I would qualify as a poor shopper tho I hardly ever shop at either one.
Every now and then I send a package to my grandchildren and will pick up some cheap Chinese stuff for a buck each. Sometimes they are pretty neat. For instance I sent my grandson a plastic cap pistol and for 50 cents more included a bunch of extra caps.
Now these are not the same as the old roll caps we used in our Roy Rogers sixguns. They resemble small plastic primers. My Son-in-Law said they had to send him out of the house because they were so loud.
The poor (relatively) city here has a Family dollar and a Dollar Tree, along with other “dollar stores, and they are quite good for many things.
Dollar Tree is cheaper than Family dollar a for what it has, while another dollar store has the most variety with lower prices than Family dollar.
Want 2’’ x 55 yds of packing tape? One ebay it will be about 2.50 minimum, but at the dollar store it is 1.00.
But if you want Clear Rimless Reading Glasses (in a Bag) then Ebay is the place to go .99 total. Or 48 bike tubes patches with glue for 1.84 total.
Yet all the local dollar stores i know of are run by Muslims. i gave gospel tracts outside a weekly prayer meeting at the local mosque a couple weeks ago. It must have had 200 people. Not good.