Personally, I prefer Costco Wholesale to Sam’s Club, but I know that others feel the opposite or they don’t really care and end up just shopping at whatever one is closer to their house. Plus, in reality, they have virtually the same store model and serve the same consumer base. In order to figure out how to save more money when shopping at Sam’s Club, all you need to do is know the secret price codes of their price tag.
Prices that end in $xx.x1 indicate sale and clearance items
Prices such as $45.41 or $9.71 have been marked down from their original price. This is typically the only Sam’s Club price code to indicate sale items. However, price signage also contains letters that may give insight into different products. This letter is located in the upper right-hand corner of the price signage. The most important letters to know the meaning of is “C” and “O.”
Letter C indicates that Sam’s Club is discontinuing the item
There should also be a date at the bottom of the price sign indicating when the sign was last printed. Pay attention to the date in order to decipher if you think the item will have a chance of being marked down prior to selling out.
Letter O indicates that Sam’s Club purchased this item as a One Time Buy
One time buy items are exactly as they sound. Once this item sells out, don’t expect it to be replenished. Thus, if it’s something that you really want, make sure you don’t ‘sleep on it.’
Unlike Costco, some Sam’s Club stores have an area of the store where they house most of the items that have been marked down. Ask an associate if your local Sam’s Club has a discount area and if there is a certain day during the week that they restock. Also, if you find an item that has been damaged in any way ask a sales associate or manager about the damage and they are usually willing to discount the item for you! If you are more of a shop online and conquer kind of shopper, check out the Almost Gone section of the Sam’s Club website.
One item that I do tend to look for at Sam’s Club over Costco is pool floaties. They usually have very unique and fun floaties with an awesome price point!