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.
For more smart shopping tips and savings hacks, text HACKS to 57299. Or download The Krazy Coupon Lady app.
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.
Walgreens: As low as $0.05 per piece
Right now, you can grab Halloween candy on sale for as low as $0.05 at Walgreens.
Walmart: As low as $0.09 per piece
Walmart has larger-count bags for their variety packs, and their “Everyday Low Price” offers several mixed candy bags with Reese’s, KitKat, and Whoppers for below the target price per piece.
6. Dum Dums and Tootsie Rolls are the cheapest Halloween candy, hands down.
We looked around and found the cheapest overall candy, by cost per piece. Although they’re not gonna be in anybody’s Top 10 favorite candy lists, trick-or-treaters will still take ’em, and you’ll have spent WAY less on Halloween candy this year.
$0.02 per piece: Tootsie Roll Midgees at Walmart
$0.05 per piece: Dum-Dums Halloween Lollipops at Target
7. Bulk candy is cheaper in most cases.
It’s probably not earth-shattering to hear that bulk pricing means a lower unit cost. Although sometimes buying in bulk isn’t a good deal, that’s not now. Buying bigger bags of mixed candies will help bring down your cost per piece.
Here are just a couple of examples:
A 700-piece bucket of Hershey Halloween assorted fruit flavored candies (Haribo, Twizzlers, Jolly Ranchers) is $54.98 at Sam's Club. That breaks down to $0.08 per piece. Grab a 155 piece bag for $18.98 costs $0.12 per piece.
A bag of LifeSavers, Skittles and Starburst at Walmart costs $9.96 for 70 pieces, and $14.96 for 135 pieces. It’s a difference of $0.14 and $0.11 per piece.
8. Use candy coupons to make Halloween candy even cheaper.
We’re constantly on the lookout for candy coupons. These can either chip away at your out-of-pocket cost at the register, or they’ll pay you back as a rebate after purchase.
Candy rebates, often found on apps like Ibotta, can give you money back after you buy, making sweet deals even sweeter. For example, we’ve seen a $0.75 rebate on a bag of fun-size Butterfingers at Walgreens, making each bag just $1.05 (and each piece of candy between $0.05 and 0.07).
We often see store coupons like Target Circle take 20% off fun size 100 Grand, Crunch, and Butterfinger candy bars.
9. When is Halloween candy the cheapest?
Halloween candy sales happen consistently in the five weeks before Halloween. The best Halloween candy prices often come in early October. You can check out this week’s best candy deals.
10. Find clearance Halloween candy as soon as the day after Halloween.
The day after Halloween (Nov. 1), is when I see the cheapest Halloween candy. Halloween clearance deals at Target and Walmart begin before Halloween, but candy doesn’t go on sale until the day after. Most stores go straight to 50% off on Nov. 1 and 70% off within 3 - 4 days.
11. Stock up on full-size candy bars when they hit $0.60 each or less.
Supermarket prices on full-size candy bars are around $1 – $1.79. But every year, Krazy Coupon Lady posts full-size candy bars for even less.
Our benchmark or stock-up price for 2024 is $0.60 or less per bar. If you see a price lower than the $0.60 range, it’s time to go all in.
Related Reading:
Tell us what you think