payback score for each item to represent how the savings from one year of shopping exclusively for that item at Sam’s Club would compare to the $50 membership fee.
For example, a payback score of 100 means the savings and the fee are equal; a score of 200 means the savings were twice the fee, and a score of 50 means that half the fee was offset by that single product.
Again, this analysis assumes no other purchases at Sam’s Club, which in our experience is extremely unlikely.
Here’s what we found, ranked from highest to lowest.
Diapers and baby wipes
A jumbo pack of Huggies diapers sells for $47 at Sam’s Club, while the same quantity (148 diapers) would cost almost $64 elsewhere. At that rate, savings on diapers alone would offset the membership fee in less than three purchases.
Assuming 18 purchases a year, or about 1.5 boxes a month, yields a payback score of 599, meaning the savings would pay for the membership fee more than five times over for this item alone.
Pet food
A 38-pound bag of Blue Buffalo dog food sells for $65 at Sam’s Club, while the equivalent weight at a typical retailer would cost $92. At that rate, the membership fee would be offset in about two purchases.
Assuming 10 purchases a year, this item yields a payback score of 544, meaning the savings would cover the membership fee four times over on this item alone.
Coffee beans
Sam’s Club sells 2.5-pound bags of Starbucks Pike Place roast coffee beans for $10 per pound, while typical retailers sell the same beans for about $14.40 per pound.
At that rate, the savings would offset the membership fee with the fifth purchase. Assuming a household consumes one of these bags a month, the payback score is 264.
Baby formula
Costco sells large containers of Similac for $56, about $8.80 less than the same product would cost at a typical retailer.
That means a membership fee would be offset after six purchases. Assuming one purchase a month yields a payback score of 211.
The club also sells generic baby formula at roughly half the unit cost of Similac, and Sam’s offering is produced by the same leading supplier, Perrigo, that other major retailers use for their store brands.
Contact lens solution
Opti-Free contact lens solution is about 30% less expensive by volume when purchased at Sam’s Club than at a traditional retailer.
A household that uses one 16-ounce bottle a month would typically buy six of these packs in a year, for a payback score of 139.
Allergy medication
The pharmacy aisles have a lot of savings for warehouse club shoppers.
A bottle of 120 Zyrtec tablets costs $40 before discounts at Sam’s Club, while the same quantity from other retailers can easily cost nearly $65.
Assuming two purchases a year results in a payback score of 99, effectively breaking even with the annual fee.
Bacon
Bacon is incredibly subjective. Still, the closest match to this $4 per pound Members Mark thick-cut bacon from Sam’s Club costs $7.33 a pound at a Midwestern grocery chain.
At four pounds per package, that works out to a difference of $13, which would offset the membership fee after about four purchases.
Assuming a household consumes 12 pounds of bacon a year, that would account for three purchases, for a payback score of 80.
Greek yogurt
A 2.5-pound container of Chobani Greek Yogurt costs $6.24 at Sam’s Club, while the same quantity from a conventional retailer would cost about $3 more.
Assuming a household consumes one club-sized container a month on average works out to a payback score of 71.
Vitamins
Vitafusion multivitamins cost $13.38 for a pack of 220 gummies, roughly $11 cheaper than buying from a conventional retailer. (Men’s and women’s versions cost the same.)
Taking one per day would require at least three purchases, which would result in a payback score of 67, or about two-thirds of the membership fee.
Dishwasher pods
Cascade dishwasher pods cost about $8 less at Sam’s Club (before the discount shown on the yellow price tag) than an equivalent quantity bought at a typical retailer.
If a household runs the dishwasher once a day, it would need four club-sized packs of pods in a year, which works out to a payback score of 65.
Cheese
Sam’s has 2-pound blocks of Members Mark colby jack cheese for sale at $2.68 per pound, which is about $1.30 less per pound than typical retailers.
Assuming a household uses about half a pound a week would amount to roughly 24 pounds a year, or 12 club-sized blocks, for a payback score of 64.
Pasta
At $1.42 per box, Sam’s Club’s six-pack of Barilla pasta costs about $3 less than the same amount bought elsewhere.
Assuming a weekly spaghetti night that uses one pound of pasta, this works out to nine purchases a year, resulting in a payback score of 50.
HVAC filters
We’re back with the boring old HVAC filters.
Manufacturers recommend replacing them at least every three months for optimal performance, and that can add up quickly.
Sam’s Club’s four-pack of 3M Filtrete air filters costs $24 less than the same product elsewhere. Most households only need to buy one pack a year, though, so the payback score would be 48.
Paper goods
Warehouse chains are known for comically large packs of paper products, like these 32-packs of Charmin toilet paper.
Before discounts, the $30 pack works out to $0.94 a roll, which is 16 cents cheaper a roll than a similar pack bought elsewhere for $35.
Assuming a household uses 10 rolls of toilet paper a month would mean four purchases a year, resulting in a payback score of 41.
Laundry detergent
This Tide laundry detergent from Sam’s Club costs $24.98, or about $0.15 an ounce, versus $0.17 an ounce for the same product at other retailers.
Assuming a household would go through two 170-ounce jugs in a year gives a payback score of 16.
Cooking oil
This Pompeian olive oil is about $0.11 an ounce cheaper than it costs from a traditional retailer.
Assuming a household uses one club-sized jug a year yields a payback score of 15.
