For example, if you insist on buying Advil instead of store brand ibuprofen. I mean, you’d be wasting your money in that example, but you do you
I think Dawn dish soap gets mentioned in these often.
Irish butter, in particularly Kerrygold, are so much better than american butter.
Garbage bags. I don’t particularly care WHICH brand, but I won’t do generic. The consequences if the bag rips open are horrifying.
Pretty much every signature soda drink. Pepsi, Coke, Mountain Dew… none of the knock-offs taste right and some are just nasty. Oddly, root beer seems to be the one flavor everyone can do well, maybe because it’s a more common flavor with no patents on the general idea? I dunno but I don’t think I’ve ever had a ‘bad’ root beer.
Dr. Bronners liquid Castille soap. I’ve tried others but they are not as concentrated or as moisturizing. Great diluted for shaving legs.
Sensodyne Pronamel Intensive Enamel Repair Toothpaste. I’ve reversed three cavities that were forming by using this toothpaste.
Persil detergent. I use other detergents but always have this on deck for tough stains or funky items.
Jockey women’s cotton underwear. There’s a specific cut that they have that’s flattering and comfortable.
Most foods. Store brands are (nearly) always lacking in something. Be it tiny sized canned beans, or jam whose only flavour is ‘sweet’. That shit is cheap for a reason.
Doesn’t apply to everything (depending on where you live), some things you can’t cut corners on without advertising it. 2% Milk is 2% milk.
But largely, low cost food has been made low cost via haircuts and shortcuts.
I was comparing frozen diced veggies a couple of years back (in Australia) and noticed that the store-brand version was approximately 1/3 broccoli stems by volume, which certainly explained the cost difference.