When do you require a brand-name product?

In My Humble Opinion
61

I’m notoriously… uhh… FRUGAL. But I’ve definitely come to appreciate brand-names for some items:

butter- the generic stuff seems to have way higher moisture content, which can mess with some recipes

paper products- particularly paper towels. only Bounty or Brawny will do.

laundry detergent- I haven’t found a generic that works as well as the name brands

breakfast cereal- I know they say many of the generics are manufactured on the same lines as the name brands, but for whatever reason I just can’t bring myself to eat fake-Lucky Charms out of a giant sack

62

Peanut butter, specifically, Jim Creamy.

63

Often, sadly. I always try generics, but they often turn out to be a false economy. I’m not brand loyal, though - most times, as long as it is a brand, that’s good enough. This means that I can often take advantage of bogof offers that work out close to the store brand price anyway.

Andrex toilet paper, bounty kitchen roll, any decent bin bags.

store-brand dishwasher tabs, ime, simply don’t work.

I’ve yet to find a store brand coffee that doesn’t taste like it was scraped off the floor.

Total greek yoghurt - the others have too much cow’s milk and are too thin.

Bob martin crystal cat litter is the only one that stops my stinky cat killing us all with his poo fumes.

duracell batteries genuinely do last longer.

64

-Fender and Peavey music gear
-Pampered Chef, Calphalon, KitchenAid and Wilton products for the kitchen whenever possible
-9 Lives cat food
-Hefty trash bags
-Gain laundry detergent
-Sonic Care toothbrush
-Crisco shortening
-Cheezits snack crackers

**Edited to add: ** Totally agree about the Duracell batteries. It’s the only brand that I buy.

65

When I moved in with my husband, I had never purchased generic anything. My mom always bought the brand name because she assumed they were better. My husband’s mom always bought the store brand because they were cheaper.

It was the first big dilemma we had to solve. It took about two years to come to an equitable solution. The rules are thus:

  1. If the brand name is on sale for less than the generic, we get the brand name.
  2. If the generic is cheaper, we will try it.
  3. If the generic turns out to be of lower quality, we start buying the brand name again.

(We’re math nerds. We often resolve arguments by creating algorithms.)

Anyway, I have tried almost every generic item in our grocery store. Here’s what I have discovered:

  1. Different stores have different generics. Just because one store’s is bad, does not mean they all are (and vice-versa). Pick a store for generics and stick with it.
  2. For food products, 80% of generic food is exactly the same as brand name food. They just change the labels between runs.
  3. For cleaning products, the store brand is rarely exactly the same thing. If you need it to do something very well, get a brand name. If okay will do, get generic.

What will I not use generic for:

Dishwasher detergent (Finish)
Laundry detergent (Tide)
Window cleaner (Windex)
Toilet Paper (Cashmere)
Paper Towels (Bounty)
Ketchup (Heinz)
Soda (Diet Coke)

What are you people doing to your ears to need Q-tips instead of the generic?

66

The brand or you use actual wool?

67

My glasses – Varilux brand lenses only.

One of my prescriptions; found through unpleasant results that the generic just doesn’t work.

68

Brand. Used to be Cottonelle. They rebranded to Cashmere. Someone else bought the Cottonelle brand and is now using it on an inferior product.

http://www.cashmere.ca/english/index.php

69

Some pharmaceuticals (e.g. my thyroid med); while for most medications, generic is fine, I’ve had it suggested that with the thyroid medication you should either be on the brand name, or a consistent generic. Since the generic might be from any supplier depending on who had it the cheapest the last time the pharmacy restocked, I’m sticking with the brand name.

Toilet paper. Had bad luck with some cheap brands, good luck with some brands.

Cereal: I used to insist on one brand of raisin bran. The store brand just wasn’t as good. Then I think they improved the store brand so it’s acceptable.

Soda: not that I drink that much, but when I do I go for the brand name (Coke vs Pepsi, Sprite vs 7-up).

Guinea pig food. Gotta be Oxbow.

Yogurt: Yoplait all the way, and it’s only recently that I’ve been able to eat that without gagging.

Now, I do draw the line at the super-generic stuff - our grocery chain has their store brand, then an even cheaper “brand” with some label that basically says “this is what we swept off the floor after canning the real stuff”. I’ve tried that once or twice, in several different products, and won’t touch it.

70

Do “old school” generics even still exist? Like the props in Repo Man; beer in a white can with black lettering, “BEER”?

Like this…

71

I was thinking the exact same thing. I always use generic, and never had a “mishap” of any sort.

I always enjoy hearing it called “tin foil”, because it probably hasn’t been made of tin in over 50 years! My ex-wife, who’s 43 now, used to always call it tin foil, and I was baffled as to why; I could understand our parents or grandparents calling it that, but in our lifetime it’s always been made of aluminum.

72

Oh, and Diet Coke. I sometimes think it has a secret ingredient called “addictine” added to it. :wink:

73

Band Aids. I tried ‘Assured’ brand from Dollar Tree. Would have been better off without.

Soft drinks.

Coffee.

74

I actually tend to buy brand name products, simply because I’ve usually found them more reliable.

There’s a small handful of exceptions: drugs, milk, and cereal are always store-brand in our house.

75

Cocoa: It must be Hershey’s at a minimum (or else one of the more luxe brands), but store-brand cocoa is not worth it.

Yeast: Insist on Fleischmann’s.

Store-brand canned tomatoes/tomato paste/sauce/purée etc. are fine, but always avoid Hunt’s products. Hunt’s is vile.

76

V8, generic vegetable juice is nasty

77

Q-tips- the store brands are too bendy.

Tampax- store brands just don’t work as well.

Hershey’s syrup- other stuff tastes like wax.

78

Vanilla.

79

Cream cheese - has to be Philadelphia. I’ve tried some store brands and they taste off.
Razors - Schick. They’re a good quality razor plus they have this little button gizmo that lets you push out the hair.

80

sticky lemon haze…mmmmmmmmm