Store Brands and Generics

It depends really. The fact is that store brands at Walmart are literally the same thing as the brand name product. Walmart often won't sell a company's products unless that company offers a store brand alternative for Walmart to sell. Not all stores engage in this same practice, but purchasing a store brand doesn't always result in lower quality items. It depends upon the company in question and the products themselves.

 

I rarely buy name brand products. The name brand products are more expensive, less product for your money, and don't taste any different than generic brand products. I shop at Aldi's and Ruler's for groceries. They carry their own generic brands of products. At Target, I purchase the Up brands (Target's generic brand). At Walmart, I buy the Great Value generic brand items. I say give it a try. You will be surprised at the lower costs and better values.

 

I sometimes by generic brands depending on the product. If it's standard cleaning supplies, for example, I tend to get generic brands. I buy some generic or store brand food products to try them out sometimes, and some of them are OK. For example, I like Great Value (by Walmart) cereal bars. However for for some stuff I prefer the better quality stuff.

 

Agreed, I buy the Walmart brand products all the time and I don't notice any difference in quality from the name brands. Frequently, the Walmart brand items are cheaper than buying a name brand product with a coupon.

 

I buy many generic products. For the most part I don't see any difference and I can save quite a bit of money. I buy food, beauty products and paper products that are all generic or store brands. I don't usually buy generic or store brand diapers because they never seem to work as good. I also don't like generic baby wipes because I always have to use double the amount and it ends up costing more in the long run to keep buying more.

 

My dad buys the supermarket brand of tissue, and I never notice any difference in quality. I also buy generic medicines, but my dad says the branded ones work better for him, while I also don't notice any difference. But I'm sure if it's food or other items then you will notice that there is a difference, after all, you get what you pay for.

 

I buy store brand products for things that I won't notice much difference in such as tissue paper. For things like rice or meat products like sausage and bacon, I tend to splurge a little and buy good brands because I would be able to taste the difference and would be dissatisfied if it were subpar which is often the case with generic branded foods. For all other things that will go unnoticeable I would go with generic.

 

For the most part I buy generics if it means I'll save some money. To be honest I find that generic or store brand is just as good as the name brand and figure why pay more when I don't have to? Now, there are certain things that I will buy name brand because I find that it is better than the knock off.

 

@ Mindy T: Oh! Yes... Great value at Walmart I guess can be considered "generic" and that is the only brand of lemon juice I use for instance along with other Great Value brands. I find that they are just as good as other products.

 

I usually like Walmart and Kroger's store brand stuff. The only thing I really only like to buy name brand is sandwich bread. It seems to get stale quicker if it's store brand.

 

I used to prefer store brands until I bought my last bottle of cayenne. It wasn't transparent so I couldn't by looking at it, tell the quantity of cayenne it contained. When I got home congratulating myself on having got a great deal, I opened the bottle and to my genuine disappointment found out that bottle was less 3/4 full. It was like someone had scooped out some of the cayenne then sealed up the bottle properly.

It was the last time I bought any store brand product.

 

Our family buys those generic products that seem to be the same quality as the branded products. For instance pasta, white sugar (to feed our bees), canned mushrooms and cheese. Most of those generic products are actually produced in the same factory as the generic ones! The large supermarket chain signs a deal to buy, say, 100.000 kilos of pasta for a lower price from the company that makes them and proceeds to sell them at a cheaper price. We also buy generic vinegar for pickling, since the quality difference doesn't really matter.

 

I don't have a problem with store brands at all. I think that they are just as good as the name brands. All of my cleaning supplies are name brand or generic, and I don't notice a difference. I also buy generic canned foods, pasta and cereal, and they taste just as good as the name brands.

 

I almost always buy generic unless the brand name ones are on sale; THEN I buy the brand name ones. Often times I find that the generic ones work just as well as the brand name ones, and it's always nice to save some money. There's no use in "keeping up with the Jones" when both products work equally the same.

I think the only time I'd ever buy a brand name is if I have tried the generic brand multiple times and just find that it is absolutely not as good as the brand-name ones. But otherwise, generic all the way!

 

Generic packaging may look a little unattractive but that's really the only small sacrifice I endure. Sometimes, I find that there are little differences that make a name brand more favorable than the store brand, but this is rarely ever the case. For sanitizing or cleanup wipes, I may have the need to select a more rugged material depending on the application, and the more expensive brand tends to have exactly what I need.

I certainly agree with everyone else in that generic brands are generally an alright fit for your everyday needs. It's not an entire truth that they are always just as good as the expensive brand, but you will definitely save some cash. Sometimes paying premium is absolutely unavoidable, and I'd say it only occurs once in every ten of my shopping trips.

 

It just depends really. But I read an article some years ago where it talked about how some products, especially drugs, are literally manufactured at the same factory the exact same way. Only one gets a name brand label and costs more. So when it comes to medicine, I always buy the cheaper store brand alternative. I have found that they are pretty much equally effective.

 

In the UK generic brands are big business. Many supermarkets make deals with major companies to make the products under their own name. Campbells makes soup for a retailer under their own name for example and some biscuit (cookies) are made for the supermarkets. It is often the case of the packaging.

There is a difference in quality and size; you have the basics or a saver range, everyday essentials and then the store own brand to cater for all budgets. For example a tin of beans at the basic range will have more sauce, where the store brand one will have a few more beans and a thicker sauce, the difference is usually a few pence.

For tissues, scourers, bin liners etc I will buy generic. Even generic chips and snacks are good. CVS do their own range which are very good quality and much cheaper than the other brands.
There used to be a stigma, but in the UK more people are turning to generic brands. In the USA, some people don't trust them, but I have found some products to be good quality, but my US friends are more cautious. When a friend did try some generic fries, she was surprised they tasted so good.

 

I have also found the generics are of good quality and often the same quality as the name brand with just another label on it at a discounted price. Often when I shop at the dollar store I will see items I know the band name in a plain package like Dove soap, I can smell the soap and know it is Dove, I have a very sensitive nose.

More people will go for generic products when their money maybe a little tight and switch back to the brand name when they have more funds to work with.

 

i usually buy generic products and store brands because you mostly can't tell any difference between the two items, except for the looks of the can and the price of the product.
When there is a difference in flavor , or other reason, then I will spend the extra to get the name brand that i prefer. Yogurt is one of those things for me. I only like Greek Gods yogurt if I am eating it plain. If it is only going to go in a smoothie, then any cheap yogurt works fine for me; so it also depends on why I am buying the yogurt.
Mostly , you can save a lot of money buy getting the generic brand. There was almost $1 difference in the price of a small can of salad shrimp between the generic brand and the name brand, and I am happy with the taste of the generic just fine.