Louisiana shopper stops woman at Dollar Tree. Then she changes her life with this little-known penny-item hack: ‘Love people who don’t gate keep’
Every day, we learn something new. Occasionally, it can be a cost-saving trick that is kept hush-hush. For this woman, the low-key hack she learned from a fellow Dollar Tree shopper is popular among bargain hunters: penny shopping.
What Is The Art Of Penny Shopping?
Across the corners of the internet, you may stumble upon clips of discount shoppers scouring for penny items. In a nutshell, it’s about searching for hidden discontinued or off-season merchandise priced at one cent. However, the penny items are to alert employees to ‘pull and destroy’ them. Of course, workers are human and may miss a few, leaving them available for customers to claim. Typically, Dollar Tree, Dollar General, and Home Depot are common hotspots for penny shopping.
Striking A Dollar Tree Gold Mine
“I’m at the Dollar Tree right now,” TikTok creator Kristin (@keepingupwiththekk) whispers, standing in an aisle at Louisiana Dollar Tree. Then, she recalls how she learned about penny shopping.
“I was just [at] the crafting aisle and this fabulous lady stopped me. She was just here shopping.” That’s when the lady imparted the knowledge. “‘Hey, do you have the Dollar Tree app?’” she recalls the woman asking her, and continues. “‘Download the app because there are lots and lots of penny items that if you scan the item in the Dollar Tree app, and it says ‘item not found,’ that means it’s automatically a penny.’”
Afterward, the content creator pulls out a lavender loofah with magenta wings that the lady gave her. “‘They’re scanning for a penny,’” the content creator recounts the woman saying.
Immediately, Kristin puts it to the test. “So, I went over there and picked up three or four more,” she says. Again, Kristin tries it with wall decals hanging on a shelf.
“Also, just scanned these wall decals,” she says, holding up a sparkly iridescent mermaid decal, followed by a colorful floral one. “That right there, a penny.” Before wrapping up, she unveils the treasures in her cart. “These are some die-cut number packs that I found. I also found a sticker pack of 180 and the avocado masher.”
Viewers Sang Their Praises
Kristin’s video attracted 2 million views, where many appreciate her and the lady for not hiding the hack.
“Don’t you just love people who don’t gate keep,” one of the top comments with over 29k likes stated.
“I found pure gold on tiktok. [Thank you],” a second applauded.
“Love when people help people,” a third said.
However, current Dollar Tree employees weighed in by throwing an unexpected curveball.
“I work at a dollar tree, and we are not technically allowed to sell them!” one commenter shared.
“I work at dollar tree and those Penny items are pull items the workers have to pull them off the shelf,” another echoed.
Is This True?
For a long time, Dollar Tree’s policy prohibited workers from running or completing these transactions. Chowhound states that it risks termination for theft. Depending on the worker, they may or may not honor it. This is why penny shopping is discreet. However, it appears the company has reversed this policy.
“I’m a Dollar Tree Assistant Manager and YES as of last week we were sent emails that we now are allowed to sell penny items or donate them. We are told to pull as many as we can but if anything is left on the floor and is a penny and someone goes to buy it we can sell it,” an alleged Dollar Tree worker wrote under a Facebook post.
Whether this is a store or corporate change is unknown. Items may be denied if you embark on a Dollar Tree penny shopping scavenger hunt.
@keepingupwiththekk Did you know Dollar Tree has 1 PENNY ITEMS? ? So thankful for the lady who randomly stopped me in Dollar Tree today to share the good news! Have you scored penny items before? I wanna know!! #dollartree #pennyitems #dollartreefinds ♬ original sound – Kristin ????
The Mary Sue reached out to Kristin via TikTok comment and direct message as well as Dollar Tree via press email.
Update Jan. 19, 2026
During an interview with The Mary Sue, Kristin revealed that this took place in a Northeast location in Louisiana. Because Dollar Tree prices have become more expensive, she was thrilled to learn about the penny items.
“I was so excited to find out that items would scan for a penny,” she shared via TikTok direct message. “Things are getting more and more expensive at the Dollar Tree and to be able to find Penny items definitely helps offset a lot of their cost increase on their products in the store. I was shopping at Dollar Tree when everything was still one dollar.”
To make things better, the content creator was able to purchase the items for one cent.
“At the store that I videoed in, the items were honored for 1 penny. I was able to successfully purchase penny items at that location on two separate occasions,” she said.
However, one store denied the transaction.
“I also went to two other Dollar Tree locations. One of them did allow me to purchase any of the Penny items that I found. At the third Dollar Tree location; however, I was not able to purchase Penny items. They took my items and voided them at the register,” she revealed.
Nevertheless, she planned to continue her penny item treasure hunt again.
“I have actually gone penny shopping two more times since making that video! It’s a lot of fun,” she said. “I was recently able to purchase a lot of stickers that I donated to my kid’s school. Her teacher was so excited!”
From her experience, she imparted a piece of knowledge for those planning on embarking on the same adventure.
“Since making the video, I have since discovered that when you scan an item in the Dollar Tree app if it says ‘product not found’ that does not automatically mean it’s one penny. So it’s always a good idea to use the in-store scanner in addition to the Dollar Tree app to verify that it will scan for one penny at the register,” she advised.
The content creator continued, “Recently, I bought some egg chalk that was marked for $1.25 on the package and when it scanned at the register it scanned for $1.75. I did not catch the discrepancy until I was already back home. Using the Dollar Tree app and double checking item prices is a good practice at the dollar tree nowadays.”
Have a tip we should know? [email protected]
