Does Anyone Buy Generic Products ?

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Sometimes I buy Generic Products at Walmart or Meijers but when I went shopping I noticed the Generic Toilet Paper was more than the brand name ..... same for the Motor Oil . What happened with Generics being cheaper than the Brand Name ?
 
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I shop based on price not based on the name brand (but will get whichever has a better taste/design/etc. based on my preferences for that versus cost).

Anyway, plenty of times the name brand stuff is the same price/cheaper/cheaper on sale. We don't have Meijers in these parts but re: Walmart, I've mentioned this before but around here Walmart is not the cheapest across a large variety of grocery items versus other stores once sale prices are considered. IMO the impression that it's Walmart so it must be the cheapest/competitively priced for everything must bring in a lot of the profit in the grocery segment for them.

Edit: Perfect example
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Great-Va...-Toilet-Paper-16-Rolls/740880051?athbdg=L1102

16 rolls at 1686 sq. ft. going for $11.62 versus a generic 20 pack at the local grocery going for $9.99 on sale once a month or every other month.

Other thing that often happens is price per"X" can be deceptive. Lots of unique sizing and difficult to cross reference tag sizes at Walmart but other stores also.
 
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I often do buy generic, if it is the same quality as other products but cheaper. Target has a store brand printer paper that is every bit as cheap as my other options, and much cheaper than others.

On the other hand, I recently realized that Band Aid actual band aids do last longer (than generic band aids) when placed over cuts, can last multiple showers and days. So I told wifey let's just buy those from now on.

I'm open to buying amazon basics products. I was going to get their corded mouse when I looked and the logitech I did buy was just as cheap. But an Amazon Basics mouse is something I'd get.

So it really depends.
 
We buy a lot of store brand food and products, especially at Aldi. We can buy the Aldi brands that are often times higher quality than the name brand stuff (no added colors, preservatives, sometimes organic, etc.) and cheaper as well. Motor oil, I'll buy generic depending on the application.

Generic foods are made by the large companies the majority of the time anyway. Same product, different box or label.

I won't buy generic coca-cola though. Rare occasions I buy it but sometimes enjoy a drink.
 
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Stores are out to get you.

Sometimes the smaller sizes are cheaper per ounce than the bigger containers. As you see, sometimes the generics are more expensive. Kate's Butter, an amazing butter made locally in OOB, ME, is $3.49 a lb now while the generic is $3.99.

Doritos are $.49 a 1 oz bag at the checkout. A crate of 18 bags are at least ten bucks. Do the math.
 
Brand names mean nothing to me. Ninety five percent of the time, I shop strictly by cost. Aldi and Wally-world are my two go to brands. Aldi stuff is usually better than national brands.
 
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We buy a lot of store brand food and products, especially at Aldi. We can buy the Aldi brands that are often times higher quality than the name brand stuff (no added colors, preservatives, sometimes organic, etc.) and cheaper as well. Motor oil, I'll buy generic depending on the application.

Generic foods are made by the large companies the majority of the time anyway. Same product, different box or label.

I won't buy generic coca-cola though.
The nutritional value thing is interesting, particularly with Aldi. One opened here a couple of years ago and it is amazing to me how much different (usually better IMO) the Aldi brand stuff is then a competitor at another store.
 
Prescriptions? I have no control over as my drug plan wont pay for name brand when generic is available.

Food products? Mixed results. I've found the house brands often don't taste as as good as the national brands. The exception being cocoa covered almonds I've been getting recently. The supermarket brand was actually better.

Paper products? Generic paper towels are less absorbent and thinner than the Bounty sheets I buy.

Some of my observations are from decades ago, as in, I may have tried generic paper towels 20 years ago and didn't like them so haven't tried them since. Maybe they are better now.
 
Depends on what it is. But it sounds like many are lumping together generics with store brands. I specifically remember when one local supermarket started selling a group of literal generics in the early 80s. The all came from a single distributor that used plain yellow labels.

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With medications - absolutely no problem. Ibuprofen is ibuprofen. There's almost nothing gained from using name-brand medications when there's a generic equivalent. If I need a decongestant, I'll buy the cheapest store brand or nonbrand. At Costco they've got some that actually says Perrigo on it, which is one of the largest makers of generic meds in the country. If I buy them as store brands, the blister packs typically state who the manufacturer is, like LNK or Perrigo.

With prepared foods - that's a very different thing since flavor profiles can be very distinct. But store branded food can be pretty good sometimes, like what I can find at Trader Joe's. There are also certain things that make no or little difference like cooking oil, but somehow people still pay a price premium for something with a neutral flavor that isn't terribly different. There are also certain foods that are essentially commodities like dried beans or frozen vegetables. I've found frozen vegetables from a no-name brand that seem to be fine compared to Birdseye or Green Giant branded. They all come from growers cooperatives anyways.
 
Depends on the item. I will buy a lot of generic/store brand items, but there's some things where I will only buy the name brand item.

Such as Oreos. I don't care how much more they are.... LOL.
 
Raised 4 boys, you better believe we looked for bargain brands, sales, coupons, rebates. Anything to get by. Costco/Kirkland is the best "generic"

I remember reading some old discussions by someone who railed on Costco going away from kosher hot dogs sold at their food courts. The history seems to be that they started off with Hebrew National but I recall they switched (at least in my region) to Sinai Kosher. And I really miss their Polish sausages. But they went to in-house manufacturing to save on money and stopped selling Polish sausages. But still - my kids absolutely loves that hot dog.

https://customerservice.costco.com/.../~/why-did-costco-discontinue-the-polish-dog?

I also remember my local (pre-merger) Price Club. That actually had a hot dog cart outside with a large Vienna Beef banner against the wall. But they still had loss leader prices.
 
Generic items are often the same manufacturer as the name brands just with different taste in some cases. You can see from the packaging, item weight, nutritional contents / RDAs, and ingredients.

OTC meds like Tylenol and Advil are totally fine with the store brand. Rx generics are allowed to be within +/- 5% potency which sounds a little scary buy my PharmD friends say it's nothing to worry about. Often the molecule for the meds is made from the name brand pharma company with the original patent and sent to the generic company where they make their own pill with different fillers.


History's Dumpster: Generic Products of The '80s
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