Wrapping paper, greeting cards and other holiday items to buy only at dollar stores

There are tens of thousands of dollar stores across the United States, and they’ve been busier than ever during the pandemic as penny shoppers scoured for the lowest possible prices on things that ‘they could have bought otherwise from Amazon or more expensive big box stores. The problem is, it’s a mistake: The dollar store isn’t always cheaper, especially when you consider the degradation in quality that so often accompanies a drop in price.

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When bargain hunters head to Dollar Tree, Dollar General, and Family Dollar this holiday season, they shouldn’t assume that everything they see is cheaper than it could be elsewhere. Buyers can rest assured, however, that the following items are almost always a bargain at a dollar store. These are the purchases you can make with confidence.

Gift wrap

At Dollar Tree, you can pick up a case of 20 square foot rolls of Voila All-Occasion Wrapping Paper for one dollar per roll. Better yet, Dollar General sells Juvilog wrapping paper at $ 3 for 135 square feet. At Target, on the other hand, you won’t do better than $ 4 for 40 square feet. Walmart is even more expensive, and none of the big box stores offer the option to save money by buying in bulk.

Greeting cards

As with wrapping paper, you can save a lot of money by purchasing large greeting card and greeting card cases at the dollar store, but not at more expensive retail chains. At Dollar Tree, for example, you can get 20 cards – which have great reviews – for $ 1 when you buy a case of 30. That’s $ 30 for 600 cards.

At Target, individual cards sell for up to $ 4, $ 5, and more. At Walmart, a simple 50-pack of basic greeting cards costs $ 14.99.

Ornaments

Unlike wrapping paper and greeting cards, you can save a lot of money on individual ornaments without, in most cases, purchasing large quantities in bulk. When it comes to decorating your tree, all three chains – Dollar Tree, Dollar General, and Family Dollar – live up to their names, with most adornments only costing money. In many cases, $ 1 will allow you to purchase two or more ornaments. That doesn’t mean you’re relegated to the standard green and red balls – these only cost $ 3 for 12. All three stores have unique and interesting adornment selections that really only cost $ 1.

Walmart and Target aren’t even close. For example, you’ll pay over $ 8 for 12 standard multi-color balls at Walmart.

Holiday lights

At Dollar Tree, you can get 5 feet of 20-bulb garlands of white or colored Christmas lights for just $ 1 if you buy a case of three, or 15 feet of lights for $ 3. You can do even better at Dollar General, where 20-foot string lights with 100 lights cost just $ 2.75. At Family Dollar, you get 20ft strings with 100 multi-colored lights for the same $ 2.75. At Target, a 20-foot string with 100 lights doesn’t cost $ 2 or $ 2.75, it’s $ 16.99 – and it’s on sale, down 13% from $ 19.49.

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