The 4 Worst Foods to Buy at Sam's Club, According to Reddit

Warehouse stores can be a great place to stock up on grocery items with a long shelf life, like dried pasta or canned vegetables. While multi-packs of bread or giant charcuterie plates can be tempting, it may be best to avoid these quick-to-spoil items while shopping at wholesale clubs. After all, can you really finish four pounds of mashed potatoes before they expire? (We’d love to try!)

Since some grocery items—like dairy products and fresh produce—can quickly reach their expiration dates, it’s a good idea to consider whether these products are worth buying in bulk. What’s more: Warehouse stores like Sam’s Club and Costco aren’t always guaranteed to offer the lowest price or the best bargain just because they sell products in bulk.

We took to Reddit to discover the four items you should never buy from Sam’s Club.

Fresh Produce

Sam’s Club’s produce section is full of low prices, from $4 for 2 pounds of pre-cut broccoli to $3 for 2 pounds of garden salad. Redditors caution, however, that vegetables purchased in bulk expire just as fast as smaller portions purchased at the regular grocery store, which can lead to food waste or force you to finish green beans in record time. “I'd have to eat broccoli as the main course for every meal to eat them fast enough,” one Redditor said.

Refrigerated Dips

Sam’s Club sells giant tubs of ready-made dips in its refrigerated section, but lots of Redditors claim they're either too gelatinous or filled with preservatives. “Their tzatziki is like a jelly,” described one Reddit user. “[It’s made with] so much pectin, it wobbles.”

Another commented that dips at Sam’s Club “come by the quart, so you’re left with so much of it.” Instead of stocking up on an extra-large container of buffalo chicken dip at Sam’s, sometimes it's best to make a fresh, easy appetizer at home.

Meat

The general consensus among Redditors who shop at Sam’s Club is that purchasing meat at the warehouse store isn’t worthwhile. One user says, “it’s cheaper [to buy meat] at Walmart for me,” while another explains it's less expensive to monitor specials at a local meat market.

There’s also the question among Reddit users about the quality of Sam’s Club meat altogether. One shopper noticed that Sam's Club's sale chicken had a higher percentage of solution injected into the meat than when it was available for the regular price: “Word to the wise... they shrink down to hockey pucks after cooking and are not worth the savings."

Milk

Although Sam’s Club and Walmart are part of the same company, Redditors caution that milk is pricier at the former. “I think it’s due to the product at Sam's Club being of ‘higher quality,’” one Redditor suggested.

Higher quality or not, according to our findings, a gallon of milk is about $1 more at Sam’s Club than Walmart. For now, we think we'll stick to the dried macaroni and canned chickpeas.