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According to Consumer Reports, shoppers can聽save up to 55 percent聽at warehouse clubs 鈥� on everything from bulk packages of toilet paper and frozen pizza to Coach handbags and vacation packages. If you belong to聽one, you鈥檙e probably enjoying the savings and the 鈥渢reasure hunt鈥� shopping experience 鈥� never quite knowing what you鈥檒l find on shelves and聽pallets.

It鈥檚 no surprise that as warehouse clubs open more locations and聽offer a wider range of items, sales are growing. The $390 billion industry has seen a 137 percent jump in sales from 2001 to 2011, compared to 47 percent for all general merchandise stores, according to聽First Research.

But which warehouse club is best for you? Sometimes it鈥檚 as聽simple as finding the one closest to home, but if you have choices, you should consider聽factors, from聽selection to return policies. We put the big three to the test by comparing 11 factors 鈥� from basic membership costs and locations to selection of luxury goods.

1. Membership costs

Basic membership is $50 a year at BJ鈥檚, $55 at Costco, and $40 at Sam鈥檚 Club. If you want to test the waters first, keep an eye out for free trials.

2. Rewards

Warehouse clubs offer rewards programs, but they鈥檙e not free.聽Become a BJ鈥檚 Rewards member for $100 a year (or upgrade an existing membership for $50), and you鈥檒l get 2 percent back on most in-club and BJs.com purchases. Costco鈥檚 Executive Membership is $110 a year and also offers 2 percent rewards 鈥� capped at $750 a year. Sam鈥檚 Club is experimenting with the idea of a cash rewards program; in a new rollout, Plus members ($100 a year) are now receiving $10 for every $500 spent 鈥� which also comes out to聽2 percent 鈥� capped at $500.

3. Nonmember surcharges

Thinking about shopping at a warehouse club without footing the bill for a membership? Costco is聽the least expensive: the surcharge to nonmembers is 5 percent. BJ鈥檚 is the highest at 15 percent, while Sam鈥檚 Club鈥檚 surcharge is 10 percent.

4. Locations

Costco and Sam鈥檚 Club have more locations than BJ鈥檚. Sam鈥檚 Club has 620 locations in the U.S. and Puerto Rico, while Costco has nearly 450. BJ鈥檚 has just more than 180.

To see if there鈥檚 a warehouse club near you, check out the locators for聽BJ鈥檚,聽Costco, and聽Sam鈥檚 Club.

5. Shopping experience

In a Consumer Reports survey, 26,000 shoppers evaluated their experiences at 10 major retailers: Costco, JC Penney, Kmart, Kohl鈥檚, Macy鈥檚, Meijer, Sam鈥檚 Club, Sears, Target, and Walmart. Costco was the top-rated store in the survey.聽Sam鈥檚 Club got average or slightly above average grades in all categories. BJ鈥檚 wasn鈥檛 included.

In another survey by Temkin, 6,000 consumers ranked companies based on customer service. Costco ranked third, behind Amazon and Kohl鈥檚, with 79 percent of survey respondents giving it an 鈥渆xcellent鈥� or 鈥済ood鈥� rating. Sam鈥檚 Club and BJ鈥檚 were close, however,聽at 78 percent.

While this doesn鈥檛 point to a clear winner, it鈥檚 safe to say the overall shopping experience at any of the big three聽doesn鈥檛 differ much 鈥� and doesn鈥檛 disappoint.

6. Return policies

From聽Costco鈥檚聽return policies page: 鈥淲e guarantee your satisfaction on every product we sell with a full refund. The following must be returned within 90 days of purchase for a refund: televisions, projectors, computers, cameras, camcorders, touch screen tablets, MP3 players and cellular phones.鈥�

From聽Sam鈥檚 Club return policies page: 鈥淲e offer a 100% guarantee on merchandise and Membership.聽We will refund purchases in full with a receipt.聽Click here聽to view our Return/Refund exceptions. No receipt: We will refund the purchase(s) at the last selling price with a shopping card.鈥�

From聽BJ鈥檚 return policies page: 鈥淚tems eligible for return must be returned within 30 days from date of shipping. For more information, please see the聽鈥淧roper Conditions for Return and Credit鈥澛爏ection of BJ鈥檚 Return Policy.鈥�

So Costco and Sam鈥檚 Club have similar return policies, while BJ鈥檚 policy is far less liberal.

7. Coupons and sales

BJ鈥檚 is the only warehouse club that accepts manufacturer鈥檚 coupons. BJ鈥檚 also has 24-hour flash sales online, promoting deals on items like HDTVs and digital cameras 鈥� often with free shipping.

At Sam鈥檚 Club, discounts can get even deeper with聽online auctions. Online members can bid, with all bids starting at $1.

Renee Morad is a writer for聽Money Talks News, a consumer/personal finance TV news feature that airs in about 80 cities as well as around the Web. This column first appeared in Money Talks News.