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

Brockyman

misthaufen01 wrote: »

Unbranded batteries. As these are aimed more at pound shops, you aren’t as likely to get a bad batch. Not much good for high usage devices such as cameras, but great for TV remotes, clocks and smoke alarms. 9v (square) can be picked up in packs of 2 or even 3 in pound shops, whereas the local Tesco will charge £3.50+ for the cheapest single one.

Are you serious?
Your life could depend on your smoke alarm one day and so could that of your children. Buy the best battery you can. The Tesco battery at £3.50 will not be the CHEAPEST one, I guarantee that, but it will be an Alkaline one which will protect your life, and that of your children, more reliably and longer than the two for a pound jobs. Even better buy a Lithium battery for £7 or better still chuck out your smoke alarm when the battery goes and buy a sealed 10 year one. If you are completely strapped for cash the fire service will come and fit you a new alarm for free.

Also, in case you didn't know, smoke alarms themselves should be replaced at 10 years maximum, preferably 7 years. The detector in them deteriorates and is past its best after that time.

PLEASE do not use cheap batteries in smoke alarms.

Ian.

GiraffePC

It's been obvious for some time that these shops are now making down to the price - real bargains are getting rarer.
I wanted some of the LSD rechargeable NiMH cells - great, 99p for 4. The AAs were slightly worse than good AAA cells and the AAAs were little more than a bit of static discharge.
Marker pens are lacking in pigment - better to spend twice as much in Wilko; many other items, as already mentioned, are really poor. I wouldn't want any of the plastic items for food and certainly wouldn't trust anything meant for eyes - we know what the Chinese are like for throwing any old crap into the mixture!
I do buy an Arm & Hammer toothpaste, though with some suspicion as it's usually quite expensive.

hannerrbabes

Ooh definitely NOT pregnancy tests from the pound shop. My sister took one when 6 months pregnant and it showed negative!!! :O

Homeagain

mushypeaman wrote: »

Poundland. Mushroom growing kits, no doubt a WIGIG so get in there. :eek:

What's a WIGIG?Have just bought the mushroom kit - waste of money is it?

John_Bull

Condoms can be very good value, e.g 18 plain, ribbed or flavoured ones at the 99p Shop. However, the catch is that they are all very narrow, probably because they are aimed at the Far East market.

Wilkinsons have packs of 12 for 97p. Again, width is a problem so they're a very 'snug' fit but they do have the great advantage of being extremely thin...

John_Bull

Homeagain wrote: »

What's a WIGIG?Have just bought the mushroom kit - waste of money is it?

When It's Gone, It's Gone.

KxMx

charleem wrote: »

Ever so slightly cheaper at tesco at 32p for 16, they have their own brand and the galpharm ones.

Tesco will only allow you to buy two packs of painkillers though.
Poundland is the only place I have seen allowing you to buy more than 32 tablets at a time.

I agree about the poor quality bird fat balls, the seed is ok value for a more expensive brand but my birds love Wilko or Harrisons (bought in bulk online less than £1 per kg).

rovermanv8

DoubleUnderscore wrote: »

HDMI cable from Poundland. In Maplin's it was about £13. It's just a length of wire, and the £1 cable works fine.

Believe me they are not just pieces of wire! There is a massive difference between a good quality interconnect and a cheap one.
Hi-Fi and audio visual eqippment is only as good as the cables connecting it.

Pellertheheller

hannerrbabes wrote: »

Ooh definitely NOT pregnancy tests from the pound shop. My sister took one when 6 months pregnant and it showed negative!!! :O

Pregnancy tests are sensitive to high levels of the hormone HCG which is highest in the first trimester of pregnancy. As the pregnancy progresses the levels of HCG reduce to an undetectable level which is why she got a negative result at 6 months pregnant

John_Pierpoint

KxMx wrote: »

I agree about the poor quality bird fat balls, the seed is ok value for a more expensive brand but my birds love Wilko or Harrisons (bought in bulk online less than £1 per kg).

Have you got a linkie please