A HomeGoods customer has gone viral after getting a luxury book for a clearance price thanks to an employee’s mistake.
In the clip, which has amassed 661,800 views, Marissa Vingara (@riss_v) shared how she “unintentionally scammed HomeGoods.”
How did she ‘scam’ HomeGoods?
Filming the TikTok in her car, she begins by showing viewers her latest purchase: an obscenely large and thick book entitled ‘AD at 100: A Century of Style.’
“Everybody knows what this book is,” she said. “They’re like 100 bucks, over $100 to some of them, for these big [expletive] coffee table books that nobody even opens. They’re just there for decor purposes.” She went on to explain how she “always wanted” one of those books but was unwilling to pay the premium price for it.
After finding it in the clearance section with no visible label, Vingara takes it to the checkout desk. It’s clear, she says, that the HomeGoods employee has “no idea what this book is.” According to Vingara, he said they could just price-match the book with another clearance book of a similar size.
In the end, Vingara got the book for $29.99.
But wait, there’s more!
There is one more twist to the tale. Vingara says she ended up finding a stack of these books in another aisle.
“Do I be an honest customer and go say something?” she asks. “No, I just took a book and then opened it to see, like, what the actual price was.” It was $69.99.
“And I’m like, ‘Oh, my God. This is the greatest steal/deal of the century,’” she says. “Insane. I said nothing, obviously. I paid $29.99 for this. I mean, store policy—find a book that is the same size and price match it. That’s what they do, I guess. So I guess that’s a HomeGoods hack.”
The book is $125 on the Barnes and Noble website.
@riss_v homegoods hack!!! <333
♬ original sound – MARISSA VINGARA
What did commenters say?
Some former HomeGoods employees weighed in.
“I used to work at HomeGoods,” one commenter wrote. “We only get a few minutes to look for the exact or similar item to price match or we are considered to be wasting time. Truly, we don’t care and don’t get paid enough.”
“Used to work for TJ Maxx/HomeGoods and can confirm we just have to find something similar if we can’t find the same item and make a tag,” another added. “Never correct them.”
Other commenters shared their own bargain purchases.
“I got the Louis Vuitton on from Home Goods,” one revealed. “It had no tag. They sold it to me for $12.99.”
While another said that they got a Le Creuset Dutch oven “using this exact method.”
“The lady had no idea what it was and I got it for $39.99,” they added. “I was shaking.”
Previously, a TikToker has gone viral for having the opposite problem. Kohl’s customer @blotterdaughter was stunned after discovering the “clearance” prices on Levi’s jackets were more expensive than the non-sale price.
“Wow, [expletive] you, Kohl’s,” the TikToker said.
Vingara, HomeGoods, and Architectural Digest didn’t immediately respond to the Daily Dot’s request for comment via email.
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