Is Value dollar shop, a good place to shop ?

[malcontent]

Valu$ is one of the few retailers here that understands driving higher volume at lower unit margin can still make good money.

Some skeptics I’ve run into are wary of the products sold there - they just can’t accept it can be THAT cheap. I can vouch for the products imported from the US, they are in the original packaging and still priced a bit higher than the US... so while the might seem too good to be true for Singapore, reality is that “normal” prices at Watsons/NTUC are simply outrageous... the buying public has been “conditioned” to believe it is normal.

Take Prego pasta sauce for S$3.99, this converts to US$2.99... the exact same product in the US is US$1.99 (or less if on sale).

[Splatted]

Chocolates are from a different market, and might not be made with exactly the same recipe as bought here. ( Some tasted way sweeter. ). Others like snickers, and bounty tasted okay

Some items I believe are seconds/rejects, eg batteries can be a hit and miss. There have been several occasions where AA batteries had a shorter life than I normally would get for a name-brand (Energiser).

Also, a few times I had a customer come into the business I work in to try and troubleshoot why their device isn't working. It turned out the button batteries CR2032 they bought from value shop recently were dead when he bought them. He replaced them again with new ones from a local supermarket, and the device worked perfectly.

[Max Headroom]

It doesn't make sense to me; in a country as competitive, as Darwinian, as Singapore, if and when you're provably able to set a higher margin, you do. You wouldn't instead opt for lower margin and then try to make up for it by hoping to make money through scaling up.

I think that the only real reason these items are sold so much cheaper than elsewhere is because there's something "wrong" with them one way or the other. Yes, they may be manufactured in an EM country, with slightly different taste, or perhaps they're on the verge of expiring, or perhaps a consignment has been condemned in another jurisdiction on a technicality.

I also wouldn't discount the fact that some may be counterfeit. Sure, there are checks and balances in place here to prevent this, but I reckon it's never a good idea to underestimate human resourcefulness when it comes to making a buck.

When it comes to things I ingest or lather up with, I feel better buying from the bigger and established players - at a higher price. Still no guarantee of course, but at least someone with a lot to lose is accountable.

Bandaids, storage containers and similar such doohicky items no issue of course.

[malcontent]

I have rarely been disappointed by a purchase from Valu$, but then I’m pretty selective about what I buy. I can say that imported items from the US are legit, same packaging & quality as I get in the US.

One item to avoid - the canned Carnation milk which is labeled for Thailand, it’s a different formulation than the Singapore product... maybe it’s just fine for Cha Yen (Thai Tea) but it was horrible in my pumpkin pie!

[Lisafuller]

Most of the things sold at valu$ are of reasonable quality. Like malcontent, I have rarely been disappointed. There is a relatively large selection of snacks and most are a great value for money. I always pay special attention to the country of origin when considering whether to buy a product. Like malcontent says, some have different formulas as they are made for different consumers, so you may not get what you were expecting. On a whole though, it definitely lives up to its name.

[stanley81ng]

Yes, the candy and chocolate are good value for money, but i try not to go over there too often as they will affect our health if we consume too much

[sundaymorningstaple]

Yes, the candy and chocolate are good value for money, but i try not to go over there too often as they will affect our health if we consume too much

I hear that. I live within 5 minute walk of a Value Dollar shop and a wee bit longer walk at one in NEX. I tend to buy Snickers bars by the box (24 bars for $12) could save 20 more cents by buy the packs of 6 but I like the convenience of just throwing the box in the fridge. Bounty are also consumed a lot if they are in stock (haven't been any until a week ago for around 3 months). Oh, at 73 I'm not too fussed about watching my health like I did during 1 thru 71 when I finally retired.

[Lisafuller]

Yes, the candy and chocolate are good value for money, but i try not to go over there too often as they will affect our health if we consume too much

I hear that. I live within 5 minute walk of a Value Dollar shop and a wee bit longer walk at one in NEX. I tend to buy Snickers bars by the box (24 bars for $12) could save 20 more cents by buy the packs of 6 but I like the convenience of just throwing the box in the fridge. Bounty are also consumed a lot if they are in stock (haven't been any until a week ago for around 3 months). Oh, at 73 I'm not too fussed about watching my health like I did during 1 thru 71 when I finally retired.

I buy the box of chunky kit kats. I’m not sure how many bars are inside, but the whole box only costs $6. I’m not sure where else you’d be able to find such prices.

[singaporeflyer]

Yes, the candy and chocolate are good value for money, but i try not to go over there too often as they will affect our health if we consume too much

I hear that. I live within 5 minute walk of a Value Dollar shop and a wee bit longer walk at one in NEX. I tend to buy Snickers bars by the box (24 bars for $12) could save 20 more cents by buy the packs of 6 but I like the convenience of just throwing the box in the fridge. Bounty are also consumed a lot if they are in stock (haven't been any until a week ago for around 3 months). Oh, at 73 I'm not too fussed about watching my health like I did during 1 thru 71 when I finally retired.

I buy the box of chunky kit kats. I’m not sure how many bars are inside, but the whole box only costs $6. I’m not sure where else you’d be able to find such prices.

I have nothing personal against them. But I feel the food items are usually from a different geographical market and i have seen some of them without details on where they were manufactured / expiry date. When I had bought them few times, it did taste different from the normal ones and so I stopped buying food items from them. Non food items I am ok. But yes, sometimes it works well and sometimes it goes off earlier than others. I guess they look like parallel imports.

[sundaymorningstaple]

Processed foods are generally regionally produced and are modified for the local tastebuds. That's why chocolates and burgers and certain chips, etc taste different. East a Micky D burger in the US and then get on a flight to Singapore and immediately go buy one to see the difference. Better yet, buy one here and then a short flight to BKK and buy one. There is so much sugar in the patties it almost like eating candy, but that's primarily for the Thai tastes. Things like Snickers, Mars & Bounty chocolate bars are okay. Everything I've ever bought there hasn't been near any use by dates but maybe I'm just lucky as I tend to check those things. However, the use by dates aren't an indication when the stuff has to be thrown out, but only an approximate time before the item loses some of it flavour. (Half-Life of all the chemical additives?)

[malcontent]

I have nothing personal against them. But I feel the food items are usually from a different geographical market and i have seen some of them without details on where they were manufactured / expiry date. When I had bought them few times, it did taste different from the normal ones and so I stopped buying food items from them. Non food items I am ok. But yes, sometimes it works well and sometimes it goes off earlier than others. I guess they look like parallel imports.

I would not buy unless you can identify where it was manufactured and the expiry date! I haven’t found too many items that fall into that category. Maybe the ones with 12 languages on the back? A few of those did seem sketchy, maybe smuggled in from Eastern Europe?

Valu$ is a parallel importer, no question about that. And many items that are legitimately for sale in other markets. For example, they used to sell cans of Coke from Vietnam... tasted a little weird, but maybe that is just how it tastes in Vietnam. I’ve seen some items marked with a Rupee price that were clearly intended to be sold in India, the quality didn’t look up to par, so I gave them a miss.

That said, most toiletries sold in Singapore are made in Thailand (P&G for example) or Vietnam - - and often they sell the same products from the same factory but packaged for and sold in other countries at a fraction of the price. Take Oral-B tooth brushes from Vietnam... they are like $1 for 4 (even I was a little skeptical) but they have been great.

[Lisafuller]

Yes, the candy and chocolate are good value for money, but i try not to go over there too often as they will affect our health if we consume too much

I hear that. I live within 5 minute walk of a Value Dollar shop and a wee bit longer walk at one in NEX. I tend to buy Snickers bars by the box (24 bars for $12) could save 20 more cents by buy the packs of 6 but I like the convenience of just throwing the box in the fridge. Bounty are also consumed a lot if they are in stock (haven't been any until a week ago for around 3 months). Oh, at 73 I'm not too fussed about watching my health like I did during 1 thru 71 when I finally retired.

I do the exact same thing with the KitKat boxes. I buy a box once every 2 or 3 weeks, chuck it in the fridge, and once it is emptied out by my family I replace it for just 6 bucks. I haven’t had bounty in ages, I can never seem to find it in the Value Dollar near my house. I guess different outlets carry different products.

[Lisafuller]

I hear that. I live within 5 minute walk of a Value Dollar shop and a wee bit longer walk at one in NEX. I tend to buy Snickers bars by the box (24 bars for $12) could save 20 more cents by buy the packs of 6 but I like the convenience of just throwing the box in the fridge. Bounty are also consumed a lot if they are in stock (haven't been any until a week ago for around 3 months). Oh, at 73 I'm not too fussed about watching my health like I did during 1 thru 71 when I finally retired.

I buy the box of chunky kit kats. I’m not sure how many bars are inside, but the whole box only costs $6. I’m not sure where else you’d be able to find such prices.

I have nothing personal against them. But I feel the food items are usually from a different geographical market and i have seen some of them without details on where they were manufactured / expiry date. When I had bought them few times, it did taste different from the normal ones and so I stopped buying food items from them. Non food items I am ok. But yes, sometimes it works well and sometimes it goes off earlier than others. I guess they look like parallel imports.

I’ve never seen any without manufacturing details or expiry dates. I’m pretty sure its illegal for anyone to sell food without some information printed clearly on the packaging. Admittedly, some of the food tastes different, but the KitKats that I buy taste great, no difference from the ones sold in mainstream supermarkets. Except the price, of course.

[malcontent]

Sometimes the parallel imports taste better. In the earlier years, Sheng Siong used to parallel import Heineken from the Netherlands. They were about 30% cheaper than the local version from APB and the flavor was rich and amazing by comparison - the local version here sadly tastes very generic, little resemblance to the original.

[Lisafuller]

However, the use by dates aren't an indication when the stuff has to be thrown out, but only an approximate time before the item loses some of it flavour. (Half-Life of all the chemical additives?)

Is this true? I have always been under the impression that the use by dates, like the name suggests, is the date by which you need to consume the food before it begins to go bad. Although I guess its possible you’re right, the food doesn’t just rot to mush once the clock strikes 12.