Winners is the latest in a long list of retailers to be called out for its pricing practices after a person browsing a Toronto location of the store — which is known for advertising "big brands for less" — came across an item they'd seen for only one-sixth of the price just across the street.

The individual shared the wild find to Reddit on Monday along with photos of the product, in this case, a frying pan, in the wild on the shelves of a Winners and a Dollarama located at the same Eglinton Ave. E and Warden Ave. intersection.

The price difference between the two was indeed shocking: the exact same piece of cookware had a sticker for $29.99 at Winners, but only $5 at Dollarama.

"Winners even went as far as putting the value of the pan as $40," the appalled consumer wrote of the identical 7-inch Rama Designs pans. "I've noticed similar dollar store-esque things at winners but this is pretty brazen."

Winners is selling a $5 Dollarama Pan for $30... Winners even went as far as putting the value of the pan as $40...
byu/jalapenocock intoronto

Hundreds of aggrieved residents flocked to the comments on the post, calling the incident just one example of the "shameless and blatant price-gouging" that consumers feel they are experiencing on the regular in this especially inflationary time.

Others shared their own experiences at Winners specifically.

"I went shopping at Winners last year with my gf at the time. We were looking for throw pillows. While digging through the pillows we found a pair with Dollarama tags on them with price, but Winners tags also attached at a massive mark up," one person claimed.

"I don't doubt this at all, and actually wouldn't be surprised if it's Winners shady policy."

Another Value Village in Toronto called out for marking donations up to absurd prices https://t.co/2bXQpGX3yT

— blogTO (@blogTO) January 29, 2024

Some commenters also directed one another to the ThriftGrift subreddit, where customers of stores like Value Village and Goodwill post the things they spot going for disgracefully exorbitant prices. (r/loblawsisoutofcontrol is another good one to check out).

Indeed, VV is one of the brands that have been called out lately in Ontario for marking used products up higher than they cost brand new, while grocery giants like Loblaws have likewise been criticized for charging far more than competitors for even basic staples.

It seems that chains should expect to continue facing the censure of extra-savvy shoppers who are, to executives' chagrin, becoming increasingly aware of when they may be getting ripped off.