In recent years consumers have had an influx of new choices to shop for household staples like pantry foods, personal care, and household cleaners.
While I often use Thrive Market for my regular household items, I recently also tried Jet for a few items. Which made me wonder on the whole should you buy household staples from Amazon, Jet, or Thrive Market?
Below I’ve compiled a list of common items we order for our household and their current pricing (early Oct 2016) at each store.
| 7th Gen laundry detergent powder | planet dish soap (2) | 7th gen dishwasher powder 45oz | Acure facial scrub | Jason natural aloe Vera body wash | Tolerant green lentil Mac (6) | Divina olive spread | If you care 13 gallon compost bags 12ct | discount | TOTAL | |
| Amazon | $12.66 | $12.99 | $8.83 | $8.49 | $14.44 | $22.95 | $11.98 | $6.98 | $99.32 | |
| Jet | $11.65 | $10.48 | $3.67 | $7.81 | $10.26 | $27.6 | $5.38 | $6.42 | -7.21 | $78.03 |
| Thrive Market |
$13.95 | $7.3 | $4.65 | $6.45 | $9.45 | $21.3 | $3.95 | $4.95 | $72 |
Why not the grocery?
Simply put cost and selection. My local grocery and co-op don’t carry half of these items. What they do carry is at a much higher cost – for example the body wash at Whole Foods costs 48% more than the same product at Thrive.
Amazon
The 800 pound gorilla of this review has a weak showing. Most items cost more at Amazon than the other stores and the total cost was highest. Amazon also tends to bundle things, hence two dish soaps and six boxes of pasta – the others let you buy just one. To best optimize your Amazon shopping takes some work and cost – you need Prime ($99/year), use Subscribe and Save (monthly auto orders), and Pantry ($5.99 per box). Having said that I do recommend Amazon and Prime for other goods and services, just not these.
Jet
The newcomer to the show, Jet is trying to take on Amazon and delivers great value without a membership cost. By using a debit card and skipping free returns along with placing larger orders at once, you can get impressive discounts and free shipping. While Thrive Market beats Jet on price by a few bucks, the lack of membership fee and broader selection make Jet a good choice. Jet is being bought by Walmart however, which may make it a less palatable option for some. Keep an eye out for new customer specials, I got 15% off my first 3 orders.
Thrive Market
Thrive Market has the Costco model of membership ($59.95 annually) with ultra low prices on high quality pantry foods, personal care, and household items. I would consider their selection more “curated” than the others, their more limited selection is easier to browse and we’ve yet to be disappointed by anything new we’ve tried. Thrive Market also has some house brand products and their pasta sauce is the best bottle I’ve found at the price. Having said that their limited selection also means they don’t have items I want like Ecover Rinse Aid or Neti Wash Plus.
While you have to factor in the membership cost, if you place a monthly order like above the membership will pay for itself easily. Plus Thrive Market often has complementary products to try with each order – I’ve received everything from a couple cans of tuna, to face wipes, and a box of 6 protein bars.
Get 15% off when you try Thrive Market.
Bottom Line
For most families the cost of Thrive Market will easily be recouped in savings – especially if you’re buying these items at the grocery today. For less frequent orders and those who avoid memberships, Jet is a great choice to save money without any membership fees.
Note – the author of this blog will receive compensation if you subscribe to Thrive Market using the link above. This compensation in no way affected the outcome of this post.