A candid conversation with a Dollar General manager about the behaviors that make penny shoppers unwelcome
I’ve been penny shopping for years, and recently I had the chance to connect with Jane*, a Dollar General manager with over five years of experience. She asked to remain anonymous, but what she shared with me about penny shopping from an employee’s perspective was eye-opening.
I’d heard some of these concerns before – from other penny shoppers and in social media comments – but it was helpful to hear them confirmed directly from someone working behind the scenes. Her insights made me realize there are behaviors happening in stores that are making penny shopping harder for everyone.
What got you started talking about this issue?
“Look, I want to be clear – I don’t hate penny shoppers. Some of our regular penny shoppers are wonderful people who I genuinely enjoy helping. But there’s a growing group of people who think penny shopping gives them permission to treat our store and our staff poorly, and it’s gotten out of hand.”
Jane shared a recent example that stuck with her. “I had one woman come in and completely tear apart three different aisles looking for penny items. She left boxes opened, products scattered on the floor, and when I politely asked her to be more careful, she told me it was ‘my job to clean up after customers.’ That’s not penny shopping – that’s just being inconsiderate.”
What behaviors bother you the most?
“The hiding thing is probably the worst,” Jane said without hesitation. “Some customers like to take advantage and will even go as far as to hide items they know will penny out, or just jump store to store only looking for penny items and not actually shopping regularly at the store.”
She went on to explain how this impacts the store: “When people hide merchandise, it throws off our inventory completely. We think we’ve sold certain items, but they’re actually stuffed behind other products or in random places throughout the store. It makes it impossible for us to track what we actually have, and it affects our ability to reorder properly.”
But the hiding isn’t just about inventory – it’s about fairness. “I’ve watched people hide entire cases of items that they know will penny out, then come in during the weekend, and then come back Tuesday morning acting like they ‘found’ them. Meanwhile, other customers who might genuinely need those products can’t find them because someone decided to create their own personal warehouse in our store.”
What about the demanding behavior?
Jane’s frustration was clear when I brought this up. “This is where it gets really frustrating. Some penny shoppers come right up to the counter and ask for the penny items… and yell at staff because they think they are entitled to those items. It doesn’t work that way.
“I had one customer call me incompetent because I couldn’t tell her where all the penny items were hidden in the store. She kept saying she knew there were more and that I was lying to her. I’m running a retail store with limited staff – I don’t have time to hunt down every penny item for every customer who walks through the door.”
The entitlement extends beyond just demanding help, Jane explained. “People will bring up items to the register, and when I scan them and they’re not actually penny items, they’ll argue with me about the price. They’ll insist that because it was on their ‘penny list,’ I have to sell it to them for a penny. That’s not how it works.”
How does this affect your job performance?
“Corporate tracks how many penny items we sell,” Jane explained. “There is a report that district managers get when too many penny items are sold. It also affects your inventory, which will cut into your bonus.”
“From what I understand, this bonus structure affects most stores, though some managers have told me their districts handle it differently. But in our area, when too many penny items get sold, we get ‘reminded’ to do a better job at taking them off the sales floor.”
“So when people are coming in and finding tons of penny items because they’re hiding them or because my staff didn’t have time to pull everything properly, it reflects poorly on me as a manager. I get in trouble for not maintaining the store properly, even though some of these penny shoppers are actively working against us.”
Jane also mentioned the staffing challenges that make the penny item situation more difficult: “We have a lot of people who want hours to work so they can make money – they are also the same ones that call in all the time, leaving just one person there to accomplish all of the mandatory things.”
“When I have one person trying to run the entire store because two people called in sick, pulling penny items off the shelves isn’t the priority. Helping customers and keeping the store safe is the priority. But then we get penalized when penny shoppers find items we didn’t have time to remove.”
What about the store-hopping behavior?
“The store-hopping itself doesn’t bother me,” Jane clarified. “What bothers me is people who come in, make a huge mess looking for penny items, don’t buy anything else, and then leave. They’re not customers – they’re just people using our store as their personal bargain hunting ground.”
She explained how this affects the bottom line: “We make virtually nothing when we sell penny items. In fact, we lose money because of the labor involved in processing the sale. When someone’s entire relationship with our store is based on getting items for practically nothing while creating extra work for my staff, it’s hard to see them as a valued customer.”
Are there penny shoppers you actually appreciate?
“Absolutely! I have several regular penny shoppers who I love seeing come in. They’re respectful, they clean up after themselves, and they actually shop for other things too.”
“There’s one woman who comes in every Tuesday morning. She looks for penny items, but she also picks up her regular groceries and household items. When she finds penny items, she’s gracious about it. If she can’t find what she’s looking for, she doesn’t take it out on my staff. And I’ve never once found a mess after she’s been in the store.”
“These are the customers who understand that penny shopping is supposed to be a little bonus, not their entire shopping strategy. They treat us like human beings, not like obstacles to their savings goals.”
“I appreciate people finding a good deal, but something that bothers me is people who buy out all of a certain item they won’t use or be able to consume. They just buy it because it’s a deal, and they may sell them at a yard sale or online. I guess it’s their business what they do with the items, but we have some people who are broke that could really use those items. I have had a few people tell me they donated some items to the homeless shelter, which makes me feel good.”
What would you want penny shoppers to know?
“First, understand that we’re people too. We’re not trying to hide penny items from you or make your life difficult. We’re doing our jobs within the constraints we’re given.”
“Second, the store doesn’t owe you penny items. The official policy says we’ll sell them to you if you find them, but that doesn’t mean we have to help you find them or that you’re guaranteed to find any on any given week.”
“Third, if you make a mess, clean it up. If you can’t find what you’re looking for, don’t take it out on the staff. And please, for the love of everything, stop hiding merchandise. It’s not clever – it’s just making everyone’s job harder.”
Any final thoughts?
“I wish more penny shoppers understood that there’s a right way and a wrong way to do this. The right way creates a positive experience for everyone. The wrong way is creating an environment where some stores are starting to crack down on penny shopping altogether, and that hurts the good penny shoppers along with the problematic ones.”
Jane’s perspective was eye-opening for me. As someone who loves finding those one-cent deals, I realized that my penny shopping success depends not just on my own behavior, but on the collective behavior of all penny shoppers.
The Bottom Line
After talking with Jane, I’m more committed than ever to being the kind of penny shopper that employees appreciate rather than dread. That means treating stores and staff with respect, cleaning up after myself, and understanding that penny items are a privilege, not a right.
If we want to keep enjoying these incredible deals, we need to make sure we’re not making life miserable for the people who make penny shopping possible in the first place. The stores that welcome penny shoppers do so because they’ve had positive experiences with respectful customers. Let’s make sure we’re contributing to that positive experience.
Jane’s name has been changed to protect her privacy. Her insights represent her personal experience as a Dollar General manager and may not reflect the official position of Dollar General Corporation.