Credit to Scrimshaw for "AskOzb". This is the reversed question of the recently popular one here and on Reddit.
And/Or
Compatible ink cartridges!Got fed up of problems with cheap refills and only use genuine ones now. (I have a small company so quality is essential).
Yes for a small business, why not when you can claim tax deductions (and possibly GST too) for the quality ones.
However for personal use, perhaps due to sheer luck I haven't had quality issues with the cheaper versions so why not paying less? I probably wouldn't take the punt if I had a new printer though, but after the warranty period is over, I thought I could have used the monies saved on a new printer anyway if they didn't work. But the thing is still going fine… :)
Yes for a small business, why not when you can claim tax deductions (and possibly GST too) for the quality ones.
Because even after any deductions, the generics would still be several orders of magnitude cheaper.
As johnno said, just because they're deductions, doesn't mean it becomes "free"..
You're still having to spend money to get a tax deduction….at the end of the day, if you're paying more tax, means you're making more money.
A Tax deduction is not just free money, it's a deduction before tax is applied.
There tends to be a trade-off between quality and cheaper prices, and it often comes down to a combination of luck, more often time spent and ehhemm…Ozbargaining skills to find the right balance ie. value. However I imagine that most small business owners are too time poor to get the right 'balance' for everything they spend on.
Therefore, for the higher price small business owners pay for the genuine branded or 'quality' product, they are looking to get value in supposedly better distribution channels, product support, training, warranty etc. End-users or consumers on the other hand might not see value in these ancillary benefits and so they have less opportunity cost in spending more time to chase lower prices.
The value of tax deductions itself is not 'be all and end all' and I see them as a 'reward' if you like, for such small business owners for being productive in their own ventures.
I went the other way as well. Had two print heads die in a good quality Canon printer, and decided it wasn't worth it in the end.
Depends on what you pay for the printer though.
These days it can often be cheaper to just keep buying low end new printers rather than getting new cartridges.
Back to use all genuine after lots of bad experiences on compatible/cheap imports. For printing, once had 2 Brother ink printers died after just 3 to 4 replacement. Then changed to laser printer on considering would be fine without using ink. The printings roughly looks well at the beginning of 2 Samsung laser printers when using compatible. Then found the shipping bar code of many of those are hard to be recognized by the scanner of post office. The problem cannot be solved by changing several toners from different sellers. The result is many parcels no longer been scanned at all in shipping (The staff of Auspost would give up scanning if it's too hard or they had to input manually). Plus the compatible toner print much less pages than genuine. So changed back to genuine now.
But as an ozbargainer, now I do hunt the matching printer after got the genuine inks/toners found from ozbargain posts. Then keep the old printers after all toners used up because it's easy to locate cheap genuine ink/toner again for older printers.
Vacuum cleaner
I'm all about the vacuum cleaners with bags. Bagless vacuums always get their filters clogged up and lose power. Can't go wrong with the old bag vacuums. They just keep on trucking!
Never thought I would say this but… Dyson
I have a V6 absolute and I love it.
Had an expensive bag one and its suction had gone to rubbish. Got a cheap bagless and it was doing better. I'm inclined to think just cycling through cheapies regularly is likely better overall.
I went from a few hundred dollar Hoover to a $50 Aldi throwaway and it's outperformed the Hoover for a few years now. Although you need to be prepared to thoroughly clean every part of it every time you want to use it.
I've decided it's time for something better as I have a lot of dog hair to deal with and need some more suction.
My house is 80% hardwood floors so I don't know if I need to spend the money on a Dyson barrel, and I doubt I could live with the constant recharging I'd need to do with a Dyson stick.
So I'm thinking I'm going to get a shop vac for ~$150. Good suction, probably heavier and louder. But at least next time a glass full of water smashes I can just suck up the glass and water rather than waiting for it to dry or dangerously paper towelling that sucker.
Has anyone gone the inside ShopVac route? And can tell of their experiences?
Having to clean the vacuum cleaner often defeats the purpose of the vacuum cleaner.
<life-story>
I kind of though Dyson was overrated. But I wanted a cordless vacuum, I waited a lot for a Bisell to go down in price and got a Dyson on offer at 1 point.
I felt very guilty about getting an expensive vacuum, so I thought I would get the best of it. Also after getting a Dyson stick my vacuuming habits changed. Now I vacuum for ~15 minutes (1 charge) every couple of days and my house is heaps cleaner. I have not used the corded vacuum for months now.
Wife is very happy, the baby can crawl all over, best buy I have ever made. Not sure Dyson is to blame for this, or the cordless part or the guilt part.
</life-story>
I use the sabco dry mop to sweep the floor. Much faster than vacuuming..but i use a cheapy kmart vacuum to vacuum thr mop after.
Oh man, no way, I f#$king loove my Miele 8320 cat & dog, ooh yeah, and it has a sexy as sht metallic red paint job.
Sometimes a just get it out a remove and reattch the connectors cos they fit so well and it's built so nice, or I just gently caress it's sides and belly.
Don't neglect the wand.
Well, yeah, but I think this is a family site mate.
Expensive name-brand spectacle frames. Most frames only differ by the logo on it and the style. Few actually have material differences. But since I have optical cover on my insurance I can generally splurge a bit and still not pay any gap.
First-gen tech products, because they depreciate like a rock, and 2nd because the second-gen product is usually miles better than the company's first attempt.
Especially game consoles. I was an early adopter of the Xbox 360, paid $399 with a PS2 trade-in at GAME. I also had to spend another $400 for an 22" LG LCD TV with an analogue tuner (HDTV's were bloody expensive back then)
Not long after the warranty expired I got the RROD and by then the phat Xbox dropped to a comically low price of just $299.
Pretty much everything tech is a money sink. One way to minimise this is to stay one generation behind, buy superseded models or secondhand. TV's and game consoles are simply the worst in terms of losing value.
Buying a model that has had stellar reviews towards the end of its product cycle when you can still get it new on close out is the way to go. You have to be aware that you won't get support and it may not work with newer tech. E.g. I bought 3 Logitech MK260R Keyboard and mouse sets quite cheap (about $20 each from memory) but I still have one in the box and they're not supported on Windows 8 or 10. Took a gamble in the last couple of weeks - I've just bought a few of the cheap Logitech remotes at Dick Smith. Once the MyHarmony site is pulled I won't be able to reprogram them.
Buying a game console one generation behind is not advisable.. They come out every 4-7 years.. Not worth itif you are actually into gaming.
Although yes name brand spectacles may not be worth the price tag (similar to brand name bags), purchasing more expensive (optical) lenses usually result in superior visual quality + durability.
i think most people would buy spectacles for the style or brand itself. Also fit is extremely important
My 2 cents
my $299 dollar frames don't fit any better than $149 dollar ones
as for style, well fashion is in the eye of the beholder. I'm happy with how my $199 frames turn out.
I've stopped buying expensive frames, now I buy middle of the road ones. Still, I don't actually pay a cent because I have private health cover — I only pay $18 dollars for the anti-glare coating.
You don't pay a cent to your glasses provider. You are paying a monthly retainer to your health insurer.
I feel so blessed when I can buy 5 good quality frames with lenses for about $100 when I go to my ancestral county every couple of years. And mind you these are not throw away kind of spectacles. Prices for spectacles in Australia is just outrageous
What a strange question - real OzBargainers never start from the top, but work their way from the bottom!
I beg to differ. I see OzB'ers are more of value seekers ie. looking for more bang for our bucks. Most of us already know what we want or need and are here to find a better way to get them for less $$ outlay.
Another obvious one I can think of for sure everyone started from the top. Products where there are supermarket-branded comparables offered such as milk, sugar and what-not, I am pretty sure at some point anyone has tried and found a substitute and hasn't looked back.
I agree. Some own brand products can be horrible, but there are some gems out there. We used to buy
Ambrosia Creamed Rice, I tried Coles' and it wasn't bad,then Woolies. Oh yum! We buy it by the case and would never buy the Ambrosia brand, which is more than three times the price.
Our local Woolies keeps it in the packing trays, as it is so popular. At $1 a tin, it's amazing value.
For things like sugar, flour, rice the products are the same quality as the name brands. However, with things like cornflour,
custard powder, buying generic brands is a false economy. I don't buy generic frozen veggies as
Precious refuses to eat them, but I've never noticed any lack of flavour compared to the name brands. And why anyone would buy name label milk, is beyond me.
what do you define as name brand milk? we buy norco because its a local dairy co-op. its certainly more expensive than the other milks (slightly) but we also had to demand the chains stocked it as they tried pushing it out. so i support it to support my local economy. (did just see they supply coles in house brand so maybe could consider that)
And why anyone would buy name label milk, is beyond me.
After watching that segment on the Checkout (TV show), I stuck to buying coles/woolies branded milk. However, the following has happened fairly often to me:
wakes up bleary eye'd
goes to kitchen to make coffee
checks use-by date on milk; eh.. few days left
fires up nesspresso machine; coffee ready, milk frothed
takes a sip… "WTF?"
pop open coffee cup, shift the foam… milk has curdled
makes tea with milk powder- fml
Just for the lulz, my SO switched to some other branded milk (Devondale?), and I have never had that spoil on me. Even though (well I'm a bit ashamed to say this), I've used it a day (or two) past the use-by.
To us, $3-4 extra for a bottle of milk is insignificant… and well worth avoiding the "uncertainty" that goes with Woolies/Coles use-by.
I'm thinking of Masters, Brownes, Margaret River, as opposed to Coles and Woolworths own labels.
We're smart not stupid.
Smart = value, skimp only where logical and scientifically correct.
Stupid = buy rubbish quality everything, buy expensive HDMI cables.
Also:
Stupid = making frugality an obsession. An incredibly tight sphincter is loved by none.
No name basics like sugar, flour, breadcrumbs, paper towel, bottled water. Some generic medications. Printer paper.
I agree with sugar, flour, breadcrumbs, paper towel, bottled water, generic medications.
But not Printer paper.. AA Paper or nothing.
The price difference is so small and negligible unless you're going through a ream a day.
I buy Keji from Officeworks when I go in there. Paper is paper to me. Probably only print 5 pages max per week.
Can vouch for Keji paper. My work uses it in the office printers, nobody has complained and they're white enough. Don't see any reason to pay more for Reflex or whatever other major brands, unless you're some design/printing company or the likes, at which point you'd be using something else anyway…
Generic medications are tested scientifically and must be proven to have the exact same effect as the original. They are just not the patent holders. I always go with generic medications.
One of the key differences in generics vs original patented medications is the concentration of enantiomer. The enantiomer is the mirror image of the desired molecule and analogous to comparing your right hand with your left. Your right hand wont fit in a left handed palm imprint and vice versa. Similarly, molecules and their enatiomers behave in the same way in that the desired molecules/drugs enatiomer may not be an active component ie. may not have ANY effect OR can behave in a completely DIFFERENT way in the body. A prime example of this is thalidomide. Its active molecule is a useful antiemetic(antinausea) medication, however its enantiomer causes birth defects that devastated familes in the 50's. Fortunately these days enatiomers are also rigourously screened in the drug trials to prevent this scenario playing out again however enantiomers that are deemed harmless are allowed to remain in the medication up to a certain percentage or concentration. So bascially they are just used as filler and a way for drug companies to save money by providing, at times, an inferior product. The percentage/concentration of active ingredient in your meds will vary across true patented drugs and generics and im not suggesting only buying patented or original medications is superior, just pointing out that there are differences particularly in the composition of the drug.
A point worth mentioning IMO.
are you a pharmacist? that was some interesting info.
The percentage/concentration of active ingredient in your meds will vary across true patented drugs and generics
Note that for most medications, bioequivalence studies must be performed to approve a generic brand - they need to be within 80-125% of the originator. These studies will often only test for the active enantiomer.
If you would like to read more you can have a look at this doc: Guideline on the Investigation of Bioequivalence from https://www.tga.gov.au/multidisciplinary-guidelines
Wow, didn't think I'd learn some pharmacology through ozbargain.
As a side note though, in the case of R thalidomide hepatic metabolisation of +R-thalidomide will convert it to -S-thalidomide, so thalidomide, no matter the enantiomer, is always teratogenic.
@Dsquall: just to clarify what you are saying as it sounds like you're saying thalidomide the molecule has both antiemetic and tertogenic properties. (I know you're not) You're right, they now know that thalidomide undergoes conversion in the blood stream to a roughy equal proportion of itself and the enantiomer EVEN IF the desired molecule is Isolated beforehand. However the drug effects come from the two forms which behave differently despite them being mere mirror images of each other. This was the point of the statement not thalidomides example per se.
@BestofOZB: wonder if it makes any difference on how you view the comment? at least I learnt something.
@eatwell365: as far as a customer is concerned, generic medications (in Australia) are as good as the branded ones, let the geeks worry about the molecules.
"One of the key differences in generics vs original patented medications is the concentration of enantiomer."
Actually completely untrue. Any medications which possess stereo properties are manufactured as racemic mixture - that is equal amounts of left- and right-handed enantiomers.
Quote from citalopram Product Information - Chemical name: 1-(3-dimethylaminopropyl)- 1-(4-fluorophenyl)- 1,3-dihydroisobenzofuran- 5-carbonitrile hydrobromide. Molecular formula: C20H21FN2O, HBr. MW: 405.32. CAS: 59729-32-7. The active is present as a racemate. Citalopram hydrobromide is a white to off white, crystalline material. Citalopram hydrobromide is sparingly soluble in water, soluble in ethanol (96%), freely soluble in chloroform and very slightly soluble in diethylether. No polymorphic forms have been detected.
As opposed to say escitalopram which is just the active enantiomer (s). Quote from escitalopram product information - Chemical name: S(+)-1-[3-(dimethylamino)propyl]-1-(4-flurophenyl)-1,3-dihydroisobenzofuran-5-carbonitrile hydrogen oxalate. Molecular formula: C20H21FN2O.C2H2O4. MW: 414.42. CAS: 219861-08-2. Escitalopram is the active enantiomer (S-enantiomer) of citalopram. Escitalopram oxalate is a fine white to yellow, crystalline material. Escitalopram oxalate is sparingly soluble in water, slightly soluble in acetone, soluble in ethanol and freely soluble in methanol. No polymorphic forms have been detected.
So bascially they are just used as filler and a way for drug companies to save money by providing, at times, an inferior product.
Not true, it would actually cost more money to filter out the active enantiomer.
So yes it is true that chemicals exist as stereo isomers and because alot of the body's receptors have a particular 3D configuration it is often only one form which will bind correctly. However, like thangn stated the product information and TGA guidelines are very specific as far as generic medications goes.
The biggest difference you will see is different filler ingredients - eg. lactose, cellulose, talc, titanium dioxide where differences may occur. However, often the newer generics are actually superior as they tend to not include the lactoses & glutens which can cause problems. The product information are readily accessible and describe any inactive ingredients.
Quote from escitalopram product information : Excipients. Microcrystalline cellulose, anhydrous colloidal silica, purified talc, croscarmellose sodium, magnesium stearate, hypromellose, macrogol 400 and titanium dioxide.
But please have a read of the documentation posted by thang - the links are there.
Thanks, hope it helps you in the future.
Look at the chemical reconstruction enzyme rates of a epitiome carbohydratic you will see the reverse is actually true. It has also been shown time & again that the common enantiomer (Molecular formula: C20H21FN2O ) is actually inactive in 3-dihydroisobenzofuran & 5-carbonitrile hydrobromide.
You'd hope that's what our laws and authorities are trying to achieve. Not sure why the negs. This is where we should be right?
There is a differance in bread crumbs, cheaper variations tend to be courser with more dark bits.
Thats why commercial kitchens dont use them, but for home they are fine.
Soft drinks.
Have you tasted coles cola?
I can't do any of coles branded drinks, they're horrible. I got some la ice the other day that wasn't too bad
The lemonade is fine but the cola is terrrrible!
I'm not sure if I've had the lemonade, but the orange, raspberry and lime flavours are sooo bad
@terminal2k:
The Woolworths orange, lemon, lemonade, pineapple and tropical all fine. Knock off cola is the only flavour I think really fails.
Coles lemonade is nice. Woolworths, Aldi and IGA generic lemonades are not as nice tasting. Mountain Dew always wins though.
Cola is cola it isn't 'knock-off' from anybody.
It's like saying their home brand apple juice is a 'knock-off' from the real makers of apple juice…….?
@macfanboy:
I mean Coke, Pepsi, Solo, Fanta, Schweppes are the name brand labels for soft drinks.
Knock off for me is generic brand soft drinks, and maybe budget brands like LA Ice.
I'm happy with all the brands/generic of lemon squash, for example, but only Coke tastes good to me. That said, I don'y buy any cola drinks any more.
And I will also say a year or so ago Pub squash started adding artificial sweetners to their 'standard' pub squash. I was quite cranky and called to complain. The 1800 line lady said they were responding to parents concerned about high sugar in soft drinks. My response was that they already make a no sugar version, for those concerned people, and I won't be buying Pub again.
A 10 pack of soft drink is a 2 month supply for me, so I'd like to get what I pay for in sugary sweetness.
Hi terminal2k,
I wouldn't touch any generic brand of soft drinks. The stories ibhave heard of people working in softdrink and juice factories are horrendous. E.g. mold growing in the batch…."just add more preservative"…. But that goes for virtually all manufactured foods…anything from generic meat pies and sausage rolls to soft drinks. We just don't know what poison they are putting in them.
I used to drink LA Ice back when I was a poor uni student. It wasn't as good as the two major brands, but it was good enough for the price. Now I just buy Pepsi Max on sale.
I tried some coles lemonade and it seemed over-carbonated. Initial taste was just bubbles, then when they die down the underlying lemonade flavour was too strong.
I'm not fussy these days. The sugar-free 69c bottles at ALDI suit me.
these are different flavours so thats a matter of taste. while i love woolworths lemonade (it tastes like icey poles) i hate generic cola.
I try to avoid soft drinks, but I can do generic lemonade, but not cola.
It's Coke or nothing for me.
The taste of Coke is trademarked; lemonade, creaming soda, sars are all open. Thats why cola never tastes like Coke. Me and a friend were wondering the other day why there isn't a generic energy drink, it would make a killing.
The taste of coke or anything for that matter isn't and can't be patented or copywrited.
Taste and smell are subjective so can't be protected by trademark.
The logo can be trademarked.
The popularity of energy drinks is directly related to their marketing budget.
Aldi flying power, tastes like redbull and $1 ea.
@JB1:
So true jb1….but generics take shortcuts and do some really dodgy things to their products….and sugar us a preservative…and they add heapsnif preservatives to moldy batches. And please don't get me started on juices…. Most of the generics use concentrate out of China…I wouldn't touch it with a barge pole. If you have to drink soft drinks drink the expensive ones and in very small quantities. Personally, I think we should make our own lemon and sugar drinks.
I'm hurt by your downvoting.
But you should know not to (profanity) with fizz.
On the note of soft drinks i realized the other day after reading a can that Kirks is now owned by Coca Cola Amatil.
Socks
Really? See I'm the opposite here. Cheap socks tend to have higher nylon and lower cotton which means they don't breathe and leave your feet smelling like a used outhouse in under a day, and then you end up tainting your shoes.
Some decent quality cotton socks keep my feet fresh and non-stinky and last way longer before getting holes.
Each to their own!
I'm with you. Cheap socks lose their shape and wear out quickly. Good socks and undies have value beyond their financial cost.
The knock offs I bought on the streets of Korea been great for me.
Are Uniqlo socks considered cheap or expensive.
I like my Uniqlo socks. I prefer them to my Bresciani or Pantherella socks. Much cheaper and more comfortable. Just doesn't look as nice.
i like them too $5 and they feel really nice. Everything at uniqlo feels nice tbh.
I agree, can't stand the feel of those nasty cheap socks.
Got to say that I'm not impressed with Bonds socks as far as longevity is concerned. The elastic dies way too early (by design I'm sure). Haven't found a better alternative though.
Only ever buy $5 plain teeshirts from target nowadays
Used to go to the casino, now i just roll dice with the guys behind the liquor store
I find plain tees from Uniqlo or ASOS last way longer and fit much better than Target/Big W. And if you get them on sale they'll also be $5 a pop.
Bonds used to be my "go to" tee but they're shocking nowadays (higher price, lower quality).
Funny enough, the Target plain t-shirts fit a bit more loosely and remain softer compared to ASOS t-shirts. ASOS for a tighter fit, Target for a softer feel.
You sound fun!
so - everything?
well….
no
happy to move from apple to android
:)
Milk.
Definitely. Pro tip - branded and non-branded are often from the same farms and the same milk processing plants. There is literally nothing different other than the labels.
Pauls standard might be the same as WW/coles standard but I am a big fan of the premium milks like a2, organic or the complete dairy high protein. Even though they are technically double the price it only amounts to a few dollars a week. Same thing with bread, there are miles of difference between premium loaf and a helgas loaf or similar, double the price but really only a few dollars a week.
I agree with you, but with 3 boys, it is no LITTLE extra… at any point in time we have 6Litres of milk in the fridge and that mostly gets us through a day….
/endrant agree disagree agree
Not if you make a few cappuccino a day. It wall set you back heaps
@grang: ah yeah if I was buying it for 4 others as well then it would definitely be the standard haha
Compatible ink cartridges! Saved heaps since switching from using original inks for my 10-years-old inkjet printer.