“This is not a hack!”: TikTok user comes under fire after sharing her ‘life-saving shopping hack’
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“This is not a hack!”: TikTok user comes under fire after sharing her ‘life-saving shopping hack’
I'm sure most of us here at the SDC are on the lookout for shopping tips and hacks especially now that we're just a few days away from Black Friday.
It is also no secret that sharing such "hacks" can get you recognition online as many people are seeking them out, giving you views, likes, and comments.
Millennials (and Gen Zs) call this recognition "clout" where some people get their validation and "celebrity status" from amassing "likes" from their posts.
The idea of "chasing clout" has caused people to post anything online in exchange for likes, with some people calling them out for being obsessed with online validation — making the online community a crazy space.
This is exactly the reason why one supermarket customer has come under fire after she shared her supermarket 'shopping hack' on TikTok.
Credit: TikTok/@ayeshafromthearea
Supermarket shopper Ayesha, who posts under the username @ayeshafromthearea, has recently faced backlash after she revealed her ‘tip’ for finding stocks with the longest expiry dates on the shelves of Woolworths and Coles.
In her video, Ayesha revealed that she always picks food from the back of the shelf or fridge.
The TikTok user explained that foods with shorter best before dates are placed towards the front, pushing the items with a longer expiry period towards the back.
She said in the video: “This hack was honestly a life-saver for me.”
“If you’re looking for stock that has an expiration date, look towards the back always."
“They do this on purpose. As you can see this one [taken from the back] expires on the 20th of December - and this one [at the front] expires on the 1st.”
Ayesha revealed that she always picks up items from the back of the shelf because items displayed at the front have nearer best before dates. Credit: TikTok/@ayeshafromthearea.
The video was met with negative feedback from TikTok users, with one questioning whether it was a 'life-saving hack'.
Some users pointed out that the "hack" was in fact just "common sense".
One user wrote: “This is not a hack, it’s stock rotation.”
“I mean, isn’t this common sense? Not a hack,” another added.
A third wrote: “Wow, common sense is now a hack.”
“I have been getting iced coffee and milk in general like this for 30 years, always from the back,” wrote another.
Other users discouraged the practice, saying that it encourages food waste.
“If you know you are going to use it soon, grab the older stuff,” one TikTok user said.
“If everyone did this, waste in stores builds up quick ... for single, great. But those containers normally need to be consumed within one to two weeks anyway.”
However, the shopper insisted that although it may be common sense to some, a lot of people are still not aware that older stocks are placed in front of supermarket displays.
“Unfortunately they don’t teach this at school in the 21st century, or let you know,” she said.
She further defended her 'hack', claiming that she only discovered it by "chance" and that it saves her money.
Ayesha said: “Y’all can choose to get the first one if it suits. I go through food super slow, so this suits me best. Saves me a buck every time.”
“And I found out through chance!”
TikTok users were quick to point out that the “hack” was just “common sense” and discouraged people to do the practice as it encourages food waste. Credit: Getty Images.
A Coles spokesperson has reached out to 7NEWS.com.au to advise shoppers that one way to save money is to take an early look at their weekly catalogues.
“If customers are looking for ‘hacks’ to save money and get great value at Coles, many don’t know a sneak peek of our catalogue is published every Monday at 5 pm on our website, ahead of the deals going live on Wednesdays,” the spokesperson said.
“This can help customers prepare for their shop before they arrive in-store and plan delicious, great value meals for their families based on our competitive range of weekly specials.”
Personally, I think the shopper had good intentions for sharing the hack given that she herself claimed that she discovered it by chance and no one told her about it before. However, it really is common sense that stores will be placing items with nearer best before dates at the front, giving them more of a chance to be picked up by shoppers and discarding them before they go out of date.
What are your thoughts on this? Do you know of any money-saving hacks for buying groceries? Share them with us in the comments below!