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‘These things are like $400’: Woman finds Le Creuset Dutch Oven in dumpster behind Pottery Barn. Workers thought they ‘damaged it out’

‘[Not] me thinking the swirl was the design.’

Photo of Melody Heald

Melody Heald

3 panel image showing a dutch oven being cleaned and restored to full beauty.

People have found quality items while dumpster diving. Last year, a woman discovered unopened Halloween costumes in Spirit Halloween’s dumpster. Another woman unearthed a $600 Dyson Airwrap that was sitting in Sephora’s garbage. TikTok user Tiffany (@dumpsterdivingmama) is the latest dumpster diver to hit the jackpot. She found a Le Creuset Dutch Oven in Pottery Barn’s dumpster.

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Tiffany has amassed 3 million followers for posting her dumpster diving finds. In a video with over 432,000 views, she shows off her latest discovery. “Guys, I just found this at Pottery Barn,” she says, opening a cardboard Le Creuset box to reveal a peche Dutch oven lid.

She flips the lid over, and a black spiral is on it. It appears to have been drawn on with a black marker. She zooms in on a scratch on one of the edges. “I got the pink Le Creuset Dutch Oven. It looks like it’s got a scratch,” she says.

Why do workers damage-out products?

“THESE THINGS ARE CRAZY EXPENSIVE!! THEY THOUGHT THEY DAMAGED IT OUT,” Tiffany added in the caption of her video.

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The slight damage to the oven could be why a Pottery Barn worker tossed it. And retail workers will often damage out items before throwing them to avoid dumpster divers from taking and using the products. This practice has been called out for being wasteful as many of the items are in perfectly usable condition.

How much are Le Creuset Dutch Ovens?

In her video, Tiffany shows how the oven itself also has the same marker spiral inside of it. “Of course, a marker on it. There’s nothing wrong with it,” Tiffany says, tilting the bottom of the Dutch oven pan that doesn’t have a speck of damage to it. “These things are like $400. I can take some acetone and get that off super easy.”

On Williams-Sonoma’s website, the round cast iron Dutch oven is retailing for $420.

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How can you get marker off pans?

Tiffany successfully got the marker off the oven. The video cuts to the content creator using rubbing alcohol to get the marker off. They are as good as new after she’s done.

“Now, brand new,” she says.

The Daily Dot reached out to Tiffany via Instagram direct message and TikTok comment, as well as to Pottery Barn via press email.

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@dumpsterdivingmama THESE THINGS ARE CRAZY EXPENSIVE!! THEY THOUGHT THEY DAMAGED IT OUT 🤣🤣 #DUMPSTERDIVER #DUMPSTERDIVING #DUMPSTERDIVINGMAMA ♬ original sound – ᴅᴜᴍᴘꜱᴛᴇʀᴅɪᴠɪɴɢᴍᴀᴍᴀ

Swirl part of the design?

Viewers thought the swirls were part of the ovens design.

“Why did I think the marker was a design,” one viewer stated.

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“And here I thought the swirls were on purpose and cute!” another agreed.

However, others shared how Tiffany could replace the Dutch oven because Le Creuset offers a lifetime warranty.

“Le Creuset also guarantees their products so they may replace the chip,” one user wrote.

“They have a lifetime warranty. You can clean it up and then message the company for a new one without the chip,” a second commented.

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Does Le Creuset have lifetime warranties?

Le Creuset does offer lifetime warranties on its products. But it only covers normal household use. However, the warranty doesn’t cover the “cost of repairing or replacing other property that is damaged due to a defect in the utensil, the cost for transportation of the utensil to get warranty service, loss of time, loss of use, or other consequential or incidental damages,” per Le Creuset’s website. It also likely needs proof of purchase.

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