Brands

[Minibit]

A great way to save money is to buy off-brands (the store brand or generic brand. Eg: in Walmart, Great Value). However, a lot of people firmly believe there are a few things you HAVE to get the brand on, or else skip over. And just to set a context for this, I'm speaking of regular, recurring purchases like groceries, cleaning agents, and lightbulbs. Not big or 'investment' type purchases like mattresses, work shoes, or electronics.

But lately for me the only things I don't buy off-brand are milk and tea, and that's for lack of the option.

Tried generic ketchup, KD, cheezies, Coke/soda, hot dogs, couldn't taste a difference.

I buy off-brand clothes if they're cheap, too. I find they last just as long as my more e pensive pieces of I take good care of them.


What about you guys? Are you a brand person? Do you off-brand everything? Or maybe you have a short list of branded products on which you will "accept no substitute!"

I gots to know!

 

[Kagayours]

As stated in the "foods you dislike" thread, I can't stand coffee, tea, or anything carbonated (which includes soda and energy drinks). In other words, there really isn't any caffeinated beverage that I actually like. o_o Because of this, I get all my caffeine from 5 Hour Energy shots -- which don't exactly taste good, but, you know, might as well get my caffeine from something that I only need a single mouthful of in order to get the same effect as something that I'd need to drink an entire cup/can/whatever of.

Now here's the thing, though -- I said that 5 Hour Energy doesn't really taste good (although I think it's started to grow on me over time...). Any generic versions of 5HE that I've tried, though, tasted absolutely horrid. Some of them honestly made me feel mildly sick from how bad they were. DX Name-brand 5HE, on the other hand, is at least tolerable (and, like I said, I think I'm legitimately starting to like it...) -- which is why I only ever buy name-brand 5HE and nothing else.

Oh, and it's also worth noting that I never drink an entire bottle of this stuff in one sitting. It's potent enough that just one bottle will last me a few days, sometimes closer to a whole week if I'm really trying to limit my caffeine consumption. This means that if I buy generic energy shots, I won't just have that horrid taste for a minute or so -- once I open a bottle, I'll be relying on it as my one and only caffeine source for days. And the memories of the few times when I have relied on a generic version for days on end is enough to make me avoid buying any more of it like the plague. DX

So, all things considered, I'm basically the biggest supporter of this brand that you'll probably ever meet. o_o

 

[Jorick]

I almost always go off-brand because it's cheaper and most of the time there's no detectable difference in quality, and most of the times it's detectable it's tiny anyway.

The only thing I can think of that I always go for the brand name is Kraft macaroni and cheese. The other brands at the grocery store I go to have this weirdly gritty cheese powder that gives the finished product a gross texture unless you go hard with the liquid components and end up making it into a weird cheese soup instead of legit macaroni and cheese, and that's just as bad as the weird gritty texture.

 

[Greenie]

I only really worry about brands in food when it comes to canned items, rice and tea/coffee. Most things I buy fresh as is so it doesn't make a difference whether it's brand name or not. Clothes I don't bother much.

I'm very careful with body soaps, dish washing soap and clothes washing soap though. The wrong brand and I'll end up itchy with hives. Not fun.

 

[ᴛᴏᴄᴋᴀ]

Tried generic ketchup, KD, cheezies, Coke/soda, hot dogs, couldn't taste a difference.

You know, down in Florida Winn Dixie's soda was actually better than most of the name brands, especially their diet cherry cola. I loved that stuff and it was only 89 cents for a two liter most of the time.

The one thing I'm not allowed to buy generic in my house is toilet paper. It's either Charmin, or GTFO with my family. Whenever I do try to pinch a few pennies and buy a store brand I do not hear the end of it until I go back to the store and buy Charmin.

Laundry detergent is another thing that I won't go off-brand for. They might say that there's no difference, but I notice it. For one, the off-brand makes my kids break out, even if I get the scent free, dye free crap. For another, clothes just don't get that damn clean with them. With four kids, and a husband that is always coming home covered in mud or oil, it's easier to just get Tide and wash everything once than get cheaper shit and have to wash it a half dozen times.

 

[Kitti]

Store brands on almost everything, like others said. Two notable exceptions that I can think of for myself: chicken and soap. The soap I used a broad term for because it applies to my face soap, shampoo, and laundry soap. I have long, thick hair and shampoo that doesn't turn it into a straw-like mess is important. I like my skin to be fairly nice and it can be fussy, so good balanced face soap is important to me. I don't think that the laundry detergent really ends up being that much cheaper anyway, and I know that the kind I use doesn't make me want to claw my skin off.

Chicken, cheaper brands often load up on the water content in their frozen chicken, meaning that those giant chicken pieces thaw into small little wet globs. And I've tried a bunch of different varieties and I can taste the difference. SADLY, I moved, so the brand I loved is not available at this store. So I'm going with my second-best, which is a bummer.

 

[Greenie]

Oh, reading about chicken reminded me, I am actually very fussy about meat. I only buy from a proper butcher.

 

[Turtle of Doom]

I'm picky about my coffee. You can taste a difference from brand to brand. And salad dressing. If I don't make it myself I'm super picky about what brand I buy.

 

[Diana]

I will only buy Kraft American Cheese. c___c because every other time I try to buy a different brand, the cheese is all oily and plasticy and gross. D:

I also only buy name brand all beef hot dogs. >:[ Usually Hebrew National. Because cheapass hot dogs are just sad.

Aaaah'm, I don't think I am dead-set on branding for anything. I just buy whichever one tastes the best and sometimes the brand will depend on which grocery store I'm in. D:

 

[Alan]

The only place brands matter to me is computer components. That's it.

 

[Indabayou]

I cannot use generic ketchup- it tastes so weird and gross, like old plastic. Heinz ketchup forever.

 

[Touch of Insanity]

I'm a hella snob. Can't do non brands for 90% if things because my family raised me on brand names. Anything that isn't just tastes horrible to me. I would rather go hungry then eat kinda snob about it too. I'm also a hella picky eater which most likely doesn't help my snobbishness to it all. So if I'm going to spend some extra money. It may as well be on making my belly happy.

 

[Dervish]

Usually food stuff I do brand name, but there's always the occassional exception. Some no name potato chips are fantastic, for instance, and stuff like buns are usually no name for me.

Fun little fact about a lot of no name brand stuff: a lot of it is actually made by big name manufactures. Great Value potato chips at Walmart, for instance, are made by Humpty Dumpty.

 

[Greenie]

Fun little fact about a lot of no name brand stuff: a lot of it is actually made by big name manufactures.

I heard that as well, at least about ketchup. It's why I don't mind no name brand ones anymore. Well, they tasted the same to me.

 

[Kagayours]

Fun little fact about a lot of no name brand stuff: a lot of it is actually made by big name manufactures. Great Value potato chips at Walmart, for instance, are made by Humpty Dumpty.

I heard that as well, at least about ketchup. It's why I don't mind no name brand ones anymore. Well, they tasted the same to me.

One way to tell the difference is to compare the nutrition labels of a name brand product and its generic counterpart. If the labels are exactly the same, then it's safe to assume it's made out of the exact same stuff (and possibly even made by the same people). If the numbers and things on the labels don't match up, then there has to be something different about them. :D

 

[Tempest]

I'll often go offbrand on food and and drinks... Except doctor pepper, depending on the off brand. There are minor differences. Some add minor differences in the sugars and stuff, actually. If you could see the broken down ingredients you could see the exact break down in most of these, you could see the differences.... But most people unless they are very picky wont notice... I am very picky about texture and flavor, though.

The only thing I don't like taking offbrand of... Is clothes because offbrand tends not to be as durable and tears easier and fade faster... And electronics, which tends to be of cheaper plastics, wiring, louder, put together, etc. ie) the bose speakers I just just bought? Most beautiful sound. The asus monitor i bought? Best picture, sturdiest base and better angles, and much sleeker and lighter. *shrugs*

 

[Greenie]

The asus monitor i bought? Best picture, sturdiest base and better angles, and much sleeker and lighter. *shrugs*

I can attest to that, I had one last year, and it was perfect. Had to sell it though ;w; sad times.

 

[Aragorn12]

Well, as far as food goes, I'm mostly not really picky. With hotdogs, I always have to get the nathans or ballparks however. The other brands just taste...wonky.

But electronics...is another story. I avoid brands like Beats by Dre like the plague(that 100 dollar pair of headphones they have? It's equal in sound quality to a 30 dollar pair of logitechs.) I avoid Razer(Awful quality assurance.) I prefer to stick with AMD GPUs versus Nvidia(I've had a better experience with them, plus I like them as a company a LOT more. And they tend to be cheaper anyways.) I'm extremely selective with power supplies, as most of the off brands put out units that belong on the side of a road in Iraq(not even kidding. They've been known to catch fire and even explode. I never cheap out on the power supply.)

 

[Dervish]

One way to tell the difference is to compare the nutrition labels of a name brand product and its generic counterpart. If the labels are exactly the same, then it's safe to assume it's made out of the exact same stuff (and possibly even made by the same people). If the numbers and things on the labels don't match up, then there has to be something different about them. :D

That is actually a really clever idea I never considered. Ten points to Hufflepuff!

I'll often go offbrand on food and and drinks... Except doctor pepper, depending on the off brand. There are minor differences. Some add minor differences in the sugars and stuff, actually. If you could see the broken down ingredients you could see the exact break down in most of these, you could see the differences.... But most people unless they are very picky wont notice... I am very picky about texture and flavor, though.

The only thing I don't like taking offbrand of... Is clothes because offbrand tends not to be as durable and tears easier and fade faster... And electronics, which tends to be of cheaper plastics, wiring, louder, put together, etc. ie) the bose speakers I just just bought? Most beautiful sound. The asus monitor i bought? Best picture, sturdiest base and better angles, and much sleeker and lighter. *shrugs*

Dr. Pepper is one of those pops that I absolutely need name brand for. The off brands taste weird, which is surprising because pretty much every other kind is in the ballpark.

Agreed about electronics. Every piece of no name electronics I got was shitty beyond compare and broke within a year. Meanwhile, the friggin' Discman and Gameboy Pocket I used and abused extensively still work like a charm after 20 years.

Well, as far as food goes, I'm mostly not really picky. With hotdogs, I always have to get the nathans or ballparks however. The other brands just taste...wonky.

But electronics...is another story. I avoid brands like Beats by Dre like the plague(that 100 dollar pair of headphones they have? It's equal in sound quality to a 30 dollar pair of logitechs.) I avoid Razer(Awful quality assurance.) I prefer to stick with AMD GPUs versus Nvidia(I've had a better experience with them, plus I like them as a company a LOT more. And they tend to be cheaper anyways.) I'm extremely selective with power supplies, as most of the off brands put out units that belong on the side of a road in Iraq(not even kidding. They've been known to catch fire and even explode. I never cheap out on the power supply.)

Apparently, some guy took apart a Beats by Dre headset and found that the parts were worth about 22 dollars. They really are shit with a famous name on top to sell.