Pricing the 2 big retail giants

We all know Wal-Mart is cheap and Amazon is convenient, right?

But is that convenience worth paying up to 100 percent more to you? Because that’s the premium a new study says you’ll pay on select items when you choose to get them on Amazon.com and not Walmart.com!

LendEDU compared prices on 50 identical items from both websites across five product categories — home goods, kitchen/home appliances, technology and entertainment, food and beverages and miscellaneous items. The takeaway? Walmart.com is 34 percent cheaper on average than Amazon.com. But Amazon’s prices beat out Wal-Mart’s when it comes to food.

In fact, The e-commerce giant is 23 percent lower on average than Wal-Mart when it comes to food staples like coffee, pasta sauce, bottled water, soda and cereal.

That said, some of the price premiums you’ll pay in the four out of five categories where Wal-Mart bests Amazon are shocking. For example, red Solor cups were $9 on Amazon and $3.88 at WalMart. A Stanley Tools sixpiece vinyl-grip screwdriver set is $29.99 at Amazon and $15.11 at Wal-Mart.

Amazon does beat Walmart.com on food, probably in part because Amazon now has its hand in the grocery game through an acquisition of Whole Foods.

For example, Campbell’s Chunky Baked Potato Soup (18.8 oz.) costs $3.06 at Walmart.com and only $1.66 at Amazon.com. Likewise, Poland Spring 16.9-ounce water bottles (24 pack) costs $10.38 on Walmart.com. At Amazon, you’ll only pay $5.99.

Amazon Prime is $99 annually and offers free two-day shipping. Meanwhile, WalMart has no membership fee and ships most goods for free with a $35 minimum. Clark Howard helps you save more, spend less, and avoid ripoffs. Visit ClarkHoward.com for more info, or get his bestselling books signed with free shipping at GetClarkSmart.com.