Value Village busted marking up used Dollarama item at three times the price

Canadian consumers are yet again accusing Value Village of price gouging after another secondhand item was spotted marked up to a higher price point than it was purchased for brand new.

A shopper browsing the Bloor and Lansdowne location of the for-profit thrift chain over the weekend was dismayed to find a plant pot that still had its original price tag attached, which was somehow a whopping six dollars cheaper than the retailer was charging.

“Huge find at Value Village this weekend,” the customer jokingly posted on X on Sunday evening, along with photos of the two disparate stickers on the single item, one for $3 from Dollarama on the bottom of the planter and one for $8.99 from VV on the side.

Commenters were quick to lament how this seems to be a common (hopefully accidental) practice not just at this store location but across the brand, which many also perceive to be generally pricing products higher than it used to.

The value villiage pricers have gone WILD

— Luke Pettigrew (@luke_pettigrew) January 15, 2024

.”The Value Village prices have gone WILD,” one person replied, with another adding, “I have seen this soooo many times in the last few years. It is ridiculous!”

One person said they spotted a pre-owned book priced at $9.99 at VV despite it only being $6 new at Indigo, while another pointed out that the company is a publicly traded, very much for-profit corporation, unlike competitors like Salvation Army and Goodwill.

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Others joked that the find is yet another example of inflation, which has indeed appeared to have hit even the most bargain shops in and around the city, including No Frills and dollar stores.

and their stock is free….all donated 😡

— Sandie 💚🌻🇨🇦 (@IamSandeeDee) September 3, 2023

This marks the second time in just a few months that an old item from Dollarama specifically has been found at a Canadian VV location for a higher price than it was first bought for, despite the thrift store acquiring all its goods for free.

In August, a resident found a $4 foam roller from the dollar chain on the thrift store’s shelf for $4.49, somehow. A few months before that, another person found a board game going for $14.99 at Value Village even though it still had a Winners sticker on it, showing a price of just $9.99.

Value Village at Victoria Park Avenue & Eglinton Avenue East were recently selling donated dollar-store coffee mugs ($1 new) for $3.99.

— Kevin Edward Proulx (@kevineproulx) August 10, 2023

The brand has also been lambasted in recent months for selling used shoes for $60 and used perfume for $90.

Other similar stories abound on social media, including in an entire subreddit dedicated to documenting what users call “thrift grift,” or laughably high prices at Value Village and other secondhand stores.