$3 Store!?!
21Meandering around the tubes this morning, I came across the Brandless site and became unreasonably excited.
Food, health, office products and more, each $3.
Everything at this healthy grocery store is only $3 . . . If you just pulled out your eyeballs, cleaned them off and did a double-take like a cartoon character - same. And it somehow gets better . . .
The maple syrup is real, the olive oil is virgin, the dish soap is EPA certified, the beauty products are cruelty-free. They even have tree-free TP!
The quality of Whole Foods, the simplicity of Apple, and the prices of Ikea.
How do they do it? No brand names, no fancy packaging.
And bundles!! They have bundles!
And PayPal!
There’s more, I’ll let you discover it for yourselves.
Note: I have no connection to this company, and gain nothing except a sense of altruism from sharing.
- 28 comments, 56 replies
- Comment
The Good, Idealistic Food?
When I went to the site I received and offer for $1 shipping on my first order, so I’m in for these fig and thyme crisps, plus a bunch of other crap I won’t like but just have to try.
Thx for the tip!
@ruouttaurmind - You’re welcome! I’m placing my first order, but trying to avoid carbs so it’s really hard!
@ruouttaurmind - btw, not spam if no benefit or tricky deals, if I understand the rules.
@kdemo I was JK about the spam.
Some of the prices aren’t actually terrible as long as I am getting $1 shipping. Shipping costs on subsequent orders may have me singing a different tune though.
Items like organic dijon mustard, two 12oz bottles for $3? That’s lower than the local Fry’s/Kroger sale price for non-organic.
Yup, having fun loading up my cart!
@ruouttaurmind -
Thanks so much.
Shipping is free over $39, or you can pay $39 for a year of free shipping. I guess it just depends on how much of their stuff meets your needs?
Neat! I’ll have to poke around a bit more, but I imagine I’ll be giving it a try…
@brhfl - I just ordered pens, soup, silicone spoons, and tea. I used the code “hello” for $1 shipping.
@brhfl @kdemo Thanks for the shipping code
Cool Site! I have my eye on that Acacia serving spoon.
https://brandless.com/products/copper-coated-stainless-steel-handle-wooden-spoon
@Kdemo, I really love that shopping cart gif you used!
@mfladd - Funny story: I thought of you when I posted it.
@kdemo You know me so well
@mfladd - Still, I don’t understand the attraction. You can’t even tell what’s in the cart.
@mfladd me too now!!!
I’m going to have to try it out too! Some of the stuff looks great for $3 but I can’t see buying a can of beans for $3. Fun!
/giphy I love a bargain
@moonhat I have no idea what that gif has to do with bargains, but I love Alex Karev…
@moonhat - Just noticed that most (maybe all) of the cans of beans are 3 for $3.
@kdemo oh nice! thanks for letting me know
@kdemo @moonhat I was just thinking 3 bucks for a can of beans is crazy. Good to know it’s 3 cans. I was figuring I’d have to make sure everything was actually a good deal.
All the acacia and acacia/silicone cook tools, the maple syrup, the peanut sauce, the olive oil. I think the compostable paper products, I use paper plates and disposable silverware most of the time. I need to cross check the price on coconut oil.
@moondrake - Coconut oil is expensive elsewhere! I think it’s $6+ at Trader Joe’s, but don’t know the size comparison.
@kdemo I buy it in giant containers at Costco. Gotta do a price per ounce comparison next time I go to Costco.
@moondrake - Oh, yeah. Makes sense.
I looked at it briefly a few weeks back. I know the items I was looking at, were about the same price as my local grocery store’s knockoff items… so, I dunno. I’m going to have to look again.
@RiotDemon Yeah, doesn’t seem that great of a savings, if at all on most of the stuff I saw.
Some stuff, yeah, but I would need to compare a loooot of the other.
@RiotDemon Only really an advantage if you’re concerned with the organic, non-GMO, vegan factor. Of the items I compared, I can get them locally for about the same price, but the locally purchased items are not organic, etc.
Looks pretty cool
Thanks @kdemo! Just bought a few things with $1 shipping. Interesting site.
Thanks!
Seems more expensive then what I pay in store. For example 6 kcups 3 dollars Ie 50 cents each i usually by kcups when they are under 25 cents each.
@CaptAmehrican Some stuff is pretty reasonable, and there’s the organic, GMO-free, and fair trade variables as well. If I can order certified organic products for the same price as my local store brands not organic stuff. Organic isn’t a high priority for me, but if I can get organic for the same price, why not.
@CaptAmehrican @ruouttaurmind - I agree. If the cheaper coffee pods aren’t fair trade, organic, etc., then it’s not really an even comparison.
Also, no one has mentioned that they donate meals for every order.
In some cases, the value outweighs the prices imo.
@kdemo I don’t know what they’re feeding 'em for $0.09 per meal, but it makes me want to reexamine my grocery budget!
This looks interesting. Thx.
All this shopping talk reminds me that I need to get on chewy.com and get the dog more food…thanks for the reminder!
@amehzinggrace love chewy!
@amehzinggrace
@amehzinggrace @kdemo
I also got my order from Tuesday last night…so that was quick turnaround…
@amehzinggrace - Mine isn’t here yet. My confirmation says 2-4 business days, so I’m still within the window.
@amehzinggrace @earlyre
Interesting, but I think it’ll take a bit of comparing and calculation to come out ahead. I’m seeing smaller sized bottles for things like olive and coconut oil. Coconut still might be coming out ahead however.
$3 for a 3 pack of broth for example is 8oz each x 3 = 24oz. Kind of a waste of packaging, and I can get 32oz for $1.99 at my local Harris Teeter.
Thx for the share tho, haven’t heard of this site. I’ll continue poking around. Ppl should post their best finds
I’ve looked at this store before. Outside of getting past the issue that “Brandless” is a brand (perhaps this just bothers me more than it should). Everything seems fairly priced. Some higher, some lower than a traditional store.
Their Olive oil seems very expensive compared to other options.
Organic maple syrup by ounce is more expensive through Brandless than I can get at my local stores. However I have to buy in larger containers.
Canned beans at $1.00 per can are essentially a wash.
The coconut oil seems like a great deal, but I’m not exactly sure what we use this in our house for.
Overall I imagine if you shopped through there you may come out as wash on price. It will be interesting to hear how their products taste. That’s the main thing holding me back from trying.
@MrMark I agree. I can get a lot of equivalent items (yes, even organic, GMO-free, and all that stuff that I don’t particularly care about) for similar or lower prices at my local Aldi. But where it beats them, it really beats them. I might try ordering some stuff.
ordered their coffee yesterday.
will have to try and remember to update with a review after it arrives.
@earlyre How quick/slow is the shipping?
@Kawa dunno yet. Ordered day before yesterday, no notification of anything yet… I believe it’s FedEx…
@earlyre @Kawa I ordered a few things Monday, now on Wednesday I received my FedEX Home Delivery tracking that claims it will be here Fridee. Not too bad.
@Kawa @therealjrn I ordered on Monday as well, just got a delivery notification(ie: hey, we delivered your shit) from fedex, (thursday btw)
@earlyre @therealjrn How did it go? Were the deliveries on time, and what did you think of the products?
@earlyre @Kawa Mine went well. I ordered some soups in those TetraPak® boxes, some poppy seed dressing, some mayonnaise and some Thai Peanut sauce. Packaging was all paper, no plastic bubble wrap but they have these cool paper sleeves to wrap the glass bottled things.
The soups were very tasty, I’ve already ordered some more. They probably aren’t the best buy at $1.50 a box but I like them.
Just went and poked around some… my initial thoughts are that some of the prices are pretty reasonable for organic, non-GMO, vegan, gluten-free etc. Factor in the fact that there is no TJ’s within almost 100 miles, and some things are hard/impossible to get locally, and getting it straight to my door is a plus.
so that is a plus.
I also ‘re-cycle’ small volume bottle/jars at Christmas for items I make myself
That being said, some items are cheaper at the local Dollartree or WM or SuperFoods (which are the only game(s) in town) but for non organic,non vegan etc. products, if that makes a difference to you. Costco/Sam’s are 45 minutes away, and again, not necessarily organic, etc. and you have to buy (and store) larger quantities (which if you factor in the packaging waste on stuff you don’t reuse/recycle is also an issue…
Got too much on my plate the next few days to get too crazy about this, but will *DEFINITELY * have to come back and check it out in better detail. I am 99% sure I will try at least one order (given the $1 shipping offer) so I will keep an eye out for this thread as it develops.
Either way thanks a ton for the heads up!
(not sure what is going on but my “link” button doesn’t seem to be embedding links correctly. Here is the address for the attempted link above):
https://meh.com/forum/topics/chefman-sous-vide-precision-cooker#5a9f20527643f9098017e6e5
meant to give a shout out to @kdemo in the thanks above, but got timed out by the edit limit!
So…
Thanks @kdemo
@chienfou
Thanks for the info. I just placed my 1st order.
@kdemo that shopping cart gif is mesmerizing, I wanna try that. I checked out the site, but my pudgy tummy doesn’t need any more snax!
@UncleVinny - The first shopping cart gif or the second one?
@kdemo the first, where she spins it. It’s like WalMart ballet!
@kdemo @UncleVinny That lady can spin my cart anytime.
@UncleVinny
@kdemo I can’t find the giphy I want, so you’ll have to settle for this:
A thousand apologies!
@UncleVinny - Haha. Love that movie! No apologies, I guess Nicholas Cage peaked early.
@kdemo @UncleVinny Thanks for the giggle!!
@kdemo Thanks for the link. I decided to try some things- peanut sauce, butternut squash soup, agave syrup, gummy candy and lemon verbena hand soap. I love trying new brands… er, un-brands!
Have you tried www.hollar.com? It’s essentially the same idea where most of the items are $2. They don’t mess with that tree-hugging fair trade stuff though.
@gallogj I struggled to find anything different there from Dollar Tree. But I managed to get up to the minimum $10 order so my first order shipped free. But it appears the PayPal option doesn’t work. Hrm. grr. I’ll try later.
@gallogj It’s been hours later, and it still appears PayPal checkout is blocked. Thanks, but no thanks hollar.com. Maybe next time.
@therealjrn That’s strange. I’ve ordered 2 talking teddy bears for my kids without any issues. IDK
@gallogj
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I would have ordered had their PayPal thing worked.
My husband showed brandless to me a while back but i had forgotten about it! We found a few things we wanted.
Interesting, but I think Aldi might still have them beat. I know not everyone has an Aldi, though.
@mossygreen I love Aldi so much I would marry it.
@mossygreen
@mossygreen - Ahem.
Aldi discriminates against PNW.
@kdemo Bastards!
@kdemo @mossygreen totally! What is Aldi? Now I’m bummed we have none, I don’t even know what it is
/giphy what is it
Refreshing to see a site that doesn’t say each product has a fake 90% off retail price.
I got an order delivered today from Brandless that contained a number of breakable items - glass jars of food, porcelain cups and plates - along with other (less fragile) household items. I was impressed by how well they were packed. Everything arrived in perfect condition. I was also quite impressed with the quality of everything. I bought 2 pizza cutters ($3 each) to replace a couple of old ones I bought for about $9-10 each, and the new ones are both bigger and more solidly built than the old ones. I am also rather amused that everything including the box was branded with the (trademarked) “Brandless” name.
So - I ordered on Tuesday, order arrived Saturday in perfect condition. Tea is good, haven’t tried the soup, but I’m in love with the paring knife. Great deal for $3.
Then, I rec’d an email asking if I would recommend Brandless to a friend. I responded by linking this thread. They seemed really happy about it, and added this -
Is it a mutual love fest?
Tried it. Don’t waste your money.
@arielleslie What did you get that underwhelmed you? I haven’t tried it yet.
Various snacks - crackers, cookies, beef jerky. That sort of thing.
@arielleslie I can’t ever find a discount cheese cracker as good as Cheez-Its. I’ve tried them all including the “Brandless” brand ones. Blech.