One of the biggest fights right now in retail is between Amazon and Walmart over who can be the cheapest. Today we will look at some of the most common products people buy every month to see if it would be cheaper to buy them at Walmart or Amazon.
Important Note: all pricing is from March 2023, and we used a Walmart store in Michigan for pricing.
Tide Laundry Detergent
We all wash our clothes, and Tide is one of the most popular detergents we don’t market. So who has cheaper Tide, Walmart or Amazon?
Walmart sells a 154 FL Oz jug of Tide for $21.24 it claims to do 107 loads of laundry. That works out to be about $0.20 cents a load.
Amazon sells a 105 FL Oz liquid box of Tide for $16.35, which claims to do 96 loads, a price that works out to be about $0.17 cents a load with Amazon Subscribe & Save, an option that auto sends you products weekly or every few months. As a one-time purchase, this box costs $19.24, or about $0.20 cents per load.
Winner: Amazon is you use Amazon Subscribe & Save. If not, Amazon and Walmart sell Tide for about the same price, just in different sizes.
Trash Bags
Trash is something we all end up with, and trash bags have become a necessary evil. So who has the cheapest trash bags? For this test, we will look at the store brand of Greate Value vs. Amazon Basic. We will also be looking at Tall Kitchen Drawstring Bags for this comparison.
Walmart sells its Grate Value trash bags 120 counts for $18.12. This works out to be about $0.151 per bag.
Amazon sells its Amazon Basics trash bags on 200 counts, typically for $24.67. (Currently on sale for $19.37 plus if you spent $50 on select Amazon Basic products, you could get an extra 20% off.) The regular list price works out to be about $0.123 per bag.
Amazon also offers Trash Bags as subscribe and save option for just $16.46, which is about $0.08 per bag.
Winner: Amazon is the cheapest way to get trash bags right now. Even without the sale, you can save a lot with Amazon Basic trash bags. If you really want to save money, you may want to consider Amazon Subscribe & Save option to get them for as little as $0.08 each.
Hand Soap
Washing hands has become even more popular over the last few years, so what is the cheapest way to get hand soap? In this comparison, we will look at Amazon Basics for the Walmart brand.
Walmart sells its Equate hand soap in 50Oz bottles for $3.52 or about $0.07 FL Oz.
Amazon sells Amazon Basics hand soap in a 56 FL Oz bottle for $5.68 or about $0.10 FL Oz.
Winner: Walmart wins here at just $0.07 FL Oz of soap. A great deal for hand soap, even compared to Amazon’s Subscribe & Save options.
Final Thoughts
In the end, shopping around can save you a lot of money. Both Walmart and Amazon have products with better prices. Spending time once a year comparing prices can help you save a lot of money.
We recommend using Amazon’s Subscribe & Save for products that are cheaper at Amazon. This will allow you to get them delivered every few weeks or months, so you are always in stock.
For cheaper products at Walmart, you can use Walmart+ for free delivery.