Is Sam’s Club Plus Worth It?
I’ve been a Sam’s Club member for almost two years now and I enjoy the tremendous savings of buying in bulk. I am able to stock up on many non-perishables and leave the local grocery store (or farmer’s market) for fresh fruits, veggies, and meats.
Recently, Sam’s Club has been asking me to upgrade to upgrade my account to a “plus” one. A plus account adds “eValues”, which are digital coupons, to your account. You log into your Sam’s Club account online (or at an in-store kiosk) to see what’s available. From there, you are able to email or print the items on the list. All you need to do is buy the items and the discounts appear at the register. According to Sam’s Club eValue FAQs, “eValues means $300 in guaranteed savings. With eValues, you have the opportunity to save an additional $200 a year on top of the savings you already enjoy.”
So a few weeks ago I broke down and upgraded my account for $20 (this price depends on when your account will expire). It took a few days to see the “e-values” appear under my account online. Once there, I was offered $203 in offered e-values. These included $100 off jewelry, $50 off a mattress, $40 of laminate flooring, and $1-$2 off various food products. The only thing I would most likely buy is the Bertolli extra virgin olive oil at $2 off. Other than that, I am not seeing savings for anything that I normally buy. I usually pickup cat litter, cat food, milk, eggs, and OJ on a bi-weekly basis.
Hopefully I will get a few more “eValues” on my account over the next few weeks to make a decision if it’s worth it for me. To make it up, I need to at least break even with the $20 upgrade fee by April. If not, I may not continue my plus membership with them.
Do you have a Sam’s Club Advantage Plus membership? What’s your take on the program? Are there similar programs out there?
I posted an update to this topic in another blog post: “Update: Is Sam’s Club Plus Worth It?” Please check it out.
Tags: Memberships, Sam's Club, Savings, Worth it?
Email Subscription
RSS Feed
Twitter
January 11th, 2010 at 10:44 pm
I think with the plus membership the savings will stack up if you are a business. I am going to look into this. Thanks.
January 12th, 2010 at 4:05 pm
I personally don’t feel the upgrade is worth it seeing as how the discounts you received were useless to the regular Sam’s Club member. Most people I know that go to Sam’s Club go for one thing ; bulk food. So I find it curious why they would give you such high discounts for something like jewelry of all things. I dont think many people even know Sam’s Club sells jewelry. It’s a very obscure discount. What they should give you is a choice on discounts you receive. Obviously we all would pick the food one. That’s just my two-cents.
-Todd
January 14th, 2010 at 10:44 am
I agree with Todd. The extra eValuse may not be worth it this time around. It may turn out that you can use the extra coupons now and then, but probably not what they’re offering. The $20 extra isn’t too bad, however is this a yearly / subscribing fee, or a one-time fee?
January 14th, 2010 at 1:17 pm
The Advantage Plus membership is $100/year normally. The regular Advantage is $40/year. So for the additional $60/year I may not find myself keeping the Plus membership when I renew. This will all depend on what I find in the upcoming months.
January 31st, 2010 at 10:13 pm
[...] few weeks ago I wrote about if the Sam’s Club Advantage Plus membership is worth it. To recap, a plus account adds “eValues”, which are digital coupons, to your [...]
March 17th, 2010 at 2:41 am
Tons of Fantastic information in your blogpost, I bookmarked your site so I can visit again in the near future, Cheers
May 5th, 2010 at 12:10 am
hi there guys i work for sam’s club and i just wanted to add something about the plus program its a shame to have the everyday customer spen that kinda money on useless discounts. My bosses make us jam the info down members throat everyday. even if u say no they tell us to explain in more detail other advantages of the plus like a bogus $100 certificate to expidia.com for hotel and airfare but what isnt said is you have to spend a certain amount on a package deal in order to use that discount. I am waiting for the day someone files a lawsuit or something against the company for them to relize that ppl in the economy can”t and willnot spen the extra money they ounce could.
May 5th, 2010 at 12:18 am
as a cashier we have 2 meetings a month and they are both about selling plus’s and geting memebrs renew there membership 2 months in advance so they can make what they call sam’s share which is nothing more than pure profit for the company. if the econemy was any better i would have left this ruthless throat gouging company but i have a 2 yr old son and a daughter weeks from coming now. just wanted to give ppl an inside info on there dealings from a discusted and frustrated employee. thats stuck in hell.
July 4th, 2010 at 1:00 pm
ozzi and others: thanks for the heads up. just got my Sam’s renewal statement and realized all the ramifications of allowing the checkout girl talk me into last year’s $36 additional for Plus membership. not only did I not spend $36 in unrecouped eValues (there are only so many paper towels and toilet paper rolls that I can store) but I absolutely refuse to pay $100 to renew the Plus membership. am going to Sam’s today to re-establish a $40 “regular” membership. and will continue to hope for the day Costco opens its doors a little closer.
July 13th, 2010 at 12:39 am
the Sam’s club plus card and evalues program is relatively new and if you recently upgraded your account it will take time for the e-values to be geared more towards your individual preferences. if you familiarize yourself with the additional benefits that come with the card i think you will find that as long as your savvy and use the benefits provided the card comes in very handy. before you consider cancelling you should stop by the service desk and get some useful information on the benefits.
August 7th, 2010 at 10:29 pm
Hello Everyone,
I posted an update to my Sam’s Club eValues here: http://www.pocketcoinage.org/?p=75
In the end I did not extend my plus membership, because I could not take advantage of all the coupons. I never made that $20 back when I upgraded.
I actually have not been to Sam’s Club in a few months. I’ve been taking advantage of the local supermarkets’ summer sales and stocking up on everything. I was able to get Marcal paper towels at half the price of Pom.