Holy smokes! Candy got expensive AF. (TikTok screencap)

    • Aneb@lemmy.world
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      5 days ago

      The stupid shit tho is five years ago the candy would go on sale the day after and it $4 a bag. The candy is not expensive and the candy is probably somehow circulating from 5 years ago. Is all supply and demand, fucking capitalism.

      • indomara@lemmy.world
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        5 days ago

        Yeah that’s what’s so shocking about it, these bags would be $5 only a few years ago. And I remember how painfully impoverished large swaths of the country were then.

        I cannot imagine how the average American in the Midwest is surviving at the moment.

        • guldukat@lemmy.world
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          4 days ago

          Wife and I both work, everything is carefully calculated to have us constantly worry about bills and unexpected expenses. If one of us misses 1 day of work there is 1 bill that won’t be paid, which means multiple phone calls from bill collectors. A lot of them are super fast about sending to collections. I no longer fret about my credit score.

    • Dicska@lemmy.world
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      5 days ago

      Considering global coffee and chocolate prices, I’m surprised. Are sizes the same as last year?

    • PoliteDudeInTheMood@lemmy.ca
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      4 days ago

      I normally do full sized bars considering how many people we get on average. I normally buy them at Costco Business and it looks like they’re still priced the same. Prices at regular Costco are similar to what I remember of last year too.

      We probably make most of our chocolate here. In the area around where I work there are at least 4 Mondelez plants. I know Mars has a few plants in or around the GTA as well.

  • Stonewyvvern@lemmy.world
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    4 days ago

    I think everyone should collectively decide to hold Halloween 2 days after Halloween so everyone can get in on that reduced price candy.

    Takes the sting out of inflation a little bit and everyone still gets their good time in.

  • heyWhatsay@slrpnk.net
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    5 days ago

    Odd that products made and packaged in the US, from government subsidized corn syrup, and not the most affected by tarrifs, still jump in price. Maybe inflation will be the scariest thing this Halloween

    • JollyBrancher@sh.itjust.works
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      4 days ago

      A majority of Hershey products have been made in Mexico for some time! It was “somehow” cheaper - possibly in part to tricklin’ down trade agreements - to ship the ingredients there and then send the finished product back. As much a “fun” fact as the “fun-sized” candy. Even the JustBorne/The Peeps peoples of Pennsylvania manufacture a bunch in Canada.

  • eletes@sh.itjust.works
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    4 days ago

    IKEA has full size bars for a dollar each. I think 30 of those would be better than a bag of small candies for $30

    • BigDiction@lemmy.world
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      4 days ago

      You don’t want to get known as the full bar house unless you wanna spend $500 bucks a year on candy at minimum

      Mini bags at Costco tend to run $0.25 or less a piece

  • SlippiHUD@lemmy.world
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    5 days ago

    I’m a house that buys Full size Candy bars. We average 50 kids in our neighborhood, so generally 1 fundraiser box covers us.

    I still have my 2024 screen shots and as you can see the price went up 31% I know it’s not an exact comparison, but the box I gave away last year appears to have been discontinued. On lower count packs its gone up nearly 45%.

    I was planning on doing Roasted Chestnuts and Apple cider for parents as a fun gag, but now I’m considering doing that exclusively.

  • Sterile_Technique@lemmy.world
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    5 days ago

    I always take call on Halloween so my coworkers who have kids can go out and have fun with their family… This bums me out on their behalf.

    Are prices at places like Costco still decent? Or those restaurant supply type stores? Or some mythical product that isn’t candy and won’t be soul-crushing to a kid expecting candy?

    • Duckingold@lemmy.world
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      5 days ago

      I’ve been a full size candy bar house for a while. Buying bulk candy bars spiked in 2021. Boxes usually average about $1.25 per bar, but you can find sales at Costco at $0.60 each if you aren’t picky on exact candies.

      Non-candy options I sprinkle in that are hits are rice krispy treats, bags of microwave popcorn (unpopped) and the packaged 2 pack of cookies.

    • CallMeAnAI@lemmy.world
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      5 days ago

      You literally just have to do 5 seconds of planning and not buy from the top manufacturer 3 weeks before Halloween. Everyone is just looking for reasons to bitch with this rage bait.

  • IninewCrow@lemmy.ca
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    5 days ago

    I get about 50 kids in average every year.

    So no matter the price (unless it gets any higher), I’ll spend a couple hundred on candies. I’m not wealthy but I can afford it once a year … I actually prefer spending more on this holiday than for Christmas.

    Plus I loved this holiday when I was a kid. What other time or place do you have an opportunity to see a strangers house and get candy in a safe and public holiday? So I’ve made it a rule in my life that on Halloween when a kid comes to my door, they’re getting a few handfuls of candy. I also don’t care of the kids age … they could be two or twenty (as long as they’re polite and non aggressive) they’re getting candy.

    I once had a group of college kids who were Indian nationality who were just out having fun with some face paint and daring each other to visit houses … I gave them a bunch of candy, told them which houses to go to and made them laugh.

      • ExLisperA
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        5 days ago

        Spending money on stuff is the essence of American existence. When you stop doing it, America will die.

          • frunch@lemmy.world
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            5 days ago

            How do you manage to exist without spending money? How are you online? Do you live at a library or something?

          • ExLisperA
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            5 days ago

            In Spain there’s a tradition to give out candy during The Wise Men parade. The town hall buys the candy, not the parents (socialism!), and they are mostly the cheapest ones because it’s just for fun.

            You can give out candy without turning it into competition and forcing everyone to spend money.

            • Zier@fedia.io
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              5 days ago

              Unfortunately Americans are brainwashed to spend money on everything their whole lives. You’re a horrible ‘American’ if you don’t keep the ‘economy’ going (AKA making rich people richer). And everything in America is a stupid competition. Thankfully, not all Americans participate in the brainwashing.

              • ExLisperA
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                5 days ago

                I only know it from pop culture and online comments but in TV shows everyone wants to be the “house that gives out good candy” and people often brag about investing in better candy. So I don’t know, maybe most people don’t care but the concept of a competition is definitely out there.

          • Mac@mander.xyz
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            5 days ago

            I’ve seen you in multiple posts now being an utter shitbag. What the fuck is your problem?

      • IninewCrow@lemmy.ca
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        5 days ago

        I’m not American … I’m in Canada in northern Ontario … we don’t have kids so I have a bit of extra cash, plus I grew up poor so I know what this holiday means to many kids, especially in my area where families don’t have a lot, especially these days.

      • mienshao@lemmy.world
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        5 days ago

        Am american and I have never ever heard of someone spending “hundreds” of dollars on halloween candy. 99.9% of americans are not doing that.

        • The_v@lemmy.world
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          5 days ago

          Come to my neighborhood.

          The average resident makes double what the average household income is in the region. It’s essentially the wealthiest neighborhood in the region without gates to keep the poors out. The houses are not too far apart for kids to walk either. So most of the community brings their kids to walk around this neighborhood. I get 400-500 trick or treaters on average.

          As my wife and I both grew up well below the poverty line we are very generous with the candy.

  • Dohnuthut@lemmy.world
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    3 days ago

    We stopped giving out candy and instead do chips, juice, gummies, cracker packs, etc. The cost is roughly the same, he kids send to love it, and we don’t want to be stuck with a bunch of leftover candy.