Man finds entire shelf of tools priced at 3 cents each at Walmart and what happened when he tried to buy them is sparking a legal debate

A TikTok user recently discovered an entire shelf of Hart tools at Walmart with a price tag of just 3 cents each. However, when he tried to buy them, an employee stopped him and refused to sell the items at that incredibly low price. The incident has started a big online debate about whether stores must honor prices that are obviously mistakes.

According to Bro Bible, Chad Wilson, who goes by @chadwilsontattoo on TikTok, posted a video showing a full display of different Hart tools. Every tool on the shelf had the same 3-cent price tag. The video quickly got over 128,000 views as people watched the situation unfold.

Wilson tried to check out with the tools when an employee stepped in and told him he couldn’t buy them because the price was wrong. While this was happening, Wilson started recording on his phone. You can hear the employee in the background saying that filming isn’t allowed in the store. Wilson immediately responded by saying “That’s false advertisement” as the employee walked away.

Walmart isn’t legally required to honor obvious pricing errors

It makes sense why Wilson wanted to grab the tools for almost nothing. Anyone would jump at that deal. But here’s the reality: Walmart doesn’t actually have to sell him the tools at that listed price. This is where the law becomes important for shoppers hoping to score amazing deals.

Laws about false advertising, like the ones in Rhode Island, say that a false listing must be intentionally meant to trick or mislead customers. That’s the important part. While customers might honestly think they should get the item for the marked price, it’s hard to say the store meant to trick people by pricing expensive tools at just a few pennies.

Most reasonable shoppers would know that 3 cents for a tool is clearly a mistake, not a real sale. Similar to Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s warning about misleading AI toys, shoppers need to recognize when something seems too good to be true.

This situation is different from other pricing problems Walmart has dealt with before. In 2024, the company faced a lawsuit claiming customers were charged slightly more at checkout than what the shelf showed. Those differences were small, like charging $3.64 for canola oil when the shelf price said $3.12. You could argue those small changes were meant to deceive customers who watch their spending carefully. But a 3-cent drill bit is obviously just a huge mistake.

“As an ex Walmart worker. You can record and they have to honor that price. Someone is definitely getting written up or fired over this tho,” a former Walmart employee commented on Wilson’s video.

Wilson, however, didn’t back down. He told BroBible that he genuinely thought the store was clearing out the tools at that price and only complained when the items rang up for more money. He said he knew the store’s policy required them to honor the shelf price if it was the correct item.

Wilson even shared what the employee said during their conversation: “She then told me ‘Yeah, but they will fire me if I sell you that for 3 cents.'” That’s when he started recording. The TikToker believes his complaint is valid because he later talked to corporate, and they told him the price should have been honored.

He also said he wasn’t trying to take advantage since he only tried to buy four or five items, not the entire shelf. This isn’t the first time Walmart has caused a controversy this year, and customers have regularly shared their experiences with the retail giant online.