Dollar-stores overcharge customers while promising low prices • Hacker News Board

Re: Dollar-stores overcharge customers while promising low prices

#21

Post by jrmg » Sun, Dec 07, 2025, 3:50 PM UTC

nlh wrote: post #3

“In one court case in Ohio, Dollar General’s lawyers argued that “it is virtually impossible for a retailer to match shelf pricing and scanned pricing 100% of the time for all items. Perfection in this regard is neither plausible nor expected under the law.”” Sorry—-what? Isn’t that one of the fundamental basic jobs to be done and expectations of a retailer? You put physical things on display for sale, you mark price…

It’s virtually impossible for them because they’re not considering hiring more people to do it.

Dollar General stores often run with one overworked staff member doing everything in the store, from stocking to working the register (which is why the register is unstaffed so much and you have roam the store to find someone to ring you up…)

Re: Dollar-stores overcharge customers while promising low prices

#22

Post by screenoridesagb » Sun, Dec 07, 2025, 3:51 PM UTC

paultopia wrote: post #16

At a certain point we have to acknowledge that a huge share of our economy is just raw predation.

[dead]

Re: Dollar-stores overcharge customers while promising low prices

#23

Post by modzu » Sun, Dec 07, 2025, 3:53 PM UTC

jrmg wrote: post #19

modzu wrote: post #8

what's the point of this hit piece? isnt that frying pan with a sticker price of $10 and rung up at $12 still $50 anywhere else?

I don’t think this is true. Even if pricing in the shelves is accurate, in my experience Dollar General is typically a little more expensive than a normal mid-range supermarket (or e.g. Amazon) for most things.

then why do poor people shop there? is the idea dollar general is strategically misleading them to see prices advertised lower than a normal supermarket but in fact they are higher? i didn't think the article was making that strong of a claim at all. it seemed more like, operations are minimal and staffing short (which in theory enables lower prices) and they linked the staffing issue with simply just not being on top of updating price changes on the shelves

Re: Dollar-stores overcharge customers while promising low prices

#24

Post by firefax » Sun, Dec 07, 2025, 3:57 PM UTC

aimor wrote: post #18

firefax wrote: post #10

I had a clerk flip out on me a while back at a Dollar Tree because I wanted a charge for a dollar -- it rang up as 1.25. They rolled their eyes and told me not everything is a dollar, and I maintained that absent pricing stickers indicating otherwise, the default is a dollar. When I pointed out another way to look at it is it's a twenty five percent price discrepancy, someone came out of an office and literally screa…

"the default is a dollar" There is no default price.

It's called "dollar tree" for a reason, historically prices were and are a dollar unless otherwise noted.

Re: Dollar-stores overcharge customers while promising low prices

#25

Post by jlund-molfese » Sun, Dec 07, 2025, 4:02 PM UTC

nlh wrote: post #3

“In one court case in Ohio, Dollar General’s lawyers argued that “it is virtually impossible for a retailer to match shelf pricing and scanned pricing 100% of the time for all items. Perfection in this regard is neither plausible nor expected under the law.”” Sorry—-what? Isn’t that one of the fundamental basic jobs to be done and expectations of a retailer? You put physical things on display for sale, you mark price…

I used to work at Best Buy replacing pricing stickers before the store opened. We had a sheet of new stickers for changed prices every time and had to scan every sticker in the store to make sure they were all up to date.

It makes sense they’re all switching to e-ink tags though, probably saves a ton in labor and the occasional mistake.

Re: Dollar-stores overcharge customers while promising low prices

#26

Post by throwaway98797 » Sun, Dec 07, 2025, 4:03 PM UTC

hamdingers wrote: post #12

Even if they accurately charged shelf prices, these places are still a ripoff targeting the vulnerable. The list price is low but the per-unit price is astronomical compared to grocery store prices.

time value of money

we don’t complain that the per unit cost at target is higher than at costco

Re: Dollar-stores overcharge customers while promising low prices

#27

Post by gucci-on-fleek » Sun, Dec 07, 2025, 4:04 PM UTC

mindslight wrote: post #20

tokai wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just make the sticker price legally binding and this issue would be solved with almost perfect precision.

The sticker price is legally binding - it constitutes an offer , and the cash register surreptitiously charging a higher price from what the customer has agreed to constitutes fraud . The problem is that asserting your rights takes time, resources, and energy that people shopping at these stores generally do not have. The people that would have the ability to push back instead just use their resources to move on and…

> The sticker price is legally binding, as it constitutes an offer

While I wish that that were how things worked, unfortunately, the US legal system disagrees [0].

[0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invitation_to_treat#Case_law

Re: Dollar-stores overcharge customers while promising low prices

#28

Post by jancsika » Sun, Dec 07, 2025, 4:07 PM UTC

jrmg wrote: post #19

modzu wrote: post #8

what's the point of this hit piece? isnt that frying pan with a sticker price of $10 and rung up at $12 still $50 anywhere else?

I don’t think this is true. Even if pricing in the shelves is accurate, in my experience Dollar General is typically a little more expensive than a normal mid-range supermarket (or e.g. Amazon) for most things.

Could work like this:

1. You help your friend wash the dishes and notice their hefty, 5-quart stainless steel pot. You look it up on Amazon and it's like $50.

2. At $store, you see something that looks like that size and style of pot, but for only $10. What a steal! It's even ultralight so it should be easier to load in the dishwasher...

*Several months later*

3. Your pot is all warped to hell, making it difficult to cook evenly. But your friend's pot is probably fine for the next few decades if not longer. (Note: if this were an oven pan the warping would make it dangerous to use.)

4. To add insult to injury, $store got two more of your dollars just because.

I picked the 5-quart pot because I've seen one of these with my own eyes.

In any case, OP would have been better off paying me $38 for nothing but crushing their dream of buying a decent quality $10 frying pan.

Re: Dollar-stores overcharge customers while promising low prices

#29

Post by dymk » Sun, Dec 07, 2025, 4:08 PM UTC

gucci-on-fleek wrote: post #27

mindslight wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The sticker price is legally binding - it constitutes an offer , and the cash register surreptitiously charging a higher price from what the customer has agreed to constitutes fraud . The problem is that asserting your rights takes time, resources, and energy that people shopping at these stores generally do not have. The people that would have the ability to push back instead just use their resources to move on and…

> The sticker price is legally binding, as it constitutes an offer While I wish that that were how things worked, unfortunately, the US legal system disagrees [0]. [0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invitation_to_treat#Case_law

That’s about ads, not sticker price on the shelf, and about a lack of obligation to sell at that price. It does not say that it’s alright to lie and charge a different price at the register.

Re: Dollar-stores overcharge customers while promising low prices

#30

Post by neilv » Sun, Dec 07, 2025, 4:11 PM UTC

hamdingers wrote: post #12

Even if they accurately charged shelf prices, these places are still a ripoff targeting the vulnerable. The list price is low but the per-unit price is astronomical compared to grocery store prices.

The "dollar stores" vary.

I've been able to find good deals on some things at Dollar Tree. Usually the good deals were a smaller quantity of a normal-quality brand-name item. I mostly avoid the substandard quality items. But even sometimes substandard is OK if, say, you want to make your political demonstration sign on white foamcore (much cheaper than the art supply store, and you don't care if it's smaller, thinner, or outgassing) rather than on an Amazon shipping box.

There was a Family Dollar across from a large public housing project here, where I also went looking for deals, but the shelf prices looked like a convenience store. I didn't find out whether they were fraudulently charging even more at the register like this article describes. (I hope it closed because the residents knew there was an affordable Market Basket a 20-30 minute walk away, over the city line and train tracks, and they were able to get there and find the time for it.)