I was surprised to learn that Home Depot had raised the price of their 5-gallon Homer bucket to $4.98.
My last couple of purchased Homer buckets were priced at $3.25 each, from 2018 thru the end of 2020.
This means that the price is up by more than 53% since then.
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It’s unclear when this price increase took place, or if it was gradual or all at once.
Lowe’s 5-gallon buckets have also increased to $5 each.
Material, labor, and shipping costs have all increased over the past two years, and this could be a product of that.
The price of 5-gallon food-grade buckets, which I purchase from Uline on occasion, have increased as well, from $5.05 each (May 2020, 2021) to $6.25 each today (May 2022). That’s an increase of nearly 24%.
Plastic prices rose in 2021, but by the end of the year there were reports about pricing easing from their record highs. Maybe what we’re seeing here are delayed effects.
There’s one silver lining – Home Depot now offers free ship-to-home on their 5-gallon bucket, potentially saving you a trip to the store.
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Chris
That’s just stupid…surely the shipping costs eat up any money home depot would have made in the first place.
Stuart
I don’t think it’s intentional; Home Depot has added free shipping to a lot of everyday tools that used to be in-store only or only eligible for free shipping on $45+.
The free shipping for the standard 5-gallon Homer bucket seems like a convenient coincidence, but it seemed worth mentioning.
notinuse
Well, if the shipping is actually free, the price won’t change, right? Tired of BS free shipping claims.
Josh H
There is no such thing as free shipping. The amazon effect is real and effects everything we buy online. Did some reading up on this when i decided to offer free shipping, really interesting info out there.
TomD
It’s like credit cards – everyone pays for the people who use them (most places do NOT offer a cash discount or equivalent).
If the item is $5 in-store, and it’s $5 shipped (free) then the cost of shipping is spread over everyone (arguably, the cost of retail is spread over everyone also, and perhaps they balance out).
What really amuses me is that sometimes you have free “ship to store” or cheap “ship to home” and when you go to Walmart or whatever to pick up the item, it’s all alone in a Fedex box with a label shipping it to the store.
OldDominionDIYer
They’re plastic. Plastic contains petroleum products, which has nearly doubled recently, not to mention shipping. The entire shipping to the stores (not to customers). Not surprising really.
fred
The last time I looked – both of these were made by Leaktite – as are the ones that they make for others like Ace and True Value. So, I’m guessing that they will all be going up in price.
Many years ago we looked into having Leaktite do a run of buckets for our Plumbing business – with our logo on it. We thought that they might be good for our use and as give-aways. I think we decided that the run size put their cost a bit too high. We stayed with refrigerator magnets, pens, screwdrivers etc. that we bought from folks like Dibble&Dibble
Hammy
You should all be buying buckets from Firehouse Subs. $2 each and the proceeds support some firefighter charity. They even have an o-ring in the lid. The only downside is the pickle smell but you can clean it out.
Luke
$3*
Bonson
Ran out a month ago to get buckets for car washes and was surprised by the bucket prices. Lids were getting close to $3. Last time I bought some (several years), they were $0.88.
Menards still have buckets, as of last week, in the $3.50 range and they seem similar.
Matt the Hoople
And the lids are flimsy garbage now.
I got a Dust Deputy for my birthday and was looking at the lids at Lowes last week. They are super flimsy compared to how they were a few years ago and cost nearly what a bucket used to. I’m less bothered by prices going up as that’s inevitable. What irks me is when manufacturers cheapen their products as well. I would rather they give me the opportunity to pay a little more for the better quality product. When was the last time you saw a 1 pound package of hot dogs. Doesn’t exist anymore.
Now I’m looking at making a custom top out of some left over plywood and foam weather strip.
TomD
Menards is still $3.99 before some sale and rebate takes it down:
https://www.menards.com/main/grocery-home/housewares/cleaning-supplies/cleaning-tools/menards-reg-5-gallon-bucket/6482910/p-1444426310607-c-7113.htm
I really like their *three and a half* gallon buckets:
https://www.menards.com/main/grocery-home/housewares/cleaning-supplies/cleaning-tools/menards-reg-3-5-gallon-bucket/20-3105-p1/p-1495089023092-c-7113.htm
Not much cheaper, but much easier to use – and sometimes they go free after rebate.
DRT42
Menards buckets are $2.99 after rebate. Made in USA. They had a small mountain of them at the store I visited this morning.
TonyT
Well, at least you can get it. I’m seeing 20-30+ week lead time on industrial quality servo motors and stages. And I’ve never seen such problems with stock on electrical items (common ICs, terminal blocks, connectors, etc), although at least for those I can readily find alternatives for most items (e.g. DSub connectors).
Philip Proctor
I do too much drywall finishing to ever buy a bucket.
Jbongo
If you have a Firehouse Subs near you, I think it’s $3 (maybe $4) for a 5 gallon pickle bucket with a lid. Plus, the proceeds go to the Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation. That’s where I go when I occasionally need one.
Addicted2Red
That’s insanely cheap
Yadda
Less than 5 years ago the price was $2 per bucket. You do have to wash them, but it is well worth the price and as stated, proceeds go to charity.
OldDominionDIYer
Firehouse Subs has their 5 gallon pickle bucket for 3 bucks a piece with a lid!
fred
We had pickle buckets donated to us in the Scouts. We were grateful – but despite repeated washings the pickle smell remained.
Yadda
I found a good splash of vinegar, scrubbing, then washing, and drying for a several hours in the sun usually removed most if not all the smell.
fred
We wouldn’t notice them so much when camping – but the pastor of the church where we stored our gear complained of the smell until we finally trashed them in favor of using drywall-compound pails. We had used the pickle buckets as water and wash buckets and for carrying gear. We never tried the vinegar idea – but they got scrubbed with things like Pine-Sol and ammonia. The scouts did like their green color of the ones we had – which they thought comported well with the outdoors.
dd
the fix is to fill ’em with packed down dried out tree leaves that you raked but forgot to bag…put a lid or stack more pails into it…takes a while, but the leaves’ tannic acid sure cleans up the smell…up here in Canuckistan we only use 🍁 leaves,eh?
Steve
Grocery store and donut shop bakeries toss out several 1, 3, and 5 gal buckets a day, with gasketed lids, which they will give away for free for the asking.
Jim Felt
I wonder if the “average” user will take better care of them and be able to reuse them multiple times if they’re perceived as (more) expensive?
I see countless damaged, uncleaned crapped out 5 gallon buckets and primary lids beside the road and in dumpsters. Not just sloppy job sites. Sometimes pretty obviously after a single use.
Dave
Clearly no one’s bought these in the last 6months. They are much more brittle than before. Was hard to bust them mixing Thinset but not you have to be carful not to hit the side of the bucket with the mixer as it will smash it open. You also can’t tap the bottoms with tools anymore as that will bust them open too.
MM
I thought maybe it was just a one time thing but I had the bottom split in a lowe’s bucket a few months ago and it was not due to abuse!
Mister Mike
I get all my 5-gal pails FREE from dumpsters on construction worksites. Both drywall mud and latex paint pails are easy to clean up. Occasionally they may need to sit in the sun for a week or two to dry out, but they are FREE. Recycle and repurpose is the way to make the world better. Inflation has yet to raise the price on dumpster trash.
frank
Mike you are so right. I’ve never paid for a bucket I see them all time in dumpsters Yep you are so smart. Most are simple easy to clean.
Peter Antonvich
Who buys a bucket – I just go to the nearest dumpster in the neighborhood and pull out drywall buckets when needed
Kevin M Smith
You know it’s the end of civilization as we know it when the Horror Fright bucket is the same price as Home Desperate and Lowlies.
https://www.harborfreight.com/harbor-freight-tools-bucket-red-56575.html
Stuart
The last I checked, HF’s buckets were also made in the USA. There are only so many different 5-gallon bucket suppliers.
Mopar
Tractor Supply is also $5 a bucket, and those are certified food safe and made in USA as well.
My wife buys one new bucket and lid every year to brine the Thanksgiving turkey. After she’s done, I get it. 🙂
Matt the Hoople
At today’s prices, I need to figure out something else to go under my Luggable Loo seat…
Reliance Products 9881-03 Luggable Loo Snap-on Toilet Seat with Lid for 5-Gallon Bucket, Black, 13.0 Inch x 1.5 Inch x 14.0 Inch https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0000B13MT/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_1D03FJ72F2DDV5EFNBSC
Dave Brock
bakeries give them out as their frosting comes in 3, 4 and 5 gallon buckets plus there might be a sweet treat inside for the kids.
Chris
I always got a chuckle when HD & L charged more for their branded buckets than the generic white ones. Plastering their logo all over everything should cost me less
Dave the tool
I needed a few buckets last week and was surprised to see them for $5 ea at Home Depot Online. I then went to Lowes Online and same thing. I am so used to them under $3 ea for so many years I have a hard time with the price. Seems no matter where I look, $5 seems the average price nowadays.
Joe
I was surprised when I went to Lowes this week that there is a only 50 cent difference between the two and 5 gallon buckets.
Koko The Talking Ape
A few years ago somebody gave me a collapsible bucket made of truck tarp material, meant for camping. I probably wouldn’t buy one for myself, because it was something like $30. But I have to say, it’s been darn handy. It seems indestructible, and it collapses flat to stow in the trunk or closet.
It seems like nowadays there are two types: tall but tippy, meant for carrying water to a campsite, and broad and wide, to use as a camp sink.
I wouldn’t use it for grout or paint, but for other watery chores, it’s been great.
John E
My neighbor has a pool service business. I get all the free buckets with screw on lids that I can use.
Conrad Miller
Aren’t they great. I also use to carry and store tools in.
JoeM
Even at those prices, I don’t see a problem. They’re 5-Galon Buckets. They’re good for everything. So… that price is entirely worth it, unless you’re buying in super-bulk, like buying a thousand at a time… Buying 5? Buying 20? That’s still really reasonable, increase or not. The question really becomes, do any of these places carry enough stock for you to be physically capable of buying an unreasonable amount of them? I’m guessing they don’t. Even if you buy out the supply in-store on any given day… it’s not going to put you past the double-digits in cost, and it’s entirely up to you to make sure you brought a vehicle that can take that many home… Most people don’t drive vehicles that hold more than, I would say, 30-50 of these buckets (yes, I’m considering the stacking of them, and pickup trucks with an open bed… you can’t stack them too much higher than the cab, or they’ll all blow away when the speed kicks in, and the wind “Unstacks them” due to aerodynamic flow…) so… honestly… That still falls into the “Reasonable” range.
Now, had they gone from $3 to $10 in the same amount of time, I would agree with you. That’s not reasonable. It’s above the rate of inflation as an increase.
Franck B.
My local HD claims to have 942 in stock. Five other stores within 10 miles all claim to have 600-1200.
Maybe demand is low due to the increase in price?
I didn’t check to see if they had lids…
p.s. if you buy six, you get 2% off. If you buy 50, you get 3% off… I get more discount buying just one from my Pro Xtra account.
JoeM
Okay… Still… To buy that many you’d need a cube truck to carry them all. A UHaul at the very least… And even at that point, that’s the only time it goes up to something averaging between $100-$500… For a lot more buckets than I can imagine uses for.
And I don’t mean that no one could ever use that many, or that I’m an authority on what these buckets are used for… I mean… At some point the best use for some of those buckets is for two of those solutions at the same time… which negates the need for at least one of the buckets…. The price is so low, even with the price increase… Even Charitable Uses, like Habitat for Humanity, or massive Subdivision builds… I don’t see any scenarios where that massive number is needed to get the job done. Is anyone actually that stupid as to buy a triple digit number of Buckets all at once? Four digits? Who can justify much more than a $50 run for Buckets? They’re insanely useful, yes… but nobody is Triple-Digit Buys level enamoured with them…
Stuart
My store usually has buckets at the ends of main aisles for purchase or temporary use as shopping baskets.
If you need a bucket, you need a bucket.
fred
Just a reminder that 5-gal pails with water in them have a reputation for being hazardous or even deadly for toddlers
https://www.cpsc.gov/Newsroom/News-Releases/1989/Large-Buckets-Are-Drowning-Hazards-For-Young-Children#:~:text=The%20U.S.%20Consumer%20Product%20Safety,children%208%20%2D%2012%20months%20old.
JoeM
Well, of course, Stuart! I’m not saying the Buckets are useless, quite the opposite. I’m just saying the price increase seems pretty reasonable to me, and it would take a pretty massive buy of their numbers in order to push them into the realm of spending an unreasonable amount on Buckets.
Wait… Why didn’t I just start with that? That’s probably the most elegant, non-meandering, version of what I was trying to say… Geez… I have been tired lately!
DC
The price increases are probably because of the oil price increases. These are made from petrochemicals and not only affected by the delivery/shipping costs.
Mopar
I just went on the HD website and found my last bucket purchase. September 2021 I paid $3.78 for the buckets and $2.28 for the lids (aside, I don’t think I noticed how expensive the lids were at the time)
TJ
I owned a car wash, and couldn’t give all the buckets away. Nice ones too, heavy-duty with gasketed lids with a pour spout. Not food-safe of course, but good for everything else. I also was swimming in heavy-duty 15, 30, and 50 gallon plastic drums. It wouldn’t hurt to ask, I was always glad to get rid of them.
Julian Tracy
As much as I don’t care for Menards, I have noticed their buckets are much better made than the HD or Lowes buckets. The plastic is easily a mm or two thicker.
fred
The Leaktite ones seem to be 0.7mil
https://www.leaktite.com/
SteveP
Harbor Freight just gave me one free. Coincidence?
Stuart
Did they get you into the store when you weren’t planning on it otherwise?
HF does have free bucket promos on occasion.
phorton
get a bucket from firehouse subs. cheaper (at the moment) as long as you can stand the pickle smell.
eddie sky
Lowes buckets are junk! I had to get two for doing some tiling work, and one split in the bottom just as I was emptying the water. I put a piece of wood on the bottom for now, but noticed they are really thin.
Thankfully I have a neighbor that does drywall work often and I asked for a bucket, and he gave me 5 of them. (they aren’t 5 gallon any more though. But for my needs, I am thankful for free).
Brian
YETI sells 5 gallon buckets for $ 40.00 so, $ 5 doesn’t seem to bad.
Mike
Go to your friendly chinese or japanese restaurant that uses decent ingredients. Kikoman soy sauce comes in a top tier 5 gallon bucket. Most high volume restaurants will put out several buckets a week. The soy sauce is very easy to wash off, and doesn’t stink forever the way the pickle buckets do. Greek/mediterranean restaurants also often get feta cheese in 5 gal buckets and if they do any volume they will put out several in a week as well.