Bags vs bulk: when a truckload is cheaper
Everyone says bulk is cheaper. Often it is, but not always, and the cases where it is not are exactly the small jobs most homeowners have. The deciding factor is rarely the price per yard. It is the delivery fee, spread over however much you are ordering.
Put both prices in the same unit
Bags are priced per bag and labelled in cubic feet. Bulk is priced per cubic yard, which is 27 cubic feet. To compare, convert the bag price to a price per cubic yard:
- 2 cubic foot bags: bag price x 13.5
- 1 cubic foot bags: bag price x 27
- 0.75 cubic foot bags: bag price x 36
- 0.5 cubic foot bags: bag price x 54
A 2 cubic foot bag at $4.50, for example, is $60.75 per yard, and that is typically well above a bulk price.
Check the bag size on the label. Texas A&M's extension office tabulates 0.75, 1, 1.25 and 2 cubic foot sizes, and Mississippi State's mulch advice mentions 1.25 and 2. A bag that looks the same on the shelf may hold a quarter less.
The three costs
Material. Per yard, bulk usually wins by a wide margin. One Washington State supplier (Harbor Soils) publishes that its topsoil, at $32.99 a yard, works out to about $2.45 for a 2 cubic foot bag's worth. That is the supplier's claim and its prices, but the gap between bag and bulk pricing is the usual pattern.
Delivery. Usually a flat fee, sometimes waived above a minimum. One Sacramento supplier says it delivers free for 4 yards or more within 14 miles. That is only one yard's policy, and yours will differ. Delivery is a fixed amount, so it hurts most on a small order.
Your own time and truck. Picking up yourself skips the fee, but loading a yard of anything into a pickup is real work, and weight is a problem. A cubic yard of topsoil or crushed stone weighs about 2,000 to 3,000 lb. One supplier puts a half-ton pickup's payload at 1,500 to 2,000 lb, and another says a half-ton can carry about half a yard of rock. Mulch weighs a few hundred pounds a yard and is easy. Bagged material avoids the problem since you carry as many as the truck allows, but you carry more trips.
The break-even formula
Let the bag price per yard be B, the bulk price per yard be P, and the delivery fee be D. Bulk wins once you order more than:
D divided by (B minus P) cubic yards
Here is a worked example with made-up round numbers, to show the mechanics. Suppose bags are $4.50 for 2 cubic feet (B = $60.75 per yard), bulk is $40 a yard (P) and delivery is $60 (D).
Break-even = 60 / (60.75 - 40) = 2.9 cubic yards.
| Yards needed | Bags | Bulk with delivery |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | $60.75 | $100 |
| 2 | $121.50 | $140 |
| 3 | $182.25 | $180 |
| 5 | $303.75 | $260 |
| 10 | $607.50 | $460 |
In this example, a 1 or 2 yard project is cheaper in bags, and from about 3 yards bulk wins. Put your own local prices into the formula before you believe any rule of thumb. Suppliers quote different thresholds. One says bulk is clearly better from about half a yard, another puts the crossover between one and two yards. Those are supplier opinions, and the gap between them is mostly the delivery fee.
If you pick up and there is no delivery fee, then D is zero and bulk wins from the first yard, as long as the load is within your truck's payload and you can handle shovelling.
Material by material
Mulch. Light, and sold both ways. A project over about 14 bags of 2 cubic feet is a yard or more. For most beds, buying one yard of bulk and doing a single trip beats carrying 14 bags, even when the money is close. Mississippi State's extension office advises comparing bulk to bagged cost before buying in bulk, which is the right instinct. Note its worked example: 33 cubic feet of mulch is 17 bags of 2 cubic feet, or just over a yard.
Topsoil. Heavy and slow to move in bags. A 4 inch layer over 100 square feet needs 33 cubic feet, which is 17 bags and, at 2,000 to 2,500 lb a yard, somewhere around 2,500 to 3,000 lb of soil. Past that point bulk is usually easier, but order delivery or check your payload first. Bagged soil still makes sense for patio containers, a few seedling rows and small repairs.
Gravel and stone. These are sold by weight in bulk (tons) and by volume in bags, so convert before comparing. A ton is about 0.7 of a yard at 1.4 tons a yard. A supplier's tonnage price plus a delivery fee is nearly always lower than bags for anything beyond a path.
Concrete mix. Bagged mix is the standard for post holes and small pads. A yard is 45 bags of 80 lb, about 3,600 lb. Ready-mix trucks, rather than bulk piles, are the alternative, and we cover that in the concrete calculator.
Other things that tip the balance
- Access. A truck needs room and a hard surface. If it cannot reach the work area, you will be moving a pile by wheelbarrow, which might negate the saving. Ask where the load will be dropped.
- Storage. Bags can sit in a shed for a season. A pile left uncovered on a drive can get rained on, spread out and obstruct things.
- Leftovers. With bulk you will usually have some over; with bags you can return or keep the unopened ones. Order the amount from the calculator plus a small buffer rather than a round-up of a whole yard.
- Delivery windows. Some suppliers deliver within the week, some require days of notice; check this before the project's start date.
A hybrid is fine
Order the bulk for the main body and buy a few bags to finish. If the calculator says 2.4 yards of mulch, ordering 2 yards and buying six bags is a perfectly good plan. It avoids a round-up to 2.5 or 3.
Questions to ask the supplier
- Do you sell by the yard or the ton? What is the weight per yard on your delivery ticket?
- What is the delivery fee, and is there a minimum order?
- Can the truck dump where I need it, and what are the access limits?
- Is the product screened, and what is it made from?
- Do you sell in half-yard increments? (Sky Nursery, for one, loads in full and half yards only.)