Walmart Price Disparities

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OK so I'm gearing up to do an oil change soon, and was trying to find a 5 quart jug of Mobil 1 0w20 advanced fuel economy. Quart prices were $8.xx each, and wanted the jug to hopefully get a better price, and not have to deal with individual bottles (PITA).

Remembered Walmart usually had jugs, and their 5 quart jug pricing for the same oil was only $26.xx! Why is it so much cheaper there? Is Mobil just charging significantly less for jugs, or has Walmart officially sold their soul to the devil...?

Really just wondering if it's any different somehow. I know Walmart likes to do that with some products. One of those too good to be true type things. I've paid more for conventional motor oil before....
 
It's not different, Walmart just buys in quantity. KMart gets $40 for their 5-quart jugs (or are they gallon jugs?), so if oil quality tracks with price, KMart would have the best stuff.

The Walmarts in my area sell the M1 AFE for $6.47/quart and about $26 for the jug. The Walmart closest to me only has 0W-30 in the jugs, not 0W-20. But the one across town stocks both grades in the jugs.
 
Besides the obvious savings of packaging in bulk, the different pricing range between individual quarts and 5 quart jugs can be due to different contract pricing. Individual quart stock probably turns over at a higher rate and replenishment stock prices are then readjusted to new market rates.
 
Originally Posted By: Joeywhat
...or has Walmart officially sold their soul to the devil...?


no, wal mart IS the devil...
 
I just wish MalWart would stock oils *consistently*. I need a jug of 0w40 and a jug-plus-quart of 0w20AFE for my planned maintenance in the upcoming weeks. Went to two MallWarts yesterday, and both had shelves full of 0w30 AFE, but no 0w40 at all and only about 3 quarts of 0w20AFE. At least the 0w30AFE they had was priced at a reasonable $24/5 quarts.

My local Schlep Boyz has what I need, but their price is almost $10 a jug higher than MalWart. Oil prices at Schep Boyz have shot up crazy-high lately. PU, PP, and M1 are all around $30 for a 5-quart jug now (PP obviously being slightly less than the other 2, but not by much). M1 and PU quarts are sitting at $9 each! Royal Purple is now a buck cheaper per quart than M1 and PU there.

Very odd.
 
I think the jugs sell cheaper because of...

1. They take up less shelve space, as opposed to having rows of QT. bottles. (more so at the auto stores)

2. Say you need two qts. they want you to be mad at the price and just buy a whole 5qt jug so they can move the volume and get bonuses for their particular Walmart.
 
My understanding is that using its buying power, Walmart cut an exclusive deal with Mobil for the 5qt branded jug. Depending on when each store restocks, a price difference between stores could result due to global supply and demand at the time.
 
Originally Posted By: 440Magnum
I just wish MalWart would stock oils *consistently*.


Yeah,that`s my only gripe. If you don`t need an oil change BUT they have your oil in stock,better grab it because chances are if you wait till you`re ready to do your oil change to buy it,it might be sold out at the time. But yeah,Wm`s price can`t be beat! The oil change deals at the auto parts stores can`t ever come close to wm`s prices.
 
Can`t remember,but does wm sell the 0W40 in a jug? If not,wonder if they ever will? If it does/will,I`d try it at their cheap 5 quart jug prices.
 
Originally Posted By: aquariuscsm
Can`t remember,but does wm sell the 0W40 in a jug? If not,wonder if they ever will? If it does/will,I`d try it at their cheap 5 quart jug prices.


I would say no, 5qt not listed on the WM website. I keep checking the 5 Walmarts around here, only the quart. Online I found a store farther away that sells the qt for $5. Orders over $45 have free shipping but its not clear if I can have it shipped, or if I have to go there for a pickup to get that price.
 
Walmart takes in about $10K per second in revenue. If there was an S&P 1 (rather than a S&P 500) it would be Walmart. They have huge buying power and push the vendors against each other. Having do deal (stock, ring up) with one item is a savings over 5, and the same is true at the plant where the stuff is put into the jugs or QT containers. I am still looking for 6 QT jugs myself.

My local Walmart (Hudson NY) had no PU of any size or weight. But no empty shelf space either. I think when it comes in they push around some of the PP to make space.
 
Quote:
The oil change deals at the auto parts stores can`t ever come close to wm`s prices.


No offense intended, but I respectfully disagree.

I have a case plus 2 quarts of Quaker State 10W30 Advanced Durability conventional and 3 Purolator Classic filters in my stash. Those came from Advance Auto Parts on their 5 quarts of QS and a Purolator filter for $12.99 deal. Each quart and filter cost me $2.16 apiece.

I realize Walmart does not sell Purolator Classic filters. But as far as the oil price goes, there are better deals than WM out there. Right now Carquest has Quaker State conventional on sale for $2.79 per quart, and the price is good through November. Last weekend I checked the price of QS at Walmart, I believe it was $3.47 per quart. I don't pay much attention to the price of the 5+ qt jugs, because I do not use them.

So there are better oil deals out there than WM. There are probably better deals on other oil brands, synthetics, etc, but QS is what I use so I check its price whenever I am at WM. Sometimes I have to go to WM for one reason or another but I would much rather shop at a parts store instead of WM. Just my 2 cents.
 
Wal-Mart hands down wins the price battle on the oil, however most AP stores will have good deals if you arent preferential to what filter you use....Wal-Mart Supertech oil is one of the best buys for oil out there.
 
WM doesn't always beat auto parts stores..lets see you walk out of wal mart with 5 qt of 0-40 and Mobil 1 for 32.99...or even Castrol edge with Bosch distance for 31.99.. if you are buying just oil hands down "regular oil price" in auto parts stores will be higher but oil change specials beat wal mart price..
 
It's not fair to compare regular every day price at WM with "oil change special" at auto parts stores. Regular price at WM is less than regular price at any auto parts store, that is the fact.

Not long ago I bought most oil in my stash from formerly Kragen, it is O'Reilly now, when they had it on sale plus rebate(s) for more than 50% less than WM's price. I rarely bought oil from WM, except when they had $15 WM cash card for 5 quart jug M1 last year, and when a WM store had M1 0W40 on clearance for $2/qt few years ago, I bought all they had.
 
i never bought oil at wal mart i just wait for good oil change deals at auto parts stores, always end up with mobil 1 bosch distance or kn filter..why would i spend 26 bucks on 5q jug of mobil 1 then another 10 bucks for oil filter...
 
I was at WM today, QS Green Bottle conventional was $3.97 per quart, PYB was $4.17 per quart. If I needed any quantities of QS right now or in the next 6 weeks I would just head on over to Carquest and save $1.18 per quart on it.
 
Originally Posted By: aquariuscsm
Can`t remember,but does wm sell the 0W40 in a jug? If not,wonder if they ever will? If it does/will,I`d try it at their cheap 5 quart jug prices.


I've never seen 0w40 in a jug *anywhere*. Grrrr. That's particularly annoying since its now the oil I use the most of (both big-blocks and I'm giving it a try in the PT).
 
Originally Posted By: crazyoildude
wal maet is not always the cheapest...shop around


True for conventional oils... but I don't think I've ever seen a parts store beat them on synthetics. The more expensive the oil, the bigger the differential between MallWart and other places it seems.
 
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