Trick or treat? The way Halloween candy is priced, it’s easy to be fooled. Here we break down the best way to find the cheapest Halloween candy — by price per piece.
We compared Halloween candy prices across retailers including Costco, Sam’s Club, Walmart, Target, and Aldi, all so we could find the cheapest prices and ultimately help you find the best Halloween candy sale. (Hint: Cost per pound/ounce has nothing to do with it.) Before you spend way too much trying to keep your treat bowl full this spooky season, check out our list of best candy prices for Halloween.
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1. Find the cheapest Halloween candy by comparing cost per piece (not cost per ounce).
As you shop for Halloween candy, you’re most likely to see two numbers: the price, and cost per ounce. But those numbers don’t really tell you if you’re getting a good deal.
For Halloween candy, you need to look at the cost per PIECE. Because that’s what you’re handing out to trick-or-treaters — pieces. Not ounces or pounds. Pieces.
(The bulk bin shown in the photo above ends up being $0.24 per piece, which you’ll see isn’t great.)
3. A $5 bag of Reese's will cost you about $0.22 per piece.
You can expect to pay between $0.17 and $0.60 per piece when buying packs of fun-size Reese’s, Skittles, or M&M's. Buying bags of one type of candy will cost you, on average, around $0.32 per piece. Here are the best deals we found:
Skittles: Skittles Bulk Candy Box, $0.22 per piece at Amazon
Reese’s: Snack Size Reese’s Jumbo, $0.23 per piece at Walmart
4. Variety packs are cheaper — about $0.18 per piece on average.
One of the best ways to lower your cost per piece is to buy a variety pack instead of a package full of just one type of candy. There are lots of Mars/Hershey’s variety packs available, where you’ll find Reese’s, M&M's, and/or Skittles together with some less-popular candies.
M&M's: Variety packs that include M&M's cost an average of $0.18 per piece.
Skittles: Variety packs that include Skittles cost an average of $0.13 per piece.
Reese’s: Variety packs that include Reese’s cost an average of $0.18 per piece.
5. But you should aim to pay $0.12 or less per piece.
It’s totally possible to get variety packs with the most popular candies for $0.12 or less per piece. Here’s what we found when we looked around at various stores:
Aldi: As low as $0.13 per piece
If you have an Aldi nearby, you'll be disappointed with their prices on Halloween candy this year. We found most of the bulk bags of candies like Reese’s, M&M's, and/or Skittles cost about $0.13 per piece. Last year we had them at $0.08 per piece.
BJ's Wholesale Club: As low as $0.09 per piece
Right now a 200-count Swedish Fish and Sour Patch candies costs $0.09 per pack at BJ's. The bag regularly is $19.99, but through Oct. 31 you can save $2 with a digital coupon (found online at BJs.com or in the BJ's app).
You can also score a 180-count Twix, Snickers, Milky Way and 3 Musketeers Milk Chocolate Mini Candy Bars variety pack for $13.49 (regularly $17.99). That makes each candy bar $0.07.
Costco: As low as $0.12 per piece
Costco only has two mega bags of candy for sale in stores, but only one of them has a cost per piece of under $0.13.
CVS: Pay as low as $0.13 per piece
CVS has Halloween candy on sale for BOGO 50% off. With the sale, you can get a 140-piece bag of Baby Ruth, 100 Grand, Butterfinger, Crunch bars for as low as $0.13 per piece. This is a penny above our $0.12. But if you pay with a discount gift card from GCX (formerly Raise) you can save another 5% and bring your price per piece down to $0.12.
Kroger: As low as $0.09 per piece
Shop Kroger for their 235-count Haribo, Jolly Rancher, and Twizzler mix, which is on sale for $21.99. That makes the candies $0.09 per piece. The regular price for the bag is $25.99, making per piece price $0.11, still below our $0.12 threshold.
You can also score bags of Butterfinger and Crunch minis for as low as $0.11 and $0.08 per piece.
Sam’s Club: As low as $0.80 per piece for full-sized candy bars
Don’t get thrown off by the higher price per piece — at Sam’s Club, we’re looking at full-sized candy bars. Check out this timely deal happening now.
Target: As low as $0.06 per piece
Target has sales on candy, and they're some of the best we've seen anywhere. Keep in mind, if you use Target Circle Card, you can push prices even lower with that 5% discount.