A TikTok user has shared a video that shows an unusual phenomenon at Walmart : two seemingly identical items being sold in completely different departments for completely different prices .
It’s the kind of thing that just might have you looking at price stickers a little more closely.
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What’s your shopping strategy at a big box store?
If you’re anything like me, you probably go to the appropriate department, find what you’re looking for, and see if you can find a decent price. Most of us probably aren’t thinking we might find a better deal in a different department.
The TikTok is all about memory cards.
If you’ve ever owned a digital camera or other device that needs extra storage space in a small footprint, you’ve probably come across SD cards. They’re small, reliable and inexpensive — and even more inexpensive if you know where to look.
Here’s an SD card from Walmart’s hunting aisle.
TikToker @georgia_bassmaster was in the hunting aisle of his local Walmart when he saw this 16 gigabyte SanDisk SD card for ten bucks. While the card itself is plain blue, the packaging is camouflage-themed.
He moseyed over to the electronics section.
The electronics section is where you’d typically expect to find things like memory cards. This Walmart did indeed have memory cards in the electronics section, but the prices were a little bit unexpected.
Shenanigans!
Here’s another SD card, from the same manufacturer, in the same store, selling for less. Of note is the fact that this card is 32 gigabytes, twice the size of the one in the hunting aisle. The only difference, seemingly, is that the more expensive card comes in the camo packaging.
Could there be a difference?
This user pointed out that the camo card claimed to be water resistant. I’m not sure how water resistant the typical SD card might be, but since the cards are typically plugged into a protected port, this shouldn’t be much of an issue.
Yeah, about that.
The camo card also said it was better at capturing wildlife, but there’s absolutely nothing to quantify this claim. Typically, the camera’s on-board processing — not the SD card — would be the main factor in the quality of the photos.
It’s more common than you might think.
This user claims that SanDisk also jacks up the price of certain memory cards depending on their design. I was intrigued by this, so I did some sleuthing to find out for myself.
Here it is.
The price difference isn’t huge, but it’s still noteworthy. You’ll be paying a few bucks more for a Zelda-themed card, even though these cards are the size of a fingernail and will never be seen once they’re inserted into a Switch console.
Be an informed consumer.
It’s hard not to get ripped off from time to time, but this memory card situation is still a powerful reminder that we should do a little research before pulling the trigger on a purchase.
In the comments, let us know if you’ve ever encountered something like this.
