A Walmart shopper posted a viral TikTok after finding two Great Value black pepper bottles and discovering that one was priced $12 more expensive.
Dayne (@decadent_dayne3) has garnered over 736,500 views and 44,300 likes on her video as of this writing. She captioned the video asking viewers, “Wth is going on.”
In the 14-second clip Dayne posted, she began to walk toward a spice shelf in Walmart.
First, Dayne finds an 18-ounce bottle of Great Value Table Ground Black Pepper priced at $14.27. “This is black pepper,” she says. “$15 for some d*mn pepper.”
Next, she pans her video to a 3-ounce canister of Great Value Ground Black Pepper that was being sold for $3.12.
“This is $1.25 at Dollar Tree,” Dayne exclaims.
Dollar Tree does not currently sell Great Value Ground Black Pepper, as Great Value is a Walmart-exclusive brand. However, Dollar Tree sells 2-ounce containers of ground black pepper for $1.25.
Before ending her video, Dayne asks, “Is pepper rare?”
“I get all my seasoning from dollar tree now, it’s ridiculous out here,” a viewer told Dayne in the comments section of her video.
@decadent_dayne3 Wth is going on 😳😳😳😳 #blackpepper #fyp ♬ original sound – decadent_Dayne
Why does the pepper at Walmart cost so much?
Money Control states that as “imports become expensive, black pepper prices have risen, prompting growers to resort to hoarding in anticipation of bigger profits. That in turn is increasing prices even more.”
“Pepper prices had been flat for the past several years. With low supply, it has become a seller’s market,” the site adds.
Newsweek also reported that Walmart’s price increases “have been slammed by a former U.S. labor secretary, who accused the retailer of driving inflation by engaging in ‘price gouging.’”
Robert Reich, professor of public policy at the University of California, Berkeley, said, “Walmart’s price increases on its house brands led to revenue soaring,” Newsweek states.
Reich made an X post claiming that Walmart hiking prices on its Great Value food items resulted in its net income spiking “93% to $10.5 billion towards the end of 2023.”
“Walmart rewarded shareholders with $5.9 billion in buybacks and dividends,” he continued in his post.
The Daily Dot reached out to Dayne via TikTok direct message and to Walmart, Dollar Tree, and Robert Reich via email for more information.
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