Why Now Is The Best Time to Get a Sam’s Club Membership

Sam’s Club and the cash-back website TopCashback are offering a heck of a membership deal.

It involves so many freebies that the membership will effectively pay for itself — whether you opt for the $45 Sam’s Club membership or the $100 one.

The freebies

If you go for this Sam’s Club deal, here’s what you’ll get along with the membership you buy — all at no extra cost to you:

• A $15 Sam’s Club electronic gift card
• Take-and-bake pizza
• Rotisserie chicken
• 18 chocolate chunk cookies
• $140 in Instant Savings

“Instant Savings” is what Sam’s Club calls the discounts it offers on top of its usual prices. They are basically akin to sale prices.

The cash back

In addition to the freebies listed above, you’ll earn 6 percent cash back on your purchase. That amounts to $2.70 if you buy a $45 membership and $6 if you buy a $100 membership.

Just understand that you must purchase the membership via TopCashback to receive the cash back. That’s easy to do — just must remember to start at TopCashback’s website instead of Sam’s Club’s website.

If you aren’t already using TopCashback, the first step is to sign up for an account. It’s free to join and to use TopCashback, and signing up just takes a moment.

Once you’re signed up, just follow these steps to take advantage of the Sam’s Club offer:

1. Log in to TopCashback.
2. Do a search for “Sam’s Club” using the big gray search bar.
3. Navigate to TopCashback’s webpage that is devoted to earning cash back from Sam’s Club.
4. Click on the magenta button labeled “Get Cashback & Code,” which will redirect you to Sam’s Club website.

Then, you’ll be set to earn 6 percent cash back on purchases from SamsClub.com, including the membership. You can proceed as usual with your online shopping there.

Just note that you do not need a promo code to redeem this particular offer. TopCashback confirmed that to Money Talks News. So, ignore the gray blank field for promo codes that you see next to the magenta “Get Cashback & Code” button on TopCashback’s site.

The fine print on this deal

The main hitch in this deal is that it ends on Jan. 31 at 11:59 p.m. PT, TopCashback tells Money Talks News.

One other possible hitch is that 63 Sam’s Club locations were recently or will soon be shuttered. But unless you shop at one of those particular locations, you’re basically unaffected by the closures. There will still be 597 other Sam’s Club stores in operation.

If you’d rather have a Costco membership, though, check out “Want to Save $45 at Costco? Buy a New Membership Now.” That deal doesn’t expire until Feb. 18.

My experience with TopCashback

I learned about the Sam’s Club deal because I use TopCashback, which is what’s technically known as a cash-back portal. TopCashback sent out an email informing users of the offer.

Here’s a partial screenshot of the email I received:

Technically, I use two cash-back portals, TopCashback and Ebates. I use TopCashback more often than Ebates, though. I have ever since I realized TopCashback almost always offers a greater percentage of cash back at the online retailers that I shop.

For example, at the time I wrote this article, Ebates was offering only 2 percent cash back on purchases from SamsClub.com.

If you have already joined a cash-back portal, there’s no reason you can’t join more than one. It’s a matter of personal preference.

Some folks join every last portal to ensure they always get the highest possible percentage of cash back. I prefer to stick with a couple of portals that I know are reputable. This keeps the process of earning cash back relatively simple while still ensuring I earn solid cash-back percentages.

What’s your experience with cash-back portals? Share with us below or on our Facebook page.