Prices have risen a lot recently. And while a lot of people crow about the merits of Costco, which are many, many of the things there are basically bigger sizes with limited choice, and are often not significantly cheaper.
Still, you could buy a box of five quality antiperspirants there for twelve bucks. The same single ones, same size, often retail for $8 each (but are on sale for $5 each this week). So buying five can save you $28, or 70%.
Of course there must be bigger examples. I want your example for the same size units one might purchase for personal use, not for a business or for resale. So what is the biggest similar discount by buying from a store like Costco or Sam’s Club, compared to what is routinely available?
It might be something like nails/spikes. You can buy individual 8" spikes for a few dollars, or buy them in 50 lbs/200 count for $100, which works out to around 75% if my memory is correct.
Hearing aid batteries, which I have spent 6+ years needing to keep in stock.
Costco: 48 batteries, Kirkland brand are $9. 19 cents each.
Target: name brand 8 batteries are $10. $1.25 each.
Walgreens: store brand 16 batteries are $15. 94 cents each.
brand name 16 batteries are $23. $1.44 each.
Just a quick eyeball estimate looks like the Costco batteries save me 80% over the next cheapest, the Walgreens store brand. Someone else will need to do the percentage comparison for me of the Costco 19 cents per to the Walgreens 1.44 per-I’d embarrass myself.
I pay roughly $59 a year for my hearing aid batteries at Costco. The same number of batteries from Walgreens would cost me store brand $293, name brand $390. Same name brand at Target would cost $390.
Costco saves me $234 over Walgreens store brand, saves $449 over name brand there. Saves me $390 over same name brand at Target. The Costco membership is $60 a year, so one could fairly subtract $60 from each of those savings amount, but saving at a minimum 234-60=$174 savings at Costco works for me. Similar savings can be had for me for prescription eyeglasses, on that same $60 membership. Progressives, with prisms and anti reflective average about $125 there, elsewhere they have been $350-$500 a pair. I can’t do the mail order glasses like Zenni because of the prisms so can’t compare the Costco glasses to those costs. I save at least $200 a pair over what I have paid at brick and mortar optical shops, with the same length of wait time for delivery (10 days).
A couple of years ago, I was in Target, where I bought ten Duracell AA batteries for about ten bucks (or about a dollar each). On the way home, I stopped at Costco, where they had forty Duracell AA batteries for fourteen bucks. I was amused, but I stuck with the Target purchase, because I don’t need batteries that often.
For at least a decade I’ve bought Member’s Mark (store brand) paper towels and toilet paper from Sam’s Club. I buy enough to fill my Jeep, the huge packages.
Pure convenience. I ain’t never gonna stop using toilet paper and paper towels. During COVID I was sitting pretty.
Maybe purchased yeast of the things I personally buy?
I mean, if I buy a three pack of “singles” at my local Kroger, it’s 3 packages of .25 ounce each for $2.49, so $3.32 an oz.
If I buy a two pack brick of the same yeast on Amazon, it’s 32 oz for $13.05, so $0.41 an ounce.
Not that I normally use that brand, and one pound of yeast lasts a long time for us, but it’s probably the largest bulk discount I notice at an 8x factor or so.
Then again, there are large numbers of sales, discounts, multipacks and the like, it easily ranges from .40-50 up to 6.00 or more per ounce. It’s one of those OMFG, what the hell things that drove us crazy prior to us buying in bulk and storing in a cool dry place.
When everyone else was discussing using napkins, corncobs, etc, the sauna in my bathroom was full of TP. My gf recognizes that situation as one of my finer moments.
Not as good as the battery example, but their huge chicken is $5, and the equivalent from Safeway is $8 if you’re luck and is about a third as big. The chicken is big enough to qualify as bulk in my book.
I was checking this when I went to Costco recently. First item I got to was Filtrete filters for less than what other stores were charging for less effective filters, enough to cover the membership cost with a 4 pack. I also found my favorite breakfast sandwiches for nearly half the regular store price.
Buying OTC meds anywhere seems to have quite a savings in bulk, for both name brand and store brand. Doesn’t even have to be Costco but Costco does tend to save you there.
Generic Zyrtec tabs
60 cents each if you buy 30 at Walgreens
31 cents each if you buy 90 at Walgreens
4 cents each if you buy 365 at Costco
Generic Tylenol caplets
29 cents each if you buy 24 at Walgreens
9 cents each if you buy 100 at Walgreens
(Possibly less @ Walgreens if you buy 500 but they don’t show the price online)
