A former Bath and Body Works employee notes the chain retailer actually ends up throwing away a lot of the products they return—after employees get the first crack at them.
The video comes from creator Dee Dee (@sassywithsumass), who posted her take to TikTok on Oct. 30, getting more than 20,000 views as of Sunday. It starts with a stitch from creator Ella (@glamourddive), in one of the very videos the Daily Dot previously covered, showing the treasures findable in a dumpster near a Bath and Body Works store.
Declaring, “These are some secrets that the public doesn’t know,” Dee Dee—who says she worked at Bath and Body Works but no longer does—talked about the return policy that leads the retailer to throw so many products away.
“We have to scan it into our system,” she notes, “and if it’s not out on the floor or if the packaging is out of date,” a code pops up in the system, and “we have to put it in a box in the back of the shop.”
Then, as she explains, “Twice a year employees can fill up a king-size bag to the max” with product. Though an employee has to pay a nominal $5 to do this, Dee Dee remarks, “I’ve saved like $400.”
But then, she reveals that whatever doesn’t move after that just gets tossed.
@sassywithsumass #stitch with @GlamourDDive #dumpsterdiving #fyp #glamourdrive #insane ♬ Glamorous – Fergie
“We’re gonna throw it away because we can’t put it back up on the floor,” she says.
“I currently work there,” one commenter said. “Any liquid soaps get dumped down the drain. Either way, we place our trash in the compactor so it gets all smashed.”
Dee Dee noted in response that it might vary by state; she was based in California and was relaying how they handled those items there.
Another remarked, “I’ve worked there too and we also destroy everything we throw away. Idk if they do that everywhere but we did it where I worked.”
Dee Dee reasoned, “Idk cause thinking on it too, we didn’t just throw away perfumes and stuff cause it’s flammable. We put it in certain bags and containers for a certain person to come pick up.”
“When that stuff is thrown away, is it scanned first?” one wondered. “What’s to stop us from returning it for store credit?”
Dee Dee noted that it was.
The Daily Dot has reached out to the creator via TikTok direct message and to Bath and Body Works via email.
