Walmart just made its pitch for your wallet a lot louder. As of Oct. 20, one $120 annual fee buys you both Walmart+ and a Sam’s Club Plus membership, according to the company’s announcement.

Walmart says that’s almost $100 less than buying both separately. I checked. Walmart+ runs $98 a year on its own, and Sam’s Club Plus costs $120. Add them up and you were paying $218. Now it’s $120. That’s $98 back, so the claim holds.

But here’s what no press release will tell you: A membership deal is only a deal if you’d spend the money anyway. Retailers don’t sell memberships to save you money. They sell them to capture more of your spending.

So let’s run the numbers the way I would for a friend over coffee — and figure out whether you’re one of the winners or one of the people who should walk right past this.

1. What $120 buys now

Here’s the package, according to Walmart’s release and its help page for the new plan:

• Sam’s Club access, with member pricing
• Free delivery on scheduled Walmart orders of $35 or more and on Sam’s Club orders of $50 or more
• Peacock Premium or Paramount+ Essential, both with ads, and you can swap every 90 days
• 10 cents off each gallon at 17,000-plus participating stations
• 2% back as Sam’s Cash on qualifying purchases, up to $750 a year

The timing isn’t random. Reuters reported that the bundle lands just ahead of the holidays, two months after Walmart reported its softest quarterly same-store sales gain in six years.

It also follows a price hike. On May 1, Sam’s Club raised its Club fee from $50 to $60 and its Plus fee from $110 to $120, according to a company statement reported by NBC New York.

So the Plus price in this bundle isn’t new. Walmart+ is what got added.

“We’re giving people a reason to expect more from their memberships,” said John Furner, Walmart’s president and CEO. Fair enough. Expect more from yours, too — starting with proof that it pays.

2. Who wins outright

Two groups come out ahead without doing any math at all.

Sam’s Club Plus members: You’re already paying $120. Walmart says Walmart+ is now yours to switch on, free. Even if you never planned to buy Walmart+, that’s free Walmart delivery and a 10-cent-a-gallon gas discount you didn’t have last week. Turn it on.

If the streaming perk replaces something you’re paying for now, even better. It’s no secret that streaming now costs more than the cable bill many of us cut.

People paying for both: You were out $218 a year. Now it’s $120. According to Walmart, you just link your accounts, and most members qualify for a prorated refund on Walmart+. That’s real money for changing nothing about how you shop.

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3. The break-even math for everyone else

I’ve been writing about money for 35 years, and here’s what I tell anyone eyeing any membership: Don’t ask what the perks are worth. Ask how much you’d have to spend to earn the fee back.

The figures below are our math, based on Walmart’s and Sam’s Club’s published prices.

Walmart+ members: Walmart says you pay $22 more a year. You already have the delivery, streaming and gas perks, so that $22 buys you Sam’s Club Plus.

If 2% Sam’s Cash were the only perk you used, you’d need about $1,100 a year in eligible Sam’s purchases — roughly $92 a month — to earn back $22.

Sam’s Club members: Your upgrade is $60. Start with gas. At 10 cents a gallon, you’d have to pump 600 gallons a year to recover $60. That’s about 11.5 gallons a week.

Or lean on Sam’s Cash. At 2%, it takes $3,000 a year in qualifying Sam’s spending to get $60 back.

Most people will mix the two: 300 gallons of gas saves $30, and $1,500 at Sam’s earns another $30. Free delivery and streaming are a bonus — if you’d actually use them.

Neither membership: Ask what you’d buy on its own. If all you want is warehouse prices, a basic Club membership is $60, and the extra $60 has to clear the same bar above.

If you mostly want Walmart delivery, Walmart+ alone is $98, and the $22 difference is a bet on Sam’s.

If you’re counting gallons anyway, these simple tricks to use less gas can be worth more than any dime-a-gallon discount.

4. Who should skip it

Light shoppers: If you hit Walmart a couple of times a month and rarely order delivery, you won’t come close to the numbers above. Paying a fee to shop at a store you barely use isn’t savings. It’s a donation.

Costco members: Paying two warehouse clubs rarely makes sense. Pick the one you actually drive to. If it’s Costco, squeeze it for everything it’s worth with these 14 secret Costco perks that pay for your membership fee.

Amazon Prime members: Two delivery memberships means paying twice to get boxes to the same front door. Before you add Walmart’s, look hard at what you’re getting from Amazon, especially the perks Amazon took away.

Anyone who buys more because delivery is “free”: This is the real trap. A $35 minimum nudges a $28 order up to $36. That extra $8 isn’t a savings — it’s $8 more of your money in their register, dressed up as a perk.

And once you’ve paid a membership fee, shopping anywhere else starts to feel like wasting it. That’s the whole design. If you’re not sure what all your memberships and subscriptions add up to, a good budgeting tool can put them on one page.

5. How to switch without paying twice

According to Walmart, you can sign up, upgrade or connect your memberships through either company’s app, or online at walmart.com/plus/samsclub. A few things to know before you tap anything:

• The two accounts don’t merge. You have to connect them yourself, and you’ll need to verify your identity.
• If you’re paying for both now, link them and then confirm the prorated Walmart+ refund actually hits your card. Walmart says most members qualify, not all.
• The bundle is annual only, with no free trial. Walmart+ by itself, by contrast, offers 30 days for $1. If you’re on the fence about delivery, test that first.
• Cancel the bundle on walmart.com and you lose both sets of perks, warehouse and delivery alike, when the membership runs out. You can’t keep one by dropping the other there.

Whatever you choose, put your renewal date on the calendar a month ahead. That’s when you decide whether it paid — not when the charge shows up.

The bottom line

If you already pay for Sam’s Club Plus, or for both memberships, this is found money. Take it.

Everyone else should treat it like any other membership: a bet that you’ll spend enough at one company to earn the fee back. Run the math first. If the numbers don’t work, the bargain belongs to Walmart, not you.