Every thrifter knows the rush of spotting the perfect vintage piece on a crowded rack. But one Memphis woman said she had to return to Goodwill twice for a sweatshirt she couldn’t buy because of one missing detail.
A Goodwill Find Turns Into a Two-Day Ordeal
TikTok creator Adrienne (@thats_so_thrifted) shared her experience in a video that’s now been viewed more than 1.8 million times, sparking debate about thrift store policies, corporate protocol, and what counts as “theft” in the eyes of TikTok.
In her video, Adrienne films herself inside a Goodwill store, holding up a pink Bobby Jack hoodie, a popular early 2000s brand.
“I was here yesterday 10 minutes before closing,” she says, explaining that she had her eye on the hoodie but didn’t buy it then.
When she came back for it, she realized there was no price tag attached. “There’s no tag on it. This is not my first rodeo,” she says. “I know how it goes. If there’s no tag on it, it has to be taken to the back, retagged, and put back on the floor.”
Adrienne says she tried to convince the employee to let her pay anyway. “I will literally pay whatever amount so that I can purchase it right now,” she says. “And she said, sorry, no; protocol.”
The next day, she drove 30 minutes back to the store, expecting the item to be ready. “She goes, it’ll get retagged, come tomorrow,” Adrienne says. “I’m back here today, it’s back out on the floor, and again, there is no tag on it.”
She ends the video with a question for viewers: “How would you guys handle that?”
Commenters Weren’t Very Helpful
“Shove it in my purse and go. Like it was free, girl, they’re a scam corporation,” one user wrote.
Another comment read, “No tag? Then it’s yours. How can they prove it’s not?!”
A third person chimed in, “I’d walk out with it lol. No tag, no customer service, and you drove there twice… it’s yours, hunny.”
One viewer even offered a sneaky suggestion: “Grab another tag and tell them it fell off while you were trying it on. They want to sell it or not?!”
Adrienne didn’t take that route, and her persistence paid off.
She Shares an Update
In a follow-up video, she reveals that she finally got the hoodie, though not without effort. “So for those of you wondering what the freak I did with this whole situation,” she says, “I just played stupid.”
She walked the hoodie up to the register, hoping to reason with whoever rang her up. “She’s searching through it looking for a tag, and she goes, ‘Sorry, ma’am, this has no tag, I can’t sell it to you,’” Adrienne says. “I explained the whole situation, and she goes, OK, well, sorry. It’ll be out tomorrow.”
That’s when Adrienne stood her ground. “I said, ‘No, I’m not doing this again. She’s like, ‘You want me to call a manager?’ I’m like, Abso-freaking-lutely, please.”
When the manager arrived, Adrienne explained everything. “He’s like, OK, I’ll allow it this time,” she says, holding up the pink hoodie triumphantly. “Worth it.”
@thats_so_thrifted Goodwill is garbageeeeee and you can’t convince me otherwise ? #goodwill #thrift #vintage #y2k #90s ♬ original sound – Thats So Thrifted!
What to Do if You’re in a Similar Situation
A Goodwill employee on Reddit explained that what Adrienne described is standard protocol. “Store managers have to send it back to be repriced by the department that handles that category,” the worker wrote. “If stores lose five or ten dollars here and there, the charities lose too. The small shops are passionate about raising their funds.”
If you ever find yourself in the same spot, the best move is to take the item to the customer service desk and ask an employee to reprice it.
Since Goodwill stores operate as nonprofit organizations that rely on donations, this system helps prevent theft and ensures money goes where it’s meant to: funding community programs and job training.
The Mary Sue has reached out to Goodwill via email and Adrienne via Instagram message for comment.
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