Are you actually scoring bargains at your neighborhood’s thrift shop, or are you getting marked-up merch from a bargain store? A new TikTok claims to show an example of the latter.
Personal shopper and TikTok creator Alexa Berghager (@alexaa.berghager) recently posted a video about finding a rug from Five Below priced about six times higher than its original purchase point at an unnamed secondhand store.
The video has more than 43,000 views and about 2,000 likes.
@alexaa.berghager Bro WHAT?!?! $5 five below rugs being sold for $30?!?!? #fivebelow #thriftstore #thriftingfinds ♬ original sound – paige🦖(coolest kpop stan)
“No way I just found the five below cherry rugs at a thrift store selling for $30!?!” Berghager wrote in the video’s on-screen text.
The camera shows a rug that looks like a pair of cherries with a price tag that reads “SHAPED RUG” and gives its dimensions as 28 inches by 30 inches.
According to the caption, the rug originally costs $5.
One commenter pointed out, “it’s still in stock too.”
Correct. What appears to be the exact rug currently is on sale at Five Below’s website for $5.55. There’s little additional information about the item, such as whether it is manufactured by the bargain store. The website says the rug is imported.
“I SEEN A DOLLAR TREE BUNNY BEING SOLD FOR 9$ AND THE STICKER SAID ‘from ebay,’” one comment read.
“It’s dirty too,” another commenter wrote. Someone replied, “Makes it look vintage.”
“Thrift stores are delulu these days,” another comment read.
This kind of find is common, if TikTok is any indication.
One shopper found a Banana Republic dress at Goodwill for $49.99, but the original tag said it sold for $29.99.
And another person scoped out a Zara shirt for $20 at Goodwill; that one originally sold for $9.
Update July 18, 3:24pm CT: In an email interview with the Daily Dot, Berghager said she was shocked to find a Five Below product in a thrift store marked up to six times its retail price.
“It makes me sad to see that people are taking away from the fun of thrift shopping by doing this,” she told us.
The Daily Dot emailed Five Below.
