Are you tired of heading out to the store and purchasing cat food over and over again? You’re not alone, nor are you alone in considering buying cat food in bulk.
But with so many options out there, it can be challenging trying to determine if it’s the right choice for you and how to go about purchasing cat food in bulk. That’s why we came up with this comprehensive guide to walk you through everything that you need to know, so you can decide what’s right for you.
Should You Buy Cat Food in Bulk?
While there are special considerations that you need to keep in mind when purchasing cat food in bulk, there’s no denying that there are perks associated with it if you do everything correctly.
Here, we highlighted notable pros and cons if you’re thinking of purchasing your cat food in bulk.
The 2 Pros of Buying Cat Food In Bulk
1. Cheaper Per Meal Cost
The most notable advantage to buying in bulk is the cost savings. Companies are willing to cut you a deal if you buy more of their product, and if you’re going to use it, anyway, it means you’re spending less in the end!
2. Fewer Trips to the Store
Not only do you save money when you buy in bulk, but you also don’t have to run out to the store as often to pick up cat food. That’s not as big of a deal in the world of online ordering, but it’s still something to consider.
The 4 Cons of Buying Cat Food In Bulk
1. Less Selection
Not every company offers its product in bulk, and this alone drives down the selection. While more and more companies are doing it, there’s still a smaller selection to choose from.
2. Might Not Stay Fresh as Long
If you’re purchasing cat food in bulk, we highly recommend investing in an airtight container to store it. You want to make sure that the food stays fresh until you use all of it and need to buy more. Your cat doesn’t want stale food any more than you do, and if you aren’t going to use all of the food before it spoils or it spoils before you can use it all, it’s a waste of food and money.
3. More Expensive up Front
While you might be saving more in the end, it doesn’t matter if you don’t have the money to spend up front on the bulk product. Getting over that initial hump can be painful if you’re tight on cash from month to month.
4. Might Forget to Reorder
When you have so much of something, getting more isn’t a part of your daily routine. When you’re at the store, you can forget to pick it up even when you need it. But online stores having automatic reordering and shipping helps to mitigate this concern.
Where to Buy Cat Food in Bulk
If you’re thinking of buying cat food in bulk, the next decision that you need to make is where to buy it. Here, we highlighted three of the best options in the industry for bulk buying and included pros and cons for each choice.
Chewy
While Chewy might not have the same extensive history that a company like Amazon or Wal-Mart has, it’s been around for about a decade now, and it has taken the pet world by storm.
Pros
Automatic Reordering
With Chewy, you can set up a wide array of intervals and get your cat food delivered straight to your door without needing to do a thing. Even better, when you sign up for automatic reordering, you get 35% off your pet food purchase.
Considering that Chewy already has great prices on bulk cat food, getting even more savings on top of already great prices is a big deal.
Delivered Straight to Your Door
There’s no denying that having the ability to open your door and have your cat food waiting for you is as convenient as it gets. Considering that automatic reordering is a thing, you don’t even have to remember to place the order before you need it.
Great Selection
Chewy focuses exclusively on pet products, giving it a much larger selection than what most other retailers can offer. It doesn’t have every single brand out there, but it has all the major brands and plenty of smaller family-owned companies too.
Outstanding Customer Service
Large corporations focus on profits at the expense of everything else. Chewy doesn’t work like that. It wants you to come back time and time again, which means you need to have a great experience. If something goes wrong, Chewy goes above and beyond to make it right.
Cons
Not Every Brand Is Available
Chewy has a great selection, but it doesn’t have every cat food out there. If you’re seeking a small, locally owned company, Chewy might not be able to help you out. But for just about every other company out there, Chewy has you covered.
Amazon
Amazon seems to run the world these days, and there’s a reason it’s so popular.
Pros
Automatic Reordering
Just like Chewy, with Amazon, you can get exclusive deals on already low prices if you sign up for auto-reordering. You can change reorder intervals, which lets you get the right amount of cat food at the right intervals.
Delivered Straight to Your Door
Amazon is the largest online retailer in the world, and one of its primary selling points is that it delivers products straight to your door. That’s extremely convenient, and now that it’s using its own shipping teams, you can get products faster than ever.
With an Amazon Prime subscription, you can get products shipped to your door in just 2 days!
Great Selection
Amazon works with thousands upon thousands of vendors, and this gives you more of a selection than you’ll find anywhere else. Its wide selection and great prices on its Amazon Marketplace are huge reasons that it has been so successful throughout the years.
Cons
Venders Change
When you’re ordering a product, you’re ordering through a specific vendor. But over time, these vendors can change, and the product’s level of support or quality can change with it. You’ll still get the same brand of dog food, but the packaging can end up torn apart, the wrong product can be sent, etc.
Not the Best Customer Service
The level of support that you receive through Amazon is largely dependent on the vendor that you ordered through. Sometimes, they will go above and beyond for you, while at other times, they will leave you out in the cold.
Amazon Prime Is Not Free
When Amazon first started, Prime was an afterthought. Today, it’s necessary to unlock all the best features of the site. While more people than ever have Amazon Prime, it’s not free. If you don’t already have Prime, there’s a good chance that you’ll deal with roadblock after roadblock.
Wholesale Stores
Whether it’s Costco, Sam’s Club, or another wholesale retailer, the entire purpose is to sell you things in bulk. But while these stores offer great prices for bulk products, it’s far from a perfect system. Let’s start with the perks.
Pros
Large Packages
The size of products at wholesale stores is legendary, and it’s no different with pet food. You’re not going to find packages with pet food in these size bags anywhere else.
Great Prices
When you’re buying packages of this size, you usually end up with savings that you can’t get anywhere else. You will need to find somewhere to store 12 months of cat food, but you’re getting it for a price equal to 10 months or even less.
Cons
You Need a Subscription/Membership
You can’t walk into a Costco or a Sam’s Club and start purchasing anything without a membership. Those membership dues come right out of your savings. If you’re not buying enough products in bulk, you’re losing money.
Not the Best Selection
Sam’s Club and Costco might have the largest bags around, but not every brand makes a 35-pound bag of cat food. If they don’t make a massive size, these wholesalers don’t carry it. There are simply not that many options to choose from when it comes to cat food at these stores.
You Need to Go to the Store
In an age where you can get everything delivered straight to your door, who wants to run to a warehouse store just to pick up cat food? Whether you think it’s a big deal or not, it’s still not as convenient.
Final Thoughts
If the cat food that you’re using is available in bulk sizes and you have a place to store it and the funds to buy it, there’s no good reason not to switch. By buying smaller packages more often, you’re spending more money in the end.
So, even if you have to save up for that first bulk purchase, it is a way to save money in the long run, which makes it a good investment!
See also: How to Save Money on Cat Food (15 Clever Ways)
Featured Image Credit: pedphoto36pm, Shutterstock
