People to spend more on Halloween due to tariffs

SAN DIEGO (NBC, KYMA) - People will be spending more on Halloween this year due to tariffs, which have driven up the prices of costumes, decorations, and candy.

Social media is ablaze with people complaining about the high costs of candy, costumes and decor, with one person even saying Halloween should be cancelled.

According to the National Retail Federation, Americans will spend a record $13 billion this year on Halloween. About a $114 per person. The prices on candy are downright scary.

So what's behind the high costs? According to the Halloween and Costume Association, chocolate costs are up about 40% due to bad cocoa crops and nearly 90% of Halloween products contain at least one component made overseas. Most in China, were tariffs on shipping are driving up costs.

A customer named Nicole spent $195 on Halloween gear while Axel and Justin spent $50 each on Teletubbies costumes, but they have a plan to make it cost effective.

"If you wear it for 50 years, it's $1 a year," Axel shared.

"it's been insane, nonstop. We just had a crazy weekend," said Vivvi, who is the owner of Whips-N-Fur Costume Shop in North Park.

To offset those costs, Vivvi did something different. Rather than ordering expensive wholesale costumes to fill the shop, he bought costumes from stores that are going out of business.

"We've dusted cobwebs off of stuff in our storage and tried to provide a variety of cost effective options for people this year," Vivvi explained.