Over the past few years, I’ve realized I have a very specific talent: I’m unusually sensitive to prices.
If you show me a piece of furniture, a bag of vegetables, or some random household item on one shopping app, I can usually remember what it costs somewhere else and tell you which platform is actually cheaper.
Because of that, I ended up taking charge of almost all the household essentials in our home—buying them, restocking them, and figuring out what’s worth stocking up on. Along the way, I’ve kept adjusting my system, testing different brands, and rethinking what actually saves money versus what only feels like a bargain.
What follows is a practical breakdown of how I shop, how I decide when to stock up, how I keep track of prices, and which household products I personally keep buying. If you don’t know where to start with basic home supplies, some of these picks may save you time.
Where I Usually Shop
My main platforms are JD, Pinduoduo, and Sam’s Club. After that come Taobao and Douyin, and Xiaohongshu is basically a last resort.
One thing I want to be clear about: no platform can fully guarantee quality. Even stores with perfect ratings can still disappoint you. The difference is mostly in probability, logistics, and after-sales support.
Here’s how I think about each one:
JD: still the strongest when it comes to delivery speed—often next-day—and the most reliable overall for quality assurance. It has slipped a bit compared with earlier years, but for important purchases, especially electronics, it’s still my first choice.
Pinduoduo: the most consumer-friendly in terms of price. Great for small household items and daily-use supplies.
Sam’s Club: has several highly competitive store-brand products, and some branded items are cheaper there than elsewhere. The catch is that quantities are usually large.
Taobao: rarely my first pick unless the price is genuinely better. Since it has many individual sellers, it can be useful for niche products.
Douyin: the weakest platform in terms of product quality in my experience, with a lot of misleading marketing. If you’re not already very comfortable shopping online, I honestly wouldn’t recommend touching it. I only buy a few clearly discounted official items there.
Xiaohongshu: only when the first four platforms don’t have what I need.
How I Choose Stores
I buy only from real official stores. I do not buy from third-party sellers if I can avoid it.
On JD, that means I strongly prefer JD self-operated flagship stores whenever they exist.
Using Arrow as an example, you might see several versions of what looks like the same brand store:
- Arrow JD Self-Operated Flagship Store: my first choice. This is the official store working directly with JD. For bigger brands, delivery is usually next-day, and both quality control and after-sales service are the best.
- Arrow Official Flagship Store: my second choice. Still official, but not part of JD’s self-operated system, so logistics are usually slower.
- Arrow Smart Home Flagship Store: I never choose this. I did once by mistake and regretted it. This is an authorized third-party seller, basically a licensed storefront. Product quality and service are not the same as buying directly from the brand.
The same logic applies on other platforms. I will choose stores labeled clearly as the official flagship store, but not stores with names that sound official while actually being third-party variations.
My shopping philosophy is simple: I’d rather spend a little more for dependable quality and less hassle than save a bit upfront and deal with endless after-sales arguments later.
Sometimes peace of mind is worth paying for.
How I Stock Up
When prices hit their best level, I usually buy at least a year’s worth of consumables. That “one year” depends on your actual usage, of course—you need to know how fast your household goes through things.
If a price is good but not the absolute lowest, I’ll usually buy around half a year’s worth.
Stocking up also requires physical space. If you don’t have enough cabinets or storage, then buying in bulk makes less sense, and you’re better off planning for shorter-term use. Portable storage drawers or simple movable plastic cabinets can help a lot.
My wife and I are both the type to stockpile things, so when we bought our home, we built in a lot of storage on purpose.
How I Actually Save Money
Compare official-store prices across platforms
For almost every purchase, I check the official store on each platform one by one and compare prices before deciding.
If the prices are close, I’ll choose the platform I trust more. This matters more than people think. The more often you shop on a platform, the more you spend there, and the more “normal” your account behavior looks, the more likely you are to be treated as a good customer. That can make service and after-sales support noticeably smoother.
Know which shopping festivals are actually worth it
For me, the priority order is:
618 > March 8 promotions (mostly for women’s products) > all the random mini festivals > Double 12 ≈ Double 11
A key point: across basically all shopping events, the real low prices often start appearing about a month in advance, not on the day itself.
For example, with 618, many products hit their lowest prices in late May and around June 10.
And this is the part many people miss:
On the actual festival day, most products are marked up rather than discounted.
So every year, I do my biggest bulk purchases during the best 618 pricing window, then use the smaller sales later in the year to fill gaps or grab items that didn’t drop before.
Don’t get fooled by packaging language
Say you’re buying tissues.
One option is 24 packs for 50 RMB. Then you see 48 packs for 70 RMB and immediately think it’s a better deal.
Not so fast.
The 48-pack version might be 100 sheets per pack, while the 24-pack version is 150 sheets per pack. Once you calculate the unit price properly, the “bigger” option may actually be more expensive.
This applies to all kinds of products. Don’t just look at the number of items—look at the sheet count, weight, volume, and other real measurements.
Use price tracking
One app I genuinely love is 省钱快报.
It can track prices for products on JD and Taobao, and it alerts you when an item falls to the target price you’ve set. It can also connect to a WeChat official account for notifications.
The free version lets you monitor 30 items, which is honestly enough for me even without paying for VIP.
It also helps uncover hidden coupons and cashback opportunities. For expensive purchases, the cashback can be a decent extra discount.
Stay sharp with numbers by keeping records
The best way I know to stay price-aware is expense tracking.
The app I use is Qianji on iOS.
Keeping records doesn’t just help you see where your money goes. It also reinforces price memory. The more often you log what you buy, the more familiar everyday price ranges become.
It also stops that vague feeling of “I spent money, but I have no idea where it went.” Once your spending is broken down clearly, it becomes much easier to identify waste—too much takeout, too much gaming spending, too much impulse shopping, and so on.
Price monitoring plus expense tracking, done consistently, gives you a very solid sense of what things should cost and when it makes sense to buy.
For example, without even checking my phone, I already know the normal pricing for some important things in my home:
- Our cat food is usually 500 RMB per bag. At 400 RMB, it’s worth buying. At 350 RMB, I’ll stock up on at least two bags. One bag lasts about a quarter.
- My wife’s sanitary pads are usually 24 RMB per box. At 16 RMB, it’s time to restock. At 14 RMB, it’s stock-up territory.
- The height-adjustable rolling desk board my wife wanted is usually 370 RMB. The historical low is 200 RMB, but that’s rare. If it drops below 280 RMB, it’s worth grabbing.
Household Products I Actually Recommend
By “household essentials,” I mean things that get used up regularly and need periodic restocking.
Every recommendation below is something I’ve used personally or am still using now.
Paper products
Facial tissues and toilet paper
Recommended brand: Vinda
Product: Vinda Ultra Strong Facial Tissue, 150 sheets, 3-ply (JD)
I like this one for two reasons. First, the package size fits most drawers and storage cabinets well. Second, 150 sheets per pack is a good balance—usable enough that you’re not replacing it constantly.
I recently used some 100-sheet tissues again, and the experience was awful by comparison.
Vinda runs promotions pretty often. When I first moved, I stocked up at under 2 RMB per pack.
Kitchen paper towels
Recommended brand: Vinda
Product: Vinda Kitchen Paper Towel, XL, 80 sheets (Pinduoduo)
I’ve mainly used Vinda and Hearttex. I chose Vinda largely because it makes it easier to combine orders for discount thresholds in the same store.
Kitchen wet wipes
Recommended brand: Sam’s Club
Product: MM Kitchen Wet Wipes, 50 sheets (Sam’s Club)
These are the absolute king of kitchen wet wipes.
The sheets are large, the cleaning power is strong, and the thickness means they don’t tear easily. Usually one or two sheets are enough to clean the entire kitchen after a meal.
Wet wipes
Recommended brand: Vinda
Product: Vinda Pure Water Unscented Wet Wipes, 80 sheets (Pinduoduo)
I don’t think wet wipes vary all that much as long as they’re plain pure-water wipes. I use Vinda mostly for convenience when bundling orders.
Flushable wet toilet wipes
Recommended brand: Hearttex
Not recommended: Deyou
Product: Hearttex x Sanrio Wet Toilet Wipes, 80 sheets (JD)
Deyou has been advertising these products aggressively in recent years, but from a user experience standpoint, the cheaper Hearttex version really doesn’t feel noticeably worse.
Deyou is just too expensive for what it is. It feels like the price is being carried by ad spend.
Also, Hearttex has a Cinnamoroll collaboration version, and yes, I love Cinnamoroll.
Alcohol wipes
Recommended brand: Deyou
Product: Deyou 75% Medical-Grade Alcohol Wipes, 1 sheet x 100 (JD)
Once I started using individually packed alcohol wipes, I stopped buying the larger multi-wipe packs.
We don’t use alcohol wipes very frequently at home. They’re mostly for travel, so single-use packaging fits our needs much better.
I don’t think the differences between brands are huge here. I chose Deyou mostly because the packaging looks nice.
Portable tissues / wet toilet wipes / wet wipes
Recommended brand: Vinda
There isn’t a dramatic performance difference here either. I buy Vinda mainly because it’s easy to combine with other items for discounts, and because Vinda often does collaborations I happen to like.
Body care and personal cleaning
Shampoo
Recommended brands: Pantene, Ruoye
Products: Pantene Amino Acid Repair Shampoo 1kg (JD), Ruoye gray bottle (Douyin, Pinduoduo)
Shampoo is one of those things that seems to lose effectiveness for me if I use the same one too long, so I keep rotating and trying new ones.
So far, based on first-use experience, these two have performed the best.
One warning: if you try Ruoye, avoid the green bottle. I wouldn’t use it even if it were free.
Body wash
Recommended brand: chillmore
Product: chillmore fragranced body wash (JD)
This is the best-smelling body wash I’ve used, and it also has the longest-lasting scent. I tried quite a few before settling on this as the only permanent one in our home.
Body lotion
Recommended brands: OLAY, Cetaphil
Products: OLAY Niacinamide Moisturizing Body Lotion, Cetaphil moisturizing cream tub (both from JD)
The OLAY lotion has the scent I like the most and gives me the best hydration.
The large Cetaphil tub is honestly unbeatable for moisturizing. The downside is that it can feel greasy right after application. In summer especially, it can feel stuffy and sweaty, which hurts the user experience.
That said, I’m tall, so products sold in larger quantities suit me well.
Hand soap
Recommended brand: Dettol
Dettol has become especially well-known for disinfection in recent years, and I trust it a bit more on that front.
Compared with brands like Safeguard, the after-feel is different: Dettol leaves my hands feeling cleaner and drier, while Safeguard tends to leave a more slippery finish.
Toothpaste and mouthwash
Recommended brand: Baixi
This brand goes on sale often and gets very cheap. I also prefer the flavor and overall experience compared with options like Leng Suan Ling.
I’m also cautious about long-term use of some toothpastes that may contain medicinal ingredients.
Home cleaning
Dish soap
Recommended brand: AXE
Product: AXE Lemon Aloe Vera Dishwashing Liquid 1.3kg (Sam’s Club)
I’ve used a lot of dish soaps, and this is the one with the strongest cleaning power in my experience. It also smells great.
Multi-purpose cleaner
Recommended brand: Jiejing
Product: Jiejing Unilever Lemon Powerful Cleaning Cream 725g (JD)
This stuff is incredible.
It can handle almost any stain I throw at it—heavy kitchen grease, stubborn floor grime, and more. Once you’ve used it, it’s hard not to love it.
But be careful: it contains abrasive particles, so it should not be used on coated surfaces like nonstick pans, because it can damage the coating.
Dish sponge
Recommended brand: Likang
Product: Likang smiley sponge (JD)
This sponge is expensive, but worth it.
A regular dish sponge might cost 1 RMB, while this one costs around 25 RMB. But it also lasts far longer—well over ten times as long in my experience.
It cleans almost as aggressively as a scouring pad, but without the destructive side effects. A scouring pad can ruin nonstick coatings; this one doesn’t.
Cleaning cloths
Recommended brand: Miniso (Pinduoduo)
Good absorbency, easy to wash, long lifespan. I mostly use these in the kitchen.
Degreaser
Recommended brand: JOY
Product: JOY Kitchen Cleaner 275ml (JD)
Not recommended: Vital 28
This is the strongest grease remover I’ve used for heavy built-up oil stains.
Its one major downside is that it doesn’t wipe away easily. If you use it on something like a stovetop, you may need to wipe the area several times afterward, and your cloth may also need repeated rinsing.
Vital 28 didn’t even feel stronger than ordinary dish soap to me.
Floor cleaner and toilet cleaning gel stamps
Recommended brand: Feibi (JD)
Not recommended: Momeng / Lao Guanjia
I’ve tried a lot of brands in this category. Feibi gets very cheap during promotions, and I’m happy with the scent, cleaning power, and how quickly the floor dries afterward.
I’ve completely lost trust in Momeng and Lao Guanjia, and I no longer buy any of their products.
Bathroom cleaner
Recommended brand: MISSCELL (JD)
Very strong cleaning power, but it’s also fairly corrosive and the smell is quite sharp. I recommend wearing gloves or using it together with a brush.
Toilet cleaner
Recommended brand: Guoshuyuan (JD)
It clings well to surfaces, doesn’t have an overpowering smell, and is priced very competitively.
Cleaning paste
Recommended brand: Feibi
Product: Feibi Qingxiaobai cleaning paste (JD)
It’s not cheap, but I really like it, and a tub lasts a long time.
There are bathroom and kitchen versions. I’ve only used the bathroom one. The cleaning strength is excellent—comparable to Jiejing—and it smells pleasant. I use it in our regular weekly bathroom cleaning.
Duster
Recommended brand: Bingxiu (Pinduoduo)
I’ve tried several dusters, and this one has the strongest static dust pickup while still being reasonably priced.
Color catcher laundry sheets
Recommended brand: KINBATA (Pinduoduo)
My wife has used this one consistently and never switched.
Back when I lived alone, I mixed colors without thinking twice, so buying color-catcher sheets would never even have occurred to me.
Disinfectant spray
Recommended brand: Dettol (JD)
Useful for shoes and also for general household disinfection, such as after cleaning the bathroom.
Kitchen trash bags
Recommended brand: Hanshiliujia (Pinduoduo)
Affordable and rarely tears.
Insecticide
Recommended brand: HAIBUS
Product: HAIBUS Dinotefuran Insecticide
Unfortunately this one doesn’t have a direct retail channel and has to be bought from third-party sellers, which I don’t love.
But it really is the most effective one I’ve used. It’s comparatively safer around people and pets, and it can also be poured directly into drains for pest control there.
Drain cleaner
Recommended brand: ONEFULL (JD)
Not recommended: Kao
ONEFULL is cheaper than Kao and works better too.
Honestly, Kao’s drain-unclogging ability felt close to zero for me.
Pet supplies
Cat food
Recommended brand: Instinct
Product: Instinct high-protein chicken cat food 4.5kg (JD)
When I first got my Ragdoll, I kept hearing that they have fragile stomachs and are prone to loose stools, so I started with this famously expensive food that people often call a cure-all for soft stool.
The results were obvious. My cat has never had that issue and has stayed very healthy.
If there’s one place I don’t recommend cutting corners, it’s cat food. If you save money there, you may just end up spending it at the vet.
Cat litter
Recommended brand: pidan
Product: pidan Classic Mixed Cat Litter, tofu + bentonite blend, 3.6kg (JD)
Not recommended: pidan pure tofu litter (the all-white package), N1 tofu litter
For my cat, this mixed formula controls odor much better than the others.
The other two really didn’t work for us, especially N1—it’s expensive, weak on odor control, and also harder to scoop.
Syrian hamster food
Recommended brand: Tashi
Product: Tashi Funny Bunny Syrian Hamster Food 600g (JD)
The nutritional mix seems well designed, the price is reasonable, and my hamster accepts it well.
The downside is that there are a lot of crumbs, which mine doesn’t like, and it contains mealworms. That does at least mean you don’t need to feed mealworms separately.
Miscellaneous
Batteries
Recommended brand: Jingzao by JD
For common battery sizes like AA and AAA, these are cheap, good-looking, reliable, and fast to arrive.
Glue dots / adhesive roller tape
Recommended brand: Changli
Product: Changli high-capacity adhesive roller, 20m
This is the best one I’ve used. The pen-style versions jam easily, apply unevenly, and don’t last.
There’s definitely more I could add later, and some of these preferences may change over time. But this is the current version of my household buying system—the one I’ve tested, adjusted, and kept because it works.