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Walmart shopper exposes the price hikes hidden behind clearance sale with a simple trick

The creator showed proof that the store jacked up the price of an item by $3 during a sale.
PUBLISHED OCT 12, 2025
Representative image of a Walmart storefront (L) and a screenshot from the creator's video (R) (Cover image source: Getty Images/Photo by Scott Olson | TikTok/@lizz22322)
Representative image of a Walmart storefront (L) and a screenshot from the creator's video (R) (Cover image source: Getty Images/Photo by Scott Olson | TikTok/@lizz22322)

A Walmart shopper recently shared a controversial video, claiming that the retail giant was price-gouging under the disguise of its popular "Clearance Sales". The TikTok creator Liz (@lizz22322) claimed to show proof that the store was marking up prices with the clearance tags, and it sparked a frenzy on social media with users expressing their outrage. While some claimed it was material enough to sue the store for deceptive pricing, others argued it was a rather common practice.

Cover Image Source: Getty Images | Tim Boyle
Representative image of a Walmart store (Image source: Getty Images/Photo by Tim Boyle)

While shoppers expect clearance tags to mean savings, the creator's video suggested that it may be otherwise. In the video, which has over two million views and thousands of comments, the creator showed the discrepancy in the price tags with the caption “math ain’t mathing.”

Zooming in on the price tag of an emergency kit in the Walmart store, she showed that the item was marked as being on clearance sale with a yellow clearance shelf tag and a matching yellow clearance sticker. The item had a listed discounted price of $22.94, but Liz went on to uncover something strange. As she slid the tag over to the side, the original price tag was uncovered, which showed that the item was on sale for $19.98 before the item got the clearance sale tag. However, the shock didn't stop there.

Screnshots showing the two tags (Image source: TikTok/@lizz22322)
Screenshots showing the two tags (Image source: TikTok/@lizz22322)

The shopper went on to slide the second price tag to find out that it was just from two months ago. Instead of displaying a higher price, the tag showed that the item initially went on sale for $19.98 in April, and the clearance tags were placed in August 2025, as per the video, which seemed to be misleading. “Y’all trippin!!!!” Liz cried in the video caption. “WTH is this?” she added, expressing her shock.

The creator's sentiment was echoed by the viewers who took to the comments to express outrage. "Just wait a couple more months, It will be on sale for $29.99 during Black Friday 😂" joke  @need_money_4_porsche. "Looks like the Rollback Program got rewritten, Its now the Rollforward Program .... 😂 they are gonna have to change thier slogan soon too, so much for 'every day low prices'.. should be 'buy it now, tomorrow it will be higher'" added another user @fk_mr_trumpy.

Meanwhile, another user claimed that Walmart was already looking to find a way to prevent people from finding out such details. "This is why Walmart wants to do digital tags cause people are noticing they are price gouging," suggested @llil_llavender.

Screnshot showing one of the comments (Image source: TikTok/@c.l0441)
Screenshot showing one of the comments (Image source: TikTok/@c.l0441)

Some even suggested that the big box retailer had already gotten into trouble for such practices. "Walmart got in trouble for raising prices and blaming the tariffs. It has nothing to do with the tariffs. Their just greedy," wrote @user7090663586269.

However, when the issue spilled over to X, some argued that it wasn't deceptive pricing and Walmart was using a loophole. “The pricing isn’t deceptive, the idea of getting value is. The price is clearly stated and you pay the posted price,” suggested @JesusDollarz.

More on Market Realist:

Walmart joins hands with Google to solve one of its biggest customer problems

Think Walmart Makes Its Great Value Products? Think Again — There Are Much Bigger Brand Behind It

Walmart, Kroger, and Trader Joe’s recall frozen meals from shelves over listeria concerns

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