Ulta Dumpster Diving is Apparently a Thing

Have you heard about Ulta Dumpster Diving? It’s totally a thing. Earlier today, I posted about makeup returns being difficult and a lot of folks chimed in to relate that sales associates hated doing returns so much for a variety of different reasons but most important because returned items are a waste. It’s something that stores are unable to do much with. They can’t put it back on shelves unfortunately. Especially in the case of makeup right? I mean would you want to go into a store and buy a product that someone else returned? Likely not.

I’ve never worked in a major retail store. I worked at CVS when I was like 14 and I also worked at a fabric store when I was a teenager and of course, I’ve had the normal run of jobs as a college student but none at major department stores that put me in a position where I was dealing with returns or exchanges. Even when I worked at CVS, returns weren’t something I handled directly as typically we’d have to call a manager over to complete any return transaction (things are done different nowadays).

This means I’m a little in the dark about returns and how they work. I know stores aren’t likely to put stuff back on the shelf but I assumed the returned items would likely either be donated or perhaps purchased by a wholesaler of some sort.

But tossed directly in the garbage?!??!?! The thought never crossed my mind.

One of my guilty pleasures in life is watching vintage makeup commercials on youTube and searching for Ulta Dumpster Diving videos to watch. Seriously, this apparently an Olympian style sport for some people. According to videos on youTube, Ulta throws out thousands and thousands of dollars of makeup. Yup, right in the trash.

I honestly couldn’t picture myself climbing into a dumpster in search of makeup but these brave souls do it. There’s even a youTube video on, “How to Dumpster Dive at Ulta” but that video is a lot more realistic about findings. Most videos show people with hundreds of dollars in makeup finds but this particular video explained that it isn’t always like that and most cases you aren’t going to come away with major hauls.

So, what can you expect to find in an Ulta dumpster? Most of these youTubers show palettes from Tarte, Too Faced, Urban Decay, and other mid-range brands. Most of the items are relatively new and not even used.

I guess I have to have a little more sympathy when I’m doing that rare makeup return and get an attitude about it because lord knows I’d be throwing shade too if someone was returning something I knew was going right in the trash!

WINCE!

Have you heard about the Ulta Dumpster Diving phenomenon?

Would you consider doing it? As far as I know once you put out the trash it’s pretty much free reign so I don’t think anyone is doing anything illegal?! But also on the other hand it almost feels like stealing! In some videos people have had the cops called on them!

I’ll be honest, I wouldn’t dumpster dive for makeup!