When it comes to Dollar Tree purchases, some of them are virtually (and physically!) money down the drain!

Dollar Tree purchases sometimes seem like some of the best deals out there! Most items are priced at $1.25, which makes you think that you can buy almost anything since the prices are really low.

Yet, this can also lead you to overspend in places like Dollar Tree and other similar dollar stores (which are no longer accurately named), and sometimes, despite the low prices, the wrong purchases can feel like you are throwing money down the drain.

Dollar stores are a great source of items for a lot of us, no matter our income, as they do have great prices, and with some products, it would be a waste to pay more at another store.

Yet, with certain items, it is better to pay that little extra to get the product from somewhere else.

In the end, no matter how cheap an item is, if it does not perform well or doesn’t do what it is supposed to, you will end up having to spend more money to get one that actually does what it should.

In order to help you save your money and invest wisely, ensure you steer clear of these Dollar Tree purchases!

Do you shop at the dollar store? What is something you vowed never to buy there, and why? Share your story in the comments!

Picture Frames

When it comes to this item from Dollar Tree, you can check any online forum, and they will tell you to stay away from it.

Sure, it may seem like a bargain, but in the long run, they are not known to last that long, and it can just set you back a couple of bucks when you have to exchange them for some sturdier ones.

People complain about how the sides are not actually made from wood but rather foam that is decorated to imitate wood, and that when you end up having metal sides, they perforate through the foam.

Others were talking about how even just moving them around a couple of times can end up damaging the frames, and in the end, you do not want to get home with broken frames.

The reviews on the Dollar Tree site are not any better. One of their black picture frames stands at 2.3 stars, with a lot of reviews talking about how the measurements are wrong and how they just break immediately.

Do yourself a favor and buy your frames somewhere else!

Tape

When it comes to getting off-brand tape, it can be a true gamble.

After all, sometimes you may end up with a really good product, while other times you may end up buying tape that is going to fail all of its jobs, be it that it does not end up sticking, which is the most basic aspect, or that it breaks weirdly when you try to roll it out.

Dollar Tree has the trusted brand Scotch, but it is not the quality of this product but rather the quantity you are going to get when you purchase it.

Scotch magic tape. The matte kind is the quintessential $1.25 at the Dollar Tree. When you look on Amazon, you can get a pack of six rolls for $15, which makes them $2.50 a roll.

You would think the dollar store is a better deal, but when you look at the length, you see why getting it somewhere else is better. The Dollar Store one is only 200 inches, while the Amazon one is 1000 inches.

That leaves you with Amazon being a better bang for your buck. And you never know how much you need tape until you desperately need it, so it’s better to have some more on hand.

This is the listing if you want to stock up on some tape!

Batteries — in particular, the carbon-zinc ones

The Dollar Tree has many packs of generic batteries, and you may be drawn in by the idea that you can pay so little for a pack of batteries that brags about their “super heavy duty” properties.

Yet what not all of us know is that somewhere else on a lot of packages is another line written in small font that specifies that these batteries end up being heavy duty when it comes to “low drain devices.”.

All in all, there are two types of batteries: the alkaline ones, which are known to be able to power items for a long time, and the true heavy-duty ones. The other ones are carbon-zinc batteries, which are going to be able to power low-power devices for just a little while.

The carbon-zinc batteries are known to have a short lifespan, and unless the batteries you are getting from Dollar Tree are alkaline, then they are not truly heavy-duty in the general sense of the word.

Despite this, high-quality carbon-zinc batteries are still going to be great when it comes to the likes of remote controls and clocks, but even these are not going to be that good when it comes to the dollar store.

A lot of people write in their online reviews of E-Circuit brand batteries that they leak or that they do not seem to work, with an average rating of 1.6 stars.

Not to mention, customers do not see the alkaline batteries at Dollar Tree any better. By comparison, you can get a high-quality pack of alkaline batteries from Amazon Basics for about $0.34 per battery in a 48-pack, and they are bound to last you a while

Tools

If you are not a contractor, you are going to get by by using a run-of-the-mill tool kit from Amazon or any big store, since there is no need to pay a fortune for tools that you will rarely be using.

Yet, know that if you are going to get $1.25 tools, that is going to be the quality you’re going to get.

Even former employees of this dollar store have come out in the last couple of years to say that the tools are not durable. So if you are in the middle of doing some repairs, there is a high chance that you are going to have to spend more time on other tools since these have a high chance of breaking.

This can also end up causing you to make mistakes, and do you want to waste materials or have to do costly repairs?

What’s more, you should be wary of their paint rollers since there are horror stories about the neck snapping in half and falling off to splatter paint all over!

USB Cables

Another item you need to be careful of is USB cables. Sure, it may seem like a great deal to get an extra USB charging cable from the dollar store if you are in a pinch, but a lot of tech enthusiasts and experts warn against using these.

A lot of the time, there is a chance that they are not going to work at all, even if you buy a pack, and those who do end up working are not faring well in the eyes of the users.

Reviews online also complain about the fact that they break easily, that the tops and ends come off, that they are empty, that it damaged their devices, and so on!

You can get lucky and get a good one, and if you are in a pinch and need a cable, they may do their job, but experts recommend you not rely on them for heavy use.

These are just some of the items that are not advised to be bought from Dollar Tree, but other ones are known to be good, especially if you know you are going to go on a flight. Check out some of the items that are best to put in the carry-on bag!