Costco Vs. Sam's Club: How Do Their TV Options & Purchasing Experiences Differ?

Buying from wholesale clubs, like Costco and Sam's Club, is usually a great way to get deals on a variety of different products. This is for a couple of different reasons. Because you are paying a membership fee to actually get into the store, the prices will generally be lower to begin with. Add on top of that the fact that you are usually buying something in bulk, and you end up paying less per individual item than you would at other places. Of course, these stores sell more than jumbo boxes of potato chips or giant packs of undershirts. Costco and Sam's Club also sell appliances and electronics, such as televisions.

Getting a good deal on a TV at a wholesale club is not as automatic as these other items. The sticker price for a TV is going to be the same at Costco and Sam's Club as it would be at Best Buy. For example, a 65-inch Samsung DU6900 Crystal UHD TV costs $349.99 at a wholesale club and a big-box store. However, there are plenty of times that your local store may be having its own sale, making it beneficial to actually buy from there. You may also see savings if you're in the market for more than one TV.

What may be surprising to you is that which wholesale club you are a member of limits what kind of TV you can purchase. Costco and Sam's Club do have some overlap, but there are certain brands you will only find at one store. We are going to break down exactly what to expect if you're buying a TV from one of these stores.

There's no Kirkland-brand TV, so if you are purchasing a TV at Costco, you are going to have to get one of the major brands on the market. TVs from the three most-liked brands from customers — Samsung, Sony, and LG — are all available at the wholesale club. Not only that, but TVs from Hisense and TCL are also among those offered. Samsung makes up the largest percentage of what Costco sells. This should not be much of a surprise because of the company's vast array of technologies, from QLED to OLED and more. Companies like LG and Sony don't produce QLED or Mini-QLED models, so their selections are more limited.

Where you are likely to strike deals with Costco is with special promotions. For example, as of this article's writing, the Costco website is offering two separate deals for TVs. The first is saving you money on buying from Costco Direct, an online-exclusive deal. For the first half of May 2025, Costco is increasing the amount you would save on an order when purchasing multiple TVs. For instance, if you bought two, you would save $150 instead of $100, and if you bought four, it would be $450 in savings instead of $300. The second is a May 2025-exclusive deal where you get a 43-inch Hisense QD6 QLED TV for free if you buy a 100-inch Hisense TV. Deals like this cycle through all year, and your local store may have its own offers. If you want the right TV bargain at Costco, you need to constantly keep your eyes open.

The major difference between Costco and Sam's Club is in what brands the two wholesale clubs offer. Like Costco, you are able to get Samsung, LG, and TCL TVs, which is fantastic. However, if you are hoping to get yourself a Sony or a Hisense model, you are out of luck, as both are totally unavailable at the store. In their place, you will instead find TVs made by Vizio and Phillips, though only two models are options for the latter brand. With five brands apiece to each wholesale club, Costco has the slightly wider selection with a total of 132 TVs available for purchase online as of this writing, and Sam's Club has only 107 options.

Sam's Club does have its own discount approach with a program it calls Instant Savings. Every month or so, the company institutes a new round of savings that apply to its products. Depending on the savings that month, you could be paying the sticker price of a TV or getting it at a discount of several hundred dollars. For May 2025, a TV like the 85-inch Samsung DU7200 has no discount on its price, but you could save $800 on an 85-inch Samsung Q80D TV. That is a massive outlier with the current discounts, most of which are $50, but it shows that great deals can be out there. You are just at the mercy of Sam's Club Instant Savings, but if you happen to be looking for a TV at the right time, you could end up saving quite a bit of cash on one.