11 Items You Should NEVER Buy at A California Dollar Store

The very first Dollar Tree branded store opened 34 years ago. Up until early 2022, it was the go-to destination to pick up some fun things at the ridiculously low price of $1.00. 

While 25 cents won’t make or break most shoppers, they were still a little surprised when the chain announced that they were raising their prices to $1.25 per item. CNN Business explains that the strategy wasn’t necessarily just to keep up with rapid inflation that’s affected thousands of products across the United States. It was also to offer shoppers better quality products. 

From pool noodles and holiday décor to craft supplies and toys, the discount retailer still offers shoppers a wide variety of products at an incredibly low price. Depending on your level of creativity, you can turn them into some spectacular things. For example, we were able to make some festive Christmas snowmen using fish bowls, a Christmas ornament, ribbon and glitter from the Dollar Tree. 

Even with the Mop & Glow that we had to pick up elsewhere, the snowmen still cost about $6 to make. If we’d bought the supplies at a larger, craft-focused retailer like Hobby Lobby or JoAnn Fabrics, they no doubt would’ve cost more. 

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But are all the items at dollar stores a great value? Several major publications did a deep dive into their products and determined that the answer was “no.” We looked at their claims and did some price comparison shopping at Dollar Tree locations, grocery stores and big box retailers like Walmart. Here’s what we found out.