Do Hong Kong residents need mainland ID to join Sam's Club?

Updated August 6, 2026

Do you need a mainland ID card to join Sam's Club in Shenzhen, or will your Home Return Permit actually get you through the door? The Home Return Permit is enough on its own. You don't need a mainland ID, a local hukou, or a mainland friend to sponsor you, and the whole process costs less than a decent lunch for two.

Home Return Permit, HKSAR passport, and a working phone number

Your Home Return Permit, officially the Mainland Travel Permit for Hong Kong and Macao Residents, is the document every Sam's Club membership counter in Shenzhen will accept from a Hong Kong resident. Staff at the service desk register you against that permit number directly, the same way they'd register a mainland ID. A regular HKSAR passport also works if you'd rather use that, but the HRP is quicker since it's what the system is built around.

You'll want to bring the card itself, not a photo of it, plus a phone number that can receive an SMS verification code. That last part is where most Hong Kong applicants get tripped up, and it's worth planning around before you go.

The two membership tiers, and what they cost

Sam's Club China runs two paid tiers. There's no free tier and no walk-in browsing without one of them, or without a trial pass, which we'll get to.

Unless you're planning to shop weekly and stock a household, Standard is the sensible starting tier. The free companion card means you and a partner, parent, or flatmate can both swipe in and check out independently, which matters if you're the type who splits a trolley run with someone.

Why in person beats the app for most Hong Kong residents

Sam's Club's WeChat mini-program will let you select the Home Return Permit as your ID type when you register, so in theory you can sign up from your sofa in Hong Kong. In practice, the mini-program still wants a mainland mobile number for SMS verification, and it asks for a mainland delivery address to post the physical card. If you don't have either, the online route stalls halfway.

Going to the member service counter inside any Shenzhen store sidesteps both problems. You show your HRP, pay the 260 or 680 yuan on the spot with WeChat Pay or Alipay, and walk out with a working card the same day, no delivery address required. If you're already sorting out how you'll pay for anything else on the trip, it's worth reading our guide on how to pay in Shenzhen as a Hong Kong resident before you go, since Octopus won't help you here and you'll want WeChat Pay HK or Alipay HK loaded and working beforehand.

On the phone number: if you genuinely have no mainland number at all, ask the counter staff directly. They deal with Hong Kong applicants constantly and can usually talk you through the SMS step using a mainland Wi-Fi connection or a workaround on the spot. It's not guaranteed, but it's a far better shot than fighting the app alone.

The one-day experience card, if you're not ready to commit

Sam's Club also runs a one-day experience card, a free single-use trial for people who've never held a membership or a previous trial pass. It lets up to five people walk in together, browse and buy at member prices, and it stays valid for thirty days after it's issued, but it expires the moment you complete one checkout.

The catch is that you can't just request one at the door. An existing member has to send it to you through the app, so you'll need a friend, colleague, or relative who already has a Sam's Club account. If you know someone with a card, this is a genuinely useful way to see whether the store you're planning to use suits your shopping habits before you hand over any money.

Getting there and picking your crossing

Once you've got the card sorted, the trip itself comes down to which crossing gets you closest to the store you want. Our tool for choosing a border crossing filters the five options by hours and crowding, which matters more than people expect on a Saturday when half of Hong Kong seems to have the same idea. For a fuller rundown of which of the three main Shenzhen stores suits which crossing, our Sam's Club Shenzhen hub breaks down the store-by-store transport options in more detail than fits here.

As of today, Standard membership costs 260 yuan a year, Plus costs 680 yuan, and a Home Return Permit is the only ID a Hong Kong resident needs to get either one.