Are Costco and Other Bulk-Buy Stores Actually Saving You Money? 6 Telling Price Comparisons
Warehouse stores have a sales pitch that’s hard to resist: buy big, pay less, feel like a genius. Sometimes that’s true. Sometimes you’ve just paid for 25 pounds of rice and a garage full of paper towels you’ll be staring at until 2031.
We pulled six everyday staples from Costco, Sam’s Club and Aldi and ran the numbers on price per unit. Bulk wins on five of them. But unit price is only half the story. The other half is whether you’ll use the stuff before it goes stale, sours or gets shoved behind the cereal you forgot you bought.
Check Out: 8 Best Sam's Club Halloween Buys for Less Than $20
Keep Learning: 12 Subtly Genius Things All Wealthy People Do With Their Money — That You Should Do, Too
Here’s how each one shakes out, along with the price tag, the catch and whether the bulk pack is worth the trip.
Discover More: The Best Sam's Club Deals To Grab Now For Fall
Long-Grain Rice: Sam’s Club
Sam’s Club sells a 25-pound bag of Member’s Mark long-grain white rice for $11.48, about $0.46 per pound. Aldi’s enriched long grain white rice comes in a 5-pound bag for $3.65, which works out to $0.73 per pound. That’s a $0.27 gap per pound.
Rice is about as shelf-stable as food gets. According to USA Rice, white rice keeps for a very long time when it’s stored in a tightly closed container in a cool, dark place. The real challenge is hauling 25 pounds of it into your kitchen.
Extra-Virgin Olive Oil: Sam’s Club
A 101-fluid-ounce bottle of Member’s Mark extra-virgin olive oil costs $23.98, or $0.24 per ounce. Aldi’s Priano extra virgin olive oil runs $6.35 for 16.9 fluid ounces, or $0.38 per ounce. Sam’s Club saves you $0.14 an ounce.
The problem is time. The North American Olive Oil Association recommends using olive oil within three months of opening it. Unless you’re feeding a restaurant, you’ll be pouring the back half of that bottle down the drain.
Honey Nut Cheerios: Costco
Costco sells two 27.5-ounce boxes of Honey Nut Cheerios for $7.37, or $0.13 per ounce. The 15.4-ounce box of the same product at Aldi (General Mills Honey Nut Cheerios) is $4.45, or $0.29 per ounce. Buying in bulk at Costco saves $0.16 per ounce.
If you’re concerned you won’t finish the cereal before it goes stale, store it in an airtight container once opened to help it last longer.
Paper Towels: Aldi
A 15-roll package of Member’s Mark paper towels is $20.93 at Sam’s Club. With 150 sheets per roll, the package contains 2,250 sheets for just under 1 cent each. Aldi sells six rolls of Boulder double-roll paper towels for $5.95. The package has 660 two-ply sheets at less than 1 cent per sheet, slightly beating Sam’s Club's price per sheet by three-hundredths of a cent.
If you can handle having fewer rolls on hand, buying a six-roll pack at Aldi will save you a tiny bit per sheet, but the bigger savings is the $14.98 you’ll avoid spending by not buying the more expensive Sam’s Club bulk pack.
Pure Maple Syrup: Costco
Kirkland Signature organic pure maple syrup costs $14.74 for 33.8 ounces, or $0.44 per ounce. A 12.5-ounce bottle of Specially Selected pure maple syrup at Aldi costs $5.85, equaling $0.47 per ounce.
Costco is $0.03 cheaper per ounce. You can save almost $9 upfront by buying the smaller bottle at Aldi if you don’t need more than twice the quantity of syrup. If you do need the larger quantity, maple syrup can last up to one year in the refrigerator once opened, according to Maple Grove Farms.
Tide Free & Gentle: Costco
A 154-fluid-ounce container of Tide Free & Gentle at Costco costs $22.69, or about $0.15 per ounce. Aldi sells an 84-ounce container of the same product (Tide Free & Gentle liquid laundry detergent) for $14.29, which equals $0.17 per ounce.
You’ll pay $0.02 less per ounce for the larger Costco container. If you prefer handling a smaller bottle of detergent, use the larger Costco container to refill a smaller, empty container for convenience.
The Verdict
Bulk is a good deal when you buy something you already use, you’ll finish it before it expires and you have room to store it. Skip the warehouse pack when the savings are a few cents an ounce but the product will sit in your pantry for a year.
Before you grab the giant jug, ask yourself three questions: Will I finish this? Do I have room for it? Is the savings big enough to matter? If you answer yes to all three, go for it.
Editor’s note: Prices and availability are subject to change.
This article was provided by MoneyLion.com for informational purposes only and should not be construed as financial, legal or tax advice.
More From MoneyLion:
