Great 'What NOT to buy in Pound Shops' Hunt

flyingirl

I came to add my 2 pence about the pregnancy tests to say that they do work fine... however when I went to the GP to have it confirmed, they said that they don't do that anymore as the over-the-counter stuff works fine. Figures... if they do indeed use the poundshop ones.

Also meant to say that if anyone regularly buys meds from the online stores recommended on this board, that they also sell cheap ones (around £1 or less) but obviously if you are trying to make up enough items for free delivery, they are worth looking at there. Sorry for being slightly OT.

humblebumble_2

I work in a PoundLAND store (I may have mentioned before lol!!). I know that the company used the VAT cut to be able to source more deals on branded goods and multi-buys (ie 2 for a £1 or 3 for £2 etc). I noticed many items on the toiletry section drop below £1 in other stores because of the cut, so I guess they will rise in price again in January.

Angelaberyl

At our local B&M store the rrp printed on the box is £1.09 for Oxo cubes, but they sell them for 49p, a bargin!!!

bunnydrumming

megsykins wrote: »

Balloons - £1 in Poundland but 78p in Tesco.
Wouldn't trust the 2 for £1 pregnancy tests either (not that I've tried them)

£1 pick & mix is great though - it's £3.99 in the video shop

I work in family support in a deprived area and we were advised by the GP to tell our mums to buy the pregnancy kits from poundland or similar as they are as accurate as any other tests - they may not be able to be used so early in the pregnancy but are accurate.

wendywitch

jenniewb wrote: »

Never buy just one can/bottle when on offer for "4 for a pound"- if you buy one, its a pound, if you buy 3, its a pound, if you buy 4, its a pound. The staff either don't care or don't know how to divide 100 by 4! Madness!!

I brought shampoo and conditioner 4 for the price of 3 the other day and got charged the full price. I obviously said something and got my money back and they quickly took the signs down!
It seems the "till couldn't reduce the price"??

Grumpysally

jenniewb wrote: »

"staff" doesn't just include shop floor staff.

Someone somewheres making up the prices- even if they don't ever visit a store its still someones responsibility.

I don't understand why people are getting their knickers in a twist over this.
If you saw a BOGOF in Tesco's, for example, you wouldn't expect to be able to buy one for half price or get one product in a 'buy two get one free' for a third of the price would you? The stores plan is to get you to spend more than you intended, whatever the store.

CarMadMoneySaver

There is one guaranteed true bargain that I've found in pound shops, which as they are a bit of a minority interest will probably be missed by most people: scale models of cars. I know, because I collect such things, that the pound shops regularly sell 1:43 scale model cars that were previously partwork magazines (a bit like the 'build your own model of a Lancaster bomber' sort of affair that you see advertised on TV from time to time, only in this case they allow you to build up a collection of types of vehicle - tractors, vans, racing cars, cars from the 60s, etc. The partworks themselves sell for at least £7.99 per issue. I buy them for the models, so I'm not too bothered when you can get the same model for a pound without the magazine. The partworks themselves are considered as something of a bargain in collectors' fields too - the partworks publishers commisssion a batch of models in bulk, and can therefore get them at a mega discount. To buy the models individually from a model retailer can cost anything between £14.99 and (in the case of one model I've got) £36.99. So there you go - a potential saving of £35.99 by buying at a pound shop. Not any everyday item, but it shows how much money can potentially be saved!

Not only that, but there's a thriving e-bay market for these models, as dear old Royal Mail sometimes damage them in transit. Rather than have a gap in the collection some people will hunt out a model from a model retailer and pay the full price - so long as your e-bay reserve and postal costs are lower than the cost of buying from a model retailer, you normally sell them no problem - in some cases an easy twenty-odd quid profit, and normally at least a fiver's profit.

If you see any of these models in the pound shop, stick 'em in your basket! Even if you can't sell them on, you've got an expensive looking model to give as a present to someone car mad (like me!!!!!!!!!!).

mcmeekle

I buy the pregnancy tests and use them to determine if there's 1kg or 1.5kg in the bags of sugar.

/

I always ask staff "how much is this?" and "how much is that?" or "what about this here?"

Great fun, but don't ask more than seventeen times or you get banned.

CarMadMoneySaver

:eek:I wouldn't go asking the staff in pound shops how much things are.

In one of my recent forays into Poundland (I won't say which branch, but it's nearly as far oop north as you can go whilst staying in England) there were a gang of moronic Beavis and Butthead style teenagers asking over and over again how much each item was, before sniggering into their hoodies. The female shop assistant wasn't amused and eventually flipped out (it possibly was after the 17th time - you could be right) and punched the ringleader (presumably Butthead) square on the jaw before storming out of the store in tears, presumably never to return.

Poor old Butthead didn't get much sympathy either - all this just made Beavis and chums snigger even louder before they eventually bought their Rizla papers and multi-pack of lighters and left.:mad:

Beware the 'amusing quip' - you may be the straw that causes a shop assistant to break yor jaw (an awful mixed metaphor, but you no doubt get my drift).

mcmeekle

CarMadMoneySaver wrote: »

:eek:I wouldn't go asking the staff in pound shops how much things are.

In one of my recent forays into Poundland (I won't say which branch, but it's nearly as far oop north as you can go whilst staying in England) there were a gang of moronic Beavis and Butthead style teenagers asking over and over again how much each item was, before sniggering into their hoodies. The female shop assistant wasn't amused and eventually flipped out (it possibly was after the 17th time - you could be right) and punched the ringleader (presumably Butthead) square on the jaw before storming out of the store in tears, presumably never to return.

Poor old Butthead didn't get much sympathy either - all this just made Beavis and chums snigger even louder before they eventually bought their Rizla papers and multi-pack of lighters and left.:mad:

Beware the 'amusing quip' - you may be the straw that causes a shop assistant to break yor jaw (an awful mixed metaphor, but you no doubt get my drift).

Packs of plasters, 4 for £1, aisle 4.