As prices go up and up, we all have to find more and more ingenious ways to save a buck when we’re out shopping!

Some prime options are stores like TJ Maxx and Marshalls, which have  much lower prices than other stores.

Savvy shoppers can even hit their clearance section, but what if there was a way to bring down prices even more?

Well that’s exactly what TikTok user @virginiahlane found and shared with all of us in her video about bringing clearance prices down even further by checking their barcode numbers!

Check out the hack for yourself!

Virginia says for this hack to go immediately to the clearance section.

TJ Maxx’s clearance is normally chock-full of different cosmetics and lotions, so skincare fiends, this hack is for you!

First step is to locate the clearance tag on the product you want.

On the bottom of the tag, beneath the barcode, is a string of numbers called the SKU, which stands for Stock Keeping Unit.

Find the last two numbers, which signify the week of the year that this item has last been inventoried in clearance.

Since TJ Maxx updates their clearance every 3 weeks, you can see whether this item is overdue for a new clearance price!

For example, in the video Virginia finds a barcode that ends in 22, and the video was taken during the 27th week, so the item has had 5 weeks since its last new barcode.

Virginia then takes the item to the customer service counter, and explains she noticed the item is overdue for a new clearance sticker.

She then asks if there’s anyway the worker could check if there’s a lower price available for an item.

The woman says she will check for her, and goes to print out a new barcode for the item.

In the end, Virginia was right, and the worker was able to find a much lower clearance price available for the item in the new period!

She ended up dropping the price to less than half of the original sale price, saving a total of $7 on a $10 bottle!

My question is, how did she find out about this?

I’ve never met someone who actually knew what anything on a barcode really meant!

Check out the video!

@virginiahlane

TJ Maxx hacks your gonna wanna remember #tjmaxx #tjmaxxfinds #tjmaxxhaul #lifehacks #moneysavinghack #fyp #foryourpage #viral

♬ original sound – Virginia H Lane

TikTok however, was not as thrilled about this hack as Virginia was!

This TJ Maxx employee said most workers aren’t even able to clearance things out!

This user said that her social anxiety couldn’t handle that much interaction for $7 off.

And finally, this user asked if the saved money was worth making a whole line of customers mad at you for the wait?

Well everyone, tread carefully when using this hack, in case you become a TJ Maxx’s public enemy number one!

Try to remain in the good graces of the maxxinistas!

If you liked that story, check out this video from a former Chipotle employee who reveals how the company cheats customers out of food.