If you don’t have a big budget but still want to buy candy, soda, toys, and other products, you might want to visit this discount store. Five Below is a variety store that sells many of its products for $5 or less. Here are the payment methods you can use there.
Some Popular Payment Options at Five Below
Five Below | Cash | Large Bills | Personal Checks | Debit Card | Credit Card | Apple Pay | Google Pay | UnionPay | JCB | PayPal | Venmo |
In-store | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | |||
Online | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Five Below has in-store terminals that support contactless payments and it accepts Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Samsung Pay for in-store purchases. You can use mobile wallets on smartphones and other mobile devices to make purchases at this store the same way you’d use them to shop at other stores. Just make sure that you’ve added a card to your mobile wallet and unlocked your phone if you’re having any issues.
You can also use PayPal and Venmo to make in-store purchases at Five Below. This is worth mentioning because many variety stores don’t accept these payment options for in-store purchases and some of these stores don’t accept them for online purchases either. If you want to shop at a variety store and pay with PayPal or Venmo, this store is a good option if there’s one in your area.
Additional Five Below Payment Options
Five Below | Klarna | Affirm | Afterpay | Sezzle | Zip | PayPal Credit | EBT | Store Gift Card | Store Credit Card | |
In-store | No | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | ||
Online | No | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | No |
Five Below doesn’t support any BNPL apps such as Klarna or Afterpay. This might be because it sells food. It can be controversial for grocery stores to allow customers to use buy now, pay later apps so many grocery stores don’t accept them. Walmart is one of the few exceptions and it sells many other products besides groceries.
While Five Below does accept PayPal, it’s likely that you’ll have to use your account balance or a linked bank account to pay there because PayPal credit is unlikely to work. Other grocery stores frequently have similar rules about using PayPal.
Five Below is a variety store, not a traditional grocery store, though. While it sells snacks and candy, it doesn’t operate many of the other departments that you’ll find at other grocery stores. This might explain why it doesn’t accept EBT because grocery stores have to meet other requirements to accept this payment option.
Additional Background on Five Below
Five Below was designed to be a variety store with a higher price point than dollar stores. I think this was a good decision because the major dollar store chains have not been able to maintain a price point of $1 because of inflation. Other variety stores and dollar stores frequently sell some of their merchandise for $5 or more now and some have still struggled to stay in business. 99 Cents Only, a major dollar store chain, announced plans to shut down its stores in April 2024.
Additionally, this store doesn’t always maintain its $5 price point either. One of its most popular items was a robotic vacuum cleaner that it sold for $20. This price was still far below the price of robotic vacuum cleaners at other electronics stores and department stores, though. You might see some unexpected bargains at this store that you wouldn’t expect to find at a variety store.
Stores That Are Similar to Five Below That Take Apple Pay
The variety store or deep discount store Dollar Tree originally sold merchandise for $1. Like other dollar stores, it has also started to stock products at higher price points such as $5.
You can buy greeting cards, holiday decorations, gifts, and other merchandise at Hallmark Gold Crown stores. Hallmark’s greeting cards are also available at independently-operated grocery stores and drugstores but the Gold Crown stores also sell other household decorations and stationery.
The fashion store Claire’s sells jewelry and accessories at affordable prices, although it’s not a dollar store. Its products include necklaces and earrings.
If you want to buy indie soft drinks that aren’t available elsewhere, you can visit the soda and candy store Rocket Fizz. If you want to try a new type of cola or you’re feeling nostalgic about a soft drink from your youth, this store will probably have it.
The premium candy store See’s Candies is a place where you can find old-fashioned chocolates. This store isn’t a discount store like Five Below, so it has higher prices.