To wonder why anyone buys branded products?

[superstarheartbreaker]

When they are so much more expensive?

Especially things like washing powder; Persil etc ; at least £4.00 for a bottle of fabric washing gel. Tescos own; £2.00 for a bottle of similar gel often with added conditioner. Does the job fine.

Admittedly some products have no equal like Marmite or Nutella and there are certain value products that don't cut it but it does strike me as odd that so many stick to brands that are so expensive and then moan about the price of shopping nowadays. It is possible to be savvy even in these difficult times. (Although I still baulk at the price of butter and cheese recently branded or not.)

[AntsMarching]

I tried Sainsburys washing powder. The smell was vile. I only bought it once.

[HorryIsUpduffed]

Laundry detergent isn't equal though. Nor is ketchup or loo roll.

Buying them for own-brand prices in Quality Save or similar is the way forward!

[CajaDeLaMemoria]

I use branded stuff. Everything is branded...biscuits, washing powder, washing up liquid, crisps, everything.

I have no idea why, really. I suppose I know what I like, and I stick to it. My MIL uses a Tesco washing powder that smells vomit-y and makes me itch...she can't smell it and always says how it is exactly the same, but everyone else can smell it!

[Sirzy]

Because they do the job better? I have tried shop own brand washing liquid and it was rubbish.

I stock up when its on offer though so never pay £4 for a normal size bottle its rarely more than £3 when its on offer 9i use ariel not persil though)

[Feminine]

I used to think like you op very much so.

Recently I have been swayed back to 'names' they do work/taste better!

Plus, even though Birds Eye were involved in the horse meat thing, name brands are more traceable. probably totally wrong

BTW, you can but supermarket versions of marmite/nuttella :)

[CloudsAndTrees]

Because they are generally better than own brand products. Not always, but usually, especially with food (depending on where you shop).

[NoelHeadbands]

See I think unbranded hazelnut chocolate spread is as suitable as Nutella, so that blows your argument out of the water

[Feminine]

I stock up if they are on sale.

[sparechange]

I find lots of own-brand thing to be a false economy, especially cleaning things - dishwasher tablets, washing up liquid, laundry things
They never do the job quite as well, and I always feel like I end up using more either by putting more in in the first place, or re-doing wash loads

I don't quite understand the new-ish trend for branded potatoes and milk though. Is 'Yeo Valley' milk really any different or better to the own brand stuff? Must come out of the same cows!

[livinginwonderland]

because generally they're better quality, last longer and taste nicer.

[ShatnersBassoon]

People like familiarity, don't want to take a gamble and waste money on something they might not like, think the brand offers something that others don't, can easily afford to buy what they believe is 'the best' so don't think about budgeting...

There's no mystery to it.

[lollilou]

I've never found a own brand pickle that is as nice as Branston.

[Kyrptonite]

It's cheaper for me to spend more on vanish, persil etc than it is for me to replace stained pre-schooler clothes.

Also coca cola is the only coke that doesn't taste flat and minging.

Most things I'll buy own brand though.

[dashoflime]

I'm with you OP, they are so, so much more expensive.

Even the own brand stuff is dear these days.

I can easily bring a weekly shop in at £70, on the value stuff and cooking from scratch. How anyone does the whole thing on mid market brands is beyond me, really it is.

[defineme]

With food it's because things like beans or cereal have more sugar/salt/fat the bigger the brand so they taste nicer.
Washing powder is because a lot of people are sensitive to different brands so stick with one they trust.
I buy the most expensive free range organic meat/eggs and smartprice/value everything else. If I have heinz beans or kellogs cornflakes now they taste soo salty.
Wash powder has been more difficult-have settled on the own brand co op as ones that are cheap and don't make us itch.
Yeo valley milk is organic.

[StephaniePowers]

Because my mother could have written the OP and I've been hearing the same broken record for years, yet have only once found a product to be ahead of its branded counterpart.

[ivykaty44]

I have no idea why anyone buys fabric conditioner - let alone whether it is sainsbury brand or another level brothers brand - what is the purpose of such glup, apart from locking sweat into clothing - yuk

[smokinaces]

I buy 26p unbranded ketchup. But I cannot buy own branded conditioner or washing liquid. It's shite. I've tried. I also need branded hair stuff as the unbranded leaves it like straw and anything other than sanex in the shower makes me itch like hell and gives me thrush for a week. And dont even try to take my tetley tea or Pepsi max.

Crisps, snacks, milk, eggs, yogurts, frozen stuff, happy to do unbranded. The rest I buy branded but on offer.

[KarmaBitch]

I don't buy everything brand but some things are a must - toilet roll for example. I can't be doing with the sandpaper 29p kind. I'm nice to my behind and buy good old Andrex.

[Koyangwuti]

This totally depends on the individual name-brand product vs the individual generic product. With some of stuff I do not buy name-brand items. With other things I do. When I do make a decision to buy the cheaper one I do it when I know it is as good or better than the name-brand item.

Buying something that is cheaper, but tastes poor by comparison is not better value, it is just being cheap. I think it is ridiculous to assume that a brand with a great reputation cannot be any better than the cheaper items just because it is called the same thing. Sometimes name-brand is worth it.

By the same logic it makes sense to try the cheaper things too, as often times the difference in price is not about quality, but more about the reality that advertising costs money and as the end-user you pay for everything about that product including the marketing of it. Store-brand items don't engage in the same kind of competitive marketing and there is less overhead in their production.

[cozietoesie]

It depends on the product. Some branded products are better than any available own brands, some not. You just have to get to know what you're purchasing.



PS - and stay alert. Manufacturers change specifications so that you can buy something one week which is fine and the next week they've changed the taste, size, whatever - for the worse.

[smokinaces]

Ivykaty I have tried not using fabric conditioner, but ds1 gets scratchy and they just, well smell odd. The comfort seems to keep it smelling nicer and softer. Maybe when i can dry outside I will try again. I use very little though.

[ShatnersBassoon]

Fabric conditioner makes fabrics feel softer and perfumes them. It's like hair conditioner for laundry. Nothing confusing about it.

[Badvoc]

The only branded stuff I buy is Heinz baked beans. Ds1 will only eat those..have tried em all!
I buy own brand co op stuff mostly.
Their non bio washing gel is fab.

[VisualiseAHorse]

I have tried many washing-up liquids. Now I always buy Fairy - nothing lasts as long or gets rid of grease as well. If it's on offer, I get a couple of bottles, at it lasts forever.