I've heard many people hate on Walmart/Sam's Club for their unethical practices such as, having factories overseas that pay employees pennies for their work, monopolizing the towns the are in. But really is Costco any better?

I've yet to come across any horror stories regarding Costco. Can't say the same for Sam's Club/Wal-Mart.

judging from the way you worded your question, you seem to have some knowledge of Costco's "bad" side. could you inform us on that? links please.

Well, if you're criticizing a company for supplying products made in sweatshops to Sam's I would assume that same company is doing the same for Costco. I can't imagine they'd have a sweatshop to make products for Sam's and then a factory here in the US with high paid union workers to supply Costco. I could be wrong though.

Even though I do boycott Wal Mart I have kept my Sam's card. I usually just use it for things like fruit, cereal, deodorant, toothpaste, etc. One way I justify it is because there's less wasteful packaging.

judging from the way you worded your question, you seem to have some knowledge of Costco's "bad" side. could you inform us on that? links please.

I don't, but I wish I did. I want Costco to be better than Sam's Club I guess.

I know its almost impossible to get a job at costcos because they pay and treat their employees so well, and that the CEO only takes a living wage so that the rest of the company can have more $$

I personally know that Wal-mart helped destroy the economy of my hometown by moving in, undercutting all the local shops and putting them out of business, then after less than a year, deciding our town wasn't lucrative enough and moving out, leaving us with no retail services to speak of. So I hate Wal-mart. I have no similar knowledge about Costco.

I don't know of any Costcos near me, but the Sam's Club competitor is BJ's Wholesale. Some say the quality of products at BJ's is superior to that of Sam's, but I haven't ever been to BJ's.

I like Costcos better. Maybe for different reasons though.

Never heard of Costcos.

Your big box retailers all contribute to;

1. Urban Sprawl - they tend to choose stand alone locations far from competition, or any other distractions. They routinely build humungous parking lots and allow RV'ers to live there.

2. Lowering the Overall Standard of Living - Even if they claim to pay well, they don't play fair with a lot of suppliers, and force price concessions on them which leads to lower pay and benefits for the employees of the suppliers.

3. Erode your Tax Base - Most mass-merchandisers move into communities and demand tax concessions from the local government. This is particularily true in smaller communities where the retailer can twist arms because of:

a) The offer of creating local jobs (increasing personal tax revenues for the government).
b) The demand for low-price box stores in most communities.

Your taxes also subsidize many of the big-box workers who can not afford medical or dental benefits, or who are still below the poverty line and recieving welfare while working.

4. Contribute to the growing Consumerism Epidemic - Does anyone need a Gallon jar of pickles? From http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/77/walmart.html "We saw consumers who used to buy the spears and the chips in supermarkets buying the Wal-Mart gallons. They'd eat a quarter of a jar and throw the thing away when they got moldy. A family can't eat them fast enough."

You can pretty much substitute any discounter for Wal-Mart in the following two quotes because they all have to compete with Wal-Mart, and that means going offshore. Costco, Target, Sam's, even Sears and other mid-level retailers have to resort to offshore manufacturing, especially when the major players have driven all of the domestics out of business.

"Steve Dobbins has been bearing the brunt of that switch. He's president and CEO of Carolina Mills, a 75-year-old North Carolina company that supplies thread, yarn, and textile finishing to apparel makers--half of which supply Wal-Mart. Carolina Mills grew steadily until 2000. But in the past three years, as its customers have gone either overseas or out of business, it has shrunk from 17 factories to 7, and from 2,600 employees to 1,200. Dobbins's customers have begun to face imported clothing sold so cheaply to Wal-Mart that they could not compete even if they paid their workers nothing." http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/77/walmart.html

"People ask, 'How can it be bad for things to come into the U.S. cheaply? How can it be bad to have a bargain at Wal-Mart?' Sure, it's held inflation down, and it's great to have bargains," says Dobbins. "But you can't buy anything if you're not employed. We are shopping ourselves out of jobs." http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/77/walmart.html

So there are some of the myraid evils that come of mass mercahndising, pick your poison.

I don't shop at either place for my home or personal life, though I will go to Costco when shopping for a 200 person event I help host each year.

Costco pays MUCH better than Sam's/Wal~Mart and has a good benefits package for their employees as well.

Their record on sweatshops is also better than the Walton related stores as well, since they have a vendor code of conduct that is verified by independent sources - though just how far the definition of 'better' goes in this context, I'm not sure.

Not that the big box retailers are desirable, but Costco has overall better practices than the Walton businesses.

http://www.buyblue.org/node/75

As far as I've heard, Costco has much better employee benefits and labor practices. I don't have any hard links on the subject though. I should investigate more fully.

Given that my husband and I do not own a business and do not have children, we really have no need for a wholesale club membership anyway. (we can't eat half the stuff they sell there, and wouldn't buy half of the products they sell due to animal testing or artificial ingredients anyway!)

I know its almost impossible to get a job at costcos because they pay and treat their employees so well, and that the CEO only takes a living wage so that the rest of the company can have more $$

I've heard the same thing. My parents watched a special on Costco on 20/20 or something and the CEO talked about how he values employees and he doesn't take extra bonuses while cutting employees to a ridiculously low pay scale because it hurts morale and he thinks happy employees make a better company. So my parents quit Sam's and switched to Costco right then. So did some of their friends. The locally owned stores are long gone--may as well go for the lesser of two evils. I wish more companies actually gave a crap about keeping emplyees happy. And yes I know the Chinese companies they buy stuff from probably don't care, but it's better than nothing.

i am not sure about sams--but i love Costco...and i have heard that Costco does treat its employees well--i remember seeing a story on it on 60 minutes or 20/20 one of those shows.

peace and love

jenn

Re: Costco, I also saw a story done on the jewelry sold there, specifically diamonds, comparing it to Tiffany's, and it fared very well in quality.