25 things you probably didn't know about dollar stores

Mario Anzuoni/Reuters

• Dollar stores are hugely popular in the United States.
• While Dollar Tree keeps its prices at $1 or less, other chains like Dollar General and Family Dollar have varying price points.
• There are several other secrets behind dollar stores, like how they keep their prices low but their gross margins high. 

The most common variety store chains in the United States tend to have "dollar" in their names, but that doesn't necessarily imply a certain cost or even mean that there are similar products in each store. We even found some items you shouldn't buy at a dollar store.

We did some digging and found out some of the secrets behind dollar stores, and why they've become such a large part of the US consumer landscape:

Dollar stores aren't always cheaper.

Business Insider/Mary Hanbury

You still have to shop around. We compared dollar store prices to Walmart prices, and how well a shopper does depends on how closely they check the unit price. Sometimes, a dollar gets you less at Dollar Tree than it would somewhere else.

 

 

Some items may cost more than $1.

Business Insider/Mary Hanbury

If you see "dollar" in the name, don't expect everything to cost a dollar. While Dollar Tree keeps all of their items at a dollar or below, Dollar General, 99 Cents Only, and Dollar-Tree-owned Family Dollar stores offer goods at multiple price points.

Products might be cheaper because they're smaller.

Business Insider/Mary Hanbury

Sometimes it's more important to keep a product at the $1 price mark, even if that means shrinking the size of the container of toothpaste, shaving cream or other item the quantity of what you're selling, according to Clark Howard. We noticed shrinking containers when comparing Walmart to dollar stores, too. As inflation goes up, expect items to get even smaller.

See the rest of the story at Business Insider

See Also:

• 8 foods you didn't know you could buy at Trader Joe's
• 10 genius ways to pair your favorite fast food with wine
• 22 of the best seasonal fall foods to buy at Trader Joe's right now

SEE ALSO: We shopped at Dollar Tree and Dollar General to see which offered a better shopping experience, and the winner was obvious

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