Bargain stores are known for selling name-brand beauty products for a fraction of the original price. But what if our pursuit of a bargain comes at a much higher cost than we thought?
TikToker Natalia (@real.natalia) felt compelled to investigate this after hearing that some discount stores were putting used makeup products back on shelves.
“Allegedly, it’s believed that these stores don’t trash out these used items,” she told viewers. “But instead, they just put it back on the shelf for the next customer to purchase.”
Natalia then took 1.1 million TikTok viewers with her into an unnamed discount store and did just that. In the video, she bought three “untouched” beauty products tampered with them at home, then attempted to return the items to see if the store would resell them.
When it came to returning the tampered products, Natalia claimed that while the shop assistant “went to look at the items,” they “[gave] up halfway and [didn’t] even bother looking at the items.”
The next day, Natalia filmed herself returning to the store and found all three items back on the shelf. Upon inspection, she confirmed to viewers that the items on the shelves were the exact same ones she returned.
Though Natalia didn’t specify which discount store she visited in her video, many viewers in the comments section speculated that it was TJ Maxx. Some commenters even claimed to work for TJ Maxx and admitted to restocking used items.