[
[Steven] We're on the hunt for a deal...
Got some Chef Boyardee...
Going into your favourite dollar stores.
I love saving money.
When you're on a budget it's important to save.
Great place to go to get things at a more reasonable price.
Everyone wants a bargain and stores like
these are everywhere.
What is the value of a dollar to you?
A lot, 'cause a dollar can go towards milk or formula, it's
very important to me.
You do keep a close eye on your bottom line.
Yeah, 'cause I-- I to go from monthly to monthly.
[Steven] But are we really getting the best deal?
To find out we're getting help from Renu Bansal and
Joe Fazzari for the ultimate dollar deal showdown.
We live very close by so whenever I need a few things
then I do come by here.
How often do you get out to dollar stores?
I would say two, three times a week.
[Steven] They're off to the dollar stores and we head to
Walmart all of us armed with a list.
So, 680 mil, bigger size dollar 87.
[Steven] We find the same products here and we'll use
them to compare pricing of products from
the dollar stores.
[Joe] This is a game to me.
I want to beat the man, whoever the man is, you know?
[Steven] Both are dollar store fans who think they know how to
stretch their dollar to the max.
[Renu] Every little penny counts.
I don't want to waste any money or pay extra unless I have to.
Is this 3.50?
[Steven] Renu is at one of the more than 1,400 Dollaramas in
the country.
There are around 230 dollar tree stores in Canada and this
one's around the corner from Joe.
What did you buy at other stores?
[Steven] I think that's the exact same one we bought, yeah.
The list has food, snacks...
We've got some Pringles here.
Cleaning supplies, toiletries, even some fun stuff.
[voice] Hot Wheels!
[Steven] And it's adding up.
Something you tell us is pretty common.
Go in with a list and then I'm like, oh yeah, that, that, and
it's only a dollar so that's great!
Add it to my bag.
You just think it's cheap and just grab a whole bunch of
stuff, by the time you leave it's, you know, forty bucks by
the time you leave, right?
Isn't that interesting?
[♪♪♪]
[Steven] We meet up with Professor Markus Giesler.
He's the editor of the Journal of Consumer Research and a
professor at York University.
The way the merchandise is presented to us, is designed to
make us buy more than we absolutely need.
That's also, quite honestly, the trap that many
consumers fall into.
Myself included.
I have some bad news for you, we're going
to take all this now.
There's a lot of good junk food there, you know?
[laughs] There is.
All done at Walmart!
We got everything our other shoppers have gotten.
Now we've got to break down the numbers see how we did.
Shopping is generally a lot of homework, which is why dollar
stores tell us as consumers, you come here, you don't have
to do this homework because already we give you this
promise that the products you will find here are below market
price when in actuality, they might not always be.
[Steven] Let's face it we're all too busy to look at every
purchase like this.
So, we do the math for you.
Got a lot of products here.
[tester] We do.
Figuring out how much each item costs when we break it down to
the same unit size.
This is 194 grams.
Like these Pringles.
Two different sizes.
I have the little one here.
This is 67 grams.
And different prices.
[tester] $1.25. [Steven] $1.25, okay.
So, we figure out the price if they were all a
100 gram can.
Time to tell the shoppers how they did.
We crunched the numbers, we consulted with some experts.
The same brand, almost the same size as some of
the things you bought.
Froot Loops are back.
[Renu] Oh, the smaller size.
[Steven] Dollar Tree sells this for a buck twenty-five.
But it's only 87 grams.
The others? Bigger.
Dollarama beats the other two on this and overall seems to be
doing okay with prices about the same or less
as its competitors.
But Dollar Tree is the more expensive choice when it comes
to price per unit.
[Markus] So, you can tell, promise broken.
Stores like these should be partners that help make such a
family's or such a person's life easier and not
more difficult.
[Steven] All of Joe's stuff was a buck 25 or a buck 50.
His biggest savings at Dollar Tree beating out the others?
These Smarties and Lever 2000 body wash.
So, you'd think he has an edge but after our price per unit
analysis of 17 items 12 of them were as expensive or more
expensive than the other shopper's.
No kidding.
Starburst, Hot Wheels, those chips, that chocolate bar.
Oh wow.
[Steven] Toothpaste, soup, this cat food.
All priced the same or less at Dollarama.
But at Dollar Tree 40 per cent of those 17 products we looked
at are more expensive in a price per unit comparison.
You know you're only spending a dollar 25, a dollar 50 but...
Well, it certainly adds up.
Where do you think we got the best deal on
these two products?
I would say Dollarama.
It's actually Walmart.
Really?
[voice] I'm surprised about the Play-Doh.
Like, we always thought the Dollarama is the best.
I really will have to think about whether it is worth going
to the dollar store or not.
Or to know my prices per mL, per item.
[Steven] But then a shocker.
This toothpaste, per 100 mL, more than six bucks at
Dollar Tree.
The other stores have bigger sizes and cost
less per millilitre.
That margin for this size is just outrageous compared
to the other two.
Who ends up paying the overall cost?
[Markus] Consumers.
And it's ultimately not in the store brand's interest because
it means that the faith and the trust that consumers have in
those products erodes, and in those brands erodes.
[Steven] Both Renu and Joe tell us they're fortunate, they can
afford occasional over-spending.
Markus says many can't.
Often, we're talking about vulnerable consumers, lower
income families and families who actually need every penny
and need every dollar.
These stores are typically located in lower middle-class
neighbourhoods, and they signal, we make affordability and the
Canadian dream happen.
[♪♪♪]
[Steven] Next, our biggest sticker shock.
More than eight dollars.
Oh!
[Steven] Plus, sharing our price check with
the dollar store giants.
You can't afford to miss your Marketplace.
[♪♪♪]
[Steven] This is your Marketplace.
We're back on our dollar store price check.
Here is the biggest shock of them all, a pregnancy test.
$1.25 at the dollar stores.
Right.
Guess how much this one was at Walmart?
Maybe a dollar?
More than eight dollars.
-Whoa. -Oh!
[Steven] In the end Dollarama fared
well in our test.
Always edging out Dollar Tree on prices and cheaper or within
pennies of Walmart.
The company tells us they aim to provide competitively priced
everyday products at low fixed price points year-round without
sales or promotions.
As for Dollar Tree they tell us that Crest 3D White toothpaste
is considered a travel-sized item, and they say consumers
continue to shop at Dollar Tree for the extreme value the
store provides.
As for Renu and Joe both feel they're better shoppers now and
though the pennywise pair never met they did have a message
for each other.
Good luck shopping next time.
I think you need to calculate your pricing, and, you know,
to know your pricing a little bit better.
I can't believe that she's the better shopper.
I just can't believe it.