You Could Be Wasting Money If You Buy This Item At The Dollar Store

From a dollar store's strategically small size to its razor-thin margins, these supposedly affordable stores are designed to make a profit while getting customers to spend as much as possible. Some products might be close to their expiration date — if not expired altogether — while others might be deliberately labeled a different price than what you'll actually pay at checkout. It's fairly safe to assume that there's some compromise being made to get an item's price so low, and that certainly applies to toys. And while that might not seem like too big a deal to the average adult shopper, it's important to remember toys are generally bought for young kids likely to abuse them. And if a toy is cheaply made, odds are it won't withstand too much bashing and will break far earlier than a pricier alternative. That leaves parents with the choice to replace it or deal with an upset kid. If they go with the former and buy a new one, those supposed savings go right out the window.

Of course, there are also safety concerns that come with cheap toys. Poorly constructed toys made of brittle material pose a choking hazard — especially if they break into smaller pieces — while others can be outright toxic when touched or consumed. There are documented cases of potentially dangerous toys from Family Dollar and Dollar Tree hitting shelves, leading to tragedy and recalls. You might save a few dollars, but can you put a price on a child's safety?

On December 13, 2007, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) issued a recall for about 300,000 baby bead and wire toys and "pull-back-and-go" toy cars manufactured in China and sold by Dollar Tree. The reason for the recall was that these toys contained more lead than the federal lead paint standard, which could cause lead poisoning. There were no reported injuries or deaths in this case, but the idea that toxic levels of lead could be in over 300,000 dollar store toys is chilling.

Another famous case happened in 2010 when Family Dollar recalled over 1.8 million toy dart guns. According to the CPSC, this came after a nine-year-old boy in Illinois and a 10-year-old boy in Wisconsin both died after choking on the tiny darts. The darts were small enough to get lodged in a child's throat, and featured a suction cup at the end that could block the airway of children who put it in their mouths. Situations like this are the specific things name-brand toy companies work to avoid in their designs, and why many products come with warnings about the dangers of misusing them. It's no surprise the nonprofit consumer protection agency Consumer Reports has advised readers against purchasing unnamed brand toys and toys from dollar stores.

Much like how buying tools at the dollar store is a waste of money, there are some kinds of toys you should just completely avoid the next time you're discount shopping. First off, do not buy wearable accessories from a dollar store; there have been recalls for toy jewelry from both Family Dollar and Dollar Tree for containing high levels of lead. For that reason, you may also want to avoid anything like chew toys and teethers or toys that will make prolonged contact with a child's skin. Next, avoid anything with tiny magnets or batteries; they can both be swallowed, and there have been reported cases of batteries overheating and causing burns. Lastly, avoid anything that has strong chemical smells, loose plastic bits, or don't have age recommendations, manufacturer identifications, or safety labels.

That said, dollar stores aren't completely out of the question in terms of entertaining kids. You can buy paper-based children's effects like books, puzzles, board games, and card decks. For smaller children, larger items they couldn't swallow like shovels, buckets, and bouncy balls are probably a safe bet. Of course, the durability of these items may be questionable — so you might be better off springing for higher quality alternatives that might last longer and save you another trip to the store.