# Things you'd never buy at a Dollar Store **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 21, 2011, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youd-never-buy-at-a-dollar-store/572130 "2011-02-21T17:28:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![tr0psn4j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@tr0psn4j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tr0psn4j)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2011, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youd-never-buy-at-a-dollar-store/572130/41 "2011-02-21T22:11:36Z")
> [@Nawth\_Chucka](#): > > Sorry you feel so defensive about your inability to explain yourself. That must be frustrating for you. You’re just trolling right? ---
**Author:** ![Nawth\_Chucka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c57346/32.png) [@Nawth\_Chucka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nawth_Chucka)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2011, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youd-never-buy-at-a-dollar-store/572130/42 "2011-02-21T22:16:14Z")
> [@tr0psn4j](#): > > You’re just trolling right? Nope. I asked him to explain what he meant and by his over-reaction it was clear he couldn’t find the words. Must be frustrating. Though I guess \*\*he \*\*could be trolling, I hadn’t considered that. I consider a poster’s past posting before I trot out that particular chestnut. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2011, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youd-never-buy-at-a-dollar-store/572130/43 "2011-02-21T22:29:14Z")
This thread, or at least its OP, is really giving me a [feeling of deja vu](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=310844). ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2011, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youd-never-buy-at-a-dollar-store/572130/44 "2011-02-21T22:40:23Z")
> [@Superhal](#): > > Knives. I saw a bunch of 6"-12" kitchen knives there. However, if you turn it to the side, they look about 1/3 as thick as a good one. Those actually aren’t too bad for workshop knives. If something is too dulling for my normal knife and needs more blade than a utility knife I’ll use a dollar store knife. When it gets dull hit it with the grinding wheel quick until you can eventually dispose of it and move on to the next one. ---
**Author:** ![Al\_Bundy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e79b87/32.png) [@Al\_Bundy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al_Bundy)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2011, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youd-never-buy-at-a-dollar-store/572130/45 "2011-02-21T23:17:14Z")
Dollar Tree rocks. Everything is kept to a dollar, unlike Family General and Dollar General where they upsell everything. I’ve gotten stuck with a few junk toys, but overall have saved a ton on dental floss, paste, spices and batteries. The best buy was the ink jet ink for $1. I still have a quart left. It sold for $1 in one oz. containers by color. It is dye based and work in about any printer. Still, I think I would refrain from buying condoms at any dollar store just based on principle. I can imagine some Chinaman poking a hole in each one coming down the line. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2011, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youd-never-buy-at-a-dollar-store/572130/46 "2011-02-21T23:19:42Z")
> [@Superhal](#): > > Random thought just occurred to me: > > If one reason why stuff from China is so cheap is because of prison labor, wouldn’t that make any feminine hygiene product that much more gross? No more gross than a t-shirt with “Made in China” stamped on it. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2011, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youd-never-buy-at-a-dollar-store/572130/47 "2011-02-21T23:41:03Z")
> [@BurnMeUp](#): > > I think Dollar Store prgnancy tests are just a popscicle stick with the word “Yes” printed on them. Actually, they’re from China. They say either, “YES BOY :)” or “YES GIRL :(” ---
**Author:** ![Rushgeekgirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rushgeekgirl/32/3715_2.png) [@Rushgeekgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rushgeekgirl)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2011, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youd-never-buy-at-a-dollar-store/572130/48 "2011-02-22T00:40:24Z")
I wouldn’t buy anything for my personal use, even . . .no _especially_ brand name stuff from Dollar Tree. A few weeks ago my local news had a little piece on the Colgate toothpaste manufactured in China being toxic. The cleaning products are crap compared to what I get at the Family Dollar. Love that Mean Green and lemon Fabuloso! Years ago I liked getting cheap toys from there but lately all I see is junk. My little girl loves it though so we go in sometimes after her therapy trips. She’s fond of the coloring books, but the crayons they sell are little more than colored wax. ---
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2011, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youd-never-buy-at-a-dollar-store/572130/49 "2011-02-22T01:24:46Z")
> [@Superhal](#): > > Knives. I saw a bunch of 6"-12" kitchen knives there. However, if you turn it to the side, they look about 1/3 as thick as a good one. I’ve actually got a set of 4 steak knives I got at a dollar store in 1992. They still work fine. I even bought a “real” set of steak knives with the intention of throwing out the dollar store ones, but now I use them interchangeably, and are hard to tell apart save for a subtle difference in the shape of the blade. Nowadays, though, I would avoid any ceramic glazed tableware as well as consumables. I tend to raid the place for Christmas supplies and that’s about it. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2011, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youd-never-buy-at-a-dollar-store/572130/50 "2011-02-22T02:13:05Z")
When we were trying, my wife brought a huge bag full of home pregnancy tests from Taiwan at something like 60 cents each. They work just as well as the more expensive ones. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2011, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youd-never-buy-at-a-dollar-store/572130/51 "2011-02-22T02:33:00Z")
\*I’ll \*tell you what you don’t goddamn buy from a goddamn Dollar Store! A goddamn **flux capacitor** , that’s what! Sonofabitch I want to go home! :(:(☹ ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2011, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youd-never-buy-at-a-dollar-store/572130/52 "2011-02-22T02:51:01Z")
> [@Rhythmdvl](#): > > \*I’ll \*tell you what you don’t goddamn buy from a goddamn Dollar Store! A goddamn **flux capacitor** , that’s what! > > Sonofabitch I want to go home! > :(:(☹ There’s an old woman wandering around with a phone. Maybe she can make a call for you. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2011, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youd-never-buy-at-a-dollar-store/572130/53 "2011-02-22T02:57:01Z")
I know it’s not a dollar store, but I will never again buy women’s underwear at Big Lots. Once I bought some briefs there. Yeah, there was a “irregular” sticker on the package, but I figured what’s the worse that could happen. They were horrible. The elastic must have been made out of bubble gum, because after a couple of months, those babies were not just “irregular”, but morbidly deformed. Like a fool–a cheap fool–I went back and bought some bikini briefs. It was like they were made out of paper or something. Like the other pair, the elastic was non-existent. Once I was wearing a pair with a skirt, and in order to keep them from slipping down to my ankles (as they so badly wanted to do), I had to give myself a wedgie. Yes, in the middle of the street so that everyone could see. From then on out, I decided I will only buy underwear at regular places, like Target and K-Mart. And only Hanes or Fruit of the Looms. If I don’t recognize the brand, I ain’t putting them on. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2011, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youd-never-buy-at-a-dollar-store/572130/54 "2011-02-22T02:59:28Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > From then on out, I decided I will only buy underwear at regular places, like Target and K-Mart. And only Hanes or Fruit of the Looms. If I don’t recognize the brand, I ain’t putting them on. I’ve had people give me crap about buying me underoos at K-Mart (Hanes and Joe Boxer, string bikini) but they last a while, are really cheap, and look reasonably cute. Good call on undies. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2011, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youd-never-buy-at-a-dollar-store/572130/55 "2011-02-22T03:00:54Z")
> [@Nawth\_Chucka](#): > > For the relish it’s Breckenridge Farms, but you know any time you see Greenbrier International, **Chesapeake, VA** it’s Dollar Tree brand. Heh. Maybe it’s on account of the thread topic, but I skimmed that and read “Cheapskate, VA.” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![chizzuk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@chizzuk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chizzuk)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2011, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youd-never-buy-at-a-dollar-store/572130/56 "2011-02-22T03:15:44Z")
Hygiene products and any kind of medicine. I’ll go cheap on some things but those types of items I buy name-brand only and if the name brands have somehow wound up on the shelf of the dollar store, I’m going to be convinced they’re defective no matter what you say to the contrary. I scrimp in other areas but I’d rather pay $14 for a bottle of Advil than $10 for store brand. One of my foibles. ---
**Author:** ![missred](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/missred/32/14096_2.png) [@missred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missred)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2011, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youd-never-buy-at-a-dollar-store/572130/57 "2011-02-22T03:17:52Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > \ > > Baby bottles and formula. I just don’t trust the materials/ingredients. And on a similar note, I don’t buy rawhide bones or pet treats there for the same reason. I’ll spend a couple of dollars more at PetSmart or PetCo for my doggie friends. What I do buy, though, is gift wrapping supplies, especially gift bags. Who wants to spend $3-6 for something to put a present in when you can get one or more for a dollar? ---
**Author:** ![C3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/c3/32/3108_2.png) [@C3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C3)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2011, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youd-never-buy-at-a-dollar-store/572130/58 "2011-02-22T04:09:32Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > I know it’s not a dollar store, but I will never again buy women’s underwear at Big Lots. Once I bought some briefs there. Yeah, there was a “irregular” sticker on the package, but I figured what’s the worse that could happen. Yeah - underpants. When we went to the beach last summer, I forgot to pack any underwear for my son. The only place I could find kids underpants, without driving 45 minutes to a real town, was Dollar General. Man, those things stunk. When I took them out of the package, they smelled like a cheap vinyl shower curtain and they were really stiff and scratchy. I washed them a few times before I let him put them on because I was worried the dyes would come off on his skin. Horrible underpants. But he loved them because they had Lightning McQueen on them, so there’s that. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2011, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youd-never-buy-at-a-dollar-store/572130/59 "2011-02-22T05:50:33Z")
I’m going to have to be put in with the group of people who love dollar stores. I’ve been trying to think of things I wouldn’t buy there, and I can’t really come up with anything (except the aforementioned condoms). I probably wouldn’t get medicine there, either. I have no problem buying food (junk and otherwise) there - if it doesn’t taste good, I don’t eat it, and I’m still not out much money, but I haven’t really had any bad food from there. I don’t eat a lot of dollar store food, but that’s a function of grocery shopping elsewhere, not a fear of the food there. In fact, I find dollar stores fascinating, that they can stock a billion doodads that some factory somewhere in the world are producing. I’ll put in a plug for this book at this point - [Where Underpants Come From](http://www.amazon.com/Where-Underpants-Come-Checkout-Travels/dp/1847370012) - for a fascinating read on how countries like China can supply cheap plastic crap to the rest of the world and make money at it. ---
**Author:** ![Superhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Superhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superhal)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2011, 11:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youd-never-buy-at-a-dollar-store/572130/60 "2011-02-22T11:00:14Z")
> [@Nawth\_Chucka](#): > > Nope. I asked him to explain what he meant and by his over-reaction it was clear he couldn’t find the words. Must be frustrating. > > Though I guess \*\*he \*\*could be trolling, I hadn’t considered that. I consider a poster’s past posting before I **trot** out that particular chestnut. Actually, I was just throwing out a random idea for conversation. For example, in the quote above, you used the word “trot.” Are you implying that I have diarrhea? Why would you say I had the trots? Note that the way you used the word “trot” was totally unrelated to the way I used it, which is the point the other poster is trying to make. If you had read my past 4k posts, it becomes readily clear that when I say “random thought” I’m just throwing an idea out in an attempt to add to the thread rather than making a political, racist or sexist statement. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youd-never-buy-at-a-dollar-store/572130.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youd-never-buy-at-a-dollar-store/572130.md?page=4)