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Grocery shopping: Do you buy brand names or generic?

Buy generic/store brand labeled items?

  • yes

  • no

Results are only viewable after voting.
N

NetWareHead

THAT guy
I'm of the opinion where I give the generic/store brand items a shot. If the quality is poor, I then move up to a more expensive brand name item. I'll try the can of peas with a plain jane label on before trying the canned peas from Green Giant for instance. I also eat store branded cereal. Most of the time, the quality is the exact same as the cereal they are imitating.
 
For many items you can get just as good generic or store brand items. But you have to treat it on a case by case basis. Sometimes the generic really is low quality compared to the brand name.
 
The quality is poor. But it really depends on what your needs are. People buy generic PCs all the time.

For food, i go name brand, everything else is usually generic. It really doesn't matter what kind of table salt or aluminum foil I buy, but Sargento is so much better than the competition.
 
Depends. For some products, generic or store brand is fine. For others, not so much. Things I won't buy generic/store brand for:

1. TP
2. Aluminum foil
3. Trash bags
 
Generally I buy the store brand but I shop at Costco and Trader Joe's. Kirkland and TJ brand are among the best generic. But I pay extra for certain item like Philly cream cheese.
 
IndyColtsFan said:
Depends. For some products, generic or store brand is fine. For others, not so much. Things I won't buy generic/store brand for:

1. TP
2. Aluminum foil
3. Trash bags
Click to expand...

Generic trash bags fall apart so fast it's ridiculous. Aluminum foil is all the same for me, but I only ever buy heavy duty, so that might make a difference.
 
Depends on the item. Most items generic is fine. But for certain things you have to go name brand, it just isn't the same otherwise.
 
depends on item. i buy generic/store brand cereal a lot, ice cream, vegetables, medicine.

Stuff like TP (other than kirkland, which is awesome!) might as well be made out of fairy farts its so thin.
 
Ok I didn't even consider TP and other things like aluminum foil. My GF is particular about the TP. Money is of no concern when it comes to TP, it needs to be her fav brand. I once bought the el-cheapo brand and it was the worst. Lesson quickly learned.
 
i went to buy worchestershire sauce the other day because i was out, and they had nothing but the generic safeway brand so i bought it. and it sucks compared to the real deal.
 
It's completely random for me. If there's something that I know I like from past experience I get that regardless of whether it's brand name or not. If it's something new I usually get the closest example of that item to me at the moment I decide I want it.
 
NetWareHead said:
Ok I didn't even consider TP and other things like aluminum foil. My GF is particular about the TP. Money is of no concern when it comes to TP, it needs to be her fav brand. I once bought the el-cheapo brand and it was the worst. Lesson quickly learned.
Click to expand...

I let my wife pick up TP after work one day and she got the generic stuff and it was terrible. I lectured her on the importance of getting the good stuff. 😀
 
Rakehellion said:
Generic trash bags fall apart so fast it's ridiculous. Aluminum foil is all the same for me, but I only ever buy heavy duty, so that might make a difference.
Click to expand...

The walmart ones I bought have never failed and they were thicker (mil) than the brand name ones.
 
SMOGZINN said:
For many items you can get just as good generic or store brand items. But you have to treat it on a case by case basis. Sometimes the generic really is low quality compared to the brand name.
Click to expand...

/this.

in some items generic is just as good. in others it sucks.
 
Depends on what you mean by generic.

For food I will buy the Whole Foods Generic, or the HEB Central Market generic over "brand names." Both labels are really good about not sneaking in the evil stuff like preservatives, HFCs or fillers that the major brands see as a birthright.

For cleaning stuff I actually prefer the Dollar store brands over the real deal very often. It gets it cleaner, even if only because I use more product because I feel less stingy about it.
 
We used to have Lucky grocery stores here in California. Their store brand was called "Lady Lee" and almost all of their store brand products were great. I had no problem with any of them really.

Now that Albertson's bought them out they switched, and their generics suck.

I will of course buy Kirkland stuff at Costco. Almost all the Kirkland items are decent in quality and price.
 
Depends on the item and how "no name" the brand is. We have a few lower quality brands that I'm happy with here.

One exception is cola/pop: never ever buy generic.
 
I hate that most stores now have the cheap knock off generic breakfast cereals and that they only put those on sale. There is no way I will pay 4-5 bucks for a box of name brand cereal. I just wait for a sale and then stock up. We also have a WinCo that I go to and pretty much all boxes of cereal are $2.50-$3 for the name brands
 
NetWareHead said:
I'm of the opinion where I give the generic/store brand items a shot. If the quality is poor, I then move up to a more expensive brand name item. I'll try the can of peas with a plain jane label on before trying the canned peas from Green Giant for instance. I also eat store branded cereal. Most of the time, the quality is the exact same as the cereal they are imitating.
Click to expand...

This.
 
My mother always insisted when I was younger that there was simply no difference between name brand and generic. Then one day I got generic brand of the swiss rolls she likes so much and suddenly she was all "WTF is this shit?".

Lesson learned. 🙂
 
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