As a former decade+ Sams Club employee, I can tell you that Sams club monitors Costco’s prices very closely and ensures that Sams prices are always a better deal. Even if just by a penny, they WILL beat Costco’s price. Items are scrutinized by weight or quantity for the money to make sure it’s better. This is true for most of the house branded items: paper goods like paper towels, toilet paper, paper plates, napkins. “Basic essentials” throughout the club are also monitored for the most competitive pricing: copy paper, detergents, dog food, trash bags, bottled water, dry pastas, canned fruits and vegetables, sugar, flour, cooking oils, frozen chicken, frozen vegetables, candy bars, Frito-Lay, snack cakes, milk, butter, cream, eggs, shredded cheeses, ground beef, fresh chicken, and the basic Health and Beauty items. With the exception of the name brand chips and snack cakes, the price monitoring is mostly done for the house brands, ie. Kirkland and Members mark. Sams club revamped their produce vendors a few years back and it’s been top notch ever since, prices may fluctuate to the point that Costco has a better price per pound but you can make the judgement on whether the quality is reflected in the price. Meat is fine at both places, Costco likes to package at a higher weight per package, and I believe they do have a slightly higher quality overall for fish, pork, beef, and chicken products. That being said, you do pay extra for that quality, but I don’t believe the additional cost is balanced with the increased quality. I go Sams for meat products. Bakery has the same vendors as every other grocery store in the country, so the products come from the same manufacturing facilities that use identical recipes. The name brand sliced breads, bagels, and tortillas etc, are hit or miss, these prices tend to fluctuate based on the local vendor prices. Snacks and candy, clothing, tech, housewares, and seasonal products vary quite a bit between the two. There are different brands a wide variance of product types, it helps to have both memberships because it basically doubles your choices.