If You Shop At Dollar Stores, Here’s What You Should NOT Buy

It can be tempting to want to buy anything and everything in the dollar store. Everything is only a friggin’ dollar, after all! You find yourself strolling the aisles, collecting everything from tin foil to crayons to dish soap and more. What could go wrong?

While there are plenty of useful items in the dollar store that are worth buying, there are actually several items you should never ever purchase from one of these stores.

Here’s what they are, and why experts recommend finding them elsewhere.

  1. Hair and skin care products

    You buy hair and skin care products to make sure your hair and skin are in tip top shape, right? Well, the dollar store versions are going to do anything but that. “Many of these items are filled with chemicals that could be harsh on your skin and dry out your hair. Plus, they may not be allergy-tested,” says Caroline Thompson, content marketing specialist at deals website BradsDeals.com. Try Walmart or Target for lower-priced makeup, lotion, shampoo, etc.

  2. Children’s toys

    You want your child to have a good experience with toys, not cry when they break in five seconds–and that’s bound to happen if you chose a dollar-store firetruck or ring toss. “These toys break. They’re very cheap, not well made, and you get what you pay for,” says Brent Shelton, online shopping expert for fatwallet.com.

  3. Batteries

    Buy batteries from literally anywhere else, especially carbon-zinc batteries. These dollar store versions won’t last nearly as long as your alkaline battery, plus they have damage-causing properties if it leaks onto a device of yours. Additionally, dollar store batteries are usually taken from from other retailers when they’re on the shelf too long–and they actually don’t have as long of a shelf life than you think (hence them not lasting as long).

  4. Tools

    Besides the fact that these tools are much more likely to break, there are a lot more safety issues at play here. “If you have a cheap clamp that’s holding something in the air above your head and it breaks because it’s poor quality, that could injure you,” says Shelton.

  5. Kitchen knives

    Ever hear the phrase “a good kitchen knife will send you to heaven?” Okay, we might’ve made that up, but it’s true. And dollar store knives are a piece of you-know-what. “These won’t be sharp, and dull knives can be very dangerous,” says consumer and money-saving expert Andrea Woroch.

  6. Power strips

    Due to the thinner wires these models have, dollar store power strips aren’t as function able or as safe as your standard kind. “Dollar store versions of extension cords, power strips and the like can be poorly made and therefore unsafe,” Woroch says. “Skip the savings in pursuit of safety and get these items from your hardware store.”

  7. Steak

    You may have noticed that a lot of Dollar Trees advertise their $1 ribeye. If something seems too good to be true, it probably is. These steaks are sliced super thin with as much as 30% solution added. You’re better off with…well, literally anything else. It’s just not worth it!

Do you shop at the dollar store? Which items do you usually buy, and which do you pass on?