Walmart vs Target: 2013 Price Comparison

My first Walmart vs. Target price comparison was from back in 2005, so it was time to test tham again.

Just as in the last test, I assembled a shopping list of 20 items, from sunscreen to car wash, and visited both stores to see which batch I could buy with the smallest amount of money.  It is important, when doing a test like this, that you have a list before you enter the first store. It wouldn't be fair to be pick items after you were exposed to the prices inside.

This was a low-price challenge, with quality, service, brand name, cleanliness, and other factors ignored.

Introduction

First, I went to Target. I guess I had forgotten how difficult it is to comparison shop for these tests. It took ages to find the cheapest version of everything and make note of it.

This less-than-gigantic box of Ultra Tide (95 oz.) was $11.99 at Target, $11.97 at Walmart.

Next I found the sponges. There were a wide variety of sponges, but the absolute cheapest ones were these 2-packs of foam sponges. They were 2/99¢.

As if someone had given Walmart advance notice that I was coming, they had a similar packet of foam sponges, 2/98¢! One cent cheaper!

Next I looked for the cheapest hair brush. Target had a bunch in the $7 range, but had discount bins with brushes marked 2 for $5.

Why would someone buy two brushes?

The story at Walmart was pretty much the same, thirty different brushes available for $7 each, then a semi-hidden cache of very cheap brushes: Just $1 each!

Target's cheapest bottle of sunscreen was $4.84 for 10.4 ounces. Walmart had an 6 oz. bottle of 70 SPF Block Up! for $3.50, which is cheaper, but a bit more per ounce.

Paper towels were next. I had specified a 12-roll pack, which was surprisingly hard to locate, because every pack of rolls proclaimed itself to have a number of rolls greater than it actually had. In the world of paper towels, 8=12 and 12=18.

Target had this discount version of Bounty towels, a 12 pack for $12.99.

Walmart's cheapest 12-pack of towels were these Sparkle rolls at $10.82.