Find exotic deals at big-box retailers

You might end up coming home with a different treasure altogether. Clubs offer an ever-changing variety of high-end goods, such as Kate Spade bags and Cartier watches, to keep your adrenaline up and your shopping instinct sharp, says Dell. "For some consumers, the treasure-hunt shopping experience is as enjoyable and intense as an auction. I have a friend who's a nut case when he goes into Costco and BJ's."

No matter what the surprises, you can count on finding 20 or so flat-screen TVs, a rack of digital cameras, a small showcase of diamonds, a good selection of wine and enough beef, seafood and frozen hors d'oeuvres to stock Henry VIII's New Year's party. Besides their own private labels, the clubs regularly carry brand-name clothing, albeit often in last season's styles or by designers whose prestige is on the downswing. Expect a limited selection of fashions from any one company but a decent number of brands, says Santiago Vega, a retail expert. High-end manufacturers limit the number of items they sell through warehouse clubs to avoid diminishing their brand.

For some club members, shopping at Costco or Sam's Club has less to do with scoring a bargain than with the clubs' open-ended, no-questions-asked return policy, which applies to everything except computers. So if you decide your plasma TV isn't living up to your expectations a year from now, you can return it for the price you paid. That deal sets Costco and Sam's apart from their competitors, including BJ's, which restricts returns on most purchases to 30 days or less.

Vet the diamonds

To read the appraisal reports that accompany warehouse diamonds, you'd think the clubs were giving their jewels away. Not so, says David Hendry of JCRS, which helps insurers set appraisal standards for jewelry. Appraisals from warehouse clubs mostly serve as marketing tools -- "they imply that you're getting a much better deal than you really are" -- and do not reflect replacement value, he says. You're getting a fair price but not the steal the appraisal suggests.

For an idea of the diamond's real worth, have it appraised independently, which could cost $100.

• Shop for diamonds at MSN Shopping

Costco and Sam's Club return policies turn a respectable deal on diamonds into a spectacular one, says Fred Cuellar, who wrote "How to Buy a Diamond: Insider Secrets for Getting Your Money's Worth." Most boutiques give you 30 days to return a ring for full price.

But return policies don't matter to Renée Tan, who knew when she hit send that her diamond was forever. Tan enjoyed the Costco moment -- "It was romantic" -- and relived it when the ring arrived in a small velvet box. Eight months later, the couple made their own no-return policy official, when they married in Prague.

Warehouse facts

COSTCO

Warehouses: 495

Basic membership: $50

Net revenues: $51.9 billion (fiscal '05)

SAM'S CLUB

Warehouses: 674

Basic membership: $40

Net revenues: $39.4 billion (fiscal '05)

BJ'S

Warehouses: 165

Basic membership: $45

Net revenues: $7.8 billion (fiscal '05)

This article was reported and written by Jane Bennett Clark for Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine.

Published Jan. 3, 2007

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