September 29–October 5 Warehouse Club Scorecard: Sam's Beats Costco by $10 on the Same Candy Box (2026)

Costco's member savings book for September 21 through October 18 is still running, and this week a new set of dated offers has appeared beneath it on Costco's own weekly warehouse page — the first turnover there since September 14. Sam's Club still has no Instant Savings Book, with the next one expected October 28, and it is running item-level instant savings in the meantime; one of those items beats Costco on the same box by more than ten dollars. BJ's Wholesale Club is mid-cycle on its member offers, and this week its offer carousel prints shelf prices beside the coupon amounts, which is what finally makes a BJ's final price computable. 1 2 3 4

Everything below was readable at the source on September 29, 2026.

Headline picks

1. A 30-count Hershey's variety pack: Sam's Club, by $10.41. Sam's Club lists a 30-count Hershey's variety pack — Kit Kat, Reese's and Hershey's full-size bars — at $33.48 marked down to $22.78, and that price runs through November 1. It works out to 76 cents a bar. Costco's member book carries a 30-count Hershey's variety pack at $39.99 marked down to $33.19 through October 18, which is $1.11 a bar. 2 5

Same brand, same 30 full-size bars, one box. Sam's price sits 31 percent lower, and the gap opens from both ends: a lower shelf price, $33.48 against $39.99, and a bigger instant saving, $10.70 against $6.80. A household that does not hand out Halloween candy should treat this as a storage question before a savings one, because 30 full-size bars is a lot of chocolate for two people.

2. Downy Ultimate Fusions scent beads, 24.5 ounces: Costco, by $2.00. Both clubs carry this exact bottle. Costco has it at $13.99 marked down to $10.99, a $3 saving that runs through October 18. BJ's lists the same 24.5-ounce bottle at $13.99 with a $1.00 coupon expiring October 11, which lands the BJ's register at $12.99. 4 6

Identical shelf price, and three times the coupon at Costco — the cleanest like-for-like race on the board.

3. Tide laundry detergent by the load: BJ's, by two-tenths of a cent, until its coupon dies Friday. BJ's lists Tide Liquid at 152 loads and 170 ounces for $24.99, and its coupon rail carries $2.50 off a jug of Tide liquid or powder through October 2. Net: $22.49, or 14.8 cents a load. Costco's Tide with Ultra Downy is 128 ounces and 100 loads at $18.99 marked down to $14.99, a $4 saving through October 18, which is 15.0 cents a load at the register. 4 7

BJ's takes the row by 0.2 cents a load, roughly 30 cents across a year of five loads a week, and the entire margin is that coupon: from October 3 the BJ's jug works out to 16.4 cents a load. A one-person household running two loads a week takes most of a year to finish either bottle.

4. Crest five-pack toothpaste by the ounce: Costco. Costco's Crest Pro-Health Advanced, five 5.9-ounce tubes, is $14.99 marked down to $11.99 through October 18. That is 29.5 ounces at 40.6 cents an ounce. BJ's carries two Crest five-packs: Complete Plus Scope Outlast Ultra, five 6.3-ounce tubes at $14.49 with a double-coupon flag, which is 46.0 cents an ounce, and 3D White Ultra, five 5.2-ounce tubes at $16.99, which is 65.3 cents an ounce. 2 4 8

Costco's tube price is the lowest of the three, and the BJ's coupons sit on top of higher shelf prices. Five tubes is about a year of brushing for one person.

5. Sixteen razor cartridges by the cartridge: Costco. Costco's Harry's Chrome Edition set, one handle plus 16 cartridges, is $29.99 marked down to $21.99 through October 18, or $1.37 a cartridge. BJ's sells Gillette Fusion5 refills, 16 cartridges, at $41.99 with a double-coupon flag, which is $2.62 a refill, and a Gillette Venus Bikini razor with one handle and eight refills at $26.99, or $3.37 a refill. 2 4

Cartridge count is the honest way to compare razor packs, because the handles differ. A reader already committed to Gillette is buying the same number of cartridges at nearly twice the price, and switching systems means buying a new handle too. Read this row as the cost of a 16-cartridge year, about a year for someone who shaves daily.

A grid of sale items in Costco's Warehouse Savings Book list, headed "On sale through Oct 18", showing Toblerone chocolate, Classico pasta sauce, Ruprecht Irish beef stew, Philadelphia cream cheese, Tylenol, Bibigo dumplings, Nature Valley protein bars and the Hershey's Chocolate Variety Pack 30 CT marked "$6.80 off". — Costco's member book for September 21 – October 18, 2026, item by item: 96 of its 175 entries were on sale at the time of capture. The Hershey's 30-count variety pack in the second row is the box Sam's Club beats by $10.41. 9

Category by category

Category	Costco	Sam's Club	BJ's	Qualified verdict
Food	Hershey's 30-count variety pack $33.19 after $6.80 off; Campbell's Simply Chicken Noodle, 8 × 18.6 oz, $7.99 after $6 off; Nature Valley protein bars, 30 ct, $9.99 after $5 off; all through Oct. 18. 2	Hershey's 30-count variety pack $22.78 after $10.70 off through Nov. 1; Member's Mark pumpkin cheesecake, 14 slices, $18.84 through Oct. 31; Mott's fruit snacks, 90 ct, $9.98 through Oct. 11. 5 10	Gorton's fish sticks or fillets, 56–62.4 oz, $2.00 off through Nov. 1; Chobani Flip variety, 16 pk, $3.00 off through Oct. 11; Royal Basmati rice, 20 lb, $2.00 off through Oct. 11; Ritz Bits, 30 pk, $2.00 off through Oct. 11. BJ's also flags a Birthday Celebration cart discount, 42 percent off in cart, across selected Wellsley Farms meat and produce. 4	Sam's Club takes the one identical product, $22.78 against Costco's $33.19 on the same 30-bar box. BJ's coupon rows print an amount without a shelf price, and its cart-discount rows print a percentage without a final price, so neither yields a comparable net.
Household	Kleenex Trusted Care, 10 × 230 ct, $15.99 after $4 off; Downy Ultimate Fusions, 24.5 oz, $10.99 after $3 off; Tide with Ultra Downy, 100 loads, $14.99 after $4 off; Crest Pro-Health Advanced, 5 × 5.9 oz, $11.99 after $3 off; Lysol disinfectant spray, 3 × 19 oz, $11.99 after $4 off. 2	No household row could be verified this week; the book that closed Sept. 20 has no successor posted. 3	Downy Ultimate Fusions, 24.5 oz, $13.99 less $1.00; Tide Liquid, 152 loads, $24.99 less $2.50; Crest five-packs at $14.49 and $16.99; Charmin Ultra Soft, 30 pk, $29.99 less $2.00; Bounty Select-a-Size paper towels, 12 pk, $29.99. 4	Costco takes four of the five head-to-heads. BJ's takes laundry by the load at 14.8 cents against 15.0, and only while its Tide coupon lasts.
Electronics	TCL QM7L Pro 75" and 85" at $1,199.99–$1,499.99; LG QNED75B 50" at $299.99 and 65" at $429.99; Dell Tower Desktop at $699.99 after $300 off; Samsung HW-Q60CF soundbar $200 off. 2	Rexing Ultra HD dash cam at $59.00, down from $99.00. 11	No item-level electronics price was readable. 4	No cross-chain pair. Costco's book is the only place a dated electronics price could be read this week.
Tires	$80 off a set of four Michelin tires and $60 off a set of four BFGoodrich tires, Sept. 21 – Oct. 18, installation included. 12	Current tire terms unreadable this week.	Tire-center promotion terms unreadable this week.	Costco alone. Worth pricing a set here against a local quote while the offer runs.
Travel	Costco Travel's Oahu Hilton Hawaiian Village package carries included extras valued at $606 for a four-night stay, and Executive members earn 2% back on Costco Travel purchases; no package price is published. 13	Publishes no comparable package price.	BJ's Travel advertises up to a $500 gift card on cruises and up to $500 off a bundled hotel-and-air package, with no package price. 14	No cross-chain winner.
Gas	Publishes no national average.	Publishes no national average.	Regular averaged $4.085 a gallon across 210 stations in 22 states on Sept. 29. AAA's national regular average that day was $4.4558, so BJ's sits 37.1 cents lower, and Club+ adds 5 cents a gallon. 15 16 17	BJ's leads the one readable benchmark. AAA's national regular average was $4.4750 a week ago and $4.0810 a month ago. 16

A 30-count Hershey's variety pack box showing Kit Kat, Hershey's with almonds, Reese's and Hershey's milk chocolate full-size bars, with "FULL SIZE" and "30 BARS" printed on the box. — *The 30 full-size bars behind the week's widest gap: Sam's Club lists the box at $22.78 through November 1, Costco at $33.19 through October 18. 5*

Reading the per-unit tags

A bigger pack and a bigger saving are separate claims, and the four normalizations below decide this week's picks.

Per bar. $22.78 across 30 bars is 76 cents; $33.19 across 30 bars is $1.11. 5
Per load. $22.49 across 152 loads is 14.8 cents; $14.99 across 100 loads is 15.0 cents. 4 7
Per ounce. $11.99 across 29.5 ounces is 40.6 cents; $14.49 across 31.5 ounces is 46.0 cents; $16.99 across 26 ounces is 65.3 cents. Tube count alone would have made all three look close. 8
Per cartridge. $21.99 across 16 cartridges is $1.37; $41.99 across 16 refills is $2.62; $26.99 across 8 refills is $3.37. 2 4

Cherry-picker's route

Single best stop: Costco. It holds the only full savings book still running, the new weekly set underneath it, and four of this week's five cross-chain wins.

Put these on the Costco list:

Downy Ultimate Fusions scent beads, 24.5 oz, $10.99 through October 18 — the one item two clubs both have on sale, and the cheaper of the two by $2.00. 6
Crest Pro-Health Advanced, 5 × 5.9 oz, $11.99 through October 18 — 40.6 cents an ounce, the lowest tube price on the shelf. 8
Harry's Chrome Edition, 1 handle + 16 cartridges, $21.99 through October 18 — $1.37 a cartridge. 2
Kleenex Trusted Care, 10 × 230 ct, $15.99 through October 18 — 0.70 cents a tissue, with a closet-space caveat on ten boxes. 2
Kirkland Signature French roast whole bean coffee, 2.5 lb, $3.80 off, and Siete blue corn tortilla chips, 18 oz, $2.10 off — both from the new weekly set, both ending October 4. 1

The one BJ's stop worth making: Tide Liquid, 152 loads, $24.99 less the $2.50 coupon, before October 2. After that date the same jug costs 16.4 cents a load and Costco's bottle takes the row. 4

The Sam's stop: the 30-count Hershey's variety pack at $22.78 through November 1 — the week's largest gap. If anyone in the household is joining Sam's anyway, the first-year price of $25 for Club or $55 for Plus ends September 30, one day after this issue lands. 5 18

Membership math

Costco lists Gold Star at $65 and Executive at $130. The $65 upgrade against the 2% Executive reward breaks even at $3,250 in eligible annual spending, and gas earns nothing toward it. 19

Sam's Club lists Club at $60 and Plus at $120, a $3,000 break-even on 2% Sam's Cash. New members joining between July 6 and September 30 pay $25 for Club or $55 for Plus for the first year. 18

BJ's lists Club at $60 and Club+ at $120, the same $3,000 break-even on 2% rewards, capped at $500 per 12-month period and excluding gas, among other categories. Club+ adds 5 cents a gallon at BJ's Gas; the BJ's One Mastercard stacks to 10 cents and the One+ to 15. 17

Next week's preview

The clocks close early this week. Sam's Club's first-year membership price ends September 30, and a BJ's coupon on Huggies Little Movers Plus diapers ends the same day. The BJ's Tide coupon — the whole of this week's detergent win — ends October 2. Costco's new weekly set runs through October 4 for the chips and the coffee. 1 4 18

The long clocks are Costco's: the member book and both set-of-four tire offers run to October 18. Sam's next Instant Savings Book is expected October 28. 2 3 12

One more thing worth carrying forward: Costco's weekly warehouse page carried its September 14 set on September 22 and now carries a September 28 set, which points to a two-week refresh. Plan the middle week around the book.