Prefilled Easter Eggs vs. DIY (Cost Guide)
Are prefilled Easter eggs worth it?
Prefilled eggs are worth it in exactly one situation: when time is the thing you're short on, not money. They arrive ready to hide — no stuffing, no assembly, no last-minute run for empty eggs — and the night before Easter that convenience is genuinely valuable. What you're paying for is that convenience, and the price shows up two ways: a higher cost per egg, and no control over the contents. A lot of prefilled sets lean on mystery candy or the flimsy trinket that breaks by lunch, which is the same junk this whole section of the site exists to steer you away from. If your evening is already spoken for, prefilled buys it back. If you have a spare half hour, you can usually do better and cheaper.
There's a middle path a lot of families settle into, and it's worth naming: stuff your own, but treat it as a ten-minute job the kids help with rather than a chore you dread. Empty eggs and a bulk pack of fillers on the counter, a small bowl of candy alongside, and a couple of kids dropping one item into each egg — it turns the assembly into part of the fun instead of a late-night task. That hybrid gets you the low per-egg cost and full control of the DIY route without the whole burden landing on one parent at 10pm. The only planning it takes is buying the fillers a few days ahead so nothing's a last-minute scramble.
Is it cheaper to fill your own?
Almost always. The DIY cost per egg is just the filler plus a few cents for the empty shell, and empty plastic eggs are cheap and reusable. A bulk filler pack from us lands under a dollar per piece, so a stuffed egg comes in right around that. Store-bought prefilled eggs bundle in a convenience premium on top of the same kind of contents. Here's how the DIY side pencils out with live prices — per-egg cost here means one filler per egg, before the small cost of the shell:
| Fill-your-own option | Pack price | Fills | Cost per egg (filler) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kids keychains, 24-pack | $19.99 | 24 eggs | $0.83 each |
| Cute chickie keychains, 24-pack | $20.99 | 24 eggs | $0.87 each |
| Cute animal squishies, 24-pack | $16.99 | 24 eggs | $0.71 each |
Each pack fills two dozen eggs at the per-piece cost shown, and you add only the price of the empty shells — which you reuse next year. That reuse is the quiet advantage: over a few Easters you only rebuy fillers, while prefilled eggs are usually one-and-done. For where each of these fillers ranks on keep-rate, our guide to non-candy egg fillers kids love has the breakdown.
What should I stuff the eggs with?
The good egg stuffers are the same ones that win everywhere else on this site: small toys a kid keeps. A mini keychain, a small squishy, a chick charm — plus flat extras like stickers, coins, or a folded note tucked alongside. The only hard constraint is fit: mini items for standard eggs, bigger toys for jumbo, and when in doubt, check the piece against your eggs first. Plenty of parents mix it up, dropping a keepable toy into some eggs and a couple of wrapped candies into others, so there's an instant treat and something that outlasts the hunt.
If you're not sure a given filler will actually close inside your eggs, that's worth sorting before you buy a whole pack — our guide to what fits inside a plastic egg walks through standard versus jumbo and how to check. And if you're stuffing baskets as well as eggs, the slightly bigger picks live in our Easter basket stuffers guide.
So which should you do?
Boil it down to one question: is your bottleneck time or money? If it's time — you're assembling this at 10pm on Saturday — buy prefilled and don't feel bad about it. If it's money, or you care what your kids are actually pulling out of the eggs, buy empty eggs and a bulk filler pack and stuff them yourself; it's cheaper per egg, you control the contents, and the eggs come back next year. Most families we hear from land on a hybrid: reuse the eggs they already own, stuff them with bulk fillers for the keepable stuff, and toss in a little candy for the instant hit. For the whole category at a glance, start from the Easter egg fillers hub.
Frequently asked questions
Are prefilled Easter eggs worth it?
Prefilled eggs are worth it when your scarcest resource is time, not money — they're zero assembly, which is the whole point the night before Easter. What you pay for that convenience is a higher price per egg and no say over what's inside, which is often mystery candy or throwaway trinkets. If you have a spare half hour, filling your own is cheaper and you control the contents; if you don't, prefilled buys back the evening.
Is it cheaper to fill your own Easter eggs?
Almost always, yes. Buying empty eggs plus a bulk pack of fillers usually costs less per stuffed egg than store-bought prefilled eggs, and you decide exactly what goes in. Our bulk filler packs work out to under a dollar per piece, and empty eggs are cheap, so the DIY route wins on cost. The catch is the assembly time — a few minutes of stuffing you don't spend with prefilled.
What should I stuff Easter eggs with?
The fillers kids keep: a mini keychain, a small squishy, a chick charm, plus flat extras like stickers, coins, or a folded note. Match the filler size to your eggs — mini items for standard eggs, bigger toys for jumbo. Many parents mix a keepable toy into some eggs and candy into others, so there's an instant treat and something that lasts past the hunt.
How much does it cost to fill your own Easter eggs?
The per-egg cost is the filler cost plus a few cents for the empty egg. Our bulk packs land under a dollar per filler, so a stuffed egg comes in around that once you add the shell. Prices move, so trust the live per-piece figures on this page over any fixed number. Filling two dozen eggs from a single 24-count pack is the typical setup.
How many prefilled eggs or fillers do I need?
One filler per egg, then round up for the eggs that crack or go missing in the grass. A 24-count filler pack covers two dozen eggs with a little margin; a bigger hunt means a second pack. Count the eggs you're hiding first, then buy fillers to match plus a few spares — running short mid-hunt is the thing you're avoiding.
Can I reuse the plastic eggs each year?
Yes — that's a real advantage of filling your own. Empty plastic eggs store flat-ish and come back out every spring, so the only thing you rebuy is the fillers. Prefilled eggs are usually treated as one-and-done. Over a few years, reusing eggs and restocking bulk fillers is the cheapest way to run a hunt.
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