If you don’t know, now you know: Reusable water balloons are the hot thing this summer.
They work just like traditional water balloons, but they’re designed a little differently. Reusable water balloons are typically super thin plastic balls with a tiny magnetic rim around the center. They open into two halves, so to fill them you just dunk one underwater and snap the halves together.
When you throw a reusable water balloon at someone or something, the halves pop open upon impact. But instead of having to pick up all those annoying little balloon scraps from the yard later, you just collect the balloon halves and refill them! It’s a fun summer activity for kids that won’t stress you out.
I did some research to figure out where to get reusable water balloons cheapest, plus found out whether or not these water toys actually save you money.
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1. To find the cheapest reusable water balloons, calculate cost per piece.
To calculate cost per piece, you want to take the total price of the package and divide that by the number of balloons it contains. So for example, if you were to purchase the MAITING 12-pack reusable water balloon set off Amazon for $9.99, you’d be paying $0.83 per balloon. (Amazon usually tells you the individual count on the product listing, but it’s hit-and-miss with other retailers.) In late spring 2023, we saw this particular set go down to $7.99, bringing the individual cost to just $0.67 per piece. So watch out for sales!
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2. The cheapest reusable water balloons are at Temu, Amazon & Walmart.
I found reusable water balloons at five major retailers: Temu, Amazon, Walmart, Target, and Cabela’s — and the price per ball is all over the place. Temu’s leading low price of $0.30 per piece in their 18-count is nearly 90% cheaper than Cabela’s price.
You have to get past comparing how much each bundle costs. For example, while Temu’s out-of-pocket price is the second highest on this list, the package contains 18 balloons. While Amazon’s price is the lowest on the list, you get six less than you’d get from Temu’s set.
From this list, you can see that Temu wins in terms of individual costs. And, you might as well just skip buying at Cabela’s.
If you’re short on time and need to shop in-store, your best bet is paying $10 for six balloons at Target. Sure you won’t pay as much out of pocket as some of the other packages on our list, but it’s the second-worst value. You’ll pay for convenience.
3. Reusable water balloons obviously cost more than regular water balloon brands like Bunch O Balloons.
If you’ve seen these around, you’ve probably noticed they’re a bit more expensive than regular water balloons, and you usually only get 12 or 24 in a package, compared to hundreds of traditional water balloons you’d get for a lower price.
Take the popular brand, Bunch O Balloons, for instance. On Amazon, you’d pay $17.99 for 210 water balloons, which comes out to $0.09 each. Their grenade version comes out to $0.08 each for 100.
4. But, you’ll actually save money once you’ve used the reusable water balloons five times.
So each balloon that’s tied to the Bunch O Balloons costs $0.09 each, while the cheapest reusable balloons we could find come out to about $0.37 each.
However, each $0.09 traditional water balloon can only be used one time. That means if you want to play with water balloons again, you’d have to buy a whole new set and spend an additional $0.09 per balloon. Multiply that by a handful of times each summer, for several summers — it adds up. And don’t even get me started on microplastics and the trash of it all…
With reusable balloons, the cost per use goes down the more you play with them. If your balloon costs $0.37 each, and you throw it at someone 10 times, it’s cheaper than the cost of nine traditional water balloons. Plus, you don’t have to try to fill and tie off those tiny water balloons!
To give you an idea of how much you can save by opting for reusable water balloons, we’ve broken down the cost per use of Bunch O Balloons as well as the reusable water balls at different retailers.
Each time you play with water balloons, you’ll have to buy new Bunch O Balloons. The first time you’re spending just $0.09 per balloon. But by the time you’ve thrown 20 water balloons, you’ve spent nearly $1.80.
With the reusable water balloons, you can throw it and refill it 20 times and it’ll still cost just the $0.37 you spent on it. (Since these are still relatively new, there isn’t much info on how long these guys will actually last. But the brands I saw in my research claim that the balloons can be used over 1,000 times.)
Bottom line: As long as you use the reusable balloons 5-10 times, you get a better deal than traditional water balloons.
5. Walmart has the best-rated reusable water balloons, according to reviewers.
Since reusable water balloons are relatively new on the market, there aren’t a ton of reviews and ratings out there. But at the same time, this is a great chance for you to see what real users have to say in the early stages.
I personally loved the Sun Squad water balloons from Target. They were easy to fill and refill as long as I had a bucket of water on hand. I thought they were durable and well-made.
But overall, the real winner, according to users, was Walmart. Here’s what real users had to say about the following:
Kufutee Reusable Water Balloons, 24-ct at Walmart
- Star rating: 5 / 5
- Reviews: 19
Several reviews commend this set for its great quality and payout value. A user said he’s used this for a couple of months with his kids and the balloons are still going strong.
Reusable Water Balloons, 18-ct on Temu
- Star rating: 5 / 5
- Reviews: 2
While I found over 400 reviews related to this Temu set, most of them spoke to the Temu seller in general. Even so, the two reviews that referenced this item gave the set a perfect five-star rating. When I last checked, 117 people bought the exact set in the last 24 hours.
Prime Time Toys Hurricane Reusable Water Balls, 3-ct at Cabela’s
- Star rating: 5 / 5
- Reviews: 1
I’ve only seen one review on Cabela’s option, and it’s a perfect five-star rating. Since you’re paying more, you can expect better quality. However, this is the worst deal I’ve seen on the balloons.
MAITING Reusable Water Balloons, 12-ct on Amazon
- Star rating: 3.6 / 5
- Reviews: 44
Overall, reviewers liked that this set from MAITING does exactly what it’s supposed to. While most of the reviews were glowing, a couple of users said their reusable balloons broke early on.
Sun Squad Kids’ Hurricane Reusable Water Balls, 6-ct at Target
- Star rating: 3.4 / 5
- Reviews: 21
Several users loved that these balloons required no cleanup, feel soft, and are easy to fill. Just note that a few users complained about the quality.
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