The Great 'What to buy/not to buy in pound shops' Hunt

denideth

iPhone charging cables from Poundland. Admittedly they don't last more than a couple of months so you'll need to then spend another £1 but the ones sold by Apple cost £15+

yram_slim

Washing machine cleaner - two for a pound, cleaned better than Dr Beckman's at £2.30!
Weight watchers stuff - soups are usually good value at two for a pound
Fish steaming oven bags - DD swears by them
BUT thumbs down to the luggage scales - they just didn't work at all!
Also, beware the packs of flowering bulbs these are often left too long and get dried out and shrivelled up.

Carriannelouise

Good stuff
shampoos, conditioners, toothpaste - good brands and cheap
ace bleach - my favorite
tools (e.g. mini hammers, screwdrivers etc. always lasted)
pregnancy tests (worked before an expensive clear blue one for me!)
books i've had some real bargains
stationary stuff is great (refill pads, folders, envelopes, postage boxes and bubble wrap)
DVDs £1 is a bargain!

Bad stuff
cotton buds - much cheaper elsewhere (i paid £0.21 for 200 last time i got a box!
hand wash - often cheaper in tesco
liners - too thin and small for the bin
hand pump for football, bike etc. we got it for a pram and didnt even get to the 2nd tyre before it broke
we bought a set of suitcase locks and ended up having to cut them off my bags as the keys didnt fit!!!

Rainbow42

Good
25g tube Scholl cracked heel cream - 60g tube usually about £4.50 to £6. Sadly I've only ever seen this once...
Kids' socks & sun hats.
Stationery esp brown parcel paper and tape.
Tissue paper and gift bags.
Wrapping paper-bit thin but plenty good enough for kids' parcels, actually easier for little ones to open!
Zip camera case for OH to keep his phone in.
Shower mats.
Gardening gloves.
Practice books for phonics, handwriting, maths etc- brilliant value.

Not so good
Sticking plasters, rubbish & don't stick.
I agree handwash usually cheaper elsewhere.
Garden twine - not very strong.
Kids' refillable water bottles that leaked.

vchidzey

:money:try asda's pound shop, lots of bargains there too,
save doing two separate shops!

astisan

2 UHT litre cartons semi-skimmed milk for £1 (at least 66p elsewhere)
Plus Ovenbrite oven cleaner - cheapest I've found
Staionery generally, particularly folders and sellotape dispensers
Paper plates and plastic cutlery if you're not fussy

jenniewb

Bad buys;
Sports/compression wraps or sleeves. These not only stank of some sort of nasty chemical which didn't wash out or fade with wear but they were also a poor fit and did nothing more then warm up my skin when worn, they did nothing to help or remedy the pain.

Brown packaging tape. Whilst this looks great for £1, there is so much less on the tape that it becomes a rip off. Even the often over priced Tesco has a roll of brown tape with more then three times the amount for £1.50.

gbjbasdw

Incredible value for £1

As another member said HDMI cables ( and any other cables for that matter Scart, headphone extension, TOSLINK optical audio cables etc )

Norman_Castle

^ Avoid the blue, mini headphone to two phono connectors from poundland. Had two, both failed very quickly.

My local poundland has a ridiculous and painfully loud amplified screeching sound blasting out every few minutes. Its been like this for years. I expect its an alarm of some sort, but it makes shopping there very unpleasant.

RachelD

Don't buy garden fork and spade set- the forf tines bent at an interesting angle on first use. Their Xmas wrap, gift tags and some cards are excellent.