Is it wiser to get a non-lit verses pre-lit Christmas tree?

I have two prelit trees. One is a slim tree that I've had for 15+ years and lights are all still working. The other I picked up off of CL's because I wanted a fuller tree. The person said that a few strands were out. Got it home and replaced the burnt out bulbs and the strands were all working again. It's a gorgeous tree, but the negatives are that it is heavy and takes up a good bit of storage space the rest of the year.

They are much cheaper other places.
Walmart shockingly has two really good lines called Holiday Time and Perfect Holiday. They have a 7.5 flocked tree I’ve been eyeing since last year that’s pre-lit and only $160.
Hobby Lobby has great trees and they’re all 50% off.
If you want to really splurge www.kingofchristmas.com amazing trees. But soooo expensive.

Thank you for asking this. I have also wondered about the light's potential for failure and whether it would be difficult to remove them and replace with a new set. If it is an easy process, I wouldn't mind redoing the lighting every few years or so.

I have always purchased a real tree and we had a ritual where after the holidays, my son would cut up the tree into logs to store to be used as the first fire of the next year. We would also gather the majority of the needles to use as an ingredient in our homemade firestarters for the following year. It made me feel good to use up the majority of the tree to be enjoyed the next year and it was a fun bonding experience. We started this when he was quite young. I gave him his own little saw as a gift that first year and he couldn't wait to take down the tree. I do miss the whole experience.

I am currently single now and have not put up a tree in several years because I spend Christmas day with my best friend's family. It makes me sad not to decorate or put up a tree, but since there will not be any warm family gift opening in front of it, why bother? I fear it would make me feel even more alone.

My first pre-lit is from Hobby Lobby, and this year will be it's 8th year. LOVE it, and wouldn't ever get one without lights again.

You couldn't pay me enough to put lights on a tree anymore. Did that to many years and HATED it. It's worth it to me to have pre-lits and as I'm good as long as I can get 3 or 4 years out of them. My oldest one is 5 years and still working. My other one is only a couple of years old.

I usually buy my Christmas trees from Walmart. I’ve had very good luck with them. Prelit and very reasonably priced. I’ve had my eye on that exact tree. I’m definitely getting a flocked one, just not sure which one. 

I got a nice 4 ft pre-lit tree from Michaels last year for $19.99. 

And yes, Hobby Lobby has NICE trees, but Walmart's are more reasonable.

I had a pre-lit one but I feel like one of the strands went out almost right away. When we replaced it we got an un-lit tree and DH strings those lights every year. We bought ours at Home Depot after Christmas I think.

I have an allergy to real trees so artificial it is for us. We always strung lights and finally bought a pre-lit tree. I was so excited about not having to string lights. Yep, the lights lasted on season and now won't light. So back to stringing it is. We can't justify another tree right now, so we do what we have to do.

We had one for 10 years before one section went out. Then we bought a new one and we are on our third year with it. The one we have now has all the cords in the center pole, and only needs to be plugged in at the base. The technology is really amazing now.

I have three trees that are prelit and no problems with them going out. One of them has to be at least 20 yrs old and still works perfectly!

I purchased a pre-lit 7' pencil tree at Walmart about 5 years ago (or this will be it's 5th Christmas) and it was working fine when I took it apart last year after Christmas. I love it. It fits perfectly in our smallish living room and I love not having to fuss with lights. And it was very reasonably priced. If I had to buy a new one this year it would still be much cheaper than if I had been buying real trees instead.

You guys with burnt out lights need to invest in one of those $20 light strand fixer things. I think I paid half that after Christmas on clearance one year. Seriously the best money I’ve ever spent on holiday stuff. You plug the thing into the fake tree or string of lights and it shows you which one is burnt out so you can replace it. I had a cheapie 6’ fake tree that a whole section went out after about three weeks, plugged that thing in to find the bad bulb and was back in business in about 15 minutes. BEST.THING.EVER. I use it on my regular strings of lights too to find the bad ones before I put them on our real tree.

Normally we have a real tree in our family room and sometimes I put up the fake ones elsewhere in the house. One is the prelit cheap one and the other ones I put the lights on myself. If we’re feeling broke or cheap, we just get a $35 real tree from Costco and call it good. We’ve never been disappointed in the trees from Costco.

Even with your easy to follow directions, I would still have to give myself a lobotomy before I ever have to put lights on a tree again. It puts me in a bad mood right off the bat.  No one helps which makes me even madder. And if I do get help, you know the 'help' doesn't want to help.. and on and on.  

The tree I bought last last year is not that heavy and all the wires now go inside the pole. Plop each section into each other and bam. done.  happy mamma.