Everyone wants to save money, and what better way to do this than to take advantage of those online dollar stores. If you’re one of many budget-conscious consumers who love dollar stores, then this guide is perfect for you.
We’ve scoured the internet and looked for some of the best online dollar stores out there. All the stores on this list have some of the best offers like free shipping, discounts, cash-back rewards, and many more.
Plus, we’ll also give you a few extra tips so you can make the most of your hard-earned money when buying at online dollar stores. We’ll also let you in on a few trade secrets so you know what items you should never buy in a one dollar shop.
So read without skipping! The last thing you want is to overpay for products that could actually cost you as little as a dollar.
What Are Some of the Best Online Dollar Stores?Â
To start things off, here’s a list of some of the best online dollar stores you might want to check out. We’ll let you know about the pros and cons of each store, as well as any other details that you’ll need should you decide to shop with them.
1. Dollar Tree
What’s hot: Everything costs $1
What’s not: No free shipping, no online coupons
Free shipping: Not available
Best known for:
- Apparel
- Groceries
- Beauty products
- Kitchen, dining, and other household essentials
- School supplies
- Pet supplies
- Party supplies
With over 15,000 locations across Canada and the US, Dollar Tree is easily one of the biggest dollar store chains in North America. They also own another well-known dollar store brand called Family Dollar.
What’s great about Dollar Tree is its loyalty to its name. Many dollar stores don’t actually price all their items at $1. Dollar Tree, however, stays true to its name by having all its items priced at $1.
Plus, they also offer a number of ways for you to save even more money and make your shopping that much simpler.
Dollar Tree has a weekly ads section where you will find new products and special offers they have for items that they are promoting. This is great for finding those seasonal and in-demand products that you might need.
Shipping, however, isn’t free. Each product has its own shipping fee depending on the size and weight of the package. If you want to save a little, you can opt for an in-store pickup instead.
Dollar Tree also doesn’t accept online coupons. You can instead take advantage of shopping browser extensions such as Rakuten or Honey so you can earn some cash back rewards.
2. Dollar General
What’s hot: Plenty of deals, discounts, coupons, and rebates
What’s not: Without deals, items are more expensive than Dollar Tree
Free shipping: Available with DG AutoDeliver and for a minimum purchase of $25
Best known for:
- Office supplies
- Kitchen and cleaning supplies
- Snacks
- Pet supplies
Unlike Dollar Tree, Dollar General doesn’t price everything at $1. They make up for this, however, with more deals, discounts, and rebate opportunities.
You can check their website’s sales page for a list of discount products and rebate deals that allow you to save a few bucks with every spend.
You can also access various in-store and digital coupons every week if you create an account. Plus, Dollar General also encourages the use of its mobile app by rewarding users with even more exclusive deals and coupons.
It also has its signature DG AutoDeliver subscription service that allows you to take advantage of free shipping and a 5% discount for orders above $25.
3. Rosegal
What’s hot: Discount apparel, accessories, and jewelry
What’s not: Items may have varying qualities
Free shipping: Available
Best known for: Clothing and accessories
Rosegal isn’t your traditional online dollar store. It is an online fashion brand that carries various products, including men's and women’s apparel, swimwear, jewelry, and accessories. It’s one of the best options for saving money on clothes.
Its online store has a deal zone that offers products at huge discounts. Jewelry products and other accessories here go for as low as $0.99. Clothes are often offered at discounts of 30% to 50% as well.
Shopping through its mobile app also gives you a few bonuses. It lets you save an additional 5% on your purchases. You can also join its rewards program called Points Mall, which lets you earn points for completing tasks like:
- Verifying your email and adding a display picture
- Signing-in daily
- Shopping
- Writing reviews
Fifty points here will give you $1. These points also stack with other coupons you might have. And since a lot of purchases here will easily earn you several hundred points, your savings can easily grow.
Admittedly, Rosegal doesn’t carry those high-end fashion items. It is, however, ideal for those looking for affordable but good-quality clothing and accessories.
4. Five Below (Hollar)
What’s hot: Wide selection of products made of decent quality
What’s not: No free shipping offered
Free shipping: Not available
Best known for:
- Apparel
- Candy and snacks
- Housewares and cleaning supplies
- Books
- Tech
- Toys
Hollar used to be an online dollar store that offered great deals for bulk shoppers. It was acquired by Five Below in 2020, and since then, its product offering and online deals have only expanded.
Most of the products on this platform have prices that range from $1 to $10. What makes this particular online dollar store stand out, however, is the quality of their products.
For very affordable prices, you have a wide selection of high-quality products to choose from, all from the convenience of your own home.
It also maintained Holler’s signature feature of offering lower prices per unit when shopping in bulk. Shipping is pegged at $5, however, and free shipping is not offered here.
5. DollarStore
What’s hot: More affordable pricing for a wider variety of products
What’s not: No rewards or deals to take advantage of
Free shipping: Available for orders over $25
Best known for:
- Clothing
- Accessories
- Auto
- Hardware
- Party goods
DollarStore keeps everything fairly neat and simple – no rewards, no rebates. It more than makes up for this, however, with its wide selection of items to choose from, as well as the other features of its platform that you won’t find on other online dollar stores.
Almost everything on the site goes for $1 to $5. It also has a clearance section where you can find discounted items that may be interesting to you.
Plus, DollarStore offers free shipping for orders that go over $25, another feature that you might want to take advantage of. It also ships internationally, but of course, these would have higher costs and longer shipping times.
DollarStore may not have loyalty programs and other marketing promotions like other online dollar stores, but it more than makes up for this with its already affordable list of items to choose from.
6. Dollar Shave Club
What’s hot: High-quality razor products delivered right at your doorstep, all with free shipping, discounts, and cashbacks
What’s not: Baseline pricing is slightly more costly than other razor subscription programs
Free shipping: Available – comes with your monthly subscription
Best known for: High-quality razors at affordable prices
Have you ever looked at your razor and considered how much you’re spending on it? If you look at how often you have to change it, you might be surprised that you’re actually spending a bit of a fortune on this thing in the span of a year.
Dollar General’s Dollar Shave Club might be the savior you need. Dollar Shave Club is actually Dollar General’s razor subscription program. It gives you access to high-quality razors and other shaving essentials for a very affordable price.
Shaving kits start at only $20. They have two monthly plans to choose from. These are:
- The four-blade all-terrain: This plan gets you a four-blade razor and four cartridges for $8 a month
- The six-blade extra-close: This plan gets you a six-blade razor and four cartridges for $10 a month.
Prices here are already extremely affordable, and while they are more expensive than other razor subscription programs, the deals they come with makes Dollar Shave Club truly competitive.
They offer free shipping and discounts for bulk purchases. You can also take advantage of a 5% cashback with Rakuten, so all-in-all, you really get a lot of bang for your buck.
7. Miss A
What’s hot: Cruelty-free beauty products made from FDA-approved ingredients
What’s not: Has a higher threshold for you to have free shipping
Free shipping: Available for purchases above $35
Best known for: Beauty products and other self-care items
Many beauty products are actually the same, but cost a lot more because of the premium their brand names carry. Miss A, however, is a great place to get the same items but without the premium price tags.
What makes MIss A standout is that they put an emphasis on cruelty-free products. This means that no animals were harmed in the development of the makeup, accessories, and any of the self-care goods you need. Ingredients are also FDA-approved, so you know that they’re still safe to use.
Miss A offers free shipping for orders over $35. They also ship internationally, but this may cost a little more and might take longer than their standard 2 business days.
8. H&J Closeouts
What’s hot: Great for business owners and other jobs that need certain items in bulk
What’s not: Buying can only be done in bulk, which may not be ideal for retail customers
Free shipping: Available
Best known for: Wide variety of goods for bulk buying
H&J Closeouts should be one of your go-to websites for online wholesale shopping. It’s great for businesses who want to stock up on items that they can later resell directly to consumers.
Products here can go as low as $0.05 per unit. But of course, you would need a good reason to buy 500 pieces of AA batteries or 300 pieces of colored pencils. That is why H&J Closeouts is perfect for business owners.
It is great for those who have drop-shipping stores, or for those who sell on Amazon or eBay. It’s also perfect if you have a physical store as it’ll help you buy items at a discounted price before selling them for a margin.
Plus, you don’t need to go out and pay for gas. H&J Closeouts ships in the US for free, and internationally for an affordable fee. If you’re planning on buying items in bulk, H&J is the perfect online dollar store for you.
9. DollarDays
What’s hot: Ideal for bulk buying for education, fundraising, or other charitable needs.
What’s not: High free shipping threshold
Free shipping: Available for orders over $499
Best known for: Wide variety of products for charitable institutions
If you’re buying goods in bulk for a fundraising event, a charity, or a nonprofit, DollarDays is there to help. They provide wholesale supplies at cheap prices as they actively support charitable drives.
DollarDays has a number of programs such as:
- Business benefits – This gives you an account manager who can handle your bulk shopping needs. They will get you samples for your orders and free quotes should you need them.
- Educator benefits – You can also request an account representative who specifically handles education-related needs. They will help you shop for wholesale school supplies at special rates so you can stock your classrooms and still stay on budget.
- Nonprofit benefits – Similar to other programs, this gives you an account manager who specializes in the needs of nonprofits. They will even help you make a wish list of the needs of your organization that you can share with your supporters.
DollarDays offers free shipping for orders that go over $499. Otherwise, the costs will vary depending on your location and chosen method of shipping. They also ship internationally, but with varying rates.
How Can You Save Even More at Online Dollar Stores?
Dollar stores in and of themselves are already great ways for you to save a few bucks on your purchases. But what if we tell you that you can save even more? Here’s how.
1. Take Advantage of Coupons, Deals, and Rebates
Take the time to hunt for those coupons. If you have to sign-in to the store’s mobile app everyday, do it. If you need to leave reviews for your purchases, go for it.
Additionally, you might also want to wait for deals. As cheap as the items in dollar stores may already be, there are many occasions when they hold promotional events where you could take advantage of awesome deals and huge discounts left and right.
Online dollar stores typically also have external or third-party partners who can give you coupon codes, rebates, and other ways to save even more money.
2. Buy in Bulk
Buying in bulk often means you get to save a little more. How so? Well, it depends on the store.
Buying in bulk often gets you free shipping. It can also mean that you qualify for some deals offered only if your purchases reach a certain amount. In some cases, this may mean getting an extra item for free, getting a discount on your overall purchase, or qualifying for certain coupons.
3. Shop in the Clearance Section
The clearance section holds a lot of items that may go for even less than a dollar. If you want to save a little extra cash, then you might want to check out what goods are available here. There might be a few gems you could grab on your way to checking out.
4. Meet Free Shipping Thresholds
A lot of stores often offer free shipping if your purchases reach a certain amount.
If you’re planning on buying from online dollar stores, try to make a list of all the things you need and buy it at one time. This should help you qualify for free shipping and help you save a little extra cash.
What Products Should You Not Buy at Online Dollar Stores?
While it may be tempting to buy all your needs at dollar stores because of the huge savings, there are some items that you shouldn’t cheap out on. Here are some of them.
1. Electronics
If you’re looking for electronics, then a dollar store might not be the best place to go to. Most electronics items in dollar stores wear out easily and don’t last long.
HDMI cords, power strips, extension cords, USB cables, and other similar products also aren’t ideal finds in dollar stores. More often than not, they aren’t made of good-quality materials and may break easily. At worst, they might even be dangerous to use.
2. Plastic cooking utensils
Plastic cooking utensils found in dollar stores often contain bromine. This is a component that is found in brominated flame retardants (BFRs). BFRs are linked to health problems like cancer, birth defects, and issues when it comes to brain development.
3. Canned goods
Some dollar stores have private-label canned goods. Reports show, however, that there is a huge chance that their linings have traces of BPA, a substance that can be disruptive to a person’s reproductive system and harmful to children.
4. Toys
Toys might be especially tempting finds at dollar stores, but hold your horses, folks. While those dolls and action figures may only cost a dollar, more often than not, they’ll break easily.
Toys found in dollar stores might also not be safe to use, and when it comes to your kids, you never want to take risks. Pieces of these toys often break easily. Young children may put those in their mouth or at worst, even accidentally swallow them.
5. Tools
Yes, we understand how tempting it may be to get that $1 screwdriver set, but you might want to hold off on that a little as well. It probably won’t last long in your toolbox anyway.
Most tools in dollar stores are made with poor quality items and engineering. They’ll probably break within those first few uses or worse, cause you injury when they do break.
6. Knives
Contrary to popular belief, dull knives can be extremely dangerous, and you’ll find a ton of these in dollar stores. If you’re attached to the rest of your hand.
7. Batteries
Batteries found in dollar stores are, more often than not, duds. We know you need them, and we know they’re a bit costly, but if you really have to, buy branded ones from your local convenience store, grocery, or hardware store instead.
8. Back-to-school supplies
Dollar stores sound like an obvious choice for shopping for those back-to-school supplies. But wait—with the right timing, you might be able to beat even those $1 deals if you wait for back-to-school sales at big-box stores.
9. Pet food and treats
Nowadays, pets are part of the family. And unfortunately, many of those who’ve bought pet food and treats from dollar stores found themselves at the vet a few days later.
If you need pet food, don’t cheap out. Opt for legitimate stores with name-brand pet food that you know.
What Are the Pros and Cons of Shopping at Online Dollar Stores?
If you’re still on the fence about shopping at online dollar stores, here are a few pros and cons to help you make a decision.
| Pros | Cons |
| Affordable prices | Negative impact of gas and packaging on the environment |
| Wide selection of items | Problems with shipping that may cause delays |
| Convenient | Damaged items or items that don’t necessarily meet your expectations |
| No pressure from salespeople | Returns can get complicated |
| No crowds | No assistance from salespeople |
| Easier to compare prices | Complicated website or app interfaces |
| Privacy for discreet purchases | Often does not support local businesses |
Conclusion
Online shopping, or shopping in general, doesn’t have to be expensive. There are a ton of online dollar stores that give you the same quality of goods for a lot less.
Plus, you can even save a bit more if you know how to take advantage of deals, discounts, coupons, and other promotional offerings! Just make sure to know which items you can and cannot cheap out on, so you don’t end up regretting your purchases after.
Aidan has been writing about personal finance for over 6 years. Prior to this, he worked as a Corporate Finance Analyst where he specialized in Due Diligence, Company Valuations and more. He is a CFA charterholder.
