Sneaky Tricks 'Dollar Stores' Pull That The Owners Don't Want People To Know About
Birthday cards, candy, and trinkets to keep the kids busy — there's a lot at dollar stores that can make a shopper's jaw drop when they see that famous $0.99 price tag. Everyone has thought, this price seems way too good to be true, but is there any merit to that worry? The answer is a complicated "sometimes." Make sure you're not a victim of the most commonly seen tricks dollar stores use to make sure profits stay high.
40. Canned Toxins
Checking a can's label won't keep you safe from Bisphenol A, an industrial chemical that can sometimes make its way into canned goods. Studies have uncovered links between the compound and high blood pressure, as well as children's moods and behaviors.
39. Toxic Toys
Products at the dollar store are cheap because they're cheaply made. A 2015 study conducted by Ecocenter revealed there's a 49 percent chance of any dollar store toy having at least two toxins in them. There's an 81 percent chance that the cheap plastic will contain at least one toxin.
38. Uncertified Electronics
When it comes to picking up a cheap USB charger or other piece of equipment at the dollar store, check its label — or lack of one. Electronics should have a UL label (Underwriters Laboratories). As the top safety certification company, a UL label ensures the product meets its safety standards. A bad scenario? You wasted your dollar. Worst case scenario? An electrical fire and a ruined appliance.
37. Hidden Brands
Oh, and all those dollar boxes of cereal? Make sure you double check the label. Like really squint at it. According to TheStreet, brands make additional products with far lesser quality, and knock-off brands are packaged extremely similarly to some of the top cereals. Still, cheap cereal rules.
36. Floured Bargains
Before picking up that bag of flour, consider what you could be getting. At dollar stores, the bags are small — about what you might expect for a dollar. But chances are if you go to another supplier, you can find a better price/per pound. If that's what you're in to.
35. Cheap Cutlery
It's for the best you don't purchase any of those knives in the cutlery section. They will become dull much faster than other, higher quality cutlery. While dull knives don't sound dangerous, the risk factor comes when you try to use them past their prime. Cut something, slip, and you'll surely end up hurting yourself.
34. Hardware Elsewhere
A hammer or screwdriver may seem like a steal for just a dollar a piece, but don't buy into the hype. The quality may be so poor that even getting the tool to work one time would be a surprise. Tape measurers bend, carabiners snap — you get the picture.
33. Canned Cans
Expiration dates on goods are a pretty important element to seek out before purchasing. Who wants to eat spoiled food? Just like cartons of milk, you should check cans — of beans, of corn, of anything — to make sure the expiration date isn't next weekend... or last decade.
32. Pet Food
There's a lot to consider when buying at the Tree — expiration dates, Bisphenol A, and knock-off cereals masquerading as a big deal — and this applies to pet food as well. Double check that the store isn't stocking up on spoiled inventory.
31. Sun Screen
You know what, for the sake of safety, it's best to check the expiration date on everything bought at a dollar store. Sunscreen, too. To keep the public safe, the FDA mandates that sunscreen keeps performing at its promised strength for up to three years. After that? All bets are off.
30. Bottom-Barrel Batteries
Cheap batteries are another no on that dollar store shopping list. Besides dying pretty quickly, they very well could leak battery acid all over the nice, non-dollar store technologies they live in. That will cost a lot more than any money saved on the initial purchase.
29. Price Gouges
Here's a twist: the most popular dollar store chains around the US don't only sell things for a dollar. Sometimes, they get shoppers in the building with promises of $.99 sales and then raise the $5 price flags! Be careful, and don't just assume everything's a dollar unless marked.
28. Office and School Supplies
While some may advise you to avoid buying these at a dollar store, most office and school supplies still work at a discount price. Look for the brands that you trust. Some things aren’t worth the buy, like scissors and glue, but most others are.
27. Party Supplies
It'll be a party once you bring in those lit savings from the dollar store. Most decorations wind up being thrown away, even if you pay a higher price. You may as well save on the colorful future trash you're paying for.
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26. Greeting Cards
It's nice to gift a card with handwritten words of love. The recipient doesn't have to know you only spent a dollar on it. Write in the best cursive you can to make the guilt fade away, then enjoy the priceless smile your loved one makes when they see your terrible handwriting.
25. Food Storage
The inconvenient truth is that plastic food storage is not really meant to last. Especially if there's any damage to it, throw all that Tupperware away! If you want something to last, go for stainless steel options. Another plus to that is you never have to worry about your food tasting like plastic.
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24. Sour Prices
Buying milk is like buying flour. You can get some for $1, sure, but the price per gallon will be much better at a grocery store. Additionally, milk in dollar store has the Sword of Damocles hanging over it: a near-future expiration date can spoil the pack.
23. Cleaning Supplies
An essential for every household. Whether it be mops or buckets, the dollar store has you covered. Just be careful with any chemical-based products. Look for familiar and reliable brands to avoid a cheap product that will cause you and your family harm.
22. One Dollar and Up
The prices are further raised during holiday seasons. Why spend money on something cheaply made and with such a short life span, when you can have the complete opposite? Sometimes paying some extra cash helps in the long run.
21. Gum
Gum is versatile. It's good for reducing stress, curbing hunger, improving memory, and more, but it's not good at the dollar store. If you really like gum, look into buying in bulk because the price of one small package is roughly the same in every store. So now that you know the most common tricks dollar stores pull, maybe it's actually not all that bad... Especially because you can at least see what you're buying beforehand. But when you're shopping online, it's a whole different story. In fact, these online shopping fails are so epic they're hilarious.
20. Boho no-no
Who wouldn’t want a chain of realistic-looking roses trailing through their room? The person who bought them certainly did – and was disappointed with the very fake-looking flowers they got instead. As they put it on Reddit, “Thanks Amazon. I was going for ‘boho chic,’ but you gave me ‘tacky brothel.’”
19. An ad that needs tailoring
Ordering jeans online should be pretty straightforward if you know your waist size and leg length. And yet, when Twitter user George Riggall did everything right, he still got a comically long pair of pants. He tweeted, “Pretty sure these aren't 32-inch length,” complete with a perplexed thinking-face emoji at the end of his sentence. It’s how we all feel looking at this photo!
18. “I don’t”
Every bride wants a gown that subtly highlights her best assets. The original photos of this dress made it out to be the best of both worlds: ethereal, yet flattering. And yet, what arrived didn’t quite come with that same nuance. The garment’s sledgehammer approach to maintaining modesty ensured this bride would definitely be blushing, because the styling made it very clear where onlookers should – or rather, shouldn’t – be focusing their gazes.
17. Bearing your legs
A giant teddy bear sounds like a sweet, cuddly addition to any child’s room. But if that stuffed animal has the proportions of a human being, well, a lot of the cuteness disappears. Just take this creepy, long-legged plush pet as an example. It looks like a person’s sitting in a bear costume – and, might we add, it looks nothing like the toy advertised initially.
16. Big Yeezy sale
A collaboration between rapper Kanye West and Adidas resulted in shoes known as Yeezys – and fans clamoring to get their hands on a pair. Now, if you find a big Yeezy sale, you might think you’ve beaten the rush and got your hands on a bargain pair of the high-cost footwear. But keep this guy in mind, who thought he had the same deal and instead ended up with what appears to be a Yeezy costume and not a wearable shoe. Thanks, eBay.
15. Big rug reductions!
Let’s say you’re in search of a new rug for your bedroom, and you find something that’s both beautiful and cheap. You could be very lucky – but you might also be looking at a product with a catch. In the case of this online shopping fail, the seller forgot to mention the dimensions of the carpet on offer. Needless to say, it did not fit well into his bedroom.
14. When you see it…
At first glance, the product on the right looks as promised on the left. But the sleuthing shopper who received this sweatshirt soon realized that they had been duped. They explained via Reddit, “Ordered a Champion sweatshirt on eBay. Received a Hanes sweatshirt with a Champion logo glued on.” Now that’s not a winning combination.
13. How dusty is your house?
Perhaps someone out there needs a dustpan this large to aid them in cleaning their house. In most abodes, though, the standard-sized receptacle would be more than enough to gather household debris. Still, this extra-large piece of equipment begs the question – is there a broom big enough to go with it?
12. Felt a bit creepy
Having crafted toys delivered to your doorstep? Sounds fabulous. Unfortunately, though, such projects can result in a shopping fail if the final project doesn’t look as promised online. Take this felt fox as a particularly creepy example, then think twice about where you buy your pretend animals from now on.
11. Moto-double-crossed
The pair of boots pictured on the left are built for Motocross, off-roading and quad-riding – and they come with a hefty price tag to match their durability. Now, imagine expecting footwear like that in the mail and receiving… an embellished pair of galoshes. That’s what happened here, yet another example of an online shopping fail.
10. Tying up loose ends
Gathering under a blanket for a cozy night in? That’s what winter is all about. Imagine how excited you’d be, then, to have a chunky knit throw to get you through the coldest season. And then, think about how it’d feel to get a pile of yarn sent to you instead. At least the Redditor who experienced this had a good sense of humor about it. They wrote, “I couldn’t stop laughing when my blanket finally arrived!”
9. Dog tired of shopping fails
It’s one thing for an online retailer to mess up a purchase for you, but for your dog? That’s a step too far. This so-called extra-large dog pool is a particularly upsetting error on the part of the seller. Maybe a single puppy could fit inside for a dip – maybe. Talk about being sold a pup.
8. Let’s face it – this is terrifying
Personalized gifts tend to be even more special for the recipient – that is, unless they fall into the “online shopping fail” category. One Redditor tried to be sweet in purchasing this pillow of himself for his girlfriend before she went off to college. But, as he put it, the plan “didn’t work out as I’d hoped.”
7. Good in-tent-ions
The guy who bought this comically small tent thought that it was big enough for two. Turns out, it was – but for a pair of children only. Still, he shared via Imgur, he brought the tent to a festival with him anyway and even squeezed himself in. No word on whether he slept in there, though.
6. Feline uncomfortable
The person who purchased this crocheted crop top wrote that it was too small for their 16-year-old daughter to wear. So, they slipped it onto the cat to show just how tiny the garment was in real life. And, as it turns out, the feline had no desire to wear the top, either. In conclusion, the reviewer wrote, “In summary, do not buy this, even for your cat.”
5. A single sprout
Even online grocery shopping orders are subject to fails, you know. The person behind this mistake took to Instagram to explain how she ended up with a single sprout, rather than a bundle of them. She wrote, “Thought I’d ordered one bag of brussel sprouts. Nope. Just the one. All by itself with its very own sticker.”
4. Superhero? More like super-terrifying
Sometimes, you can craft a Halloween costume on your own. In other cases, though, it’s more convenient – and more accurate – to purchase a ready-made one. Beware if you choose the latter course and buy online, though. You might get something hilariously weird, like this Redditor’s friend did.
3. Can’t patch this one up
Believe in aliens? That’s great – just don’t shop online for a patch to commemorate your E.T. fandom. Just look what happened to this digital buyer, who purchased a piece that said, “I want to believe.” When they received the sew-on accessory, well… it expressed an entirely different sentiment about our planet, saying, “I want to leave.” No matter how relatable that may feel these days, it’s not quite what the customer ordered.
2. Half off your next spa day
Sheet masks are all the rage for at-home pamperers – and you probably wouldn’t think twice about sizing if you picked one up yourself. Just be sure you know what you’re buying if you purchase one online, though. You might end up with one that covers only a portion of your face, as this woman did.
1. Clearly not comfy
Ordering furniture online may require you to take a few measurements. However, something like a dining chair typically comes with standard sizing. Perhaps that’s why this Twitter user didn’t think twice about ordering a clear seat for her bedroom. But, when it arrived, she realized it was not the right size for any adult – or human being, for that matter. It’d be much better suited for a very chic dollhouse.
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