Name Brand Or Generic

[bonzie]

I usually buy the cheapest one no matter if is the a good name brand or generic.

[bhiett]

Most of the time I buy generic unless it is a specific product that I really trust for quality.  You need to check the prices, though...occasionally a name brand will actually be cheaper than it's generic equivalent.

[alamedann]

Mostly I buy the generic/store brand.  I don't notice any difference with the name brand, for the most part.  I have a Trader Joe's near me, and I love their store brand; good quality food that is almost always cheaper than the name brand.  There are a few things that I stick with the name brand.  Soaps (bar, face, laundry).  Ghiradeli chocolate, because no one makes chocolate like they do!

[paints]

Depends on what it is.
Something like toilet paper, I usually buy name brand. I can buy generic for half what I pay for Cottonelle, but the Cottonelle will last 3 times longer, so it actually works out cheaper to pay more at the outset.

[5Yari32]

it depends on what i am looking for.

[jkhanson]

It depends on what I am shopping for.  Many generic items are as good as Name brand.  It even depends on the generic brand.  Some frozen items are worlds apart in quality.

If the food item is going to be in a hotdish, for example, generic works just fine.

For stand alone food dishes, name brand is better.

[davidf938]

I usually buy the generic. It is often the name brand with a different label. You just don't pay for the advertising.

[yaayme]

I like Target's brand "Up & Up" (I think that's what it's called).

[tin8604]

We use generic for most things.

[lywb2168]

Depends on what it is, I have bought certain items and had to throw away the generic because it tasted awful, but there are others that you cannot tell the difference.   i get generic on what I can and Brand name on the others,

[camellia0]

There are some generics that just don't compare, like ranch dressing, that has to be name brand. But yes i save $$ and go for the cheap.

[lvstephanie]

I don't buy whatever is cheapest, but rather whatever gives me the best value... I've noticed that sometimes the generic items are the most inexpensive because they are also built very cheaply and so breaks or doesn't work quite as well as the name brand item. So even if the generic is a 1/3 less than the name brand, if I have to use twice as much (or buy it a 2nd time within the name brand's life expectancy of the item), I'm actually losing out in the long run. I found that out the hard way when I bought (or actually received as a prize on some FC-like GPT site) a stand / stick blender from some unknown company; everytime I tried to use it, it would uncouple the blender attachment from the motor base. I ended up throwing that one out and purchasing a Cuisinart one that I am still using several years later.

Also name brands tend to have more coupons and sales... So it sometimes works out to be less expensive than the generics when taking into consideration all of the specials on the items. This is esp. true for any item that has just come out on the market; usually the name brand manufacturer will offer out coupons with large savings in order to get more people to try out the item. For example when the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser first came out, the store had a big sale on them as well as P&G offering some big coupons allowing me to get 2 for less than half the price of 1.

Finally I may sometimes purchase the name brand if I really like the manufacturer and want to see more products come from them. You have to remember that part of the reason why some name brands are so expensive is because they are trying to recover the R&D costs that went into discovering and manufacturing the item, while generic companies only have to recover the costs it takes to make the item. This is esp. true of health and beauty items (although every once in awhile they come out with some amazing food items too).

But I'd have to say that for the most part, I don't see a difference between the name brand and the generic items so I tend to purchase those instead.

[vickysue]

It depends on what it is. I have found som generics that are better then the name brand There are a few items the name brand is the best, so will wait on some until i have coupon. I like useing coupons.

[Skyenkit]

Mostly buy the generic items. They are just the same.

[gaylasue]

It depends on the product and price as to whether I purchase name brand or generic brand.  There are many products that I like the generic versions better than the name brand especially when you factor in the cost difference!