“Put it on Mercari for 3 times the price”: Woman calls out scalpers for ruining Home Goods—and second hand apps
HomeGoods has become a battleground. The moment something goes viral on TikTok, customers say they’re competing not with fellow shoppers, but with scalpers.
In a now-viral video, TikTok user Megan (@focusmegan) says she witnessed it firsthand when a woman rushed into the store before opening hours to grab five of the same Halloween decoration.
She walked straight to the Halloween aisle and cleared the shelf
“I truly hate how TikTok has contributed to the scalper issue that we're seeing on secondhand selling apps,” Megan says from her car.
That morning, she says she arrived at HomeGoods a little early but waited in her car until the doors opened. Meanwhile, another woman had her “body and face pressed up against the glass.”
“As soon as they open the door, she bum rushed the employee and went straight to the Halloween section,” Megan continues. “She was on the phone with somebody talking about, ‘I got five of them... do you really think that I should get all five?’”
According to Megan, the item in question was the viral “ghost on a swing” Halloween decoration, a ghost figurine suspended mid-air on ropes—popularized on TikTok last year for being both cute and creepy.
“What do you need five of the same item for other than to scalp people for more money?” she asks. “Put it on Mercari for 3 times the price.”
And that’s the crux of her frustration. Once an item gains traction on TikTok, she says, it becomes impossible to find in stores. “Y’all are so greedy and take the fun out of everything,” she says.
The viral resale problem isn’t new
While Megan was talking about HomeGoods, her experience echoes complaints across a wide range of categories—especially when it comes to TikTok-boosted trends.
In one instance, a father shared how his son was left heartbroken after scalpers wiped out shelves of Pokémon cards. Another story highlighted how Ticketmaster has been flooded with “professional resellers” who make it nearly impossible to get tickets at face value.
Whether it’s beauty products, furniture, or Halloween decorations, commenters say the pattern is always the same: a product goes viral, shelves get emptied, and resale prices skyrocket.
@focusmegan The Halloween shopping season isn’t fun anymore, yall are so greedy
♬ original sound - MeganTheeMosher
“You would have more luck finding these items back when things weren't going viral,” Megan says. “TikTok makes them popular, [but that also] makes them impossible to get.”
Commenters are over it
Plenty of viewers related to Megan’s story and shared their own frustration.
One person said, “This is why I don’t feed into the ‘resellers have families to feed too’ [expletive] cause resellers don’t just resell, they buy it all so you HAVE to buy from them.”
Another wrote, “It happens with everything. A creator mentions a face wash that I’ve been using for years—next thing you know it’s sold out everywhere, even Amazon. Perhaps gatekeeping isn’t always a bad thing…”
Others felt similarly about the impact of TikTok virality in general. “Viral is good for small businesses and creators,” one user said. “Other than that, it’s annoying asf.”
The Daily Dot has reached out to Megan via TikTok comments for an official comment.
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The post “Put it on Mercari for 3 times the price”: Woman calls out scalpers for ruining Home Goods—and second hand apps appeared first on The Daily Dot.