Everyone loves a good deal! And if you haven’t checked out your local dollar store then you’re definitely missing out on some stellar photo deals. Yep, you can find all sorts of amazing, useful, inexpensive stuff lining the shelves. The trick (and the fun part!) is thinking about how you can use the stuff you find for your photography or photography business. Mental exercise!!
Check out this video to see what WE found at our local dollar store!
Deals for Photographers
You’ll find tons of practical, useful things, but you’ll also find materials that could be repurposed into more valuable. Here are a few things you could look for at the dollar store:
- Props for a photo booth
- Branding and marketing materials
- Product packaging
- Flash lighting mods / reflector
- Supplies for useful kits (medical, sewing, wedding / portrait emergencies, cheap black socks!, tools/repair)
- Office supplies
- Organizational supplies
- Craft supplies
- Toys for kids
- Candy / treats
- Cleaning supplies (microfibre towels, lens cleaning clothes)
- Experimental photography materials (battery powered coloured lights, magnifying glass, sparklers)
Shopping Tips
- Go at an off time of day as the aisles of these stores tend to be narrow so they can cram as much stuff as possible in. This can make it difficult to leisurely navigate a packed store.
- Quality is generally pretty low, and some items might be scratched or broken, so check it over carefully.
- Think of it as an exercise in divergent thinking and keep an open mind. What cheap, common, household items can you repurpose into something more useful?
- A lot of dollar stores don’t seem to accept credit cards so bring cash or debit.
Your Turn!
Have you found something useful for photography or your business at the dollar store? Share it with us below!
