With inflation in the US reaching a 40-year high, throngs of shoppers have flocked to budget retailers like Dollar General and Dollar Tree in order to get the most bang for their buck.
According to TikTok user @trashandchampagne, Dollar Tree is secretly selling Downy’s scented beads under a different name. In a recent TikTok video viewed more than three million times, she claims that the budget chain has a deal with Downy where they are able to sell irregularly-sized beads, just under another name.
She also says unlike Downy’s products, customers don’t know which scent they’re going to get, but that the Dollar Tree alternative costs nearly a 1/12th of the more expensive version manufactured by Downy.
Costco stans, for instance, will swear up and down that there are several Kirkland products which are secretly made by larger companies in the same facilities, but that they’re just rocking a different label and packaging.
The Daily Dot has reached out to Downy and @trashandchampagne for request for comment.
@trashandchampagne says in the video as she pans her camera over the cleaning products aisle in a Dollar Tree store until she lands on a collection of blue bottles with white caps that read: In-Wash Aroma Booster and Odor Eliminator: “Shhh, here’s a big Dollar Tree secret: these aroma boosters by the Dollar Tree are actually Downy scent beads that were made improperly. Instead of a full circle, they’re a half circle. So Dollar Tree has repackaged them and put them on the shelves. You never know what scents you’re gonna get, but we do know that instead of spending $12 on the Downy product we’re only spending a $1.25 at Dollar Tree.”
One commenter who saw the TikToker’s post quipped, “It’s no longer Dollar Tree it’s the 5-quarter store.”
Another person joked they wouldn’t be purchasing the low-cost option because they wanted to make sure that their scented beads were perfect spheres: “Yeah but now I’ve gotta glue all these half circles together. Pass.”
Someone else shared another money-saving hack for folks who enjoy using the scented beads: “Expert hack— go online to Dollar Tree and order a case to be delivered to your store. Twenty-four in a case comes to $32 with tax. Hope that helps!!”
Another person said that the downfall of posting TikTok “hacks” like the one uploaded by @trashandchampagne is that too many folks become privy to the information and then the secret products end up selling out: “And now we can’t find them bc soooo many have made these TikToks [for fucks sake].”
One seemed worried about using the discount products in their home appliances: “And now you’re buying a new washing machine.”
Update 7:31am CT, May 5, 2023: A spokesperson for Downy shared the following statement with the Daily Dot:
“We do not offer our product under a different name to other companies.”
