Walmart, Target or Costco: Which one has the sweetest deal on Halloween candy? A price check found that one is the spooky season winner

Prices, ultimately, will vary depending on your candy offering of choice and inflation in your area of the country. WVIT, an NBC affiliate in Connecticut, however, priced out bulk bags of chocolate at four major retailers: Walmart, Target, Costco and Stop & Shop.

The best prices, the station found, were at Costco, which sold 90 ounces of chocolate for $23.99. (It didn’t list the prices the other stores charged for the same bag).

Things to consider when buying spooky season treats

Unfortunately, when it comes to retail today, it’s not always that easy. Costco might have the best price, but if you don’t have a membership to that store, which starts at $65 per year, that lower price might not do you much good. Ditto for Sam’s Club members.

Also, if you live somewhere that doesn’t get a lot of foot traffic on Halloween, having 90 ounces of mostly-leftover chocolate in the house might be the beginning of an epic sugar-palooza for you and members of your household. A smaller candy purchase might be the better choice, both financially and for your dental bills.

Moneywise did its own check of candy prices at major retailers to see where things stood. We looked at bags of Hershey’s Miniatures (because while you want to be budget conscious, do you really want to be the house that gives away candy corn? No. No you don’t).

A pure apples-to-apples comparison isn’t quite possible because of the bulk size sold at wholesale warehouses, but you can come pretty close. Walmart and Target sell 30-ounce bags of the mini Hershey, Krackle and Mr Goodbar bars. If you buy two of those, you come pretty close to the 56-ounce bag sold at Costco and Sam’s Club.

Here’s how the prices compared (again with the disclaimer that they could be higher or lower in your area):

Walmart: A 30-ounce bag costs $14.84. Buy two and you’ll be out $29.68, plus tax.

Target: The other retail giant charges $14.89, according to an online search. But Target is offering a Buy One, Get 50% Off deal, bringing the total price to $22.34.