I just bought a new pannier - at Zellers of all places. $15 - CCM (a brand that leaves a bad taste in my mouth given the quality of their bikes in the last two decades) ... I strapped it on the bike and amazingly it swallowed everything I had on me and bought, and had a lot of room for more. This includes it's original packaging, my messenger bag I had on me, several 2-litre bottles of pop, some groceries, a six pack of cans and a 20oz bottle of rye from the liquor store. It also fit my lock and chains, bungie cords (I didn't plan to have/buy the bag - but that price? good deal...)

I'm going to take it for my next grocery run. I was using two side bags on the rack, but this adds more trunk space on the top and makes it a single bag instead of two to remove, with a huge amount of space. Granted it probably won't last more than a season since it's CCM, but at $15 who can argue?

I had planned to stop at another store for a few small things, but once I had a six pack and a bottle of rye in the bags, I didn't feel like detaching them or leaving them untended. My booze, damnit.