: For which kinds of products does a generic brand tend to be just as good as a name brand? Sometimes I buy the generic brand at the super market and it turns out it's just as good as the name brand. Other times, I totally

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I think your question is the reason why generics are cheaper. Part of what you're paying for in a "brand" is consistency.

Depending on what you buy and where you shop, it may be a no-brainer to buy the generic brand of certain products. Buying generic OTC drugs is in that category. It's amazing to me that anyone purchases Tylenol, when the generics deliver superior quality at half the cost.

But for other products, subtle differences can be significant. My wife would never purchase generic flour (which seems like it would be a commodity product) for baking, as she's a serious baker and there are qualitative differences and consistency issues between brands. If I were just making gravy, the those differences don't really matter.

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I'll try just about anything generic. I haven't had the best luck with off-brand coffee, though.

One thing to check side-by-side is the ingredient list. My wife is sensitive to some ingredients so that plays into what we buy. Sometimes the generic brand has ingredients that she can have, but the name brand doesn't.

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Clark Howard talked about a Consumer Reports' test on the subject.

Here is his summary:

Consumer Reports has taken a close
look at the store brand vs. name brand
question in the magazine's October
2010 issue. The verdict? Store brands
offered taste that was better than or
equal to name brands in many food and
non-food categories.

In general, store brands tend to save
you about 30 percent on average over
their national brand counterparts.

In comparing Heinz tomato ketchup to
Target's Market Pantry private label,
Consumer Reports preferred the latter.
In another example, Wal-Mart's Great
Value potato chips got the edge over
Lay's, according to the publication.

However, Consumer Reports suggests
that you skip the store brand and go
for the national brand when it comes
to mayonnaise, french fries, butter,
tuna and peas.

Clark's rule when it comes to store
brands is to give them a try just
once. If you like it, you save up to
30 percent each time you go shopping
going forward. If you don't like it,
you only lose money once. Many stores
even offer a money-back guarantee for
their products.

So remember, the potential savings can
be so great that there's always a
compelling reason to sample the store
brand.

And here is the full article from Consumer Reports.

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The only thing that I refuse to buy generic is trash bags. I've tried several different generic versions of trash bags and all of them ripped very easily. I'll spend the extra money for Hefty or Glad so I don't have to clean up trash.