17 brand name products worth paying for over the generic versions

Ashley Lutz

Apr 18, 2015, 02:26 IST

Shoppers can save a lot of money buying generic brands.

But some products are worth every penny.

A recent Reddit thread asked which items are worth shelling out for.

We selected some of our favorite responses.

1. Shoes.

"When I was a kid, my mom would always buy the Wal-Mart/KMart/Payless shoes that were no-name brand and my feet hurt all the time," writes IWannaBeAlone. "I'd also destroy them in the space of a month."

Everything changed when the author finally got a pair of Reeboks.

"I was amazed. My feet didn't hurt all the time! They lasted forever!" the happy shoe owner writes.

Reebok

2. Oreos.

"No off-brand Oreos compare to the real thing," writes cmarman.

Oreos

3. Q-tips.

"It's the amount of cotton on the tip, which makes it softer," writes ABirdOfParadise. "Some off brands are just sticks with a thread on the end, I swear."

Shutterstock

4. SpaghettiO's.

"Store brand versions are so terrible," writes angiehawkeye.

@SpaghettiOs on Twitter

5. Reese's Peanut Butter Cups.

"The generic brands can never get the peanut butter-to-chocolate ratio right," writes bpxrain.

Wikimedia Commons

6. Crayola crayons.

"Crayola is glorious," writes kelseykeefe. "Strong colors that are even and layer nicely for value-and don't break on a whim.

Flickr/Kate Ter Harr

7. Legos.

"Someone who I blacked out from my memory got me Mega-Blocks once and I resented them until adulthood," writes McLarenF1God. "I never once played with them, nor do I recall when I last saw them."

Kirsten Acuna / Business Insider

8. Leatherman.

"When your generic tool breaks I will let you use my leathermen to fix it, is what I tell my friends," rottinguy writes.

Leatherman

9. Heinz ketchup.

"Nothing else will do," writes Lettuce617.

10. Toilet paper.

"I don't care how much it costs, this is one area of your life where you should just never ever skimp," writes Sh--BeardThePirate.

Clairity / Flickr, CC

11. Coca-Cola.

"No 'cola' cannot even come close," writes Persta.

doobybrain via www.flickr.com

12. Nutella.

"I don't know any off-brands of it... And even if they have off-brands, they won't be as good," writes eatfreely.

WikiMedia Commons

13. Contact solution.

"I bought the generic brand once and I will never buy anything but Opti-Free from now on," writes sandykumquat.

Dave77459 via Flickr

14. Cheese.

"I'm very unfussy and can usually always deal with the knock-off brand, even if it's noticeably worse, but cheap cheese is never ever worth it," writes apostrotastrophe.