Brand Names Vs. Brand X (free, house, buy, companies)

[square peg]

I'm hoping this one hasn't been done before, but just how do you decide when a store brand will do the trick as opposed to something that's renowned simply because of its name?

Frozen vegetables - I seem to find the Jolly Green Giant to be on a par with store brands.
Mayonnaise - I'll take Hellman's or Cain's here
Butter - Land-O-Lakes is butter. So are all the others
Dish washing Liquid - Give me the Palmolive or Ajax
Coffee - Big differences here, but I like Chock Full O' Nuts
Jeans - I'll take the less expensive ones
Paint - Sears makes (or has it made for them) as good a paint as anyone
Motor oil - I've never had a problem with house brands on this one

Anyway, how do you make your choices? What's good and what's not so good?

I suppose this thread could get moved to the shopping section, but I hope it doesn't as I just don't see many of the same folks participating there.

(Mods, please use your discretion)

[Pikantari]

I buy both, store and name brand.

Some things, however, I really only buy name. Coffee comes to mind.

Really, I think that alot of products are made right there with one another, just different labels smaked on the side.. thats what I think!

Hey square peg!~ hows it going?

[missmousern]

I like generic ripple potato chips.
I buy all OTC drugs generic. I guess all prescription too if available.
My favorite jeans are Levis and I buy them at the local fleet farm store of JC Penneys.
Generic "facial tissue" are not acceptable. I need puffs or kleenex.
Our paticular store brand of frozen vegetables is not as good as Green Giant unfortunatly.
Here's a "We were so poor " Story: When my kids were little I always had 2 in diapers at the same time and we were pretty poor. I liked Kmart's brand of diapers which often came with a $1 off coupon in the package to boot. When the diapers would go on sale every couple months I would go buy a case of them on payday with my coupons and put a case on layaway to pick up on my next payday. They had free layaway back then.

[zonababe]

I really like Viva Paper Towels, however they are very expensive and seem to have lesser sheets then the competition. Try them next time, they are soft as a facial tissue and strong as well.

[Racelady88]

Hmmm, most items I am o.k. with the store brand. There are a few that must be the real thing.

Miracle Whip
Pop Tarts
Cheese slices (only velveta, if it didn't come from the deli)
Pet Food
Pepsi

[Rcm58]

I buy some house brand stuff.

I buy only name brand clothes because the standard for non name brand clothes is plus or minus 10%, you buy them once and they fit, next time no and you have to take them back.

Motor oil I stay with the brands that won't coke up from heat, brands like Quaker State and Pennzoil look like coal in a very short time under extreme heat so I stay with Valvoline but any clear looking oil works pretty well.

Many store brand grocery items are name brands that are sold under the house brand name so I'll buy them. Food City Bacon for example is Smithfield.

Walmart is an exception to so many rules that I haven't shopped there in years now. If a Name brand TV is rated at 20,000 hours every where else in the country that same company produces a model just for walmart rated at half that. Its not a bargain if its not the same product.

Generic Drugs are not as good as name brand but the government thinks they are good enough for the poor and if a generic supstitute is available a lot of insurace companies won't pay for the name brand.

[BlueWillowPlate]

Originally Posted by square peg

I'm hoping this one hasn't been done before, but just how do you decide when a store brand will do the trick as opposed to something that's renowned simply because of its name? Anyway, how do you make your choices? What's good and what's not so good

If it looks halfway decent, I will try any product once.
Jeans: anything that fits, but I like Eddie Bauer (and find their prices quite reasonable, esp if on sale)
Paper Towels i used to *swear* by Bounty, but they don't seem quite the same as they used to. However, I don't know that I'm ready to go storebought/generic yet. Maybe I'll try Viva.
Dishwashing liquid gotta go with Dawn

I have definitive, first-hand experience that generic drugs are NOT always as good as name brand.
However, there are other generics/store brands that I will use off and on, more on than off:
My Brand X Selections:
cat litter, and sometimes catfood
mayo (love Hellman's, but it's so expensive)
butter, milk, basically all dairy products--but I choose Publix over unrecognizable brands
all veggies: whether fresh, canned, frozen
seltzer (fizzy water)

[Janipoo]

I buy both, some of the things that I have to go with brand names because the budget is not good at all is:

Peanut Butter
Mayo
coffee
Doritos's

Most of the foods that are budget are usually made by the brand names but packaged for the store etc. I will say that some store brands are better than others.

As far as clothes, purses, bags and such I could care or less what people think if I don't have name brands....as long as my butt covered .

[RuralCoastalGuy]

With very few exceptions items sold under the CVS brand name are equal to that of the higher priced brand named competitors. I have found the same to be true at Food Lion stores and to some extent at Wal Mart.

Sometimes we have to try something once to see if the store brand is as good as the name brand.

We buy Eight O'Clock coffee beans, imported Italian pasta and cheese.

[songinthewind7]

I buy both but mostly the name brand on the food because I bought the walmart brand of peanut butter one time and that did it for me. Yuck.
Name brands on the food. Generic on paper towels but not on toilet paper.