Here’s Where to Get the Best Deals on Halloween Candy
Do you live on a Halloween street? The kind that attracts trick-or-treaters from all over town? I do, and preparing for October 31 is no joke. One year we spent over $100 on candy. (This included an urgent, mid-evening run to CVS when the bottom of our plastic pumpkin appeared. Not recommended.)
This year I did a lot of work in advance to figure out how to fill your cauldron without emptying your wallet. Here’s where you should be shopping.
1. Target
Willy Wonka would be humbled. An obvious go-to, Target is winning with great prices and a fabulous selection, online and in stores. Just one major thing: If yours is anything like mine, shop early (like, now) or be met with bare shelves.
Target’s website lets you see if what you want is in stock at your local store and even gives you an aisle number, so you can run in quickly and find what you need without getting sidetracked by all the new Threshold gear (yeah, right). The website also breaks down candy into a multitude of categories like organic, multipacks, and items exclusive to Target (like a 90-count bag of pumpkin-shaped Reese’s for $23). Another feature asks you how many trick-or-treaters you expect and then directs you to choices from $5.99 for a bag of Caramel Apple Pops to 195 pieces of Mars favorites for $25.99.
2. Walmart
Walmart wins the price war by strategically pricing many similar items 45 cents below Target’s prices. Not as much of its vast stock is available for shipping, although you can order online and pick up locally.
They offer a 150-count Mars Favorites bag with Milky Way, Twix, Snickers, and 3Musketeers for $19.97. They also have 100-count bag of Butterfingers, Crunch bars, and Baby Ruths fro $15.
Walmart’s discounts also potentially allow you to be that neighborhood myth maker and hand out full-size candy bars: The store offers an 18-count Hershey’s Chocolate Full Size Variety Pack for $21.78.
3. Amazon
No surprise that Amazon is a competitive candy player for Halloween. Good bets there include this 265-count bag of Hershey’s favorites for $33, a 165-count bag of Jolly Ranchers, Twizzlers, and Haribo for $20, an 18-count full-size variety pack for $18 (that’s a dollar a bar!), and a 60-count party fun size bag for $15.
4. Costco
In their typical fashion, Costco brings you quantity and value, but limited choices. (And if Halloween isn’t your thing, my local Costco had Christmas merch up when I was there … IN SEPTEMBER. Talk about scary! Too soon!)
A 5.75-pound of Funhouse Treats (non-chocolate candies of Swedish Fish, Nerds, Twizzlers, and Haribo gummi bears) costs $22.99 online. The full size variety pack, $26.49 online for 3.5 pounds, includes 30 individually wrapped M&M’s, Skittles, Snickers, Starburst, and more.
This post originally ran on The Kitchn. See it there: Where to Shop to Get the Best Deals on Really Good Halloween Candy