Dollar Tree Raising Prices ~40%

[AndrewF]

https://thekrazycouponlady.com/tips/money/dollar-tree-raising-prices

Dollar Tree is raising prices by about 40% recently, right after the new tariffs on China went into effect.

In many cases, items are now hovering close to $2.

When I was in my early 20s, we had a Dollar Tree next to Marsh supermarket, and I'd always run in there for basic stuff like toothpastes and soaps and other basics because in many cases, the items were of the same quality as Walmart, and same size, but much cheaper. In one case, they had my favorite bar soap (Palmolive) which is what my great-grandmother used and it even still smelled the same and you got two 4 ounce bars of it for a dollar.

By 2016, I noticed that everything was still a dollar, but 11 years of "normal" inflation had them cutting corners. The sizes were already going down and the quality was laughable. In one case, I bought a spatula that broke within a week, and 7 trash bags that tore even before there was any trash thrown in them, so I stopped going to Dollar Tree, especially after my mother walked into my apartment and said "Why does it smell like dirty laundry in here?" and I was confused because I washed laundry every day. My apartment at that time had a full size washer and dryer, it wasn't like the one I live in now where I had to sneak in a portable, rig up a thorough lint trap system so my landlord wouldn't be out here wondering what was wrong with the drain pipes, and then hide it in a closet for several years. (Who opens up a coat closet to look for a washer under a pile of blankets?)

(In order to avoid the expense and other people's bugs and gross practices at the laundromat....man, that place is a zoo. I have to go there about every year to wash a comforter and the last time, there was this dude that cram packed a 90 pound front loader and then body slammed the door shut, then opened the VENT cap on an econo-size jug of gain, pouring in about 10 "glugs", and walked off, and it ended up overflowing causing the employee to have to mop up his bubbles and water...Then there's always the person that goes in and throws in a month's worth of baby diapers full of poop.)

Anyway, the reason it smelled of dirty laundry was "La's Totally Awesome" detergent. I couldn't smell it, but it seems that for just $1, I wasn't getting much cleaning power other than the heavy chemical fragrance. It was not cleaning my clothes like Tide or Persil, I was just being too cheap and I finally realized it. Now I just shop at Walmart when P&G is having stackable rebates and get gallons of Tide for almost nothing and wash my clothes for years off it.

Now, as I understand it, some items at Dollar Tree are up to $1.75, and the sizes are VERY small. My mother says she's in there all the time, and I cannot figure out why, as the store has rapidly declined into an example of false economy. I said, "So you are buying 30% of a tube of toothpaste?"

I just checked a couple more items. If you want a cheap broom, it will cost you $3, because you have to buy the handle and the brush part as two different items then assemble them. They used to sell an entire broom for $1. If you want the dustpan, that's another $1.50. The Palmolive hand soap is $1.25, but you only get 3.2 ounce bars now, so they took 20% and raised the price by a quarter. They took the laundry soap that doesn't work, removed 33% of the product, and raised the price from $1 to $1.50.

I get that mom's on fixed income, but the sad thing is even in retirement she makes more than a lot of people who work and she's still like this.

Despite the massive price hikes and iffy merchandise and tiny sizes, Dollar Tree is still somehow booming. Perhaps a sign of severe economic rot going on in the country, they just opened two more stores somehow in my community.

It does sadden me, on an economic, and really a human level, that there must be so many people out there that can't afford to shop at a real store and buy real laundry soap and stuff an entire container at a time, that they are building more Dollar Tree stores.

[crystal626]

I only really go there for a few things but if they hike the prices of the meat sticks and the tuna pouches beyond $1.25, any value for me is completely gone.

The reality with these dollar stores is they often spin up in neighborhoods that don't have a grocery store in walking distance so people buy their groceries there instead. In fact the shopping center that has the Dollar Tree near us up until recently it was more than a mile to the nearest grocery store (unless you counted the 7-11 across the street that was even more expensive). There is now an independent grocery store in that same shopping center that has a lot of organic and middle eastern food imports as well as a deli with the best hummus I have ever had and I wouldn't be surprised to see that Dollar Tree close, especially if prices have gone up that much.

[AndrewF]

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@crystal626 wrote:

I only really go there for a few things but if they hike the prices of the meat sticks and the tuna pouches beyond $1.25, any value for me is completely gone.

The reality with these dollar stores is they often spin up in neighborhoods that don't have a grocery store in walking distance so people buy their groceries there instead. In fact the shopping center that has the Dollar Tree near us up until recently it was more than a mile to the nearest grocery store (unless you counted the 7-11 across the street that was even more expensive). There is now an independent grocery store in that same shopping center that has a lot of organic and middle eastern food imports as well as a deli with the best hummus I have ever had and I wouldn't be surprised to see that Dollar Tree close, especially if prices have gone up that much.

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I've had Dollar Tree hits and misses over the years, but in 2005 it was mostly decent stuff.

In 2011 they were selling bags of coffee for $1, they left some sort of plastic-like resin all over my carafe. Luckily it chiseled off. I did not drink the coffee after I saw that. I still wonder what that stuff was.

But it was a consistent place to get basics up until the middle of the 2010s. In some ways they stuck to $1 for too long. I'd rather have two four ounce bars of Palmolive and have them go "Hey, man, you know. Having it go up 50 cents in 20 years is reasonable." than to raise it by a quarter and take 20% of the product. At some point you have these little bars of soap that turn directly into slivers.

I remember when 4.5 or even 5 ounce bars of bath soap were normal. It was back when a big can of coffee (the normal one that everyone bought) was almost three pounds of coffee.

They think it helps them hide inflation when a 22.5 ounce can is $16 now, when a 58 ounce can was $3.99 in 1998.

It's like... Just raise the price if you have to. Don't sell me things that come apart and put "plastic" in my coffeemaker.

It's obviously not just Dollar Tree that's doing this, but it's where people are going to notice because it's where all the most price sensitive shoppers are going and you can't sink 40% tariffs and $15-20 minimum wages with a $1 price point.

[dfwxjer]

These places are a scam to take advantage of people in low income areas. The name instills confidence with the local community that they're getting bargain products but in reality bulk puchasing at Costco/Walmart/Amazon can result in far better deals. 

[crystal626]

Well we went to one near us the other day. The vast majority of stuff is still $1.25 but the household cleaning stuff is all $1.50 now and so are the plastics.

I was shocked to see that a 20oz Coke product was $2.25... Glad we got a Soda Stream.

They still had the $1.25 tuna/salmon and meat sticks so I was happy.

[AndrewF]

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@crystal626 wrote:

Well we went to one near us the other day. The vast majority of stuff is still $1.25 but the household cleaning stuff is all $1.50 now and so are the plastics.

I was shocked to see that a 20oz Coke product was $2.25... Glad we got a Soda Stream.

They still had the $1.25 tuna/salmon and meat sticks so I was happy.

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I might go in there if I get a chance. They probably still sell Faygo. Their root beer and moon mist were good, as I recall. And they have a diet version now.

My dad used to go to a liquor store every once in a while when I was a child. I had a request, and no it wasn't liquor, don't worry.

It was Faygo Moon Mist and one of those sausages that were really sour. I can't even recall the brand now but while it sounds horrid, they were surprisingly good.

[crystal626]

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@AndrewF wrote:

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@crystal626 wrote:

Well we went to one near us the other day. The vast majority of stuff is still $1.25 but the household cleaning stuff is all $1.50 now and so are the plastics.

I was shocked to see that a 20oz Coke product was $2.25... Glad we got a Soda Stream.

They still had the $1.25 tuna/salmon and meat sticks so I was happy.

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I might go in there if I get a chance. They probably still sell Faygo. Their root beer and moon mist were good, as I recall. And they have a diet version now.

My dad used to go to a liquor store every once in a while when I was a child. I had a request, and no it wasn't liquor, don't worry.

It was Faygo Moon Mist and one of those sausages that were really sour. I can't even recall the brand now but while it sounds horrid, they were surprisingly good.

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They did still have the Faygo but we don't buy it anymore. This cotton candy syrup added to sparkling water (which we make our own with our Soda Stream) tastes just like it without the insane sugar content.

https://www.skinnymixes.com/products/cotton-candy

I don't know what sausages you speak of. If I'm buying something that's pickled, it's always, well, a pickle lol.