You've Been Warned: Buying Certain Cleaning Products On Amazon Can Cost You

Amazon continues to grow more and more into the de facto hub for online retail shopping. Amazon commands roughly 37% of the U.S. e-commerce market share (per Statista) and accounts for nearly half of all shopping online visits (per Statista). Around 168 million (about half of all Americans) had Prime memberships in 2022, according to Consumer Intelligence Research Partners. So, it's not hard to imagine that a good chunk of households are getting cleaning supplies from Amazon.

While the convenience of Prime shipping relieves the burden and cost of going to the nearest brick-and-mortar Target or Walmart, Amazon's ubiquity may have lulled many shoppers into a false sense of security. Cleaning supplies are already, by default, one of the things a lot of buyers pay too much for without realizing it. This is because many people prefer popular and expensive brands instead of going with cheaper and just-as-effective alternatives. However, some brands, either by design or exclusive deals, have more expensive offerings on Amazon that could entrap the unsuspecting.

For context, Mrs. Meyer's all-purpose cleaners can go as low as $0.24 per ounce on Walmart but as high as $0.69 per ounce on Amazon. Granted, this premium price on Amazon is for a single bottle, but even if you opt for a 3-pack, it'll run you $0.40 an ounce. A 4-pack of Lysol disinfectant wipes with a total of 320 wipes would cost you $20 on Amazon. However, the same quantity is sold for about $16 on Walmart's online store. It may seem like only small differences, but these can snowball, especially when you consider that the average monthly Amazon spend for Americans was about $90 in 2023.

Scott's Liquid Gold is another popular example with a pretty drastic difference in price points. If you wanted to get an 11.5-ounce can from Amazon, you'd spend around $15, which is more than double the $6 you'd spend if you had looked for the same product on Walmart. It's not all bad on Amazon, though. Some products are cheaper there, such as the 23-fluid-ounce Windex Vinegar Glass cleaner, which is about $0.50 cheaper than on Walmart's site. There are also quite a few products with the same prices, like the Dawn's 22-fluid-ounce EZ Squeeze Bottle, which is the same price on Amazon and Walmart.

So the bottom line is, if you pay for an Amazon Prime subscription, you'll likely get the items faster than you would from Walmart's website. Plus, Subscribe and Save discounts could save you some cash on your regularly used cleaning items. That said, it's wise to compare prices against Walmart and a few other retailers before hitting the buy now button.