What things actually cost per unit
The sticker price tells you almost nothing — a bigger pack is not automatically cheaper, and a sale is not automatically a deal. These are the real numbers: what the middle of each category costs per unit, the price that counts as genuinely good, and the price where you are overpaying.
Computed from 60,022 live listings across 44 categories by dividing each price by its parsed pack size. Last re-priced August 23, 2026.
Priced by the unit
“Good” is the cheapest quarter of the category; “overpaying” is the dearest quarter.
| Category | Typical | Good deal at | Overpaying above | Cheapest tracked | Listings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 🔩 Screws, bolts & fastenersper piece | $0.328 | $0.144 | $0.643 | $0.007 | 32052 |
| 💊 Supplementsper capsule | $0.214 | $0.133 | $0.374 | $0.010 | 7779 |
| 🪷 Ayurvedic skin careper ml | $0.202 | $0.090 | $0.625 | $0.020 | 6505 |
| 🌿 Ayurvedic hair careper ml | $0.089 | $0.059 | $0.157 | $0.017 | 4119 |
| 💇 Hair extensions & wigsper g | $2.09 | $1.50 | $3.18 | $0.567 | 1914 |
| 💐 Fragranceper ml | $1.90 | $1.25 | $3.18 | $0.255 | 1807 |
| ✨ Skincareper ml | $1.44 | $0.600 | $3.27 | $0.098 | 1637 |
| 🧴 Hair & bodyper fl oz | $4.67 | $3.12 | $7.25 | $1.07 | 982 |
| 💄 Makeupper ml | $1.66 | $1.29 | $2.23 | $0.529 | 316 |
| 🛁 Body careper fl oz | $4.40 | $3.37 | $7.46 | $0.956 | 254 |
| 💅 Nail polishper ml | $0.833 | $0.810 | $1.36 | $0.607 | 220 |
| ☕ Coffee pods (K-Cups)per pod | $0.635 | $0.549 | $0.818 | $0.348 | 157 |
| 🔋 Batteriesper battery | $0.891 | $0.533 | $1.45 | $0.138 | 108 |
| 🦴 Dog treatsper lb | $8.16 | $4.28 | $11.43 | $1.50 | 89 |
| 🪒 Shave & beardper fl oz | $5.87 | $3.07 | $12.50 | $1.25 | 83 |
| 🍫 Protein barsper bar | $1.78 | $1.40 | $2.11 | $0.712 | 70 |
| 🧴 Deodorantper oz | $2.32 | $1.49 | $3.24 | $0.748 | 66 |
| 🗑️ Trash bagsper bag | $0.215 | $0.184 | $0.337 | $0.103 | 63 |
| 🚿 Bathroom vanitiesper in | $10.97 | $10.83 | $11.29 | $9.97 | 59 |
| 🍼 Baby careper diaper | $0.497 | $0.375 | $0.559 | $0.119 | 53 |
| 🧺 Laundry detergentper load | $0.210 | $0.142 | $0.268 | $0.080 | 53 |
| 🪥 Toothpasteper oz | $1.37 | $0.781 | $1.87 | $0.277 | 46 |
| 🪒 Shaving & groomingper cartridge | $2.50 | $1.70 | $3.70 | $1.08 | 45 |
| 🖨️ Printer ink & tonerper page | $0.071 | $0.044 | $0.105 | $0.022 | 44 |
| 🛍️ Food storage bagsper bag | $0.100 | $0.053 | $0.158 | $0.026 | 44 |
| 🍽️ Paper platesper plate | $0.110 | $0.089 | $0.131 | $0.029 | 44 |
| 🧽 Dish soapper fl oz | $0.245 | $0.166 | $0.330 | $0.064 | 43 |
| 🧻 Toilet paperper 100 sheets | $0.444 | $0.288 | $0.811 | $0.056 | 43 |
| 🔌 Smart Plugsper plug | $23.37 | $17.57 | $24.64 | $9.35 | 41 |
| 📄 Office & copy paperper sheet | $0.016 | $0.013 | $0.020 | $0.011 | 40 |
| 🔥 Antacid & Heartburnper tablet | $0.260 | $0.111 | $0.285 | $0.041 | 39 |
| 💊 Pain Reliefper tablet | $0.061 | $0.049 | $0.101 | $0.015 | 38 |
| 🐾 Pet foodper lb | $1.56 | $1.23 | $1.90 | $0.806 | 38 |
| 🛢️ Motor oil & fluidsper quart | $7.19 | $6.39 | $9.72 | $4.59 | 38 |
| 🐱 Cat litterper lb | $0.964 | $0.781 | $1.28 | $0.554 | 36 |
| 🫧 Dishwasher podsper pod | $0.323 | $0.237 | $0.389 | $0.107 | 28 |
| 💧 Dehumidifiersper pint/day | $4.44 | $4.00 | $4.93 | $3.17 | 23 |
| 🧾 Paper towelsper 100 sheets | $2.27 | $1.76 | $2.71 | $1.23 | 21 |
| 🤧 Allergy Reliefper tablet | $0.193 | $0.061 | $0.350 | $0.028 | 20 |
| 🔌 EV charging cablesper ft | $9.43 | $7.50 | $9.52 | $7.00 | 18 |
| 🐕 Dog waste bagsper bag | $0.029 | $0.021 | $0.036 | $0.005 | 18 |
| 🤒 Cold & flu reliefper dose | $0.266 | $0.128 | $0.386 | $0.030 | 15 |
| 😴 Sleep Aidper dose | $0.098 | $0.075 | $0.193 | $0.056 | 15 |
Priced whole
One item, no pack size to divide by — so these rank on discount to list price rather than on a per-unit figure. The numbers below are sticker prices.
| Category | Typical | Good deal at | Overpaying above | Cheapest tracked | Listings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ⌚ Watchesper watch | $250 | $200 | $310 | $130 | 899 |
How these are worked out
Each listing’s price is divided by the size on the pack — 300 batteries, 4 pounds, 96 loads, 2,000 pages — to get one comparable figure. The median is the middle of those figures across every listing currently in stock in that category, so half cost more and half cost less.
Listings under $1 are excluded, because a single scrape glitch there would drag a whole category’s median down and this is exactly the page where that would be quoted. Categories with fewer than five listings are left out entirely — a median of three things is not a median.
The figures move. Prices are re-checked continuously and this table is rebuilt hourly, so a number quoted from here is good for about as long as the price is.