Do You Prefer Name Brands?

[Amethyst]

Apparently most customers nowadays disagree...it is getting increasingly hard to find non-organic produce at BJs. It is still cheaper, however, than the same amount of non-organic produce at the regular grocery store.

. I actively avoid 'organic' foods. I much prefer the inorganic

 

[W2R]

Usually yes, sometimes no.

I am not trying too hard to pinch pennies lately, or I might not buy as many name brands as I do.

 

[Marita40]

As we've gotten older, and frankly more financially comfortable, I tend to buy more name brand items. I get cluster headaches, and wow Excedrin is a virtual miracle drug for me. I suspect generic brand would do the same, but these headaches are so debilitating that I won't take a chance./QUOTE]
Boy, I agree with this one! I am never without Excedrin Migraine. A life saver.

 

[misshathaway]

Not really unless I can get them at same or better prices than generic. In clothes definitely 'generic' except for my Levis 501s but I always get those in bulk at half price or less MSRP. I actively avoid 'organic' foods. I much prefer the inorganic and helps greatly with keeping weight down.

+1 on Levis - 505s for me. I had a pair for 20 years and then they finally got a fatal butt wear-through. The new Levis are the same, except for some new-fangled spandex added to the fabric content.

 

[Marita40]

I've found the quality of Levis notoriously uneven. When you find a good pair, however, they are keepers.

 

[COcheesehead]

Levi's quality has gone down hill over the last few years. Uncomfortable to wear, seem cheap. My go to place for the best price vs comfort and quality for jeans is Uniqlo.

 

[Totoro]

Chocolate is pretty much 'have to go name brand'. Other food items, don't care. Non-food is all non name brand. Even within non name brand I usually go for the bottom shelf in the supermarket. Except salmon, have to go at least store brand there.



Few exceptions otherwise: Opinel for camping knife, h&s for shampoo. Still figuring out a decent replacement for my gillette mach 3 turbo: too expensive yet hard to find a decent alternative. Crumpler for my backpack. Walking shoes are name brand too.

 

[cbo111]

My first foray into generics was back in my college days. Roommates and I would buy generic beer in white cans with the word "Beer" on the can label. Same for gallon jugs of wine with the word "wine" on the label. It was nasty tasting stuff, but got better after the first few drinks.

 

[MikeD]

My first foray into generics was back in my college days. Roommates and I would buy generic beer in white cans with the word "Beer" on the can label. Same for gallon jugs of wine with the word "wine" on the label. Its was nasty tasting stuff, but got better after the first few drinks.

My Dad would drink for effect. His first beer would be a name brand. Then, he said, since his taste buds were affected, he would drink the cheapest swill available, except for Grand Union generic. The aforementioned generic beer was the one in the white can with the black letters: "BEER" on it.

My cheap uncle who didn't drink would bring that as a gift. My Dad did not like him.

I don't drink. None of Dad's children do.

Mike D.

 

[Amethyst]

I only wear premium or designer clothing, now that I've gotten an idea of just how much better it looks on me. Of course I am still cheap, so I buy a lot of it from resellers such as Thredup.com.

 

[jazz4cash]

Hellmans Mayonnaise.I
I won't try a store brand or another name brand again.
Extra buck and a half every year or so, but hell , we're all rich here.

I'll see your Hellman's Mayo and raise you one Breyer's All Natural. You can pick your favorite flavor.

 

[mpeirce]

I'm happy to buy mostly non-name brand food products, but there are some exceptions.

With pop I actually prefer diet "Dr K" over diet Dr Pepper and it's often less than half the price. OTOH when I occasionally by diet Cola, I stick with Diet Coke over Kroger brand or Pepsi.

For over the counter drugs we stick to generics. Aspirin, Ibuprofen, etc. Why buy name brand? It's the same chemical.

I agree that Costco's Kirkland is every bit as good or better with most products. I love Kirkland Cashews. And Kirkland TP - works for us ;-)

What name brand do I prefer? Kraft cheese over Kroger - it's very consistent and I guess I am just used to it. Though I do like certain artisanal cheeses too.

In a similar vein, I personally don't care about organic produce, but sometimes I buy it. Items like apples vary in quality a lot and if the regular apples aren't appealing, sometimes the organic ones are better. Same with squash, strawberries, cabbage and other produce.

 

[Winemaker]

I relate to this subject as I relate to mine. One's taste is different than another's taste so it's all up to the individual.

I buy grapes by the ton to make wine; out of the very same vineyards as the high end $150/bottle wine. It's what we do with them that makes a difference to some, others not so much.

A vintner may harvest grapes by hand or machine; at night when it's cold, or during the day when its warmer. This effects labor costs immensely, and I mean immensely. Grapes then can be crushed then destemmed, and maybe cold soaked for days, weeks. Or they may be destemmed, sorted by an optic scanner that spits out a grape with a blemish or piece of bird poop, then on to crusher were they may be cold soaked for days or weeks. Fermentation may be cold, cool, or warm, then hot, in stainless, clay, glass, plastic or in a barrel. When complete, it may be aged in French, American, Hungarian oak barrels, or with chips, staves, dust, powder. Aged in the barrel 3 to 24 months then some age more in bottle. All again affect the cost; a French oak barrel costs about $1200 each, American $700, I can taste the difference. After aging, the barrels are tasted, blended, and I know at one high end winery, rejected. They reject 10% minimum, and this is sold to who ever, maybe Costco, maybe Gallo, maybe Twobuck Chuck. When bottled, it maybe in a 79 cent bottle, maybe a $2 bottle, corked with a 25 cent cork or a $1.25 cork.

Some wines are marketed in different ways, high end magazines, word of mouth, high end restaurants just like name brand soaps.

You may recognize the difference in quality, taste, price or you may not. Same with name brand foods, clothes, appliances, tools, and cars.

 

[ugeauxgirl]

Yep, all depends on the product. I'll take Wal-Mart canned tomatoes/vegetables over paying around double for the Del Monte etc versions of the same stuff. I'll buy Velveeta over there knock-off any day though.

I'll try store brand items if the price difference is significant over-time, and then I'll stick with them if the quality is there too.

I have a friend who works for Walmart and the store brand vegetables there are mostly made by Del Monte. I buy storebrand when I can't tell the difference. I do not buy store brand trash bags and the kids vote no on cereal. I will pay more for the name brand if there is less sugar, corn syrup or other healthy ingredients, but we usually at least try the cheap stuff... Bonne Maman jelly is worth the extra cost for the taste and ingredients- to me anyway.