In the past we’ve reported on Target’s fuzzy math, retailers failing to understand what “clearance” means, and department stores being sued for allegedly inflating the original price of items in order make discounts look more attractive. These issues appear to have combined at Walmart, where one shopper says the company is running a “clearance conspiracy”: slapping clearance tags with much higher prices on formerly less expensive items. 

A Reddit user posted several photos he claims shows the nation’s largest retailer is running a ploy in which customers pay more for items on clearance than they would when the product was full-price, The Huffington Post reports.

The photos show the clearance section and several items at a New Jersey Walmart. The man says in one instance, he found a flashlight on clearance with a sticker for $10.97. However, under that tag he found another Walmart sticker that showed the flashlight was previously being sold for $5.99.

An XBOX 360 game showed a clearance sticker with the price $29.96, but, again, underneath that tag was another showing the price as $19.

 

This was enough for the man, who didn’t address the issue with store employees, to proclaim, “I’ve uncovered a clearance conspiracy at Walmart.”

A Walmart spokesperson denied the accusation, telling the Huffington Post that there was nothing funny happening in the clearance aisle.

“This is an isolated incident and a pricing error in this store,” the spokesperson said, noting that had the man attempted to purchase one of the items he would have been charged the lower price.

Shopper Photographs Apparent ‘Clearance Conspiracy’ At Walmart [Huffington Post]

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