(WDRB+WAVE) — This time of year can be a costly season for shoppers’ wallets.
According to the National Retail Federation, the average American will spend $115 on Halloween this year. Americans are expected to spend $4.1 billion on Halloween candy in 2026, according to the organization.
Kacey Jenne bought two Halloween costumes, one for her youngest and one for her middle son.
“She’s going to be Gabby Cat. She loves Gabby Cat. And then my little boy loves Fortnite, so he’s going to be a Fortnite character,” Jenne said. “I wasn’t really sure I was going to find them a costume because we’re kind of like, I would consider it last minute shopping. But honestly, I feel like they are pretty well stocked here with everything.”
Jenne said candy is costing more.
“Candy, I feel like, is on the high end. But I feel like that just kind of goes along with the grocery prices being sky high, too,” Jenne said.
Jenne said she sees herself paying more for Halloween candy every year.
“Especially, I would say the last couple years. I would say almost even double the price,” she said. “Like large bags of candy anywhere from, you know, $24. Where I feel like before they were more in that like $9.97 to $15 range. I feel like they’ve definitely increased the prices.”
Jenne said she plans to spend between $50 and $100 on candy this year.
“I try to do like a little mixture of like sweet and then maybe like some salty snacks. So, I would say anywhere between maybe like $50 to $100, depending on prices and then what we end up needing,” Jenne said.
Steve McLean, director of communications and public affairs with the Kentucky Retail Federation, said rising costs for retailers are a factor.
“We’ve had diesel prices that are, you know, six bucks a gallon, transportation costs for retailers are almost double than what they were last year,” McLean said.
McLean said retailers are working to keep prices affordable, and overall per-person spending is holding steady compared to last year.
McLean said shoppers are being more careful with their money.
“Now, what you are seeing is the consumers being much more value-conscious,” he said. “They are shopping sales. They’re shopping coupons.”
McLean said shoppers are also reusing decorations and shopping earlier in the season.
“Now, okay, so, you know, what kind of decorations can I get for Halloween that maybe I can leave out through November? So you’re not putting up a whole new display of fall decorations,” McLean said.
McLean said shoppers have started buying Halloween items in September instead of waiting until the last two weeks before the holiday.
“But people are shopping way earlier than they used to,” he said. “When you look at Halloween, people were starting to shop in September to just try and stretch their budgets out so they’re not all buying it, say, in the last two weeks, you know, before Halloween. They’re looking at thrift stores for costumes, consignment shops, things like that.”
McLean said spreading out purchases over several weeks helps reduce the impact on household budgets.
“They’re stretching those Halloween purchases out over several weeks instead of the week of. Just so it’s not such a big hit to their home budget at one time,” he said.
McLean said shoppers can expect discounts as Halloween approaches.
“You know, as we get closer to Halloween next week, you’ll see stores offering, you know, so much percentage off, you know, Halloween candy,” he said.
Jenne recommended shopping in stores instead of online.
“I would say to come into the stores. I know we’re like a big, you know, either ordering delivery orders or even ordering on Amazon,” she said. “But I have noticed that when I’ve looked for certain things, they’ll either say that they’re out of stock or I can’t get it until maybe after Halloween. So coming into the store, I see that there’s a lot more variety and a lot more available.