# What can you buy for $1.00 (including tax) today?... **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 15, 2019, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-you-buy-for-1-00-including-tax-today/835580 "2019-06-15T20:43:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2019, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-you-buy-for-1-00-including-tax-today/835580/21 "2019-06-16T12:17:26Z")
You can get an amazing assortment of crap from China for a buck, including shipping. E.g., this “fashoin” [mp3 player](https://www.ebay.com/itm/Fashoin-Mini-Clip-MP3-Media-Player-With-card-1-8GB-blue-and-white-porcelain/163080431977?epid=18020131436&hash=item25f859e969%3Ag%3A1ycAAOSwnOtbFROR&LH_BIN=1). (I bought a better version of this a few years ago for a couple bucks. It actually works. I put in a SD card with sleep tapes on it and keep it on the nightstand.) ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2019, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-you-buy-for-1-00-including-tax-today/835580/22 "2019-06-16T13:27:06Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > You can get an amazing assortment of crap from China for a buck, including shipping. > > E.g., this “fashoin” [mp3 player](https://www.ebay.com/itm/Fashoin-Mini-Clip-MP3-Media-Player-With-card-1-8GB-blue-and-white-porcelain/163080431977?epid=18020131436&hash=item25f859e969%3Ag%3A1ycAAOSwnOtbFROR&LH_BIN=1). That reminds me, I once had a coupon for AliExpress that was $3 off $5 or something. I found something I wanted and was 15 cents short of the $5 minimum. I browsed around some more and settled on a little plastic toy dinosaur that just got me there. Free shipping even. Thing is, AliExpress is like Amazon if Amazon was all third party sellers. So my main product and dinosaur came from different people and were shipped separately. I got my stuff and then, month later, got a little mystery envelope with the dinosaur in it. For fifteen cents, someone manufactured, posted a sales listing, and packed my dinosaur, put it on a boat to travel from China to California, then have the Postal service bring it to my door where it now sits on my monitor stand. Yay capitalism. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2019, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-you-buy-for-1-00-including-tax-today/835580/23 "2019-06-16T16:27:37Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > In Ontario, you can’t even get gas station air for a dollar. > > We got rid of the penny here a few years back. We could seriously get rid of the nickel and then the dime and no one would notice, or care. At some point, you’re just going to have stop calling them dollars and start calling them pesos. ---
**Author:** ![robardin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/43a26b/32.png) [@robardin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robardin)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2019, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-you-buy-for-1-00-including-tax-today/835580/24 "2019-06-16T19:15:22Z")
> [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](#): > > Deer nuts are also under a buck. > > (ducks and runs) I will give you a polite golf clap for this effort. That should keep you in place while my associates come up behind you with the gunnysack and baseball bats. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2019, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-you-buy-for-1-00-including-tax-today/835580/25 "2019-06-16T19:55:56Z")
[Obligatory XKCD strip](https://xkcd.com/576/). ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2019, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-you-buy-for-1-00-including-tax-today/835580/26 "2019-06-18T03:54:08Z")
Lots of things at the dollar store are really just a dollar. And if you buy food, there’s no tax, at least in California. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2019, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-you-buy-for-1-00-including-tax-today/835580/27 "2019-06-18T04:05:51Z")
> [@](#): > > Quoth **Jophiel** : > > For fifteen cents, someone manufactured, posted a sales listing, and packed my dinosaur, put it on a boat to travel from China to California, then have the Postal service bring it to my door where it now sits on my monitor stand. Yay capitalism. Has it suddenly but inevitably betrayed you yet? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2019, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-you-buy-for-1-00-including-tax-today/835580/28 "2019-06-18T04:13:34Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > A car? I just sold one “For One Dollar ($1.00) and other good and valuable consideration,…” > > The buyer got a bargain. I’m pretty sure it was worth at least…ten dollars. A car. I’ll be buying a car from my mother’s estate for $1 this weekend. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2019, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-you-buy-for-1-00-including-tax-today/835580/29 "2019-06-19T14:03:52Z")
At the discount store where I work, we sell gift bags, aluminium tins, Krazy Glue, little tubs of Vaseline, candy bars, single serving bags of chips and cookies, and tape measures on a key chain for under a dollar. The tape measures on the key chain are at my register and are big sellers. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2019, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-you-buy-for-1-00-including-tax-today/835580/30 "2019-06-19T15:03:19Z")
Around here I could buy 93¢. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2019, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-you-buy-for-1-00-including-tax-today/835580/31 "2019-06-19T15:36:21Z")
2 sodas out of the Walmart vending machine. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2019, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-you-buy-for-1-00-including-tax-today/835580/32 "2019-06-19T16:25:30Z")
There is a place here that sells money orders for 79 cents. ETA: Right now, 7-eleven has Big Gulps for 79 cents. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2019, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-you-buy-for-1-00-including-tax-today/835580/33 "2019-06-20T13:55:12Z")
Two years ago, the store I work at sold Fidget Spinners for $1.99 and we could not keep them on the shelves. Several times, I had to get bulk purchases (50 or more) okayed by the manager. Today, they are 79 cents and we can’t give them away. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2019, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-you-buy-for-1-00-including-tax-today/835580/34 "2019-06-20T23:09:17Z")
You might get a hand job from a desperate crackhead hooker for $1. (I really don’t know what the going rate is.) ---
**Author:** ![TimeWinder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bcef8e/32.png) [@TimeWinder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TimeWinder)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2019, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-you-buy-for-1-00-including-tax-today/835580/35 "2019-06-21T02:16:01Z")
> [@lingyi](#): > > Excluding Dollar and 99 Cent stores, because of additional local tax, what can you buy for $1.00 or less today? Can those of us living in sales-tax-free utopias claim an exception to include dollar stores/dollar menus? ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2019, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-you-buy-for-1-00-including-tax-today/835580/36 "2019-06-21T03:35:34Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > At some point, you’re just going to have stop calling them dollars and start calling them pesos. At some point the US needs to eliminate the penny, and replace the one dollar bill with a coin. Seriously though, apart from unprocessed grocery items just about everything has a 13% tax here. I know the Canadian dollar is, what 75% of the US dollar, but there’s pretty much nothing to be had for a dollar here. Maybe if you went to a bulk food store and bought 20 peanuts or chocolate chips perhaps. ---
**Author:** ![lingyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d2c977/32.png) [@lingyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lingyi)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2019, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-you-buy-for-1-00-including-tax-today/835580/37 "2019-06-21T06:34:33Z")
> [@TimeWinder](#): > > Can those of us living in sales-tax-free utopias claim an exception to include dollar stores/dollar menus? Ooookay…but it really makes me jealous! 😃 AFAIK, we don’t have any $ stores left in Hawaii. Everything would end up being $1.04 or $1.05 (depending on county) anyway. ☹ Edit: We do have two Daiso stores though I hear few things are actually a dollar. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-you-buy-for-1-00-including-tax-today/835580.md?page=1)