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Do you love your coffee? Are you looking for ways to save? If you like to keep the convenience of a k-cup, check out these places where you can find k-cups, CHEAP!
This post continues my series about how to save money on coffee. First, I searched for the best generic whole bean coffee. Next, I investigated how much coffee is in a k-cup and compared the cost of drip coffee vs. k-cups.
Let’s look at the cheapest k-cups you can buy!
How Much Does a K-Cup Cost?
As I mentioned in my post about how much coffee is in a k-cup, the average grocery store price of a k-cup is around $0.75/k-cup.
While that’s cheap compared to a Starbucks coffee, that’s terribly expensive for home-brewed coffee. Many money-conscious coffee lovers are wondering where to buy the cheapest k-cups.
Where Is The Cheapest Place to Buy K-Cups?
1. Dollar Tree
Dollar Tree had the very cheapest regular price k-cups I could find at only $0.25 per k-cup. I am a little skeptical of Dollar Tree coffee, but if you only have $1 for coffee, you can get your fix at the Dollar Tree.
My local Dollar Tree also only had French Vanilla flavor, but it appears other options are available on their website.
2. Walmart
Walmart is almost as cheap as Dollar Tree for k-cups and I was surprised that it was actually cheaper than the warehouse clubs. And no membership required!
Only $0.26 per k-cup for Great Value k-cups. They come in a variety of flavors including Breakfast Blend, Columbia, French Vanilla, and Donut Shop styles.
Best Place to Buy K-Cups in Bulk
1. Walmart
As mentioned above, the Great Value k-cups are only $0.25 each when you buy them in bulk.
2. Bed Bath, & Beyond
I was shocked to see the Bed Bath & Beyond’s regular price on Victor Allen brand k-cups actually beats Costco at only $0.31 per k-cup. What’s even more amazing is that if you buy them in-store, you can use a 20% off coupon! That would make them $0.25 per k-cup, which is an amazing price!
Unfortunately, my local store only carried the variety pack. You can order the single-flavor packs on the web for the same price (but coupons are harder to find for online use).
3. Amazon
Amazon has several varieties of k-cup coffee that are around $0.30 each. Those prices can also be improved by coupons and subscribe and save. A 15% discount would bring the price down to only $0.26 each, making Amazon one of the cheapest options for k-cups.
The cheapest k-cups on Amazon currently were Double Donut and Victor Allen (the same brand sold at Bed Bath & Beyond). I noticed a number of reviewers noted that there were some quality control issues with the Victor Allen k-cups popping open, so beware of that.
3. Costco / Sam’s Club
Costco’s Kirkland Signature k-cups are $0.33 each. Their coffee is also fair trade. I haven’t tried the k-cups varieties of coffee, but I love the Kirkland Signature coffee that I have tried.
I discussed it in my post about the best generic whole bean coffee. Sam’s Club has similar prices on k-cups in bulk.
Cheapest Place to Buy K-Cups in Small Quantities
Not everyone wants to buy their k-cups in boxes of 100+. Where’s your best bet if you only want to buy a small box at a time?
1. Dollar Tree
Dollar Tree is the cheapest at only $0.25 each. They come in a package of 4 for only $1.00.
2. Aldi
Aldi’s k-cups are a pretty good price at $0.36 each. If their k-cups are as good as their whole-bean coffee, this is a good value. I discussed Aldi coffee in my post about best generic coffee.
3. Walmart or Target
Target’s Market Pantry brand is $4.49 for 12 and Walmart’s Great Value brand is $4.47 for 12. They are both $0.37 per k-cup, which is still much better than grocery store prices for a small package of k-cups.
Cheapest Fair Trade Certified K-Cups
The cheapest Fair Trade Certified k-cups I could find anywhere were Costco’s Kirkland Signature. They are $39.99 for 120 or $0.33 per k-cup. Note that Kirkland Signature k-cups are Fair Trade Certified but NOT organic.
Cheapest Fair Trade Organic K-Cups
If you are seeking Fair Trade AND Organic k-cups, here are the cheapest k-cup options:
1. Aldi
Aldi’s Fair Trade Certified organic k-cups are $4.99 for 12 or $0.42 per k-cup. That’s the cheapest price I could find for Fair Trade organic k-cups without sales or coupons.
2. Trader Joe’s
The price at Trader Joe’s for Fair Trade organic k-cups is the same as Aldi’s at $4.99 for 12 or $0.42 per k-cup.
3. AmazonFresh
AmazonFresh is a prime member only brand from Amazon. I wrote about the whole bean variety of this coffee in my post about best generic coffee. I really enjoyed it but the price wasn’t competitive with Aldi’s. In the case of k-cups, though, the two are similarly priced.
If you are able to use any coupons or subscription discounts, AmazonFresh would be an excellent deal for organic Fair Trade Certified k-cups. The regular price is $34.99 for 80 or $0.44 per k-cup. There’s currently a $5 coupon that would reduce the price to only $0.37 per k-cup.
Summary: Where Is the Cheapest K-Cup?
In order to find the cheapest k-cups, I searched for the cheapest brand of k-cup at a number of national chains. To keep things simple, I only looked at regular, non-sale prices. Here is a summary of my findings:
Store | Brand | Price | Number | Per K-Cup |
---|---|---|---|---|
Trader Joe’s | Joe’s | $4.99 | 12 | $0.42 |
Target | Market Pantry | $4.49 | 12 | $0.37 |
Aldi | Barissimo | $4.29 | 12 | $0.36 |
Costco | Kirkland Signature | $39.99 | 120 | $0.33 |
Bed Bath & Beyond | Victor Allen | $29.99 | 96 | $0.31 |
Amazon.com | Double Donut | $24.99 | 80 | $0.31 |
Walmart | Great Value | $25.00 | 96 | $0.26 |
Dollar Tree | Dollar Tree | $1.00 | 4 | $0.25 |
Conclusion: Cheapest K-Cups
Overall, the cheapest k-cups you’re going to find, even with buying in bulk, sales, and coupons are going to be around $0.25 each.
In my previous post about how much coffee is in a k-cup, I found that an average k-cup contains 11g of coffee, and it takes 41 k-cups to equal a pound of coffee.
So how much does the absolute CHEAPEST pound of k-cup coffee cost? 41 times $0.25 = $10.25 per pound of k-cup coffee. That’s not terrible considering I found that the average pound of k-cup coffee costs $30.75. But it’s still not very good.
More About Saving Money on Coffee
If you want to know more about saving money on coffee, be sure to check out my full post comparing the cost of k-cups vs. drip coffee and my post about delicious and cheap store brand coffees. You may also be interested to find out exactly how much coffee is in a k-cup.
LouiseL
Saturday 29th of February 2020
I have used refillable k cups since I got my Keurig machine.a few years ago. Recently I bought some filled pods from Trader Joe’s and they really are much more convenient. You have to empty the refillable k-cuos and rinse them out—often a pain, really. But another issue for me is the kind of coffee in the cheaper pods. I like 100%Columbian.The pods I got from Trader Joe’s are filled with Columbian coffee. I’m wary about the taste of other brands and I don’t want to have to buy a whole package of filled pods to find out how the coffee tastes. I will probably go back to the refillables because of cost, but I might buy pods when I can get them filled with Columbian coffee once in a while to treat myself.
Cindy Scott
Monday 2nd of March 2020
It's tough to figure out what's best. Have you considered switching to drip coffee instead? I love my machine with the built-in grinder - fresh ground coffee really is the best!
Rob Lee
Sunday 16th of February 2020
Such a great job of getting it down to basics for K cup cost! While the K cups are today and provide added convenience, I’ve found the refillable Keurig 2.0 to be a great solution for having the coffees you enjoy at a fair price and that may be hard to find. I’ve been enjoying New Mexico Pinion Coffee lately, buying it at a reduced cost in 2 & 3 lb. bags and filling my reusable 2.0 K Cups. Thanks for your great article!
Al
Friday 2nd of August 2019
Winco is also about .30/ea. individually.
Cindy Scott
Friday 2nd of August 2019
Good to know!
Malini
Monday 23rd of July 2018
I love when someone does thorough research like this so I don’t have to! I regularly purchase k-cups for our office and this list helps me to stretch our budget a bit further. Thanks!
Cindy
Monday 23rd of July 2018
Glad to help!
Ali
Monday 23rd of July 2018
Thanks for including Fair Trade coffee in this. I appreciate your thorough research
Cindy
Monday 23rd of July 2018
Glad you found it helpful!