Shady dollar store “deals” and tips for smarter shopping

Think you’re getting a great deal at Dollar General? You might be getting bait and switched.

The discount chain has a dirty secret. And with more Dollar Generals in the U.S. than there are McDonald’s (crazy, I know), you should be paying attention.

They might be stealing money out of your pocket, but I’ve got ways you can shop smarter.

What you see isn’t what you get

Let’s say you walk into your local Dollar General and see a great deal on dog food — $8.95! Not bad. You pick up a few other things and go ring up. The total is a little more than you expected, but you probably just did the math wrong, right?

Later, you peek at the receipt. Wait a minute, $10 for dog food? What happened to that deal? 

At best, it was out of date; at worst, it was purposefully deceptive. In an investigation by the Ohio Attorney General, over 80% of Dollar Generals had discrepancies between their shelf pricing and the price at the register.

It might sound like small potatoes, but when these discrepancies occur across 19,000 locations, Dollar General rakes in hundreds of millions — and you lose out. 

It’s nothing new

Since 2017, Dollar General has been fined over $20 million for shady price practices. Now, states like Ohio, Vermont, Missouri and New Jersey have filed class action lawsuits to make consumers whole. 

But, to Dollar General, that’s just the cost of doing business; they’re still making way more than they’re losing. 

They’re also notorious for purposely understaffing stores and targeting rural or low-income areas where shoppers don’t have other options. In short, they don’t have much incentive to change, which means you have to be smarter about finding good deals.

If you can’t shop local, shop Google

I don’t have to say it at this point, but dollar stores — particularly Dollar General — are rarely the deal they’re cracked up to be. If you don’t have other options near you, your best bet is shopping online.

• Use Google Shopping: Enter an item you want to buy, then compare prices across stores to get the best deal.
• Try “ghosting”: Sign in to your shopping account, add items to your cart, then leave the site. More often than not, you’ll get a discount code via email enticing you to finish checking out. Note: This only works if the retailer has your email address.
• Don’t be afraid to DM: Message a retailer on social media or email and ask for a discount code. Worst they can say is “no,” right?
• Search for coupons: Honey is a free browser extension that automatically finds coupons, looks for lower prices and gives cash back for certain retailers while you shop online. When in doubt, you can always Google [product] + “coupon” — but beware of spammy sites.
• Use a burner: Sign up for a promo email to get that 10% off — but always use a “burner.” AKA, a separate email address you use just for shopping. Oh, and if you want to get promo texts, you could get a phone number through an app like Burner ($4.99 / mo)

Oh, and when you’re ringing up in person, pay attention. Don’t be afraid to say something when the register price doesn’t match the sign. It happens at grocery stores all the time — and most of the time, they’ll honor the aisle price, even if it’s a mistake.