Shopper shares clever hack that can save you big at TJ Maxx, Marshalls, and HomeGoods

One simply has to look at the number on the product tag to gauge its quality.

PUBLISHED JAN 15, 2026

Screenshot showing the creator and a representative image of a TJ Maxx store. (Cover Image Sources: TikTok | @callmebelly; Getty Images | Photo by Mario Tama)

As prices of goods and services soar across America, consumers are always on the lookout for cheaper options, especially when it comes to items of clothing or for their homes. Some stores sell products from big brands such as Calvin Klein, GAP, and Samsonite, to name a few, at lower prices, claiming that they were leftover stock of older products. However, as far as TikTok creator Elliott (@callmebelly) is concerned, one needs to be careful while buying them.

TJ Maxx | Chip Somodevilla | Getty Images — Representative image of items inside a TJ Maxx store. (Image source: Chip Somodevilla | Getty Images)

Elliott claimed that the likes of HomeGoods, TJ Maxx, and Marshalls often end up scamming customers into paying more for lower-quality products. It turns out that a lot of these big brands are well aware of where middle and low-income individuals go to shop, and they intentionally make lower-quality products at a low cost, hoping that their brand name will make customers buy them even if they aren’t as good as their usual products.

Thankfully, Elliott shared a trick that could help someone instantly recognize which product is of a lower quality. To understand that, one needs to look at the tag. Every product will have a tag with some numbers printed on it, and that is the key to understanding which one is worth your money. The creator took a sleepwear set and zoomed in on the tag. The numbers printed on it read 20-5601-213712-002499-24-1. Elliott asked customers to focus on the last two numbers.

Screenshots showing the creator with one of the products. (Image credit: TikTok | @callmebelly) — Screenshots showing the creator with one of the products. (Image source: TikTok | @callmebelly)

The 24 signified which month the product was manufactured. In this case, it meant December. In a text overlay, Elliott explained that all the months are numbered normally from 1-12, and then the cycle repeats from 13. So 1 to 12 is January to December, and then 13 once again signifies January.

Either way, the more important number was the 1 at the end. The last number in every product at places like HomeGoods, TJ Maxx, and Marshalls signifies whether it is overstock being sold for less from a good brand, or if it was made specifically for these types of stores. A 1 means that the product was made with low-quality materials by the manufacturer, only to be sold in discount stores.

A 2, on the other hand, means that the product is excess stock from a bigger store, and is being sold at a discount. Unsurprisingly, Elliott recommended customers to shop for the tags with a 2 at the end. He pulled out various products to prove his point, including a Samsonite suitcase, a Calvin Klein t-shirt, a Ugg comforter, and many more. Every time he found a product with the 1 on the tag, he touched it and claimed that the quality of the material felt low.