Ship of Fools: Best Pound Shop buys

Thread: Best Pound Shop buys Board: Oblivion / Ship of Fools.

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Posted by justlooking (# 12079) on :

Many retailers are suffering in these straitened times but £ shops are a success. What's your best buy for a quid? Mine is reading glasses. I left home today with no reading glasses in my bag but popped into a pound shop and bought two entirely acceptable pairs of specs at £1 each. Not only do they do they do the job but they look OK too.

I also bought 4 packs of ground coffee and a jar of Cadbury's drinking chocolate (low calorie).

Posted by Sioni Sais (# 5713) on :

Most of the tools in poundshops are cr@p, being made of monkey metal (a zinc + monkey turd alloy) but ours stocks UHU glue which isn't the normal UK formula but does a darned good job at a third the price in B & Q.

Posted by mark_in_manchester (# 15978) on :

Slitghly off-topic - but Lidl own-brand bread flour at 52p for 1.5kg rises as well as branded stuff at 3x the price. So my quid goes on nearly 3kg of bread flour...

Posted by Curious (# 93) on :

I always buy the packs of 'handbag' sized tissues - you can often get 18 for £1 and they aren't too scratchy!

Posted by Moo (# 107) on :

The US equivalent are dollar stores. I frequently find useful objects there. Before Christmas I found a gizmo for opening all kinds of plastic packaging.

I bought one for myself and several for stocking-stuffers.

Moo

Posted by Lyda*Rose (# 4544) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Moo:
The US equivalent are dollar stores. I frequently find useful objects there. Before Christmas I found a gizmo for opening all kinds of plastic packaging.

I bought one for myself and several for stocking-stuffers.

Moo

Jay Leno on The Tonight Show sometimes does a Christmas bit on doing shopping with $10 at Dollar Stores. They often come up with a pretty good haul. And I've done shopping at Big Lots! where stuff is usually at least half the price of regular stores.

Posted by Jigsaw (# 11433) on :

My daughter has a part-time job in a pound store, and is amazed how often customers ask her the price of an item.

Posted by Cryptic (# 16917) on :

We call them $2 shops in Australia.

They are the backbone of Sunday school and playgroup organisers, being a good source of cheap craft materials. I visit most weeks!

Posted by malik3000 (# 11437) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Jigsaw:
My daughter has a part-time job in a pound store, and is amazed how often customers ask her the price of an item.

Am i correct in assuming from that statement that everything costs a pound? US dollar stores started out charging a dollar for every item or group of items. But that is no longer the case -- at least at Family Dollar, a chain of dollar stores where i live. Items are cheap , but there is no one particular fixed price.

Posted by Graven Image (# 8755) on :

I always buy wrapping paper at $ stores, that and craft stuff for grandchildren.

Posted by Firenze (# 619) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Moo:
The US equivalent are dollar stores.

There are also Euro stores. (Last one I was in was in Donegal).

Stationery. I have an entire shelf of blank notebooks with pretty covers, but this does not stop me buying more. And pens of course, with which to never actually write in the pretty notebooks.

Posted by justlooking (# 12079) on :

Yes stationery! pretty notebooks and stuff. You can save a fortune. Also shampoo, shower gel, deoderants etc, and cleaning products. I ought to go more often instead of buying these things in the supermarket.

Apparently Poundland's biggest sellers are chocolate; large Toblerones, boxes of Maltesers and multi-packs of Kit-Kats.

Posted by Enoch (# 14322) on :

Slightly tangential, at the moment Sainsburys are charging only 8p a tin for their basic mushy peas.

IMHO some of the "basic" items are better than the next grade up. Both the higher grades of coleslaw and toffees are too sweet. On the other hand, I once tried a basic tinned stew that was revolting.

Some of the basic fish items, I think are because the fish itself is the wrong size, half way between one portion and two, or three quarters of a portion.

I assume they want to shame us into not being seen with the bright orange and white labels in our trolleys. I reckon though one should wheel them with pride.

Posted by daisydaisy (# 12167) on :

Most recent best £ shop buy was a sparkly pink/purple cowgirl hat

Posted by Huia (# 3473) on :

quote:
Originally posted by justlooking:
I left home today with no reading glasses in my bag but popped into a pound shop and bought two entirely acceptable pairs of specs at £1 each. Not only do they do they do the job but they look OK too.

Our libraries have a few pairs on hand for borrowers aho forget their specs. So useful for the absent minded - who? me? of course not.

Posted by Moo (# 107) on :

After Hurricane Katrina hit, a group from Blacksburg collected toiletries--toothbrushes, deodorant, etc. to take to them.

I wanted to get the most bang for my buck, so I went to the dollar store and could afford to buy quantities of stuff.

Moo

Posted by justlooking (# 12079) on :

quote:
Originally posted by daisydaisy:
Most recent best £ shop buy was a sparkly pink/purple cowgirl hat

Wow! If I'm ever in need of a sparkly cowgirl hat I know where to go. Checking out the other things on that link I can see lots of useful church stuff - 4 tablecloths, disposable or wipe-clean, 30 (yes 30 [Eek!]

) printed doilies, disposable plates, cups and wine glasses, and wrapping paper, gift bags, balloons and party masks.

One thing I saw when I was buying my reading glasses was a 3-for-a-pound offer on boxes of 6 eggs. If I had several children to feed on a low income 18 eggs for a pound would be a really good buy.

I'm not surprised Poundland's best-selling items are chocolate. In a recession the sales of confectionery rise. This is because people can't afford expensive treats but they still want treats and especially want to give treats to their children.

Posted by mark_in_manchester (# 15978) on :

quote:
Slightly tangential, at the moment Sainsburys are charging only 8p a tin for their basic mushy peas.

Enoch, if you ever visit the North, you must drop in.

Posted by Roseofsharon (# 9657) on :

Circular plastic tea trays, 14" diameter, in dark green, and costing only 50pence each.
They have been sitting under the big plant pots on my patio for several years now, and cost about 1/5 of the price being charged for 'proper' plant pot saucers in the DIY stores
.

Posted by kankucho (# 14318) on :

quote:
Originally posted by justlooking:
[QUOTE]One thing I saw when I was buying my reading glasses was a 3-for-a-pound offer on boxes of 6 eggs. If I had several children to feed on a low income 18 eggs for a pound would be a really good buy.

Cheap eggs are never a good thing. Most likely, they're from appalling battery farms in Spain. If you really need to save money, do so on something else.

Caveat case:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1232196/Spanish-eggs-blamed-salmonella-deaths.html

[ 20. April 2012, 22:33: Message edited by: kankucho ]

Posted by justlooking (# 12079) on :

I didn't look closely enough to see any country of origin but I'm guessing they were probably British. I buy mostly organic eggs, milk and cheese since I'm only shopping for myself these days. If I had a family to feed and not much money I wouldn't be so fussy, I'd be glad of a bargain and would probably have bought them. Anyway I've sent a query to Poundland about their sales of fresh eggs.

Posted by LutheranChik (# 9826) on :

We generally avoid our local dollar stores because of their CCC -- Cheap Crap From China; particularly their questionable canned foods. Sometimes,though, their brand-name cleaning supplies are cheaper than at neighboring stores. I also made what I thought was a pretty decent looking Advent wreath out of dollar-store votive candleholders and various bling, although my pleasure at the result was moderated by guilt at the thought of the eight-year-old factory workers who probably made the dollar-store stuff while chained to their stations.

Posted by comet (# 10353) on :

I've never seen a store like this (or if I did I missed the point) but our crafts stores in the cities have sections like that. for Chasee#3's 10th birthday we did a Harry Potter bash (my actor friends showed up as various characters. being in a troupe has it's bennies). I went into a craft store to find little tote bags for the treasure hunt, but also made off with a shit ton of very nice little oddly shaped glass bottles with cork stoppers than we used for our "potions" class. after the party (and cleaning those bad boys was no treat!) I now use them to hold my homemade cough syrup or little samples of liqueurs or random kitcheny things like peppercorns and cloves and cardamom seeds. they kind of class up the place.

Posted by justlooking (# 12079) on :

I've heard back from Poundland re the eggs query. They said this:

quote:
I have spoken to our buying department who have confirmed that we only sell British Lion Assured eggs, these are higher than the "minimum standard of egg" and allows us to trace to the individual farm where the eggs have been laid, this also ensures all chickens are checked a minimum of 4 times a day.

All hens are fully vaccinated from birth and all of our eggs are picked, packed and dispatched to our stores within two days, this means a more reliable fresher egg with consistency & quality.

The British Lion quality standard is higher than required by the E.U. All eggs are marked with the British Lion and registered site number, as required under the new traceability legislation.

We use some of the largest and most reputable suppliers in the egg industry (who supply to the likes of Tesco, Asda, Sainsburys, Morrisons) and can assure you our eggs are fit for purpose and we are not breaking any laws in selling them.

We hope this has answered any concerns you may have.

Kind Regards
Rachel
Customer Relations
Poundland Limited

[ 23. April 2012, 14:49: Message edited by: justlooking ]

Posted by daisydaisy (# 12167) on :

quote:
Originally posted by justlooking:

quote:
Originally posted by daisydaisy:
Most recent best £ shop buy was a sparkly pink/purple cowgirl hat
Wow! If I'm ever in need of a sparkly cowgirl hat I know where to go.

I only need it this weekend so check on ebay after then [Big Grin]

Posted by Carex (# 9643) on :

I've only encountered one Euro store, and it had a sign announcing

quote:

Nothing over 180 Forints

My favorite purchases from the local version:

Tape measures. (I'm only interested in the spring steel blade for other purposes.)

Cleaning supplies, when I only need a small amount. (Especially bleach to kill bacteria in our well.)

Plastic spring clothes pegs.

Posted by Ricardus (# 8757) on :

I got a set of four wine glasses (a good size too [Big Grin]

) from Wilkinson's for 87p. This was on the same occasion when I managed to buy one of their display Christmas trees, including tinsel and decorations, for £10 - it was about two days before Christmas and most normal people had already bought their tree, so they wanted to get rid of it.

Most of the big supermarkets do a 'value' or 'dead cheap' packet of smoked salmon trimmings for about 96p. Exactly right for putting in creamy pastas ...

Posted by Pigwidgeon (# 10192) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Carex:
Tape measures. (I'm only interested in the spring steel blade for other purposes.)

Dare I ask?

Posted by Lothlorien (# 4927) on :

Wrapping paper and cellophane which is much cheaper than any where else. Several different colours covers most needs. Mum used to buy their packs of different cards but I don't like them much.

Posted by Moo (# 107) on :

Birthday cards for grandchildren. The quality is not as high as cards bought elsewhere, but the kids don't notice.

My favorite brand of hand-washing liquid (Jergens), which for some reason is hard to find elsewhere.

Moo

Posted by SvitlanaV2 (# 16967) on :

I love pound shops (and 99p shops). I like them especially for stationery, greetings cards, woolly hats, hair clips and chocolate! Occasionally Poundland has some good books - I recently bought one on how to make cupcakes. Yesterday I bought a kitchen timer from the 99p shop, an item with many uses other than cooking. Pound shops can also be good for toiletries, but you have to be careful; some things can be bought cheaper elsewhere, especially if you're not too fussy about the brands.

In the near future I intend to buy a £1 roll-up rucksack and zip-up CD/DVD holder from Poundworld for when I go travelling again.

Posted by jedijudy (# 333) on :

My friends and I get our gift bags there. Especially if you have something large, spending $1 is so much better than $5.99!

We've gotten very nice picture frames there, too.

Posted by Ricardus (# 8757) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Jigsaw:
My daughter has a part-time job in a pound store, and is amazed how often customers ask her the price of an item.

That's actually not a stupid question at all, because IME some pound shops are 'everything for a pound', whereas others are 'everything a pound or less'.

There's also a shop in Liverpool that has the tagline 'everything from £1', which would seem to be the most meaningless and pointless claim it's possible to compose ...

Posted by Balaam (# 4543) on :

And then there's Poundstretcher which is not a pound store but a discount store.

Posted by Sir Kevin (# 3492) on :

quote:
What's your best buy...? Mine is reading glasses. [/QB]

Us too - my wife bought me four pairs last time she went into a $ store.

Posted by Carex (# 9643) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Pigwidgeon:

quote:
Originally posted by Carex:
Tape measures. (I'm only interested in the spring steel blade for other purposes.)

Dare I ask?

I don't know, do you dare?

It is safe for the giraffe, at least.

Posted by Pigwidgeon (# 10192) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Carex:

quote:
Originally posted by Pigwidgeon:

quote:
Originally posted by Carex:
Tape measures. (I'm only interested in the spring steel blade for other purposes.)

Dare I ask?
I don't know, do you dare?

It is safe for the giraffe, at least.

But does it involve cheap gin?

Posted by sllc (# 12707) on :

quote:
Originally posted by malik3000:

quote:
Originally posted by Jigsaw:
My daughter has a part-time job in a pound store, and is amazed how often customers ask her the price of an item.
Am i correct in assuming from that statement that everything costs a pound? US dollar stores started out charging a dollar for every item or group of items. But that is no longer the case -- at least at Family Dollar, a chain of dollar stores where i live. Items are cheap , but there is no one particular fixed price.

No, they are talking about such store as Dollar Tree, Dollar Stop etc. We have Dollar Tree here in Atlanta. I always buy batteries there. Can't beat their price.

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