Walmart Vs Costco: Which Store Has The Better Deal On Custom Bakery Cakes?

Cake buying is typically going to be part of a festive affair. Folks top 'em with candles for birthdays, find creative frosting fonts for graduations, and use them to literally sugarcoat all manner of other life events. So one generally doesn't want to turn sourcing the celebratory dessert into a whole algebraic ordeal. That said, you might also want to save a buck for balloons, streamers, or even some fancy DIY cake decorations wherever you can, and that means being selective about where you buy one. 

Walmart and Costco are both well-known value retailers, and which one boasts a better deal on custom cakes could depend on some caveats. Most obviously, if you aren't already a Costco member, for example, then congrats, you've narrowed it down to Walmart in no time. And if one or the other happens to be running some kind of promotion, then there's your answer, too.

On paper, Costco's sheet cakes are likely the better deal. Now, ordering a Costco cake will probably not be as simple as you think. But, for comparison's sake, you can expect a half sheet of Costco's white or chocolate cake to cost somewhere between $25 and $30, while Walmart's version will typically clock in at around $40. (Exact prices may vary by region.) Still, as hinted at, you might have some real life reasons why the latter's custom cakes are the better value option for you.

Walmart's custom cakes will be a little bit pricier, but the retailer makes the buying process more convenient, provided clicking up your order online is appealing; it also offers a few more options for customizing size, flavor, fillings, and icing color. Its website lets you choose all of those specifications for your cake, as well as borders, additional decor like illustrated flowers, and a message, in what could be less than a minute. You should also be able to pick up your cake about 48 hours later, or you can order it up to 30 days in advance. You'll still want to proofread, but this automated system will also guard against any viral cake fails.

Costco makes things just a little more challenging, as we learned the last time we tried to order one of the big box store's party platters. You cannot, at the time of writing, order a custom Costco cake directly from its website. You must, instead — dun, dun, dun — do it through the company's app. Costco also requires a three day lead time, and you can only order up to two weeks in advance. Like the party platters, you can also still use Costco's good old fashioned paper slip orders, which you will, of course, need to submit at the store. Depending on how far your closest location is, and what the time is worth to you, that might actually make Walmart the better deal in the long run. But you'll still end up with a tasty cake either way — provided you follow your chosen retailer's rules.