Sam's Club Will Let You Return These Three Unexpected Items

Buying groceries in bulk from Sam's Club is a great way to save dough, but can also be an easy path to buyer's regret. In rare cases, perishable foods might spoil earlier than the date on the package, or perhaps you're simply not satisfied with an item's quality. Before you throw your purchase out, know that Sam's Club actually lets you return dairy products, produce, and any goods you bought on clearance — four items most stores don't accept.

The Sam's Club return policy has very few limitations, depending on where you live, the only grocery item you might not be able to return is alcohol. All other foods and beverages are fair game for a refund or replacement under the store's 100% Satisfaction Guarantee, including the aforementioned dairy and produce, which is one of the 7 items to avoid buying at Sam's Club due to it going bad too quickly. 

Sam's Club doesn't even require you to take the items back. Just bring your receipt or find it online in your account history, and the staff will take care of the rest. Shoppers have also been able to return discounted items and opened or partially consumed food. That doesn't necessarily mean you can eat a whole tub of yogurt or box of grapes and then return it. But if something tastes, smells, or looks wrong, tossing it out and counting your losses is a Sam's Club mistake.

Sam's Club is constantly pitted against its biggest rival, Costco, so you may be wondering how Costco's return policy stacks up to Sam's Club. Costco also accepts perishable or partially eaten foods, and customers have successfully returned items sold on markdown. But a major difference between these two chains is in the case of online orders.

Costco allows you to return items ordered online if they're damaged, defective, or you're simply not satisfied with the product, and in most cases, all shipping and handling fees will be refunded. Sam's Club's will only refund shipping charges if the reason for the return is due to a Sam's Club error or if the item was damaged in transit.

Other discrepancies between the two stores are small, such as differing return windows for certain products.The only grocer with a return policy more generous than Costco or Sam's Club might be Trader Joe's. Trader Joe's easy-going return policy allows you to return any type of item  — opened or unopened, partially consumed or not — for any reason, and you don't even need your receipt.