You don’t have to go to an electronics store to find tech items; you’ll find tech gear at general retailers and even discount stores. But while it may seem like a tempting deal to pick up cheap tech at a dollar store, these items are best avoided.Below, we consider several kinds of tech goods that you shouldn’t buy at a dollar store or other discount retailers. We’ll look at common issues with cheap products sold at these locations, and what you should spend on instead.

1. Headphones, Speakers, and Other Audio Devices

It’s common to come across wired earbuds, wireless headphones, Bluetooth speakers, and similar audio devices at discount stores. While these can serve as a stopgap when you have no other options—like if you forgot to pack your headphones on a long trip and don’t want to bother the others in the car—you shouldn’t buy cheap audio equipment otherwise. If you do buy headphones in a pinch, check out our guide to buying tech at a thrift store for the best results.

As you’d expect, a speaker or set of headphones you find for under $10 is going to sound terrible. It will be enough to amplify sound more than your phone’s speakers can, but that’s about it.

Expect weak sound that doesn’t have clear bass or highs. Wireless speakers and headphones at a bargain price will likely offer short battery life. And thanks to atrocious build quality, the equipment will break or fall apart before long.

If you’re not in an emergency, your money is much better spent on higher-quality audio equipment. For a little more money, you’ll experience a drastic increase in music quality and maximum volume. Brands like Anker, available on Amazon, offer solid audio quality without going into luxury pricing.

It’s more sensible to buy a $40 set of earbuds that lasts you a few years, compared to spending $10 every few months on a crappy set of headphones that keeps breaking.

2. USB Drives

While you probably don’t buy flash drives regularly, if you do find yourself in need of USB storage, avoid picking one up at a drugstore or dollar store. Cheaper flash drives at these locations will almost certainly use the old USB 2.0 standard, which transfers files much more slowly than modern USB 3 drives. See our guide to USB cable types to learn more about this.

These bottom-dollar drives suffer from poor build quality, meaning they’re more likely to break or fail than a name-brand drive. This could end up causing you lots of problems if the flash drive stops working with important files on it.

Another issue with buying flash drives at non-tech stores is that they’re overpriced for the storage you get. For example, at the time of writing, Rite Aid offers a 32GB USB 2.0 SanDisk Cruzer flash drive for $17. Meanwhile, Amazon has a 128GB USB 3.0 SanDisk flash drive for roughly the same price—a far better product for the money.

If you can’t wait for Amazon shipping, you can get decent drives for a fair price at Walmart. Like the rest of the items we’re discussing, you get more for less by avoiding cheap stores.

3. Phone Chargers and Cables

Like headphones discussed above, cheap cables are another example where you might have to buy one when you have no other choice. But if you can help it, skip the junk phone chargers and opt for something of higher quality.

The biggest reason to avoid dollar store cables is that they might be dangerous. High-quality cables meet certain standards and have technology inside to help them manage the charge they’re sending to your device. Ultra-cheap cables likely don’t have these standards, which makes them risky.

A lousy cable will, at best, charge your device too slowly (or won’t charge at all) and fall apart after a short time due to poor build quality. At worst, it could warp your device’s battery or even start a fire. It’s not worth small savings to skimp on something you use all the time, especially when cables deal with sensitive electrical current.

Instead, you should purchase a multi-pack of chargers from a reputable brand. Lots of options are available, such as braided cables for extra strength or long cables you can use across the room.

4. Batteries

While you might be tempted to pick up a spare pack of batteries at a discount store for your Xbox controller or miscellaneous tech that’s not rechargeable, the apparent savings are misleading.

The biggest concern is that most batteries sold in dollar stores are carbon-zinc, not alkaline like standard batteries. Carbon-zinc batteries do not hold as much of a charge compared to alkaline batteries, so you’ll need to replace them more often. They’re suitable for low-drain devices like a TV remote or clock, but high-drain devices like a game controller will chew their power up quickly.

Another issue is that batteries at dollar stores and similar may have come from the closeout of another retailer, meaning the expiration date of the batteries is sooner than ones you'd buy from a standard store. That makes these batteries a waste if you’re buying them for future emergencies, like powering a flashlight during a power outage.

Finally, cheap batteries are overall worse than name-brand ones. They might weigh less despite looking the same, or output less energy due to internal inefficiency stemming from low-quality control.

To stock up on batteries, it’s best to buy a big pack of a trusted alkaline brand with an expiration date many years in the future. Alternatively, consider getting rechargeable batteries that you don’t have to throw out.

5. Phones and Tablets

While well-known phones and tablets are too expensive to appear at a true dollar store, some variety stores and other discount shops carry these devices in the $15-$30 range. Like the rest of the items on this list, that initially exciting discount hides a vastly inferior product.

If you see a phone or tablet at this price range, it’s almost certainly an Android device that’s running an ancient OS version, with a paltry amount of storage, weak components, and a lousy screen. If you need a phone in an emergency, it could be suitable, but you should never buy these devices with long-term use in mind.

There are budget smartphones for $100 or under that will perform much better than anything at a dollar store. If you’re looking for a cheap tablet, Amazon’s Fire HD 8 offers a great budget device that’s not miserable to use.

Spend Money on the Best Value

Everyone likes getting a bargain, but paying a small amount of money for a piece of junk isn’t a deal. Rather, good value comes from buying something that does what you want at a price you can afford. Because tech at the dollar store suffers from low quality, you’ll get a far superior product from spending slightly more.

Once you’re done shopping in-store, be sure to take advantage of the best online deal sites too.