It’s a classic money-saving tip: Buy in bulk.

And 20% of U.S. grocery shoppers — including 33% of Gen Zers — have been using the strategy to combat rising food costs, according to a recent survey.

But does it actually save people money?

We visited several supermarkets in multiple states to test whether larger quantities of grocery items actually deliver a better value. And they certainly can — but not reliably. In fact, sometimes there was actually a cost disadvantage to a larger package. Not to mention that bigger quantities require spending more money upfront.

In short, don’t assume bigger is cheaper. Here’s what we learned and how you can benefit from it on your next shopping trip.

Unit Pricing

First, a quick note on how we compared prices. We looked at the unit price — the price per pound or per ounce, etc. — in order to make apples-to-apples comparisons between different-sized packages. (And for our purposes, “bulk” was any larger amount.)

Bulk Amounts Can Cost More, Full Stop

Ok, the first thing we noticed: Sometimes buying in bulk offers no savings at all — or actually costs more per ounce or pound. At best, your upfront costs are higher and you have more product to manage (and to potentially waste.) At worst, you pay more for no reason. Some examples we found:

•  Coffee contradiction: A 33.7 ounce tub of Folgers Classic Roast coffee cost $11.87 per pound while the 25.9 ounce size was just $10.50 per pound. (No brainer: It’s more expensive, period.)

•  Stain-lifting surprise: A 3-pound container of Oxi Clean was $10.99, but a 1.77-pound container was only $5.49. (Again, the larger one is simply more expensive per pound. You’re better off buying two of the smaller containers — more Oxi for the same $10.99.)

•  Same dough: King Arthur flour was $1.20 per pound whether you bought a 5-pound bag or a 10-pound bag. (Unless you need that much flour right away, why shell out more money and risk that some of it might sour?)

Sales Can Upend Bulk Pricing Logic

If sales and digital coupons aren’t applied to all package sizes, smaller sizes can become the better deal — flipping the usual value equation and shifting the burden to shoppers to look past the bulk-size allure. This seemed to be the most common reason more wasn’t always less. Here are just a few of the examples we found:

•  Puffed-up pricing: A “value pack” of four containers of Gerber baby puffs cost $12.89. But individual containers of the same size were on sale for $2.50, so the same four would cost $10.

•  Honey trap: A 40-ounce jar of Golden Blossom honey would normally have been cheaper than a 24-ounce jar, but both were selling for a sale price of $4 off, which made the smaller jar the sweeter deal.

•  Nutty numbers: Two 10.5 ounce “share size” Reese’s miniature cup bags cost $8.24 — 39 cents per ounce — because of a buy-one-get-one-half-price promotion. The 17.6 ounce “family size” bag was $8.89, or 51 cents per ounce.

•  Minute Rice mind-bender: This product really made us work for it. The 14-ounce-box was on sale — two for $5 (must buy two) — for 17.9 cents per ounce. The 28-ounce-box was on sale too, but at $5.99, a more expensive 21.4 cents per ounce. And the 42-ounce-box? No sale, and therefore the worst deal — $9.49, or 22.6 cents per ounce.

If You Buy More Than You Need, You’re Not Saving

Despite these findings, in many cases, buying in bulk was still undeniably a better deal. (A 2023 analysis by LendingTree showed consumers could save an average of 27% on 30 common products if they bought in bulk.)

But bulk savings assumes you’ll use everything you buy. If you buy more than you need, letting some of it spoil, you’re probably wasting rather than saving money.

Over a third of food in the U.S. is never eaten, and the average person wastes an estimated 256 pounds of food — $728 worth — each year, according to a recent study by the Environmental Protection Agency.

How to Maximize Bulk Savings

Warehouse club chains like Price Club, Costco, and Sam’s Club popularized the bulk savings pricing structure in the ‘80s and ’90s, and today there are saving opportunities almost everywhere. But as consumers grapple with inflation and the impact of tariffs, it’s important to make sure your cost-cutting strategies are actually cutting costs.

Here’s how:

•  Get in the habit of comparing unit prices. This will not only help you decipher bulk pricing, but also navigate “shrinkflation.” While 82% of consumers regularly check the prices before they buy groceries, only about half of them often or always check unit prices, a 2024 survey by Purdue University showed.

•  Use a unit-pricing app. If the shelves don’t have unit prices or the units aren’t comparable, an app like this one can help. Only 16 of the 50 states have unit pricing laws or regulations, and even where it’s mandatory, formats can be frustratingly inconsistent, according to the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

•   Watch out for sale prices that distort the usual bigger-is-cheaper math. Look for the unit price on the “on sale” shelf label, particularly if only the smaller size is on sale. The store may have also slapped the same discount on all sizes, which shrinks the per-unit price more for the smaller packages.

•   Think before you buy. Even when you’re sure the bigger amount is less expensive for the size, run through a quick mental checklist: Is the discount worth shelling out more money right now? Do you have the storage space? Will you still like that type of oatmeal after you’ve eaten three pounds of it? Will the amount you’re considering go bad or expire before you can use it up?

•   Factor in any discount-club membership fees. If you shop at Costco or BJs, don’t forget to consider that annual membership fee in your savings calculations. (And whether shopping there encourages you to buy more than you need.)

•   Don’t assume you have to buy the number being advertised in the sale (like 10 for $10.) Unless the sign specifically says “when you buy x number,” there’s usually no requirement to buy more than one to get the sale price.

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