99p Stores not as cheap as they appear

ianfreeman

Has anyone apart from me bothered to compare prices at these shops with local supermarkets? I just visited my local 99p Store and Sainsburys next door. At 99p, Colgate toothpaste, Comfort ironing water and Fairy Liquid were just three products that are all around 10p more expensive than in the supermarket!

Great business model - a few cheap, unbranded items, several branded ones more expensive, everything piled up so the impression is given that they are cheap... I would never buy unbranded goods so there's very little reason for me to go there.

I would suggest carefully comparing prices before rushing to buy stuff from these shops - and that's not even to mention the appalling queues at the (one open) checkout. Bring back Woolies, please!

lilian1977

Why would you never buy unbranded goods? Check out the Hayfever article on here for evidence of why that's a ridiculous thing to say...

ianfreeman

lilian1977 wrote: »

Why would you never buy unbranded goods?

Just out of personal choice. I buy supermarket own brands, but I'm not interested in anything I haven't heard of. Personal recommendation doesn't work either, as everyone's tastes are different. That's just me, that's all. Apologies.

richardw

ianfreeman wrote: »

I would suggest carefully comparing prices before rushing to buy stuff

Money Savers are doing this all the time.

Yes some branded items that would cost you less than 99p/£1 in a supermarket are priced up, so are worth avoiding.

BUT there are a lot of items that would cost much more in a supermarket that are priced down to 99p/£1.

blackrunningbird

ianfreeman wrote: »

Just out of personal choice. I buy supermarket own brands, but I'm not interested in anything I haven't heard of. Personal recommendation doesn't work either, as everyone's tastes are different. That's just me, that's all. Apologies.

I agree with you there, I tend not to buy anything thats not from a reputable company especially toiletries and cleaning products.

lightisfading

buying from a 'reputable company' = paying for advertising. you know that right?

i don't really see how you don't trust personal recommendation but trust an advert!

ianfreeman

lightisfading wrote: »

buying from a 'reputable company' = paying for advertising. you know that right?

That's a somewhat naive statement. Manufacturers have dozens of ongoing costs aside of advertising - production, distribution, other marketing costs, new product development, staff, IT, CEO's villa in France etc. Advertising is a very small part of the cost of a product.

Stranger_Than_Fiction

ianfreeman wrote: »

Has anyone apart from me bothered to compare prices at these shops with local supermarkets? I just visited my local 99p Store and Sainsburys next door. At 99p, Colgate toothpaste, Comfort ironing water and Fairy Liquid were just three products that are all around 10p more expensive than in the supermarket!

Great business model - a few cheap, unbranded items, several branded ones more expensive, everything piled up so the impression is given that they are cheap... I would never buy unbranded goods so there's very little reason for me to go there.

I would suggest carefully comparing prices before rushing to buy stuff from these shops - and that's not even to mention the appalling queues at the (one open) checkout. Bring back Woolies, please!

Hmm, checking prices anywhere before you part with money is surely just common sense? I've just bought Jordan's muesli at our 99p shop - the same product is £2.89 in Tesco :rolleyes:. As for bringing back Woolies, I found they were just the same as many other shops in being variable in terms of competetive pricing. They had 3 for 2 deals on products which were then more expensive in their 'sale'.

I certainly wouldn't write off a shop because it sold 'un-branded' goods, though. Un-branded goods are surely just those we don't recognise? It doesn't mean they're not good. Even Mr Heinz had to start somewhere

tiff

I always buy branded toothpaste in the 99p shop, either Colgate or Signal but theres usually one brand that has 2 boxes packaged together, for 99p, therefore cheaper than the supermarket. Colgate toothbrushes are a ridiculous price in the supermarket.

Apart from branded stuff, the rest of what they sell is usually overpriced at £1 but you just need to do the research first.

Gingernutmeg

I like the 99p shop but it's like everywhere, you have to use your common sense to make sure you're really getting a 'bargain'. Just recently my local one has had OHs favourite brand of pannetone and pandoro in, which are a real bargain at 99p each. I've also bought the Jordan's muesli, and things like the big packs of snack-a-jacks at 2 for 99p (they're £1.18 each at Asda, I checked lol), and Bahlsen biscuits at 2 packs for 99p. They can be good value on some toiletries too - they have the Source products and I recently got Timotei Oat Milk and Peach shampoo, which I love but is £2.40ish usually.

But like I said it's like anywhere. Iceland is often overpriced on lots of things when you compare it to the supermarkets, it's a matter of shopping around.

Pippad

I think this is why a lot of us have pricebooks, we know what we buy and sometimes what we would like to buy and either have the price written down in our book or have made a good mental note.

Also one of our bargain stores is selling Woolworths chocolate at the moment!