TikToker Shawn Fanning (@shawnfanning1) posted a viral clip that’s racked up over 140,000 likes where he claims that Walmart is selling the same product at different parts of the store for different prices.
His clip sparked a viral debate on the veracity of his money-saving hack, with some people stating that the two products he shows in the video are not identical. Others believed that they were indeed getting finessed by the retail giant and claimed that they too have noticed this pricing discrepancy based on in-store location themselves.
So, what gives?
@shawnfanning1 #savemoney #groceryshopping #moneyhacks #garlic #walmart #thrifty #frugal #fyp #groceries #familydinner #food ♬ original sound – Shawn Fanning
The video begins with Shawn pointing the camera on a jar of Great Value minced garlic priced at $8.36. He says: “So here’s a little hack for you if you like using garlic like I do but you don’t want to pay that price down there, go back to the can section. In the can section, $4.98. You’re welcome.”
According to other shoppers in the comments section of the clip, this is a fairly common practice that applies to other items, not just groceries, as well: “Also grill lighters are cheaper in the camping section that at the register.”
However, there were other folks who claimed that there was a difference between the two items: That one of the jars had the garlic packed in oil, while the other was packed with water. “Isn’t one packed in oil, and the cheaper one is packed in water?” one commenter asked. Another TikToker also thought this was the case as well: “One is in water, one is in oil.”
On Walmart.com’s website, there does indeed appear to be two separate types of minced garlic options with different price points. A 32-ounce “Family Size” jar of the ingredient that retails for $4.98 clearly indicates that the pieces of garlic are submerged in water. The other that sells for $8.24 doesn’t state whether or not it contains oil in the jar, however, and the ingredients reads that it contains: “Garlic, water, citric acid,” with no mention of oil.
In spite of the water vs. oil debate, there were still a number of commenters who expressed their gratitude toward Shawn for sharing his pricing hack online: “Gracias/merci/danke/arigato/thank you times a billion!”
There were those who weren’t happy to see Shawn’s TikTok video, however, with one user saying that this practice “should be illegal” and another remarking that “we are being scammed daily”
While there are a number of queries from shoppers online as well as articles that question the practice of retailers varying item prices from store to store in different locations, there doesn’t seem to be a precedent for the same store location selling the same item for different prices within the same physical location.
The Daily Dot has reached out to Walmart via email and Shawn via TikTok comment for further information on this pricing practice.
In a follow-up video, Shawn also highlighted the difference in pricing of granulated garlic in different sections of the same Walmart store. Unlike his previous clip, the garlic prices this time around featured different brands.
The beginning of the clip shows a 26-ounce container of Great Value granulated garlic selling for $13.76. He then swings the camera around to what appears to be a similarly sized plastic container of Badia granulated garlic for $12.44. Shawn says that he’s not interested in paying that much for garlic, but that he’s found a money-saving hack by simply heading over to another aisle of the Walmart: “So what you do is you come over here to the Hispanic section and look, that’s a great price.” The camera ends on a plastic shaker from American Spice that holds 14-ounces of garlic powder—it costs $6.48.
