Learn if Costco, Sam’s or BJ’s gives you the lowest prices using our interactive tool

Three quick takeaways:

• The News & Observer built an interactive tool to compare prices (as of mid-February) of common items at Triangle-based wholesale clubs.
• The tool reflects 60 items at regular, non-sale price.
• Our tool does not include sales tax, nor cash back or other promotional opportunities.

Want to see which wholesale club will give you the best value for exactly what you’re buying? Give our interactive receipt maker tool a spin.

Note: The only available 60 items reflected on the mega list are the ones The News & Observer used to price check the three wholesale clubs in the Triangle — Costco, Sam’s Club and BJ’s. The prices reflected (both in our study and on this list) are regular prices, never sale prices.

There are exponentially more items available for purchase in-store and online at wholesale clubs, though only a small sample is represented on our sample list and the interactive receipt maker tool. Hopefully, these 60 items overlap with the average family’s typical shopping list at a warehouse club, including produce, dairy, meat, frozen foods and general household needs, like ibuprofen or toilet tissue.

Also note: Tax is not included in our receipt maker calculation. This tool is intended to compare non-sale prices (as of mid-February) at wholesale clubs in the Raleigh area.

Play around with the tool to see which wholesale club would give you what you need at the lowest price.

Or, search and sort the entire list of items here.

The three bullet points at the top of the article were created using an AI tool for summarization and edited by journalists. Read more on our AI policy here.

This story was originally published March 27, 2024 at 7:10 AM.

Kimberly Cataudella Tutuska

The News & Observer

919-419-6630

Kimberly Tutuska (she/her) is the editor of North Carolina’s service journalism team.