Sam's Club's membership card has been compared to a "hostage card" by frustrated shoppers. A recent social media post about the warehouse club's membership policy has triggered widespread discussion after a customer complained that she was barred from checking out when shopping with her family because the cardholder had to leave mid-trip.

The shopper said she had already passed strict identity and companion verification at the entrance. When she had to leave for an urgent matter halfway through shopping and let her family continue, checkout was refused on the grounds that "the cardholder must be present to pay." She contacted Sam's Club customer service but was told there was no alternative solution other than the cardholder being physically present, and the company never followed up with her. "It feels like the team doesn't really care about this issue," she said.

When contacted as a consumer, Sam's Club customer service confirmed that the membership card is for "exclusive use by the cardholder only." Non-cardholders cannot enter stores or make purchases, even if they can prove a family relationship. Video verification and phone confirmation are also not supported at checkout. Ironically, while Sam's Club strictly prevents "family members borrowing cards," it has failed to stop "strangers selling cards." On second-hand platforms like Xianyu and Taobao, Sam's Club supplementary cards and single-use cards are widely sold at prices ranging from a few dozen to over a hundred yuan. On Douyin and Xiaohongshu, Sam's Club purchasing agents are ubiquitous.

Meanwhile, the news that "Sam's Club China paid memberships exceed 10 million" trended on social media, but under that topic, complaints and membership cancellations kept surfacing. Many netizens questioned a significant decline in product quality control, calling the nearly 300 yuan membership fee a waste of money. According to Weibo smart search statistics, only 24% of users expressed positive sentiment about Sam's Club surpassing 10 million members.

Sam's Club Card Becomes a "Hostage Card"? Customer Service: To Prevent Card Sharing, Cardholder Must Be Present Throughout

Among Sam's Club's many membership rules, "exclusive use by the cardholder" is one of the core terms. According to customer service, the membership card is for the cardholder's use only. Non-cardholders cannot enter stores or shop on the app. Even spouses or parent-child relationships cannot share a single primary card. "The primary card does not support transfer or modification of identity information. Only the complimentary family card (supplementary card) can be unbound and re-shared," Sam's Club customer service told reporters.

However, this rule has sparked considerable controversy in real-world use. Recently, a user posted that she brought her family to shop at Sam's Club, and the entrance had already verified her identity and accompanying persons. She left midway due to an urgent matter, letting her family continue shopping, but checkout was refused on the grounds that "the cardholder must be present to pay." "The entrance already verified the member and the number of people. Why must the entire shopping trip be interrupted just because the cardholder leaves midway? I understand preventing card sharing, but why can't video verification, temporary authorization, or phone confirmation be used?" the user asked in multiple questions in her post.

In response, Sam's Club customer service said the main purpose of this measure is to prevent card sharing, "because this is a membership-based supermarket, and we need to maintain everyone's experience." When asked whether providing documents to prove family relationships or calling or video-confirming at checkout would be possible, the customer service representative gave a negative answer. "Driving dozens of kilometers round trip, spending a lot of time and fuel, only to be refused at checkout because Sam's Club didn't inform us at entry — has Sam's Club never considered this consumption scenario?" the consumer wrote in her complaint.

This is not an isolated case. In the comments section, other netizens shared similar experiences. "They say it's to prevent scalpers, but in reality there are just as many scalpers, while genuine cardholders always run into trouble." More extreme cases have even entered judicial proceedings. In February 2025, Ding Ming, a law graduate student at Guangxi University, sued Sam's Club after being refused for using a friend's membership code. He argued that Sam's Club's use of facial recognition as the sole identity verification option violated the "necessity and minimization principles" of China's Personal Information Protection Law. Sam's Club responded at the time that it did not use facial recognition technology and only manually compared membership card photos with visual inspection. No public report on the case outcome has been released.

In response to inquiries, Sam's Club customer service also said that members are still required to upload photos and other identity information for on-site verification and comparison. Additionally, membership cancellation must be processed within the validity period. Customer service stated that refunds are not prorated by usage time but deduct used benefits such as new member gift packages, reward money, and shipping coupons. After the first cancellation, members cannot receive a family card for six months.

Stopping Family Members but Not Scalpers?

In contrast to the strict "cardholder must be present" rule, Sam's Club membership card transactions are very active on second-hand platforms. Searches on Xianyu and Taobao revealed numerous merchants selling Sam's Club supplementary cards (family cards) at prices ranging from a few dozen to over a hundred yuan. It is understood that the Sam's Club primary card has an annual fee of 260 yuan and comes with a complimentary family card. The supplementary card can be used independently with benefits essentially the same as the primary card. Many members resell their supplementary cards after joining, effectively using the primary card at a lower cost.

Currently, a complete card-sharing industry chain has formed around Sam's Club membership cards on second-hand platforms. Some scalpers purchase supplementary cards for over a hundred yuan and resell them at higher prices. Notably, Sam's Club previously offered an official one-day experience card, which was distributed in limited cities such as Dalian, Ningbo, Chongqing, Huizhou, and Nanning a few years ago. However, after these experience cards flooded the second-hand market, Sam's Club no longer offers official "experience cards" or "one-day cards."

The original poster also mentioned in her communication that Sam's Club used to distribute 2-3 single-use experience cards to members each year. "This could solve some special situations, but now they're gone." Although the official experience card has been discontinued, unofficial "single-use cards" and "one-day experience cards" have proliferated on second-hand platforms. These cards sell for around 10 yuan and claim to be "usable nationwide" and "able to pass normal verification at stores." On social platforms, Sam's Club purchasing agent accounts also exist in large numbers, helping non-member consumers enter stores and check out for a service fee.

It is understood that these "single-use cards" are not distributed through official channels. They generally involve second-hand merchants arranging someone to lead buyers into the store. "They don't handle checkout. If you need to buy something, you can find a member on-site and ask them to help." Some second-hand merchants also said they can provide someone else's membership account, allowing consumers to remotely log into the Sam's Club app and show the membership code. "This depends on how strictly the store checks. There's a chance checkout will be refused."

Objectively, this creates a notable contrast: Sam's Club uses "cardholder must be present" to prevent cardholders from lending cards to family members, and cancelled official experience cards to curb non-member entry, yet it struggles to stop supplementary card trading between strangers and the proliferation of purchasing agent services. The existence of numerous unofficial "single-use cards" not only bypasses membership rules but also carries fraud risks.

Liang Huaxin, founding chairman of the Agarwood Branch of the China National Forest Products Industry Association, said that from a card-sharing prevention perspective, the core logic of membership stores is "pay for qualification," and the rule itself has commercial rationality. "But the problem lies in execution. Consumers report that no one reminds them at entry that 'non-cardholders cannot check out,' and they are only refused after an hour of shopping, with marriage certificates and video verification both rejected. The rationality of the rule and the humanization of enforcement are two different things," Liang said. "Sam's Club should ensure 'notification upon entry and channels for exceptions,' rather than shifting all verification costs onto consumers."

After 10 Million Members, Sam's Club Faces a Trust Test

Alongside rapid membership growth, Sam's Club's quality control and service are also being tested. Since 2026, Sam's Club has been repeatedly hit by food safety issues. In March, the popular product "Botherless Organic Freeze-Dried Strawberries" was reported to share the same contract manufacturer as products exposed in the 315 program for pesticide residues and heavy metal exceedances. The same month, Sam's Club faced controversy over listing regular-grade salmon in the sashimi section. In April, a consumer in Shenzhen found maggots in udon noodles purchased at the Futian store. The store initially offered 400 yuan in compensation, later increased to 1,000 yuan after negotiation.

Amid frequent food safety problems, on June 15, 2026, the State Administration for Market Regulation summoned Sam's Club headquarters, requiring it to prevent food safety risks across the entire chain. Sam's Club subsequently issued an apology, stating that management had established a special task force for comprehensive self-inspection and rectification. Beyond food safety, product selection controversies and in-store management issues have persisted. In July 2025, Sam's Club faced a wave of membership cancellation discussions after removing high-repurchase specialty products like sun cakes and rice pudding while adding mass-market brands like Orion and Weilong. Consumers' core concern was the change in product selection standards — the former "differentiated selection" gradually converging with ordinary supermarkets.

Ahead of this year's Mid-Autumn Festival, a Sam's Club store in Wuxi, Jiangsu, also saw a "fruit-swapping" controversy: two women opened packaged kiwi gift boxes, consolidated larger kiwis into one box, sealed the smaller ones back and returned them to the shelf. The incident was filmed by other customers. Sam's Club staff responded that the kiwis are sold at a fixed price per box with standardized weight and generally uniform fruit sizes, and that customers opening boxes to swap items constitutes uncivilized shopping behavior. The store said it would strengthen area inspections.

Liang Huaxin told reporters that Sam's Club's "halo is indeed thinning, but has not yet shattered." "Product selection controversies since 2025 have made members question whether differentiation is being diluted. Sam's Club's core asset is its 'curated selection' reputation. When more and more items that can be bought 'right outside your door' appear on shelves, the value perception of the 260 yuan membership fee will be re-examined. The user base is moving downstream, but the positioning should not follow," Liang said.

Notably, Sam's Club adjusted its procurement team leadership in September this year, with Sean Jackson, dispatched from the U.S. headquarters, appointed as Chief Procurement Officer of Sam's Club. Some analysts believe this adjustment may bring more standardized management but could also weaken responsiveness to local Chinese consumer demands. Ten million members is a milestone and also a turning point. Liang Huaxin believes there is still penetration room for domestic membership supermarkets, but growth has a clear ceiling. "Sam's Club's penetration rate in China is about 7%, still lagging behind the U.S. market. The collective adjustments by Chinese domestic membership stores also show that closed membership systems require a longer user education cycle in China," Liang said. Membership fees are charged annually, and consumers can also vote with their feet. After 10 million members, the question Sam's Club needs to answer may not just be "how much more can it grow," but "how many can it retain."