Do you buy the original or the cheaper copycat?

Discussion in Food & Drink started by crimsonghost747 • Feb 28, 2014.

  1. crimsonghost747

    crimsonghost747Active Member

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    A lot of products have the original version and then a cheaper, lower quality version made by another brand. For example there was pringles, and now most supermarkets have their own version of pringless... a similar tube, similar flavours etc. So basically a cheap copy.

    My choice between the two is made there and then... do I want to save some money and go for the cheap one or get good quality and go for the real deal. I decide on the spot.

    What about you? Which one do you usually buy?
     
  2. Gmac9100

    Gmac9100Active Member

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    It depends on your budget. If you have the money to purchase it. I would suggest you buy the Name brand product. Simply because it will be better. Generic brands are cheaper for a reason. You get what you pay for. However they are a good alternative if you are on a low budget.
     
  3. deansaliba

    deansalibaActive Member

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    With some food I have found it impossible to tell the difference, there are some that I actually prefer the supermarket version than the more expensive brand version.

    If we are talking about clothes then I ALWAYS buy brand names as they tend to last me longer.
     
  4. clairebeautiful

    clairebeautifulActive Member

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    If we are just talking grocery store food, I'll be honest, there are almost always manufacturer coupons available for the original that make it cheaper than the non-brand name knock off. Also, I've found if you are a savvy shopper, the most expensive brands frequently go on sale and are lower, again, than their off-brand counterparts.

    That said, Aldi doesn't carry many brand names at all, but I've loved almost everything I've ever bought from there, and the price of many things is consistently lower than even the sale prices on things in bigger grocery stores.
     
  5. Jessi

    Jessi<a href="http://www.quirkycookery.com">QuirkyCooke

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    These is definitely not always true. As others mentioned, sometimes you can't tell the difference at all. It's worth trying the generic brands to see if there are some that you can buy without any difference in quality.

    That being said, I do think that there are some brand name products that are better to buy when you can tell the difference.
     
  6. crimsonghost747

    crimsonghost747Active Member

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    Ohh I agree, there are some supermarket versions which taste great. If you have one of those, then it's obviously an easy choice to make.
    However these products are quite rare, I've found that with most of the items there is a difference and 90% of the time it's the brand name that takes the win when it comes to taste.
     
  7. DankAllen

    DankAllenBanned

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    I'm all about the copy cat brands. I enjoy Dr. Bob instead of Dr. Pepper. I like Mountain Frost instead of Mountain Dew. The names alone crack me up and make me want to buy them and you can't go wrong with the prices.
     
  8. Scottie

    ScottieMember

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    I am not a fan of the cheaper knock offs of well established brands so I go for the Original all the time no matter how much more I have to pay for it. Its better to pay for good trusted quality products than go for the cheaper generic version! I'm not going to be like I haven't tried the cheaper ones because I have, but it was not even close to the original product! Hence, my choice!
     
  9. dan213

    dan213New Member

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    It depends on the food. There are some cheaper solutions that don't taste nearly as good so I end up throwing it out and wasting the money anyways. To me, all noodles taste the same or fairly close but sweets or potato chips do not.
     
  10. sidney

    sidneyWell-Known Member

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    I think it depends on how similar they taste with the branded ones. If the taste isn't so different from the more expensive brand, then I will gladly switch to the cheaper version so that I can save money.
     
  11. DrRipley

    DrRipleyExpert

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    I usually just go for the original as much as I can. My reason for doing so is that it provides me with the satisfaction to my craving. If I chose to buy the copycat brand, I'd usually just get only partially satisfied, and to me that's not worth the savings at all unless I really needed that amount to spend on something else. Still, I do appreciate that these other brands exist, as sometimes if I'm not really that much of a fan of a particular food product, then I wouldn't really care that much on the taste and quality, especially if it's just something I'd use as a minor ingredient in a dish.
     
  12. amynichole318

    amynichole318Active Member

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    I think it depends on the product. For the most part I will go with the cheaper brand but somethings it's not worth it. For example, the store brand pop tarts are just terrible and so to me, it's worth the extra .20 cents for the name brand. Same with the frozen waffles ( sorry I have three kids lol so we by a lot of kid food). But then there are things like milk where the store brand is just as good as the name brand in which case we will buy the generic version.
     
  13. Gmac9100

    Gmac9100Active Member

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    I agree 100%. It has been my experience that you get what you pay for. Those knock offs are cheaper for a reason. In my opinion the quality is never the same. I'm all about quality. I usually notice the slightest of differences. So i stick with original brands.
     
  14. Denis Hard

    Denis HardWell-Known Member

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    I agree. I've tried buying cheaper knock-offs but the taste was so weird that all I could do was force myself to use the product just that one time. From that, I learned that originals are the best. However if I'm really down on dough and I must get a cheaper product then I'd go for it.
     
  15. ohiotom76

    ohiotom76Well-Known Member

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    For the most part, I'm not stuck on brand names - especially with stuff like potato chips, or frozen vegetables, condiments, and other items. If it's going to save me a dollar or two per item, that all ads up very quickly. Not to mention, not all of the "store brand" items are necessarily knock offs of the brand name items. Stores like Adli carry many items made by big brand manufacturers that are sold under their own store brand packaging instead. So in reality, you really are getting the brand name stuff at a lower price - as long as you can get past the packaging.