Even though I don’t enjoy shopping, I love finding deals and discounts online. My frugal nature delights in finding good quality items for less than what I would be willing to pay. There are tons of items here that aren’t worth the little you would pay, but there are other great value finds that I would recommend to friends.
1. Phone Accessories
Let’s be honest. If you buy a phone accessory online, chances are, it came from here. I didn’t really trust the quality at first, but I’ve bought and tried my share of accessories here, and they’re not bad! You have to be a little selective, but I’ve paid more for accessories in other countries, only to have them fall apart after a few uses. I recently had to replace my iPhone charging cord. I bought a nice, longer one at Miniso (it’s like Daiso, but with a different mix of items, and not as cheap), and it’s serving me very well.
I love that this cord is long, comes with it’s own cord tie, and has a mini USB and iPhone hookup. I can use it for my phone and my portable battery.
2. Organization Goods
I’m kind of an organization freak, so if you ever look in my cabinets and drawers, you’ll find a mish mash of plastic and/or cardboard bins and separators (sometimes I’m too cheap to buy a proper bin). Sure, you can get them for pretty cheap at Daiso or the dollar store, but I’m finding that I can usually get nice sized trays and containers for relatively cheap, and they look nice! Sometimes cheap items tend to have tacky designs and patterns, which as a designer really troubles me. So I love finding simple or plain items that I can dress up myself or subtle designs that are versatile. There’s such a huge variety here, it’s really hard to choose sometimes. I also remember spending so much on those vacuum seal bags to put away winter clothes and linens and things. Here, I can buy an entire set for around $12. Including a mini vacuum and/or hand pump!
Organization bins, bags, trays, galore. An organization freak’s dream come true.
3. Gift Bags / Paper Goods
On the rare occasion that I need to buy gift bags or goodie bags in bulk, I can find nice ones here. And they’re really inexpensive! I keep thinking that it would be a lot cheaper to throw a party here. Even fabric bags are relatively inexpensive in bulk. It’s crazy to think what I used to pay at the local craft store. My DIY life will never be the same.
3. Home Decor
I honestly haven’t spent much time or money on home decor here. For one thing, we don’t own most of what comes in the apartment (a majority of apartments come furnished, so you take the good with the bad). And we haven’t lived in one place for long enough to warrant decorating. But I’ve done plenty of searching, mainly for gifts, and found a goldmine of nice items. They have a lot of clever items for kids rooms and nurseries too. It’s especially nice if you’re looking for something specific that a) you don’t want to spend a lot of money on (because your kids will just destroy it anyway), or b) you need for a special event as a prop and will probably only use it once. Decorative mini telephone booth, anyone?
Just some of the things I’ve bookmarked for inspiration. We may be buying some of those succulents for R’s birthday party.
4. Promo Items
There are so many different types of promo items that you can have customized here. Anything from t-shirts, to flashlight cards. Pretty much anything that you can print or fit a logo on, can be customized here. We had customized USB cards printed and brought them as gifts for our supporters. If you have any suggestions for what our next support gift ought to be, let us know!
5. Knock-offs
This probably goes without saying, but you can get different grades of knock-off apparel and items here. You can pretty much find a knock-off of anything here. I also found out that you can actually have a lookalike of designer brands specially tailored! There are even different grades of quality. You’ll pay more for a grade A item, but they come pretty close the real thing. Even if it’s not a direct knock-off, you can find something that looks similar enough, or that functions similarly without the hefty price tag.