It’s amazing what kinds of products are successful and which ones flop.
And I think all of us can admit that some products that are less-than-stellar kind of suck.
And today we’re gonna hear about a bunch of them!
What terrible products are huge sellers?
AskReddit users shared their thoughts.
1. So bad.
“Sh**ty pencils.
They’re cheaper so it’s what all the parents buy at back to school time, but they’re so bad.
-They break too easily. -They can’t be sharpened because the lead falls out or isn’t centered. -They ruin good sharpeners. -Erasers either don’t work or disintegrate instantly.
Get Ticonderoga or Staedtler. 1 pencil of either of these is worth 20 of the no names.”
2. FYI.
“Hartz brand pet flea treatments/medication.
It’s dangerous and has been the cause of d**th for many pets. IIRC it’s a nerve agent that’s supposed to make the pet’s blood toxic to fleas.
I used some on my cat once and she started freaking out, then had trouble waking normally (her legs were twitching and kicking, clearly out of her control), and tears of brown thick liquid started streaming down her face.
I picked her up and frantically gave her a bath hoping to wash any of the remaining chemicals off the back of her neck before any more of that poison seeped into her skin.”
3. All that stuff.
“Anything you see on the 1 a.m. advertising shows that take 1 hour to show you a single product.
They are also sold on like Walmart shelves in the “as seen on TV” section.”
4. Yes.
“Diet shakes/pills/teas, etc.
My boyfriend was trying to lose weight desperately for a job.
He made a list of everything he wanted. He wanted a girdle (to suck in his belly), eggs, and 4 different diet pills. The cost of just 1 box was well over 50 bucks. And he wanted 4.
I told him the diet pills will never work, and they might make him sick. Bought 1 box anyway. He lost a couple pounds. Water weight. In order to lose more, he starved himself and ate 3 eggs, once per day, or nothing at all.
He would have a smoothie a few times a week, which has several hundred calories.
He’s lost about a hundred pounds but because he’s given himself anorexia.”
5. Insanity.
“Herbalife.
I work for FedEx and it’s insane the amount of Herbalife boxes that come through our facility.”
6. Crazy.
“WILDLY Overpriced micro transactions in video games, it’s genuinely absurd.
25 dollars for a little outfit for your character in a first person shooter where you do not see your little outfit is a perfect example.”
7. Pretty bad.
“Cable TV (from major providers)
They made money fu**ing people over and then when streaming services changed the game they decided to continue finding new ways to f**k you over.
God help you if you live in a rural area.”
8. Getting worse.
“The NBA 2K franchise.
It just keeps getting progressively worse.
More ads, more incentives to spend money, and the gameplay barely changes.”
9. You don’t need ’em.
“Detoxification miracle products.
“Get all the toxins out of your body!”
You have already have a pancreas and liver.”
10. Ink.
“I was a loyal HP customer. I finally woke up to the utter rip off of ink cartridges and bought an Epson with ink tanks.
It cost $100 more originally than an HP but I saved that and more quickly when I stopped buying cartridges.”
11. Educate yourself.
“Puppy mill puppies. Sorry to compare them to a product, but that’s how they’re treated.
No one should purchase a puppy from a pet store, EVER. This now extends to online brokerage websites like greenfield and puppyspot. They’re like Amazon, a few clicks and a puppy will be sent to your door, and these puppies are coming from the exact same place as the pet store puppies.
Because of people’s need for instant gratification, these facilities with hundreds to thousands of breeding animals persist. They are the best cash crop you could hope for.
Never believe a store who claims they only sell puppies from responsible breeders. No, not even if the owner has visited the breeders and “know” they’re good! By definition a responsible breeder would NEVER send their puppies to a pet store.
Even pet stores that claim to only have rescues need to be scrutinized because some mills will use a shell rescue to “puppy launder”. “Licensed and certified breeders” should be a red flag – depending on the state, a breeder only needs to be licensed if they have a large number of dogs, are selling to brokers to go to pet stores, or to people “sight unseen” (online). YMMV depending on the state.
People sometimes justify their purchases as “saving” puppies from a pet store. But that is still investing in the industry and funding their operations by giving them profit. Legislation hasn’t stemmed the tide. Only a loss of profit will make mills move on to another hustle.
So please educate yourself and anyone you know who loves dogs and might ever be tempted to purchase a puppy from a pet store or online. Either adopt from a responsible rescue, or purchase from a responsible breeder.”
12. Huge rip-off.
“College text books.
They change the page numbers and call it a new edition just so you can’t follow the syllabus.
And since when does a book costs $100?!”
What products do you think are bad that sell a lot?
Tell us what you think in the comments.
We’d love to hear from you!
