Sam's Club ~ Member's sam's brand vs name brand

[DonnaMac]

I know all you guys do this but I sometimes get in a rut and fail to double check so I wanted to remind you to do the math. I think it is another way for the stores to try and trick us.

I went to Sam's to pick up a very few things and needed dishwashing det. and dog treats. I did not like the Sam's brand the last time but I decided to do the math vs Cascade and give it another try. I cannot remember how much the mm was or I would tell you but the Cascade was significantly cheaper than the Sam's brand. It was such a difference I called my husband to double check the math. Cascade was much cheaper.

Also, I was going to get 8 lbs of mm dog treats for $6.64. I checked the 14 lbs of milk bone dog bones and they were $8.? and I cannot remember the exact change. Again, the name brand was cheaper.

I have seen this at WM but I wanted to let everyone know to not assume the Sam's Member Mark or the Wal-Mart store brand for that matter is still the best deal around.

DO THE MATH!

[phlack]

I've never seen the name brand cheaper than Members Mark. In fact, it's usually way cheaper (depends on the item, of course)

But that doesn't mean it doesn't happen.

I've also noticed that when the prices tend to be about the same, the members mark product goes away.

But yes, always do the math.

-Mike

[DonnaMac]

Yes, Mike I agree with you. Usually the store brand is cheaper but these are desperate times for stores and I am seeing lots more tricks. Most people only have the $6.? for the dish detergent so they just grab that rather than paying $8 and going for a better deal. People assume as always store brand is chearper. In the past, it has always been fine. I am seeing this at WM and I am not picking on WM and Sams I am seeing little trick at Target also.

The Target brand fruit snacks were on sale so I grabbed a box of the tropical mix (most popular flavor) I go and use a self scanner in the store and it does not ring of sale price I go back to the fruit snacks and after a couple of minutes follow the chart of how the sale prices are laid out so that at first glance they all look on sale but after closer inspection the tropical mix is the only one not on sale. This was not obvious and took me a couple of minutes to figure out the lay out.

Target assume consumers would grab the most popular brand and not pay attention and they, the retailer, would come out the better.

They retailers are counting on people not paying attention and I have to say most are not.

I now do the math on everything and I do not buy massive amounts at a time so I try and scan everything and decide then if I want to pay the price they are asking.

I've never seen the name brand cheaper than Members Mark. In fact, it's usually way cheaper (depends on the item, of course)

But that doesn't mean it doesn't happen.

I've also noticed that when the prices tend to be about the same, the members mark product goes away.

But yes, always do the math.

-Mike