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Buying a single energy drink is the most expensive way to buy one. Every brand in our canned energy range gets cheaper per can once you move to a 12-pack or 24-pack. The question is how much cheaper, and whether it's worth the bigger upfront cost. Here's the actual maths, brand by brand, using real NZ Supps pricing rather than a generic "buy more, save more" line.
The per-can breakdown
| Product | Single | Pack size | Pack price | $/can in pack | Saving per can |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alani Energy | $6.00 | 24 | $130.00 | $5.42 | $0.58 (9.7%) |
| Bucked Up Energy | $6.00 | 12 | $65.00 | $5.42 | $0.58 (9.7%) |
| Cellucor C4 RTD | $6.49 | 12 | $70.00 | $5.83 | $0.66 (10.2%) |
| Ghost RTD 250ml | $5.49 | 12 | $60.00 | $5.00 | $0.49 (8.9%) |
| Ghost RTD 500ml | $7.00 | 12 | $80.00 | $6.67 | $0.33 (4.7%) |
| Nexus PER4M RTD | $6.49 | 12 | $70.00 | $5.83 | $0.66 (10.2%) |
| Ryse Fuel | $6.49 | 12 | $70.00 | $5.83 | $0.66 (10.2%) |
What that actually means over a case
On a 12-pack, the saving works out to roughly $4 to $8 across the whole case compared to buying 12 singles. Ghost's 500ml can has the smallest gap, about $4 saved on an $84 basket of singles, while Cellucor, Nexus and Ryse all save closer to $8 per case. Alani's 24-pack saves about $14 compared to buying 24 singles at $6 each, which is $144 versus $130.
None of these are huge discounts on their own. Case packs aren't really a clearance play here, they're just the standard economics of buying in bulk rather than one at a time. But if you already know you're going to work through a case of something over the coming weeks, there's not much reason to pay the single-can price 12 or 24 times over instead.
Where it adds up: free shipping
NZ Supps ships free on orders over $99 anywhere in New Zealand. A single 12-pack won't always clear that threshold on its own. Ghost's 500ml 12-pack is $80, Cellucor's is $70, so neither gets there alone. But pairing two 12-packs, or a 12-pack with something else you're already ordering, clears the threshold easily and avoids paying a separate courier fee on top of the case price. Alani's 24-pack at $130 clears the threshold by itself, so it's the simplest single-item way to get free shipping on energy drinks alone.
That's really the second half of the saving here. A $70 12-pack plus a $30 top-up to reach $99 works out cheaper overall than ordering the same 12-pack by itself and paying shipping on top of it.
A worked example
Say you go through roughly a can a day. Buying Ryse Fuel as singles at $6.49 each, 12 cans costs $77.88 before shipping. Buying the 12-pack at $70.00 instead saves $7.88 on the can price alone. If it's your only order and you pair it with a second pack or another item to clear $99, you also pick up free shipping, which saves a courier fee on top of the per-can discount.
Singles vs 12-pack vs 24-pack
Not every brand offers the same pack sizes. Alani Energy is the only one of the seven above sold in a 24-pack rather than a 12-pack, which is worth knowing if you're comparing on pack price alone rather than price per can, since a bigger headline number doesn't automatically mean a worse deal. At $130 for 24 cans, Alani actually lands at the same $5.42 per can as Bucked Up's 12-pack at $65, just spread across double the cans in one order. If storage space or shelf life isn't a concern, the 24-pack format means fewer separate orders over a couple of months, on top of the same per-can saving you'd get from a 12-pack.
How to decide if a case pack is worth it
- If you already know you'll drink the flavour regularly, the pack wins on price per can every time
- If you're still figuring out which brand or caffeine level suits you, buy a single first. See our caffeine bands guide to narrow it down before committing to a full case
- If your order is already close to $99, a case pack is often the cheapest way to clear the free-shipping line, rather than adding a handful of unrelated items just to reach the threshold
Case-pack economics apply across caffeine levels too, from the lighter Moderate Stim options through to the Strong Stim tier, so the savings aren't limited to any one strength of can. The full range and every pack size is in Canned Energy, and the complete brand-by-brand comparison, including caffeine, ingredients and pricing, is on our energy drink comparison page. All orders ship from our Palmerston North warehouse, with a 30-day change-of-mind return if a flavour or pack size isn't right for you.
