Sam’s clubs tend to be located in areas where customers have to budget shop, while Costcos tend to be located in wealthier suburbs, where customers have the luxury of choosing to budget shop. One (Costco) offers less selection and better quality, while the other (Sam’s club) offers more selection and a little less quality. One (Costco) is the biggest seller of fine wines and the other (Sam’s Club) is part of the company that is the biggest seller of well, everything. From a budget fashion perspective, Costco is obviously the better choice for those looking for brand names like Calvin Klein Jeans for $22.99 and the store has a great “no-questions-asked-return-policy“. It’s private label brand, Kirkland, has men’s dress shirts that are comparable in quality to the private label brands of major department store like Nordstrom and cost 50% less. However, what attracts budget shoppers like myself to the store is that Costco caps their markups at 14% over the price they paid for an item—significantly less than department stores (up to 50%) and yep, even less than Sam’s Club/Wal-Mart. Plus, there’s evidence that Costco employees are better compensated than their Sam’s Club counterparts– but as one person pointed out Costco employees often make more money because they live and work in wealthy suburbs where it costs more money to live. Another “plus” for Costco is the amazing deals on necessities like Gas for your car and eyewear- both of which can be purchased at Costco (and at some Sam’s Clubs, albeit with limited selection on the eyeglasses) at a significant discount from other retail outlets. For example, you can often save up to $.10 per gallon (and more) on gas at Costco