October 13–19 Warehouse Club Scorecard: Costco Wins Coffee and Cream Cheese, Sam's Wins the Sauce
Costco's member book enters its final week while Sam's Club runs item-level instant savings and BJ's stays in its 42 percent birthday sale; the same 80-count coffee box is 99 cents cheaper at Costco, Sam's takes the pasta sauce, and Costco takes the cream cheese by the ounce.
Costco's member savings book for September 21 through October 18 is down to its final week, and on October 12 the club put a fresh dated weekly set on the warehouse floor. Sam's Club still has no Instant Savings Book — the next one is expected October 28 — but it is running item-level instant savings across groceries, household goods, health and beauty, and electronics. BJ's is three weeks into a 42-percent birthday event that runs through October 31 and added a second wave of items on October 7. Every price below was read at the source on October 13, 2026. 1234
Headline picks
1. The Original Donut Shop K-Cup pods, 80 count — Costco, by 99 cents. Both clubs are selling the same box: 80 medium-roast pods. Costco's book has it at $44.99 marked down to $35.99, a $9 instant saving that runs through October 18. Sam's Club lists the same 80-count box at $44.98 marked down to $36.98, an $8 saving that ends October 27. That works out to 45.0 cents a pod at Costco against 46.2 cents at Sam's. 156 Costco discounts three other 80-count K-Cup varieties by the same $9, so the Donut Shop box is simply the one Sam's Club also has on sale. 1
Eighty pods is roughly a month of weekday coffee for a two-cup household, so it stores easily. A one-cup drinker will spend about three months on the box; the pods keep sealed, so the size costs nothing but shelf space.
2. Pasta sauce, three jars — Sam's Club, by 51 cents. Sam's Club has Prego Traditional Italian Sauce in three 45-ounce jars at $8.98 marked down to $7.98, a $1 saving that runs through November 1. Costco's current offer is Classico Organic Tomato, Herbs and Spices in three 32-ounce jars at $12.49 marked down to $8.49 through October 18. The result is 5.9 cents an ounce at Sam's against 8.8 cents at Costco. 567
These are different sauces in different jar sizes; Prego is conventional and Classico is organic, so treat this as a pack-format comparison. Three jars is about a dozen pasta dinners, which a couple can work through in a season.
3. Philadelphia cream cheese — Costco, by 4.5 cents an ounce. Costco has the Original Cream Cheese Spread, one 48-ounce tub, at $10.25 marked down to $7.25 through October 18, limit six. Sam's Club has the Original Cream Cheese Blocks, four 8-ounce bricks, at $7.28 marked down to $6.28 through December 31. Costco comes to 15.1 cents an ounce against Sam's 19.6 cents, even though Sam's is 97 cents cheaper at the register because it sells 32 ounces instead of 48. 68
Three pounds of cream cheese spread is a bagel-shop quantity. A one- or two-person kitchen is better served by Sam's four bricks, which keep longer once opened and let you thaw only what you need.
4. Dawn dish soap — Sam's Club, by six-tenths of a cent an ounce. Sam's Club has Dawn Platinum Dishwashing Liquid, a 90-fluid-ounce jug, at $11.88 marked down to $9.98, a $1.90 saving that ends October 18, which is 11.1 cents an ounce. BJ's birthday event prices Dawn Powerwash three-packs at $7.53 through October 31 — 42 percent off — and the pack holds 64.5 ounces, which is 11.7 cents an ounce. 4910
The two are one brand in two forms: a 90-ounce refill jug against a spray bottle with two refills. BJ's is the cheaper ticket by $2.45; Sam's is cheaper per ounce.
5. Tires, a set of four — the two chains are selling different discounts. Costco takes a flat $80 off a set of four Michelin tires or $60 off a set of four BFGoodrich tires through October 18, with installation and the road-hazard warranty in the package. BJ's takes 42 percent off a set of four Uniroyal tires, added to the birthday event on October 7 and running through October 31. 411
A flat dollar amount favors a cheap tire and a percentage favors an expensive one. Forty-two percent of a $150 tire is $63 a tire, or $252 on four, which beats Costco's $80; forty-two percent of a $110 tire is $185 on four, still ahead of Costco's $60. Price both offers against your own size before booking, because the answer changes with the tire.
Category by category
| Category | Costco | Sam's Club | BJ's | Qualified verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Food | Original Donut Shop K-Cups, 80 ct, $35.99 after $9 off, through Oct. 18; Classico Organic pasta sauce, 3 × 32 oz, $8.49 after $4 off, through Oct. 18; Philadelphia cream cheese spread, 48 oz, $7.25 after $3 off. 158 | Prego pasta sauce, 3 × 45 oz, $7.98 after $1 off, through Nov. 1; Original Donut Shop K-Cups, 80 ct, $36.98 after $8 off, through Oct. 27; Philadelphia cream cheese blocks, 4 × 8 oz, $6.28 after $1 off, through Dec. 31; Mars Halloween variety, 185 pc, $21.98 after $2 off, through Oct. 31. 69 | Birthday event at 42 percent off through Oct. 31, no coupon needed: lean ground beef from $3.12 a pound, chicken drumsticks 63 cents a pound, Kraft Mac & Cheese 12-pack $6.37, Dawn Powerwash three-packs $7.53. 410 | Costco takes the identical coffee-pod box by 99 cents and cream cheese by the ounce; Sam's takes the three-jar pasta pack by 51 cents. BJ's wins the food aisle on percentage and loses on disclosure: it prints no shelf price for the 42-percent list. |
| Household | Kleenex Trusted Care, 10 × 230 ct, $15.99 after $4 off; Lysol disinfecting wipes, 4 × 95 ct, $10.99 after $3 off; Lysol disinfectant spray, 3 × 19 oz, $11.99 after $4 off; Kirkland UltraClean detergent, 146 loads, $3.60 off. 15 | Dawn Platinum dish liquid, 90 oz, $9.98 after $1.90 off, through Oct. 18; POM 2-ply toilet paper, 45 rolls, $24.98 after $2 off, through Nov. 18; Marathon multifold paper towels, 16 pk, $32.98, through Nov. 18. 912 | Dawn Powerwash three-packs at $7.53, 42 percent off, through Oct. 31. No other household shelf price was readable this week. 10 | Sam's takes the Dawn pair by six-tenths of a cent an ounce, and it is the only household item that cleared the two-chain filter. Costco's paper and cleaning rows this week have no comparable sale at the other two. |
| Electronics | TCL QM7L Pro 75" and 85" at $1,199.99–$1,499.99; Samsung U8000H 43" and 70" at $199.99–$369.99; LG QNED75B 65" at $429.99; Dell tower desktop $699.99 after $300 off. 1 | Sony 77" XR8C OLED $2,098.00 after $400 off, through Oct. 18; BISSELL Little Green Premier Pet, $20 off through Oct. 23, price shown only after sign-in. 12 | Advertises up to 40 percent off TVs and electronics with no item price printed. | No cross-chain pair. No identical or same-model item is priced at two chains this week, and Sam's shows two of its electronic prices only after sign-in. |
| Tires | $80 off a set of four Michelin, $60 off a set of four BFGoodrich, Sept. 21 – Oct. 18, installation package included. 11 | Tire-center terms unreadable this week. | 42 percent off a set of four Uniroyal tires, Oct. 7 – Oct. 31. 4 | Two chains, two different discount shapes. Costco's flat amount and BJ's percentage cross over somewhere around a $190 tire; price your own size at both. |
| Travel | Costco Travel's weekly tile is a Disney Destiny sailing with a digital Costco Shop Card. No package price is published. 2 | Publishes no comparable package price. | Publishes no readable package price this week. | No cross-chain winner. |
| Gas | Publishes no national average. | Publishes no national average. | Regular averaged $3.922 a gallon across 216 stations in 22 states on Oct. 13; AAA's national regular average that day was $4.3413, so BJ's sits 41.9 cents lower, and Club+ takes another 5 cents off. 1314 | BJ's leads the only readable benchmark. AAA's national regular average was $4.3685 a week earlier and $4.3130 a month earlier. 14 |
Reading the per-unit tags
Pack sizes differ enough this week that the register total and the real price point in opposite directions, so here is the arithmetic behind each pick.
- Per pod. $35.99 across 80 pods is 45.0 cents; $36.98 across 80 pods is 46.2 cents. 56
- Per ounce of sauce. $7.98 across 135 ounces is 5.9 cents; $8.49 across 96 ounces is 8.8 cents. 56
- Per ounce of cream cheese. $7.25 across 48 ounces is 15.1 cents; $6.28 across 32 ounces is 19.6 cents. Counting tubs instead of ounces would have named the wrong winner. 68
- Per ounce of dish soap. $9.98 across 90 ounces is 11.1 cents; $7.53 across 64.5 ounces is 11.7 cents. 910
- Per gallon. $4.3413 minus $3.922 is 41.9 cents. 1314
Two Sam's rows are worth their own arithmetic even though nothing competes with them: POM toilet paper at $24.98 for 21,285 sheets is 0.12 cents a sheet, and Marathon multifold towels at $32.98 for 4,000 towels is 0.82 cents a towel. 9 Those two are where the bulk maths turns against a small household: 45 rolls is close to a year of toilet paper for one person, and the towel pack is folded commercial stock, sized for a garage or a business.
Cherry-picker's route
Single best stop: Costco. It wins two of this week's four computed races, and it is the only chain whose entire sale shelf is priced and dated.
Put these on the Costco list:
- Original Donut Shop K-Cups, 80 ct, $35.99 through October 18 — 99 cents under Sam's identical box. 5
- Philadelphia cream cheese spread, 48 oz, $7.25 through October 18 — 15.1 cents an ounce. 8
- Kleenex Trusted Care, 10 × 230 ct, $15.99 and Lysol disinfecting wipes, 4 × 95 ct, $10.99 — 0.70 cents a tissue and 2.9 cents a wipe. 1
- Cheez-It crackers, 45 × 1.5 oz, $3 off and Kellogg's Special K Red Berries, 2 × 21.5 oz, $2.90 off — both from the new October 12 set, running through October 25 and November 8. 2
- Michelin or BFGoodrich tires, $80 or $60 off a set of four — the flat offer ends October 18, a week before BJ's percentage does. 11
The one Sam's stop worth making: the Prego three-jar pack at $7.98 through November 1, the cheapest sauce on this week's board by the ounce. 6
The BJ's stop: fuel, plus the birthday grocery list. BJ's chain average sits 41.9 cents under AAA's national regular price, and one qualifying in-club purchase earns 10 cents a gallon off the next fill, stacking to 40 cents on four. 1315
Membership math
Costco lists Gold Star at $65 and Executive at $130. The $65 upgrade against the 2 percent Executive reward breaks even at $3,250 in eligible annual spending, and gas earns nothing toward it. 16
Sam's Club lists Club at $60 and Plus at $120, a $3,000 break-even on 2 percent Sam's Cash. The first-year new-member pricing that ran through September 30 has ended; the join page now shows the standard fees. Plus adds early shopping hours, free shipping on most items and 2 percent Sam's Cash, and it is the tier that gets into the warehouse before the doors open to Club members. 17
BJ's lists Club at $60 and Club+ at $120, the same $3,000 break-even on 2 percent rewards, capped at $500 per 12-month period and excluding gas, gift cards and third-party services. Club+ adds 5 cents a gallon at BJ's Gas; the BJ's One Mastercard stacks to 10 cents and the One+ to 15. 15
Next week's clock
Three deadlines land inside the next seven days. Costco's member book and both set-of-four tire offers all end October 18, and the next Costco book opens October 19 and runs to November 15. 1511 Sam's Club's next Instant Savings Book is expected October 28, and its Sony OLED and Dawn offers expire October 18. 312 BJ's 42 percent birthday event runs to October 31. 4
References
- 1Costco Warehouse Savings
costco.com
- 2Costco Weekly Warehouse Insider
costco.com
- 3Sam's Club Instant Savings book schedule
thekrazycouponlady.com
- 4BJ's 42nd Birthday Celebration
help.bjs.com
- 5Costco coupon book prices
thekrazycouponlady.com
- 6Sam's Club Savings & Deals
samsclub.com
- 7Costco savings book list
app.warehouserunner.com
- 8Costco same-day listing for the 48-ounce tub
sameday.costco.com
- 9Sam's Club Grocery & Household Savings
samsclub.com
- 10BJ's 42nd birthday item prices
shopping.yahoo.com
- 11Costco tires
costco.com
- 12Sam's Club Savings Center
samsclub.com
- 13BJ's Gas Prices
bjsgasprice.com
- 14AAA Fuel Prices
gasprices.aaa.com
- 15BJ's membership tiers and benefits
help.bjs.com
- 16Costco membership types and fees
customerservice.costco.com
- 17Sam's Club membership
samsclub.com
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