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Common sense would suggest that if something costs more, it must be for a reason. The materials, the expertise, the longevity, all of these things make something that little bit harder to produce. But experience shows that sometimes prices are so disconnected from reality that a wise consumer best does their research first.
People online, netizens, if you will, share their favorite examples of cheaper versions of items that are really just better than their expensive counterparts. So get comfortable as you scroll through, upvote your favorites and list your own examples in the comments section below.
This post may include affiliate links.
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#2
Most generic over the counter medicines are the same thing as the brand name ones.
#3
Dollar store birthday/thank you cards. No one really cares how much you spent on one or whether it's an overpriced $3.99 American Greetings one.
#5
Acetaminophen/ibuprofen. Advil and Tylenol are so expensive compared to the store brand versions and they’re literally the same chemical make up.
#6
Most Kirkland products.
Sue Mullen Andersen 9 months ago
Kirkland brands are just relabeled national brands. You can look up who makes each on Google.
#7
Tap water. It's like $2 for 1000 gallons.
Just checked Walmart. Deer Park is $3,149.50 for 1000 gallons. Even the King of Plumbers won't charge that to put in a whole house filter.
Yes, there is a King of Plumbers. And he has a Privy Council, but they don't do s**t.
#8
White vinegar for cleaning,
You can buy a giant jug of white vinegar for $5. You can buy a small spray bottle of it for the same amount. One is for general use, the other is advertised to rich hippies as a chemical free, sustainable way to clean your kitchen. It’s the same exact product.
Don’t even get me started on buying spices in the “spice aisle” vs the “Mexican/ethnic” aisle at the grocery store.
#9
Used vs new. I almost prefer a few scratches for 50-60% off
David 9 months ago
My HE front loader Whirlpool washer was marked down $100 (more? I forget) when I bought it about 10 years ago. It has a small, about 2" scratch on the right side of the machine that I can't even see with the machine in place. I forget all about it unless I see a post like this. I also have tons of used stuff.
#11
Stainless steel thermoses. My $11 Contigo one seals completely (I can throw it in upside-down in my bag and it doesn't leak) and keeps my coffee hot for hours. I used a relative's Yeti once and didn't think it had anything more going for it.
LooseSeal's $10 Banana 9 months ago
Love my Contigo coffee mugs. Over a decade of use and still going strong.
#12
Using vinegar to clean your floors, you don't need a fancy floor specific cleaner.
#13
Not sure about other parts of the world but this is in Britain.
Medication brands are ridiculous.
In Britain you can buy “proper” brand Paracetamol. Or you can buy Tesco’s own cheap brand of Paracetamol.
They’re literally the same medication, just different packaging and pricing. No ingredient is different in the medication. And it isn’t just Paracetamol either, it’s like a bunch of different medications.
#14
Basically any off brand food from Aldi.
Verena 9 months ago
It depends. Yes, most of their products are made at the same place as higher priced brands. But there often is more difference than just a different glass and label. Cheap comes with a price. Check and compare the list of ingredients. Where I live & buy (Netherlands, Germany, Denmark), Aldi is best okay - but food standards and regulations are h**h and on the consumers' side. Aldi was founded in Germany and we grew up together, I know it from when this was a jar & tin store, sold out of cartons.
#15
Coffee makers. My $5 french press can do anything a fancy coffeemaker can do besides froth milk. All the silly bells and whistles (not to mention piles of plastic waste) that come with a fancy coffeemaker running on pods/paper filters/batteries/what have you don't amount to much when all you need for a cup of coffee is hot water and coffee.
#16
Watches
Don't know why people spend so much money on watches when a cheap one can do the job just fine.
#17
For me, the number-one on the list has to be **phone cases/covers**. I try to get the cheapest one possible without any consideration for brand name. As long as it's black and it fits, it's great.
Kika González 9 months ago
Get an Otter box, doesn't break and your phone doesn't get c*****d screen
#18
Dutch oven. no regrets on the money spent on the eye candy brand ones but utility-wise there's truly no difference.
#19
Screw driver is a screw driver is a screw driver.
30 year old hammer is a hammer. No cracks? That s**t is golden.
If you can pick up non rotating tools at a garage sale cheap, that stuff is a great buy.
Michael Fernandez 9 months ago
Tools that are cheaply made that ruin bolts or s***w heads are very bad and can cause damage far in excess of the cost of higher quality tools. E.g., a crescent wrench that gives a little under torque and smooths out a bolt.
#20
Bar soap.
Lyone Fein 9 months ago
This is definitely highly personal. It depends on your skin type, whether you have allergies or other sensitivities, etc.
#21
Safety razors ( aka double edge razors ) vs cartridge razors. Seriously the shave is great, and the blades are so cheap. 10-30$ / 100.
Once you have the handle you're good, and for ~30$ you can get a stainless steel razor, none of that plastic c**p like you'll get with cartridge razors..
Rachel Pelz 9 months ago
As somebody who shaves their legs rather infrequently, I remember switching to cartridges and the utter joy of no longer cutting myself several times. So this one may be true but is lost on me ;)
#22
Store brand flavored seltzer.
Bob Brooce 9 months ago (edited)
Its hard to s***w up adding CO2 to water. Edit: Apparently BP has found a new and shittier automated word censor with a vastly expanded list of words.
#23
Water.
#24
My cheap blender that I bought when I first moved out on my own is still going strong while the nice cuisinart one with the food processor I got for my wedding died pretty quickly.
#25
I've been told that the costco brand vodka (Kirkland Vodka, I think) is extremely cheap for a handle, and is quite good and is comparable to grey goose in quality.
Marie Clear 9 months ago
Yes, this is VERY true! I'm not a big vodka fan, but the only one I enjoyed in a mixed drink was Grey Goose. So we did a side-by-side with Kirkland brand, and we couldn't tell the difference.
#26
Behringer Model D ($300) versus Moog Minimoog D ($3500). They sound nearly identical across their full ranges of sounds. The Behringer does require an external MIDI keyboard, but those can be had for as little as $100 (and most keyboard players already have one).
EDIT: For the uninitiated . . . these are electronic synthesizers (musical instruments).
#27
Most kinds of cables. HDMI, ethernet - you can get stuff off Amazon or Monoprice that is waaaay cheaper and just as good as Monster or some other big brand.
Renno Lillemets 9 months ago
I beg to differ, quality of a cheap HDMI cable and quality one is pretty big and effects your picture quality. It doesnt have to be a big brand one but just get good ones not the cheapest
#28
Clancy's Baked BBQ Chips. I get mine from Aldi. They're like half the price and actually taste better than the Lay's brand.
Šimon Špaček 9 months ago
I didn't like chips too much, until I tried to make them at home. Now I cannot eat storebought chips, because they just taste not potato-ish enough.
#29
A fun one at work is otoscopes (the lens with the handle and the light.) The department spent thousands on like 8 of them. They sucked, and the administration even wanted the docs to have to sign them out. A year later most are missing or broken and they bought $30 ones off of Amazon that work just fine.
#30
I found out you can get some really good, high quality, good looking, polarized sunglasses ordered from china that are like around $8 . I stopped paying $70 for something I constantly lose.
Verena 9 months ago
"ordered from China" is the key here. I doubt the h**h quality, how long do they last? Or are they thrown in the bin every three months, because fashion changes and they are dead cheap? Overconsuming is a huge problem and I doubt that OP would agree to work in Chinese factory and live like a Chinese worker, producing these glasses.
#31
Instead of AirPods^(TM) you can buy a beanie off Amazon for like 15$ that has Bluetooth headphones in it. Way more comfortable and warm, plus AirPod^(TM) users won't call you broke.
#32
Tenda Routers. For the same feature set as a much higher priced Asus router, you can get a Tenda for about 2/3 the price of an Asus, Linksys, or Cisco router. Have ran them for years with 0 issue, in fact there is still a vary old (like 10 years plus) $5 dollar Tenda router in use at my parents house. Still working perfectly.
Heck, ill go out and say nearly anything that is a Microcenter house brand is as good or better than MOST name brand items. I wouldn't get Inland fans, but cables? Media? Every time.
#33
Pots and Pans
I love my T-Fals
Calfphalon is a waste of money.
Šimon Špaček 9 months ago
I have to say that getting some cast iron and forged iron pans was amazing decision. They are heavy, I know, but they also keep heat, so they are amazing for meat or big pieces of vegetables. And they will last for centuries, not like any non-stick pan that will start peeling after a year.
#34
Shoes. Just because they're Premium XX Panther Special Edition Golden Supreme-Velcro Adidas Trainers, doesn't mean you can pop down to a normal shoe shop and get some normal shoes.
#35
I've posted this before, but for all of you Texans out there, HEB's product line is almost always as good as or better than the original product, while also being cheaper. Last time I posted this, I said that their only inferior product that I've had was their ice cream line when compared to Blue Bell, but a significant amount of people disagreed with that, so it seems that they're still batting 1.000.
#36
Nose strips and cotton swabs.
David 9 months ago
Cotton swabs are not the same. "Close enough" maybe. I just purchased another box of Walmart "Q--tips" because they were about half the price of the brand name Qtips but I CAN tell a difference. The cheaper ones seem to have a tiny bit less cotton, the cotton can come a bit loose more easily if I 'm wiggling them around in my ear. Also the stick portion is not quite as sturdy and bends more easily. I used Qtips for many years because every time I tried an off brand I was disappointed. The last year or so I've been using the Walmart Equate brand because my income is limited and they are "good enough'.
#38
Boots for work or mountain walks
if you go to an army shop you can get really good boots for a really fair price compared to a brand
seeing my friend stumble around in his 150 euro clark boots with me in mountain paths and mud while mine cost like 29 euros and i had them in scruffy but good condition for like 6 years.
#39
Movies. It is cheaper to rent a movie and stream it online than going to the theatre. Me and my sister…that’s kind of our thing, Tuesday night is movie night and…we could spend $60 at the theatre or go to our parents house and use the theatre there or my house and watch it on the 80 inch in the basement. Unlimited popcorn and drinks, free candy and if you need to go to the bathroom…you can pause the movie so you don’t have to rush. Only downside is…you have to have a really solid wifi connection.
#41
Aldi Soy Milk. Less than half the price of other supermarkets.
Coles/Woolies/IGA (Aussie companies) it's $2.80, Aldi it's $1.09.
Just one of the many bargains Aldi is gutting the competition with.
#42
If you don’t have medical insurance, look up your prescription from your doctor online. You might find the exact brand and packaging sold through a pet supply online store and don’t need a prescription to purchase a $10 item when CVS is charging you $150.
Susie Elle 9 months ago (edited)
Or ... you might not! Don't just start taking meds for animals!
#43
Fitbit watches and smart watches. Off brands like Amazfit Bip and Skagen Hagen Connected work exactly the same minus the cost. Another one is by the store brand of food items taste as good or better as the regular big brand food items.
WindySwede 9 months ago
I skip s***t watches all completely. Saves even more. Haven't realised any benefit from them? And how do you know they aren't selling your bio data to your health provider?
#44
Wonder clips. Used in sewing and quilting. The name brand are all red and instantly expensive (100 clips for $60ish) and you can but the cheap ones on Amazon and wish for $8-10 for 100, and they're different colors. They work just as well, occassionally you many get a few that are a little difficult to open, but for the price difference its beyond worth it. I'm always baffled that people pay for the brand name ones. Most of the time though its because they dont realize the cheap ones exist since they're sold online only.
#45
Jeans.
PFD 9 months ago
This is more like with the shoes. Good jeans are expensive, but most expensive jeans aren't good. We think the cheap ones are fine because we've learned that the brand-name ones are not much better, but that just shows we've been taught to accept c**p. The good jeans are mostly made by small companies catering to denimheads these days but the quality difference is very real.
#46
Cheap vodka as long as your freeze the everliving s**t out of it
There are also some cheap bourbons and ryes that are pretty good - lookin at you Pikesville.
#47
Soulja pods > air pods.
#50
I realised that cheap safety razors are far better for shaving my head than expensive razors. They flex and bend a lot more which is a lot better for going over the contours of my scalp
#51
Champagne. I've tried more expensive stuff and it tasted like s**t, the (at the time) $10 tosti asti was off the chain.
Ban-One 9 months ago
I beg to differ here. Ok, the difference between a 150$ champagne and a 300$ champagne isn't really that big (at least in my opinion). But the difference between a 20$ champagne and a 100$ champagne is obvious. And that's talking about Champagne. Not counting Prosecco, Cava, Crémant and other sparkling wines - which can be really enjoyable (and I do enjoy them), but not comparable to champagne. Asti is way too sweet for me...I'm all "Brut", no demi-sec for me.
#55
Clothes (most of the time).
#56
Seriously, £5 Tesco branded earphones. Saved me a lot of money.
David 9 months ago
Compared to what? There is zero chance a 5 pound or 5 dollar set of headphones is "better" than my three pairs of headphones I own. I have owned and used cheap headphones and they have their uses, but they absolutely are not "better', which is what this thread is supposedly about.
#57
The Jewel version of cheeseburger Hamburger Helper is better than the brand it emulates. I wouldn't have believed it, but it is...it is.
#59
Those oak aged expensive wines, to me taste like s**t. Maybe I haven’t developed that palette yet but you make me happier with a bottle in the $10 range.
Ban-One 9 months ago
The difference between a 100$ bottle and a 300$ - 500$ bottle isn't as significant in my opinion. The difference between a 5-10$ bottle compared to a 50$ bottle is on the other hand. Of course, there are enjoyable wines for around 10$ and there's nothing wrong with these. But to really enjoy a wine on a dark winter night, then I'd like to spend a bit more to enjoy a bit more. But there are so many different wines out there made in so many different ways and blends. In the end: Whatever you enjoy - cheap or expensive. I'm just saying that there are differences between cheap and cheerful and more aged, heavier ones.
#60
The AmazonBasics brand. We have c*****g boards, a kitchen scale, batteries, hdmi cables, iPhone chargers, towels, and a few other things. Everything works great and is super cheap.
#61
Tattoo machines, i think, if anyone else has had this happen, please let me know.
#62
A bike compared to a car.
#64
For many electronics like remotes, batteries.
What do you think ?
Tucker Cahooter 9 months ago
Next week: All words in BP comments will be censored except for: a, and, the, it
Mari 9 months ago
Maybe the reason is that the USA has now an official language. To make it easy there will be less words, more censored words and forbidden words (migrant, poor, homosexual ect). (I hope I am only joking, you'll never know)
Load More Replies...
Hippopotamuses 9 months ago (edited)
BP. You really need to stop censoring so heavily. Firstly. As you will likely know, many words in English have double meanings. Even the most innocent word. Say "seltzer', has another meaning (Warning. It's gross). At this rate, there will be so many censored words, that it will become impossible for Panda's comments to be understood. There are probably several examples already. Reason two. Words commonly used, such as 'd.r.u.g.s, h.i.g.h etc. have legitimate uses. We all know what they mean in the context which they are being used. As illustrated in the comments, there is a real resentment of this level of censorship. A resentment which, combined with the increasing difficulty of deciphering some of the censored comments, will ultimately result is a falling readership. Your subscribers aren't idiots, and they don't deserve to be treated as though they are. I suspect many will simply choose to go elsewhere.
Tucker Cahooter 9 months ago
Next week: All words in BP comments will be censored except for: a, and, the, it
Mari 9 months ago
Maybe the reason is that the USA has now an official language. To make it easy there will be less words, more censored words and forbidden words (migrant, poor, homosexual ect). (I hope I am only joking, you'll never know)
Load More Replies... Hippopotamuses 9 months ago (edited)
BP. You really need to stop censoring so heavily. Firstly. As you will likely know, many words in English have double meanings. Even the most innocent word. Say "seltzer', has another meaning (Warning. It's gross). At this rate, there will be so many censored words, that it will become impossible for Panda's comments to be understood. There are probably several examples already. Reason two. Words commonly used, such as 'd.r.u.g.s, h.i.g.h etc. have legitimate uses. We all know what they mean in the context which they are being used. As illustrated in the comments, there is a real resentment of this level of censorship. A resentment which, combined with the increasing difficulty of deciphering some of the censored comments, will ultimately result is a falling readership. Your subscribers aren't idiots, and they don't deserve to be treated as though they are. I suspect many will simply choose to go elsewhere.
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