Best electronics to purchase (and avoid) at Costco and Sam’s Club.

      If you've been following our ongoing investigation into Costco and Sam's Club for electronics, you might assume we believe that all electronics are best bought at these warehouse stores. That's not the case. Certain product categories are indeed great purchases at these stores, while others should be avoided. Here, we aim to provide a thorough electronics buying guide for warehouse clubs, so you can focus on the beneficial choices and steer clear of the less desirable ones. We’ll cover all the major product categories and offer helpful tips along the way.

      Best Buy Categories

      Chris Hagan / Digital Trends

      So, what electronics are best purchased at Costco? What about at Sam's Club? While you can find good deals on electronics at these and other warehouse stores, certain categories offer better value than others. Here are the electronics categories you should pay extra attention to while shopping at Costco and Sam's Club.

      TVs (Large Screen)

      TVs, especially large screen models, rank among the smartest buys at Costco and Sam's Club. The bulk purchasing power for these commonly mass-produced items leads to competitive pricing. Moreover, larger TVs typically exist at the price points where discounts start to matter.

      However, it’s a bit more complex than that and merits a closer examination.

      Most television brands offer several models, with varying sizes and occasionally slight feature differences. Once the fundamental technology, user interface, and software/hardware combination are nailed down, producing TVs in different sizes isn’t as challenging as one might think. Unfortunately, each model has a minimum price set by retailers that can't be undercut. Nonetheless, warehouse stores can provide unique savings by requesting specifically designed warehouse models in exchange for bulk purchases of those models, allowing some discounts to be passed onto consumers. When this works, it’s beneficial for all parties. This concept can apply to any product, but the impact is particularly visible for TVs, given the wide array of models each line offers.

      Smart Home Devices (Bundles and Kits)

      Smart home devices, particularly those that include cameras, Wi-Fi extenders, and home security systems, often come in bundles that can lead to greater savings. For example, we recently found some excellent Reolink bundles. When comparing to similar bundles on Amazon, which have approximately equivalent specifications, we noticed higher prices. However, this doesn't mean you should abandon Amazon entirely; we’re observing distinct bundles with similar stats and camera counts from the same brand. Yet, when comparing two sets of eight security cameras from the same brand, both featuring 12MP cameras and 4TB storage, a $450 price gap is significant.

      The key takeaway is that you could save considerably at a warehouse store. However, it's not quite the same as with TVs. To truly understand the dollar per value perspective, deeper research is necessary.

      Accessories (Cables, Batteries, etc.)

      While Costco and Sam's Club buy items in large corporate quantities, you can purchase from them in family-sized bulk and still achieve great savings. This is particularly useful for small items like batteries, wires, and cables that you may need in quantity without taking up much storage space. For instance, currently, a 40-pack of Duracell AA Power Boost batteries is $12 cheaper at Costco than elsewhere. If you hold a Costco or Sam's Club membership and need consumables like this, it’s always worthwhile to check their website for availability.

      Categories to Approach with Caution

      Andy Boxall / Digital Trends

      Even if you agree that Costco and Sam's Club are excellent locations for electronics, it doesn’t mean you should impulsively purchase everything in sight. Therefore, this section of our warehouse retailer electronics guide focuses on the items to avoid at Costco and the ones to skip at Sam's Club.

      High-End, Specialty Electronics

      One of the major advantages of warehouse stores is their ability to pass savings on from large bulk purchases. However, high-end and specialty items usually don't have that kind of volume, so they likely won't offer the same advantages. Exercise caution with these purchases.

      Popular Consumer Tech (Headphones, Laptops, etc.)

      You might have assumed that finding better deals on products like an Asus Vivobook or a pair of Bose headphones at Costco or Sam's Club would be straightforward. This was our initial assumption as well. However, while searching for comparable products with the same brands, processors, RAM, and storage, we found that securing the best deal at a warehouse site was more challenging than anticipated.

      There were several moments during the search where I thought a particular item, like the Vivobook 15, was cheaper than offered on the Asus website, only to discover in further comparisons that some crucial specification was significantly different. There often seemed to be more competitive pricing elsewhere, and many times an item priced well at a warehouse store was on sale for even less at retailers like Best Buy. Even discounted items frequently struggled to demonstrate clear advantages at the warehouse store.

      That said, we don't suggest entirely avoiding Costco or Sam's Club for these items. If prices are