The Halloween bucket hunt has been the retail story of the month, and it is no longer a one-store chase. Home Depot’s $2.98 printed bucket started it, but Petco and Lowe’s have turned it into a multi-retailer scramble, and a wave of glowing carry-lights has been folded in too. Petco’s cheapest Halloween-printed pail starts at $1.50 and ships, undercutting the $2.98 bucket everyone has been chasing at Home Depot by nearly half.
This is what each retailer is actually selling, what it costs, and which ones ship. It also sorts out the Halloween trick-or-treat pails from the viral mini buckets people keep confusing them with.
Petco: two sizes, $1.50 and $7.00, and they ship
Petco is selling Halloween buckets in two completely different form factors, and it is worth knowing which is which before you order.
The cheap one is the Petco Halloween Skeletons Trick-or-Treat Bucket in orange, at $1.50. It is a plain plastic candy pail with a handle, measuring 7 inches high by 9 inches wide, listed under SKU 4741471. There is a matching Ghosts version at the same $1.50. Both were showing as available to ship at the time of writing, with free shipping on orders over $35.
The bigger one is the interesting one, because it is the same idea as the Home Depot bucket. The Petco Halloween Pumpkin Bucket with Lid in orange is a 2-gallon utility bucket with heavy-duty construction, a sturdy metal handle with a grip, and a snap-on lid, at $7.00 (SKU 4763056). The Frankenstein version in green is the same bucket at the same price (SKU 4763048). Both were listed as shipping with an arrival estimate of July 30 when we checked.
The detail that gives away what these actually are: Petco files the 2-gallon buckets under Fish Supplies, in Aquarium Maintenance. The product copy says so outright, describing a bucket for “everything from water changes to trick-or-treating” that works “for aquatic care or for novelty purposes like trick or treating.” That is a water-change bucket in a Halloween wrapper, which is exactly the trick Home Depot pulled with a paint bucket. The $1.50 pails sit in the Halloween for Pets section instead.
Lowe’s glow-in-the-dark Halloween bucket is $6.98 (and selling fast)
The Lowe’s item breaking out in searches right now is a new glow-in-the-dark bucket. It is the United Solutions Glow-in-the-Dark Clear Plastic 2-Gallon Bucket, and it lists for $6.98 on Lowes.com, with free shipping for MyLowe’s Rewards members (the program is free to join). The clear plastic charges up under light and then glows, so it works as a trick-or-treat pail and, after Halloween, an ordinary storage bucket.
Lowe’s is also carrying EverBrite Halloween Collapsible Lanterns at $6.98 each, in pumpkin, ghost, and skeleton designs. These are 50-lumen, two-mode LED lanterns with a hang strap, built to light the way while trick-or-treating, and they are the glowing carry-light a lot of the “Lowe’s glow in the dark bucket” searches are actually after.
As of August 21, 2026, both the glow bucket and the lanterns were listed at $6.98 on Lowes.com with free shipping for rewards members, and the glow bucket was flagged as likely to sell out. Seasonal stock moves fast and Lowe’s does not make live inventory easy to check from outside, so confirm the current price and availability on the product page before making a trip.
One older Lowe’s lighted bucket is discontinued
If your search turns up a different Lowe’s pail, it may be last year’s model. The Magic Seasons 6.5-inch Lighted Trick or Treat Bucket (item #837973) is a battery-powered pail that throws light onto the ground in front of you as a visibility aid. It comes in orange with a jack-o’-lantern face, purple with a ghost, and green, runs three light modes, and takes a replaceable CR2032.
Its product page now carries a note reading “This item is no longer sold on Lowes.com.” A search of Lowe’s site for that model turns up only third-party listings from Joyfy, Jazwares and Trick or Treat Studios, not a Lowe’s item. If you want that specific one, a store is your only shot.
The mini bucket, glitter bucket, and cooler cup are a separate craze, not trick-or-treat pails
If your search for a Halloween bucket keeps surfacing a tiny bucket, a glittery one, or a cooler cup, those are a different fad. Alongside the trick-or-treat pails, both chains are running a viral line of mini collectible buckets that has nothing to do with hauling candy. They are worth flagging only so you do not order the wrong thing.
Home Depot’s mini bucket is a 3.75-inch plastic version of its orange bucket, with a metal handle and the white Home Depot logo, at about $0.98 in stores. It has been selling out as a novelty collectible, not as a candy pail, and “home depot mini bucket” is now one of the most-searched bucket terms of all.
Lowe’s runs the wider version of this. Its standard mini bucket is a 0.4-quart food-grade plastic pail with a lid, and it recently arrived in new colors including pink, at roughly $2. Lowe’s also released a Silver Glitter Mini Bucket with Lid at $4.98 (0.37 quart) as a limited edition, and MyLowe’s Rewards members cleared it out in under half an hour during early access. On August 22, Lowe’s gave away free mini cooler cups to the first 150 rewards members in stores, which is the “lowes mini cooler cup” a lot of people are now searching for.
None of these are trick-or-treat buckets. If you want something to actually collect candy in, use the pails and buckets above. If you are chasing the collectible mini line, it moves in limited drops through MyLowe’s Rewards, so the product-page notify button is the realistic way to catch a restock. For a full breakdown of the mini-bucket line, its colors, and prices, see our guide to the mini bucket craze.
Home Depot’s bucket: online availability depends on where you are
When we covered the Home Depot bucket it was not purchasable online anywhere we could find, and searching homedepot.com for it still returns only the plain orange 2-gallon bucket and the 5-gallon Homer.
Readers have since told us otherwise, and the picture is regional. Several people commenting on our Facebook post reported buying the printed buckets online and getting them delivered free the same day, with one saying two stores nearby were each showing over 900 in stock. Another reader who ordered successfully added that they hoped the listing would come back “for everyone soon,” which reads like the online availability blinks in and out by market rather than staying up.
So: check homedepot.com for your own ZIP before you drive anywhere. If it is not there, it is a store hunt, and stores stack the printed buckets in with the plain orange ones near the entrance and in the garden center.
How the prices compare
| Bucket | Retailer | Price | Size | Buy online? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Skeletons / Ghosts Trick-or-Treat Bucket | Petco | $1.50 | 7 in. H x 9 in. W | Yes |
| Halloween-print 2-gallon bucket | Home Depot | $2.98 | 2 gallons | Regional |
| Glow-in-the-Dark 2-gallon bucket | Lowe’s | $6.98 | 2 gallons | Yes (rewards free ship) |
| Halloween Pumpkin / Frankenstein Bucket with Lid | Petco | $7.00 | 2 gallons | Yes |
| Magic Seasons 6.5-in. Lighted Trick or Treat Bucket | Lowe’s | Was carried | 6.5 in. | No longer listed |
The plain orange 2-gallon Home Depot bucket also sells online at $2.98 year-round if you would rather buy the blank and add stickers.
Which one to actually buy
If you want the biggest candy haul for the least money, the Home Depot printed bucket is still the best value at $2.98 for two gallons, assuming your area can get it. Check a second store before you pay a reseller, because these are already listing on eBay at roughly triple retail.
If you want a Halloween bucket delivered without the hunt, Petco’s $1.50 pail is the cheapest Halloween-printed bucket we have found this season from a major retailer. Its 7-by-9-inch size is a normal trick-or-treat pail, not a novelty.
If you want the glow factor, Lowe’s $6.98 glow-in-the-dark 2-gallon bucket ships free for rewards members and works as year-round storage once the season ends.
If you specifically want the oversized utility-bucket look, Petco’s $7.00 lidded 2-gallon version is the only one of these with a lid, and that lid is a real advantage for hauling candy home or storing decorations after the season.
More 2026 Halloween retail from HAN
- Home Depot’s Viral Halloween Buckets Are Back for 2026
- Home Depot Debuts the 2026 Halloween Collection
- Target’s 2026 Halloween Collection
- At Home’s 2026 Halloween Collection
- The Best Halloween Pet Costumes for 2026: Every Retailer’s Lineup
- The Best Halloween Animatronics for 2026
- Tractor Supply’s 2026 Halloween Collection: Ghost Cows, a 6-Foot Skeleton Rooster, and Animated Deviled Eggs
Prices, sizes and availability as listed by each retailer at the time of writing. The Petco and Lowe’s Halloween buckets were verified in-browser on August 21, 2026, and the mini-bucket details were confirmed against retailer and deal-tracker reporting on August 25, 2026. Stock on seasonal and limited-edition items moves fast, and store-level and online availability vary by market, so confirm on the product page before a trip.
