The Ultimate Guide To Ordering Sam's Club Bakery Cakes

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There are few occasions that can't be made better with cake, and Sam's Club has a reputation for making great ones. So, if you already have a membership and are looking for a great cake on a budget, you might think about sourcing your cake from Sam's Club rather than a more costly bakery. While you normally think of Sam's as a place to buy items in bulk, the bakery has cakes of all sizes. So, you can get one there for a small or large celebration or event.

While you'll find some cakes on the bakery shelves, we never see nearly as many as at the Club's sister grocery store, Walmart. And without employees standing around waiting to take your order, it can be a little daunting to know what's even possible from the bakery and how to order it if you don't see what you want immediately available. So, we've done a little research for you so that you can buy your Sam's Club bakery cake with confidence next time you need one. We have information about what cakes are available, how to order them, how to pay, and more. So, if you're thinking about ordering your next cake from Sam's Club, this guide should tell you all you need to know.

There are a few things that you can do at Sam's Club without a membership, but buying a cake isn't one of them. Without a membership card, you could come in and browse and use some services like the eyeglass center or pharmacy, but all you could really do is look at the pre-made cakes and salivate over them; non-members are not allowed to purchase cakes.

Something you might notice is that there's a Guest Membership option that some people use to buy items online with a 10% upcharge. However, you can't use a Guest Membership to buy a Sam's Club cake because, while you can order cakes online, Guest Memberships don't work for items you have to pick up curbside or in-club.

Something to note, though, is that some people on social media found that you don't have to be a member to pick up a prepaid cake. For example, if a club member orders and pays for a cake online, you could pick it up for them even if you're not a member. It's just a good idea to have a copy of the receipt with you.

Sam's Club has pre-made cakes on the shelf that are ready to pick up, as well as custom cakes you can request to be made to your specifications. Basically, if you look on the website and you can add the cake directly to your cart, it's a pre-made cake. If your option from the bakery listing is to view the cake, then it's a cake you can customize.

The pre-made cakes include both standard and seasonal options. The Member's Mark Tuxedo Bar Cake and Member's Mark Sweet Fruit Topped Chantilly Cream Bar Cake are among the best Sam's Club desserts you can buy. There are also confetti bar cakes, pre-made birthday cakes that come with either white or chocolate cake, and celebration cakes. You might also find a tres leches-style cake with strawberry filling, a tiramisu cake, cheesecakes, cupcakes, and other options.

Additionally, there are a variety of custom cakes not on the shelves that are available to order and pick up later after the Sam's Club bakery has time to make them for you. You can special-order sheet cakes, round cakes, two-tier cakes, and cookie cakes, and personalize them with your design of choice. Plus, Sam's Club makes some of the best grocery store cupcakes.

There are several options to make a Sam's Club custom cake order. Some locations may no longer accept non-digital orders, so be aware that your ordering options might be limited. First of all, there are two digital ordering options. One option is to order online through Sam's Club Digital Bakery. Basically, you'll need to go to the Sam's Club website, locate the bread and bakery section, and then find the custom cakes and cupcakes section. 

From there, you can pick the type of cake you want, customize it, and order it through the site's shopping cart. Another digital option is to order with tablets in the store. The bakers are often very busy and may be understaffed, so digital options allow them more time to fulfill orders. However, they can offer in-person or phone assistance with digital ordering if necessary.

There are also three non-digital ordering options. One is to call the Sam's Club directly and order on the phone with your local Sam's Club's bakery, but some locations don't always have time to answer. Another is to walk in and order in person. However, some locations will point you to a tablet or app if you walk in. However, you can use the Sam's Club chatbot to get a special cake order form that you can present in person at the Sam's Club bakery to make your order.

If you want a pre-made cake, those are already available, ready to go in the store. However, if you want a custom cake, you need to plan ahead. You can't order a custom one now and expect it to be available in just a few hours. Plus, procrastination and last-minute ordering may make getting the cake when you need it impossible if you don't order within the right time frame.

When you order a custom cake from the Sam's Club bakery, you need to order it at least 24 hours ahead of the time when you need to pick it up. However, there's one caveat to the 24-hour rule. Getting a custom cake within 24 hours is only available if you order by 2 p.m. If you procrastinate and don't make your order until after that, the only options in the bakery pickup scheduler online will be for the day after next — not tomorrow. For example, if you try to order a cake at 3 p.m. on Friday, the next available pick-up time won't be until Sunday morning. 

However, the good news is that it's entirely possible to specify a time and date that's more than 24 hours in the future when you make your initial order, as Sam's Club lets you schedule an order for pickup as many as 30 days in the future.

It can be a little tricky to know when to pay for your Sam's Club custom cake, but it really comes down to how you place your order. Whether you need to pay up front depends entirely upon whether you order online, in person, or over the phone.

If you order online through the Sam's Club Digital Bakery, you need to pay at the time that you make your order. You'll check out and pay using the shopping cart option like you would for any other online order.

However, if you order either in person or over the phone, payment doesn't happen until you pick up your custom cake order. Keep in mind that Sam's Club employees won't take payments over the phone. So, there's no need to have your credit card information available if you order that way. After you pick up the cake from the bakery, take it to the cash register to pay for it just like you would any other item that you purchase from the bakery. Or, you could use the Scan & Go option to scan the bar code and pay in your app before leaving the store.

One change we truly wish the Sam's Club bakery would make is to offer more custom cake options. Currently, customization is severely limited, and there are not nearly as many custom options as when ordering from the Walmart bakery. There are some pre-established designs that you can find on the website or the Cake Book online or in the store, but they're unchangeable beyond picking from white, chocolate, or marble cake and adding a message.

Plain cakes are slightly more customizable. For example, if you get a plain half sheet cake, you can opt for rose or balloon decorations, and only four color combination choices. The only cake flavors are white, chocolate, and marble. Additionally, there are limitations to things like icing options and decorations. 

The only writing color option for whipped frosting is white, but buttercreme has several icing color choices. Border styles are only beads or shells. Cupcakes also have a choice of sprinkles, quins, or sugar. If you don't see something you like, it's entirely possible to pick up a plain version of any of these cakes and get a decorating kit to decorate yourself if you don't see a design you like.

Something you may not have realized is that you can order a wedding or anniversary cake from Sam's Club just like you can from Costco. If you're trying to celebrate your event on a budget, it's a good option that won't break the bank; they start at under $20, with even the most expensive one being under $60 before tax, but this may vary by location.

There are several Sam's Club wedding and anniversary cake options to choose from online, ranging from sheet cakes, round cakes, cookie cakes, cupcakes, and traditional two-tier cakes. There are four design possibilities if you're looking for something traditional: blooming flowers, graceful radiance, roses, or succulents. From there, you can choose the cake flavor and add a message on the cake if you'd like. The two-tier cakes allow you to choose either the same flavor for each tier or different flavors.

Some people on social media who have opted to get their wedding cake from Sam's have mentioned just getting plain cakes and doing the decorating themselves, like adding fresh fruit and flowers. Others say that they've found more wedding cake options by looking at the booklet located in the Sam's Club bakery.

Something you may not have realized is that you can order a custom Sam's Club cake with a photo or special image on it. However, you have to make the order inside the store to get a custom cake, assuming your location still allows in-person ordering.  

The Sam's Club bakery can put Edible Images on cakes because it uses PhotoCake. The Sam's Club Cake Book includes quite a large number of images of licensed characters you can put on your cake. Plus, the Cake Book says that if you don't see the one you're looking for, a bakery employee may be able to help you find the one you want.

Having PhotoCake also allows Sam's Club to use edible ink to print photos on your cake. So, you can bring in a photo and ask a bakery employee to print it on your custom cake for you. Customers who have gotten Sam's Club photo cakes say that they had to bring a physical copy of the photo to the bakery to make the order. Also, if you want multiple photos on the cake, it's best to make your own photo collage and then print out the collage to bring with you rather than depend on the bakery employees to get the photos exactly where you want them. The printer can shrink or fit your photo to the size necessary for the cake, but the photo you bring in can't be larger than the size of a regular sheet of paper.

Some Sam's Club cakes are only available to pick up in the store. However, there are others that you can have delivered or pick up curbside. The trick is to know which is which. If you order a custom cake, part of the checkout process involves scheduling an in-club pickup date and time. There won't be an option for delivery or curbside pickup for custom cakes. 

The scheduled time for the cake to be ready is actually an hour-long range rather than a specific time, and the bakery will send you an email to let you know when it's ready to pick up. You'll need to pick these up inside the bakery area, as they're not available for curbside pickup.

The good news is that there are some cakes available both for delivery and curbside pickup from Sam's Club, and you may be able to get them as quickly as an hour. However, custom cakes are not available, only the pre-made ones. If in doubt about whether delivery or curbside pickup is available, put it in your online shopping cart with other items you want to pick up or have delivered, and see if a delivery or pickup option appears.

Just like practically everything else at Sam's Club, cakes are returnable. Hopefully, the cake you get will be what you want and make you happy. However, if it doesn't satisfy you in some way, then you're more than welcome to bring it back to the Club.

To return a cake to Sam's Club, simply bring it back and take it to the Member's Service Desk. Once there, you can request a refund for the unwanted cake. Keep in mind that you'll need to have your receipt with you. If you don't have a physical receipt, you can check your purchase history in the Sam's Club app. There's also a purchase history section on the Sam's Club website in your account information. You'll get your money back in the same way that you paid — cash back for a cash payment or a card refund for a credit or debit card payment.