3 Reasons You Should Stop Being a Brand Snob
By Crystal Paine
I know that many people are brand snobs; always buying name brand products because they think they are better or because that’s what they’ve always done.
While I have a few brands I am partial to, for the most part, I am a big advocate of using store brands instead of name brands. Here are three reasons why.
1. Store Brands Are Usually Less Expensive
We save so much money by using store brands versus name brands. For instance, if you only buy name brand shampoo, the cheapest you may be able to buy it for is usually around $3, when it’s on sale. If, however, you’re willing to look for the lowest price on any brand of shampoo, you can often find shampoo priced at $1 per bottle on sale.
While the savings of $2 per bottle of shampoo might not seem too significant, think about how the savings could add up if you saved $2 on 15 different items each week at the grocery store. That would be a savings of $60 per month — or $720 per year. In most cases, the savings would likely be much more than that.
Or, if you usually purchase name brand infant formula, you can save 50% off the price you usually pay by switching to store brand infant formula. That can be a savings of around $600 per year! That’s certainly nothing to sneeze at!
2. Store Brands Are Often the Same Quality
I have a confession to make: when our family first started shopping at Aldi (a discount store chain), I was really leery of buying their products. I figured they’d taste cheap because they were from a discount store.
At that time, we were newly married, my husband was in law school, and we were living on a beans-and-rice budget . So we hesitantly started trying different items from Aldi.
And guess what? We were pleasantly surprised! We actually liked some of the food better than the brands we would typically buy.
Regarding quality, some products, like infant formula, are federally regulated. So the store brand and name brand have the exact same nutritional value and quality across the board!
3. Store Brands Are Usually the Same Low Price
One of my favorite things about buying store brands is that they are almost always the same low price. Sometimes they will go on sale, but they are usually already significantly less expensive than name brands.
This means I don’t have to take the time to clip coupons or watch for sales when buying store brands. I know that when I go to buy them, I’m going to get a great price -- even without a sale!