A grocery store shopper was stopped in his tracks by a Pop-Tarts box he saw on store shelves. TikToker @apoliticalguy couldn’t believe that the retailer acknowledged items were missing from the Kellogg’s box and that it was still being sold.
“Would you buy the discount / vandalized Pop Tart box?” a text overlay in the video postures.
If you’ve never heard of a vandalism discount, allow the sheet of paper attached to the box explain. “Was $4.45. Missing 4. Now – $3.75,” it reads.
The toaster pastries traditionally come in prepackaged wrappers with two pastries sealed inside each one. So it would seem that someone had pilfered two packages of these from the box.
A bad deal?
Viewers claimed the discount wasn’t worth it.
“Hell no a third of the package is gone but they only took 70 cents off,” one person wrote.
“You’re telling me almost half is missing and they only took it down .70?” someone else echoed in disbelief.
The grocery store knocked off 70 cents from the 12-pack’s retail price due to the missing Pop Tarts. That means the store was valuing each Pop-Tart at a little over 17 cents. That should make the whole box a little over $2, not $4.45. Or the sale should be $1.48 cents off, as each Pop-Tart should be valued at 37 cents.
There was another commenter who said they couldn’t believe the grocery store was selling it in the first place. “Then you ring it up and it’s still full price, they might as well let the staff eat the rest,” they wrote.
That’s a stance @apoliticalguy agreed with. “Right I can’t believe they are even selling it,” the TikToker wrote.
Discounts on damaged goods
One Redditor in the r/LifeProTips subreddit said that consumers should ask for money off of damaged box items. They mentioned “big-box” retail stores, such as Target, Walmart, and Home Depot,” in their post.
Folks in this Quora post also referenced this “damaged” box discount tip in Walmart stores. Numerous commenters in the forum remarked that folks can expect a minimum of 10% off these products.
This tracks with what a Target worker recommended. She said customers should always go for the damaged boxes at the store. “You’re gonna grab that damaged box, walk your happy butt up to the register, and literally get 10 percent off because the item is ‘damaged,’ even if the item inside of the box is not damaged,” she said on TikTok in June.
Broken seal
The U.S. Department of Agriculture warns against purchasing products with broken seals.
However, one may argue that the Pop Tarts in the TikToker’s post are a different story entirely. That’s because the pastries inside the box are sealed by the twos. So as long as the other bags in the box haven’t been torn open, buyers are good.
@apoliticalguy Dallas #sales ♬ original sound – Michael Prince
The Daily Dot has reached out to Kellogg’s via email and to @apoliticalguy via TikTok comment for further information.
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