Amazon Grocery vs. Trader Joe's

August 8, 2006 11:18 PM

Is Amazon Grocery or Trader Joe's a better deal?

Has anyone attempted to determine whether the new Amazon grocery store or Trader Joe's is a more cost-efffective place to buy food (i.e., general twentysomething male American grocery items)?

I realize a point-by-point comparison of products would be difficult, as so much of what TJ's sells is not sold elsewhere, but it seems there ought to be enough overlap or similarity--for instance, my my favorite cereal of the moment is sold at both places--that with some effort one could get a sense of which place was a better deal. Just wondering if anyone has seen this/attempted to do this.

Also, if I am mistaken and Safeway is a better deal than TJ's, I would be interested to hear that too.

posted by epugachev to shopping (7 comments total)

So, you've been in a Trader Joe's, right? It's all private-label pre-prepared food.

Comparing prices on Kashi is great and all, but don't you go to TJ's for the TJ's-brand goods?
posted by bshort at 11:57 PM on August 8, 2006

bshort, that's not necessarily the case... *most* of what TJ's sells is private label, but they do carry other brands. In the case of cereal, I'd say about half of what TJ's sells is non-TJ brands.

In way of a comparison, I've found TJ's to have a better deal on higher quality items than at my grocery store... like Kashi cereal and organic milk at TJ's beat the prices at Kroger.

My two caveats are, if you tend to go super-bargain shopping with your purchases (non-organic/fancy, generic, coupons, etc), TJ's is not going to help out... just hit your local walmart supercenter. Also, the only problem I have with shopping at TJ's and trying to save money, is that I *always* walk out of there with at least 2-3x the amount of things I meant to buy. That said, YMMV.
posted by dicaxpuella at 12:25 AM on August 9, 2006

My initial impression of Amazon Grocery has me comparing it to Costco, not TJs as AG sells everything in bulk quantities. While I like Kashi, I'm not sure I'd like to commit to owning nearly 6 pounds of Kashi.

Might want to factor in how much of one item you can stand to eat before the lot of it goes stale and if you've got enough storage space for it all. If you end up tossing out 1/3 of the purchase due to spoilage or ennui, your cost per oz goes up and buying one box at a time from the local stores becomes the better deal.
posted by jamaro at 12:28 AM on August 9, 2006

Living in Chicago and not owning a car places like Costco and Wal-Mart are out of the question.

Grocery shopping includes trips to Trader Joe's (for the branded items we like) and Jewel (for the generic things we need like garbage bags, paper towels, etc.) I haven't checked out Amazon Grocery... but I have used Peapod.

For non-perishable items Peapod is pretty win-win because the cost of delivery is almost equal to bus/taxi fare there and back. As said YMMV.

I hit Trader Joes simply because I like a good selection of their branded items (mostly frozen stuff) but it's a joke if you try to do all your shopping there. You really have to do a mix of shopping... there is no comparison between Trader Joes and other stores or services.
posted by wfrgms at 1:06 AM on August 9, 2006

Not meant as a derail, but if you are in Chicago, have you checked out Timber Creek Organics? Local, organic and they deliver produce, meat, dairy and bakery items.
posted by jeanmari at 5:37 AM on August 9, 2006 [1 favorite]

I also find the two very different. Amazon Grocery, from what I understand, only sells nonperishables. Trader Joe's main attraction, in my mind, is its frozen pre-made meals.

I second the Peapod recommendation, if convenience is a big thing for you.
posted by lunchbox at 7:47 AM on August 9, 2006

Yes, there is more than a bit of apples versus oranges here. I guess my half-baked thinking upon posting this question was that even though TJ's claims to have a "unique shopping experience," much of what they sell under their label is not truly novel, and so rough equivalents ought to be obtainable at other stores, so a comparison might be able to be made--though AMZN isn't going to sell frozen stuff, obviously. Probably got about the best answers possible.
posted by epugachev at 9:59 AM on August 9, 2006