It’s that time of year when pieces of Halloween candy are doled out to trick-or-treaters — and, inevitably, squirreled away for us to snack on for the rest of the year.
Given that Costco is known for offering bulk items at budget prices, it seems like buying your Halloween candy haul at the cult-favorite warehouse should be a no-brainer. Is it really, though? We compared large bags of candy from Costco, Amazon, Walmart, and Target to see whether Costco's Halloween candy deals are as good as we think.
Prices and availability are subject to change.
Photo credit: Jennifer MagidCostco Halloween Candy
As expected, Costco currently has extra large bags of candy on display (including full-size candy bars). It's Kirkland chocolate bags contain a variety of miniature chocolates that are Halloween staples, such as Snickers, M&M's, and Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. The bags weigh 90 ounces, which is around 5.6 pounds of candy, and cost $20. There's also an all-candy version with Skittles and Twizzlers that weighs a little more (92 ounces) and costs a dollar less at $19. The only issue with these Costco candy bags is that there's no candy count, so if you need to have an exact number of candy pieces, you're not going to get it here.
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Photo credit: AmazonAmazon Halloween Candy
On Amazon, you can get a 70-ounce bag of miniature chocolates. The offerings are comparable, with classics like Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and Hershey's Bars included. But for a smaller bag of candy than Costco's, you'll pay $22. A 102-ounce bag of chocolate Halloween candy on Amazon costs $30, and that's really not very many more ounces of candy in our opinion.
Walmart Halloween Candy
Walmart has the same 70-ounce bag of miniature chocolate that Amazon does, and for the same price: $22. There's also a 93.39-ounce bag that offers 330 pieces, which is similar in size to Costco's bag but will cost you $27 — a lot more for basically the same amount of candy.
Photo credit: TargetTarget Halloween Candy
We may be the least impressed by Target's Halloween candy pricing. The retailer sells a 77-ounce bag of miniature chocolates for $28, one of the higher prices for the amount. There's also a 61.85-ounce bag packed with Twix, Milky Way, and Snickers, available for $19 — which is pretty much the same price for Target's bag that contains nearly 30 more ounces of candy.
@mommaknowitall #Halloweencandy #costco #costcofinds #fullsizecandybars #greatdeal ♬ Monster Mash - Bobby "Boris" Pickett & The Crypt-Kickers
The Verdict
If you're looking to get the most Halloween candy for your money, Costco is a good bet. The candy bags have a large assortment of different goodies that are sure to please most trick-or-treaters. Compared with Target, Walmart, and Amazon, Costco does indeed seem to be a better deal for bulk amounts of candy.
But there are times when Costco may not be the best option. If you want a bag of miniature chocolates with an exact candy count, Costco doesn't offer that, as it packages these bags by bulk and not count. And if you just don't need that much candy, don't buy it. When it comes to Halloween candy, there aren't any smaller options available at Costco. So either you go all-in for a giant amount of candy, or you just accept that you may be getting less candy for your money somewhere else. The choice is yours.
