Brandless Review: The Site That Sells Everything For $3
This post has been updated in September, 2019 to reflect changes in Brandless’ product offerings, prices, and policies.
A few weeks ago, I saw an ad on Facebook for Brandless. As someone who loves a good deal, I had to check it out.
Brandless used to sell everything on their site for $3.00 – but they recently changed their pricing. So some items are $3.00 – but many are more than $3.00.
How Does Brandless Work?
All the items for sale on Brandless are, well, brandless. They’re generic, and therefore cheaper.
Brandless aims to “make stuff that makes life better”.
Food: All of their food products are non-GMO and free from artificial flavors and synthetic preservatives. Many of their food products are also organic, vegan, and/or gluten free.
How Has Brandless Changed?
Brandless’ model has changed. In the past, the focus was on price and value. This is what I wrote about it in 2017:
“Brandless keeps prices low by eliminating BrandTax, the money it takes to advertise a product.
Brandless estimates that products of similar quality at other stores will cost 40 percent more than what they charge. But is it true?”
Now, in 2019, they offer a bigger, better selection of products, but their prices have gone up on many of them.
What I Bought
I bought 7 items on Brandless:
- Toothpaste, 4 ounces:
- 2017 price = $3.00
- 2019 price = $5.00
- Dish soap, 16.5 ounces:
- 2017 price = $3.00
- 2019 price: Product no longer available
- Honey, 8 ounces:
- 2017 price = $3.00
- 2019 price = $3.00
- Maple syrup, 6.7 ounces:
- 2017 price = $3.00
- 2019 price = $4.00
- Peanut butter, 12 ounces:
- 2017 price = $3.00
- 2019 price = $3.00
- Apple cider vinegar, 16 ounces:
- 2017 price = $3.00
- 2019 price = $3.00
- Fig and thyme crisps, 5.3 ounces:
- 2017 price = $3.00
- 2019 price: Product no longer available
Out of curiosity, I priced similar items at Trader Joe’s:
- Toothpaste: $2.29 for 6 ounces (38 cents/ounce)
- Dish soap: $2.99 for 25 ounces (11 cents/ounce)
- Honey: $3.49 for 12 ounces (29 cents/ounce)
- Organic honey: $5.99 for 16 ounces (37 cents/ounce)
- Maple syrup: $4.99 for 8 ounces (62 cents/ounce)
- Organic maple syrup: $7.99 for 12 ounces (66 cents/ounce)
- Peanut butter: $3.49 for 16 ounces (21 cents/ounce)
- Apple cider vinegar: $2.49 for 16 ounces (15 cents/ounce)
- Raisin-rosemary crisps: $3.99 for 5.3 ounces (75 cents/ounce)
As you can see, many items are cheaper per ounce at Trader Joe’s: Toothpaste, dish soap, peanut butter, and non-organic honey.
Organic honey is the same price per ounce.
Brandless Products: Pros And Cons
Pros:
- Prices: While prices on many items have risen, much of what they sell is very affordable.
- Quality: Every item I purchased was high quality. A lot of their products are organic.
- Fast shipping: My box arrived in just a couple of days.
- Donation: Every time a purchase is made on Brandless, the company donates one meal to Feeding America. Pretty cool.
Cons:
- Selection: Brandless’ selection has grown since it launched in July, 2017. They’ve added pet products, tableware, bakeware, office supplies, gift bags and wrap, pads and tampons, baby diapers and wipes, essential oils, and lots more. Still, I can’t do all of my grocery or shopping on Brandless.
- CBD products: Brandless recently added CBD products to their website. Like practically anywhere else, these products are quite expensive. A CBD balm is $49, and a 30-count container of CBD capsules is $59.
- Shipping: Brandless currently offers free shipping on orders of $48 or more.
- Cost per ounce: As stated above, many items were actually cheaper per ounce at Trader Joe’s. I suspect they would be even cheaper per ounce at ALDI.
Final Thoughts
Will I purchase more from Brandless?
Update: I did.
I’m now on Brandless’ mailing list, and I decided to purchase more stuff when they offered free shipping. I ordered peppermint mouthwash, organic teriyaki beef jerky, organic maple syrup, gochujang Korean sweet & spicy cooking sauce, lilac dish soap, and unbleached parchment paper. All of these were high quality. The parchment paper is much cheaper than what I buy at the co-op, and the lilac dish soap smelled SO good!
But, will I become a regular Brandless purchaser? Probably not.
Personally, I like going to the grocery store. And since you can’t buy everything on Brandless (produce, dairy, meats, seafood, cheese, baked goods, frozen foods, etc.), you’ll still have to go to the grocery store. You’re not really eliminating a supermarket run – you’re just buying some pantry items online as opposed to in the store.
I think Brandless is a great option for people who have limited time for grocery shopping. These individuals could buy pantry staples on Brandless and do supplemental grocery runs to pick up fresh foods.
I do most of my grocery shopping at ALDI and Trader Joe’s.
If you’re wondering what grocery stores are the cheapest, check out these grocery store price comparisons.
Have you tried Brandless? What did you think? Please share your thoughts below.
Absolutely love that you did this review Haley! I just read about them in an MN magazine and was wondering about it. As someone who doesn’t really get behind the internet shopping thing for staples I figured I’d just never really know. They did promote that everything they sold was better quality than normal name brand stuff so I’m glad you noticed it was high quality too. It’ll be interesting to see how it goes
Thanks, Greta! Yes, I’m curious how this will go as well. I’ve noticed they’ve already increased their product selection. There are some great deals on vitamins and other stuff.
There is a huge difference between Organic and regular food. Organic is much, much better for you, It cost more to produce. So for $3.00 these Items are awesome.
I just did and received my second order and everything is decent size. And what i have tasted, is really, good and very fresh. These prices can compete with my local area where the cheapest organic foods are sold. I live in Scranton PA, and this is a very low economy area, so things cost cheaper here than in most other states, or even in most other areas in PA. So, yeah, this company as done and incredible job at bringing high quality organic food and very affordable prices.
While Trader Joe’s nay be cheaper on some items, in Georgia I would have to drive 45 to get to one.
Great point. This is a great option for people who don’t live near Trader Joe’s or ALDI, for example. Or for someone who would rather shop online than going to the store.
I finally received my shipment from Brandless. The items are extremely small. I ordered soup bowls that were broken. Thery were enclosed in flimsy bubble wrap bags, then in paper. They taped them together to keep them from scraping against each other. The problem was, they were placed at the bottom of the box, which was not marked fragile.
It was wonderful to get my box of goodies today. The weather is miserable in New England right now, and I don’t want to go out shopping. Everything Icordered was fantastic. I saved money by not shopping in a store were I pick up extra stuff that I had not planned on. I will do this again.
I just received my first order. My reasoning behind trying Brandless? Everything I ordered was organic, which adds,a considerable mark – up at my local grocery stores. I live in a tiny California mountain town and have very limited options for good priced organic staples…canned , jarred or dry goods wise. The closest Whole Foods or Trader Joes is a full hour drive. My order arrived on a Saturday, only one business day after placing. Very fast. Unfortunately six of the cans of beans I ordered arrived extremely dented…as in I’m not going to eat them dented. I’ve contacted Brandless to see if they are willing to remedy…and will report back with their response/ solution. I think this company has a niche with people like me, but also you have to shop widely and know your local grocers…what may be regularly on sale and do the math. For shelf stable organic staples ( if bought in somewhat bulk to alleviate shipping) this may be a great way to go, but their response to my damaged goods will be the determined factor. Stay tuned….
Your method of buying in bulk is a wise one – I think that’s a great way to get the most value out of Brandless.
Interested to hear if they replaced the beans. Thanks for your comment!
I tried them because it was really interesting and they kept popping up on my newsfeed. Which kind of negates the whole thing about not paying for advertising, but ok. I liked everything I bought, but found things that I will definitely not be reordering. The dish soaps and hand creams I felt were too small for 3 dollars, but the multi surface cleaner and tub and tile cleaner were 30oz bottles. They smell nice, too. The hand soaps were ok for 3 dollars, although the maple ginger smelled EXACTLY like maple and brown sugar instant oatmeal. It made me hungry and grossed me out at the same time. The cooking utensils I highly recommend. They are excellent quality and quite large. The blueberry muffins were delicious, but too small for my family of 8. The mix makes 10 and I stretched it to 12 quite easily and they had really good expansion/rise/whatever that’s called. I’m going to try the tree free stuff next, just to see. I’m guessing the more specialized stuff like that will probably be where you save the most money. I loved the lemonade rings, the kids enjoyed the gummi fish and sour worms. My husband loved the fruit wedges. They were favorite candies with none of the chemicals in the mainstream/name brand products.
Anyway, I’ll repeat for some things and I hope they stick around and keep expanding their inventory. Maybe develop some natural make up products.
Thanks for your comment. I am totally with you on the makeup products!
Thank you for running this comparison with Trader Joe’s! I shop TJ’s, ALDI, Costco and Whole Foods, but mostly TJ’s. I really felt the prices were almost equal at first glance. And honestly, they should be less since they aren’t paying for a brick and mortar store, advertising and employees like TJ’s does. Possibly a great option for folks not near a TJ’s, but the offerings are limited and it still requires a store run. I’m more excited about the Costco online option for my large supplies (paper products, laundry soap etc). And isn’t “brandless” essentially a “brand” at this point?
Good point – Brandless is pretty much a brand! Thanks for your shopping tips.
Not only are most items organic they’re also GMO free!
I love love love this company and concept ! Decided to give them a try after seeing it on my feed and I’m glad I did ! I placed my first order ( mainly the cleaning essentials) and a few personal care items. Both me and my daughter are extremely sensitive to soaps of an kind. The cleaning supplies work great, large bottles, and smells are great and not to overwhelming. I love the lilac dish soap although I wish the bottle was a bit bigger. After my second order I was hooked and invested in the membership for free shipping ( totally worth it) I now order all my vitamins from them every month . Recently purchased kitchen utensils and OMG I’ll be ordering the rest without a doubt. As far as the soaps and lotions neither of us has had any issues with any of the items we got which is rare for us .
I priced several snack and candy options and they were all at least 1.5 times what I normally pay for similar items, some were as high as 5 times the price. The buzz words organic and non-gmo don’t impress me at all as most of the things I priced would not be either of those things.
I’ve ordered once and was pretty pleased with what I received. I really like the toilet paper! The graham crackers are like honeymade (my fav), only organic. Edamame/Cashew salad topper is quite good, I eat it out of the package as a snack. Blue chips are disappointing, Aldi’s and Costco way better. Organic condiments are a good value, as are milled flax seeds; dried mango is not. Planning to reorder more t.p. and try additional items. I got free shipping for $39 order, plus free shortbread mini-cookies, which are good.
Well this might be new compared to other comments. I just went to Brandless, I have been shopping there for at least one year. I went there to place an order and now they no longer sell food from what I can see. I am gluten free and not by choice. I found that the items they had that were gluten free I bought. I loved the choices they had. But as of today, I found nothing. I sent a message to them, but today is Sunday and will hear from them on Monday.
I am shocked! They seem to be making some major changes.