5 Disadvantages Of Having A Sam's Club Membership

Sam's Club, like the other major warehouse club store chains, has done especially well in the past few years. Shoppers are trying to stretch tight budgets as far and as efficiently as possible, while also wanting to keep a surplus of food and basic necessities amid a still-unsteady job market. And Sam's has filled that role for a lot of people as it sits between its two biggest rivals in the warehouse club space, ahead of BJ's Wholesale Club but behind Costco in overall sales. That said, Sam's Club does some things better than Costco, but shopping at Sam's doesn't come without some major drawbacks of its own.

There are obviously pros and cons to a Sam's Club membership, most of which will come down to your own personal needs and preferences. But we will be drawing your attention to a few of the more common problems with shopping at Sam's Club that you'll want to consider before you join, especially if you have other warehouse clubs in your area to choose from. Some of these issues aren't unique to Sam's Club, and you're going to face them no matter which warehouse club you join and shop at.

Free shipping used to be one of the big perks of a Sam's Club Plus membership — the pricier, "premium" membership tier — but that benefit was scaled back in August 2024, when Sam's added a hefty $50 minimum for free shipping. For reference, Walmart only has a $35 minimum for free shipping on eligible orders, and you don't even need to pay for Walmart+ to get that. 

Same-day delivery from a Sam's Club store also heavily favors Plus members. A $50 threshold means free standard delivery for Plus members, and an $8 fee if the total is less than $50. Meanwhile, standard members pay a $12 fee no matter their order total. Then there are added fees if you want delivery in under one or three hours, and both cost more than double for standard members than for Plus members.

Now, to be fair, Sam's Club is not only tied with BJ's for the cheapest regular membership costs of the big three warehouse clubs, but it is also pretty easy to catch all sorts of deals to make Sam's memberships even cheaper. Sam's runs promotions on both membership tiers, but if you start with the standard membership, you may still find yourself being nudged to upgrade to Plus. It makes you wonder if Sam's is so generous with standard membership deals for exactly that reason.

When looking for the best grocery chains for budget shopping, a lot of shoppers turn to warehouse club stores like Sam's Club, where you pay less per unit because you're buying in bulk. Common products like cereal, frozen pizza, potato chips, sports drinks, butter, sugar, and flour can come out cheaper per item and/or ounce at Sam's Club than at most regular grocery stores — though that may vary a bit depending on where you live and what your local grocery store prices are like. 

However, everything isn't automatically cheaper at Sam's Club. Some items may be the exact same price per unit at Sam's versus other stores, while others are actually more expensive. People have found items like bananas and milk are both more expensive at Sam's than at Walmart and other non-warehouse club stores. But you're already at Sam's, so it's easy to just grab everything there — and subsequently overpay for an item or two.

You also have to watch for things like laundry detergent and other items where you can often find manufacturer coupons and/or use price matching to get good deals at regular grocery stores. Such items might have grocery store prices at Sam's, but Sam's doesn't offer price matching, nor does it accept coupons other than the ones Sam's itself offers — so you will always be paying full price for such items.

Unless you are buying items for a party or you have a particularly large family, the amount of a given item you are required to buy at Sam's can be hard to finish before it spoils. Unless, of course, you go all-in on using that item for every single meal over multiple days after your Sam's trip, which most people won't find appealing.

As far as fresh meat goes, there's a list of issues that make the case for avoiding fresh meat from Sam's Club entirely. But even without any of those issues, there's the challenge of needing to finish that bulk amount of meat you bought before it goes bad. Freezing it is always an option, which many people do indeed take advantage of, but not everyone has an abundance of freezer space. Plus, you have to spend time and effort portioning and labeling all that meat before you can put it in the freezer.

You also have to watch out for things like canned items that might have a generous shelf life but are the type of thing that you need to finish quickly once they are opened — like, say, a 6-pound can of nacho cheese. Unopened, it may keep for quite a while. But once you've broken the seal, the clock is ticking, and the average family can't consume six pounds of cheese before it becomes unsafe to eat.

Sam's Club is definitely a haven for customers with a sweet tooth, from its beloved bakery items to the huge boxes of prepackaged candy, cookies, and snack cakes. You can also find all the chips and salty snacks you could ever want, in generous portions. We don't begrudge anyone for indulging their predilection for sweet or salty treats, or for wanting to keep a stockpile on hand. But plenty of healthier snack options are available, and Sam's doesn't seem as interested in featuring them.

What makes Sam's Club look especially bad here is that Costco does a much better job carrying brands like Bear and Unreal, which are known for offering snacks with healthier, more natural ingredients and, in many cases, lower sugar. This gives customers, especially families and parents shopping for kids, more options for smarter snacking choices than Sam's tends to offer.

Of course, most experts agree moderation is everything when it comes to snacks and treats, so the idea is you aren't supposed to overdo it anyway. But when you buy a huge box of Little Debbie snacks from Sam's, and you know those Nutty Buddys aren't going to stay fresh forever, you know exactly what ends up happening. 

Any given trip to Sam's Club is likely to have you dodging people standing behind or near tables trying to get your attention. And no, we aren't talking about the free samples at Sam's Club, because who could possibly complain about those? We're talking about representatives selling phone plans, home improvement services, internet bundles, and similar offerings. 

It's not something you necessarily have to deal with when you're just trying to go grocery shopping, especially at a place you already have to pay a fee to shop at in the first place. What's worse is that those solicitors all tend to be positioned at the front of the store and in such a way that you can't really avoid walking past them. So it's not only a potential nuisance, but an immediate one.

Even Sam's itself is prone to upselling you while you shop, whether it's making sure you've signed up for the Sam's app or trying to get you to upgrade to that Plus membership. This can be even more frustrating when you're having trouble finding an employee when you actually need help.