Pottery Barn markets itself as a premium brand with exclusive designs. But it turns out some of their products are no better than Walmart. (No shade to Walmart. OK, maybe a little shade.)
In a trending video with more than 200,000 views, customer Nikki (@djthepartiyorkie) called them out for heavily marking up and misrepresenting an item she thought was a Pottery Barn exclusive.
In the TikTok, Nikki explains that she was excited to finally get an item from the pricey home goods store. Like many adults, Nikki has likely long admired Pottery Barn items but hasn’t had the budget for them.
That’s why she was pleasantly surprised to be able to afford a Pottery Barn bed that she fell in love with and that met all of her bedroom needs.
Pottery Barn’s little secret
But when the bed frame arrived, Nikki noticed something strange. The Pottery Barn name was nowhere on the box. Instead, it said DHP, a brand often found on Walmart and Amazon.
Now aware that this wasn’t a Pottery Barn original, Nikki did some digging and found the exact same bed for $255 on Walmart’s site. She paid $549 through Pottery Barn—that’s a nearly $300 difference.
“I think Pottery Barn should be pretty disgusted with themselves that nowhere on the website does it say that it’s not a Pottery Barn product,” Nikki points out. “You won’t realize it until it arrives.”
Nikki says it was “really disappointing” that Pottery Barn charged more than double the price for an item that can be literally obtained from Walmart.
“I probably will not be shopping at Pottery Barn anymore,” she concludes in the clip.
While a Pottery Barn employee reached out to Nikki on social media to make things right, Nikki felt like it was too little too late, she says in a follow-up video.
She’d already had to sleep without a bed frame for weeks because the shipment was late.
Pottery Barn’s solution
Instead of price-matching and saving everyone (especially her as the customer) the trouble of an annoying (she’d have to take the heavy item down three flights of stairs) and expensive return, Pottery Barn insisted on having the piece shipped back to them. Plus, Nikki says customer service was rude on the phone.
“They do not care about retention. They do not care about you. They care about whatever sales they can get. They care about upselling and making people think they are getting a better product than they actually are,” Nikki says.
Commenters react
“Designer here pottery, barn white labels, lots of items, even accessories. It is very common, best thing to do is to google image search and make sure you are getting the best price,” a top comment read.
“I am on the phone with them right now!!! They don’t want to do anything about it!! They basically said oh well!!!” a person shared.
“You have to reverse image search any furniture you get for the best price. I’ve gotten rugs at wayfair that are half the price at Home Depot,” another added.
What is white labeling?
White labeling is a common business practice in which a company buys a product—typically from a wholesaler—and sells it under its own brand and logo. The name suggests there’s a blank label that brands can feel free to replace with their own.
This business approach means that multiple companies will be selling the exact same product but with different packaging, marketing, and pricing.
White labeling happens in many industries, including beauty, fashion, food and drinks, furniture, and even software.
Companies tend to go the white labeling route because it can be cheaper and less intricate of a process to buy a premade product than to design and produce your own.
But, on the downside, you’re selling the same thing as several other brands and need to find a way to differentiate yourself in the market. It also limits how much you can customize an item to fit your audience.
@djthepartiyorkie #greenscreen #potterybarn #potterybarnkids #lagunabed #lagunabedpotterybarn #furnture #ironbedframe #interiordesign #masterbedroom @potterybarn @Pottery Barn Kids @West Elm ♬ original sound – Nikki and her dog
How to find a product for cheaper
If you suspect an item is white label or just want to double check if you can get it for cheaper, here’s what you can do:
Reverse Google Image Search: Go to Google Images and click “Search by image” (it’s the little camera icon). Insert a picture of the product in question and watch as Google pulls up identical or similar matches from other retailers.
Dupe.com: Paste the item link into dupe.com. It’ll work similarly to a Google Image Search, but the links will be limited to retail sites (and not others like Pinterest). Dupe.com even tells you the price difference between your original item and their matches.
The Daily Dot reached out to Nikki for comment via TikTok direct message and comment and to Pottery Barn via email.
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