Washington man buys a vanity cabinet at Home Depot for a penny. But the manager refuses to let him take it

A man in Washington says he bought a vanity cabinet at a Home Depot for just one penny, but the store manager refused to hand it over. The incident was said to have taken place at a Home Depot location in Everett, Washington.

The exchange was captured on video and shared on TikTok. In the footage, the man scanned a white vanity cabinet using his phone, which showed the item priced at no more than a penny, with no sales tax added. The man then spoke with an employee who appeared confused by the price. Other employees are seen getting a manager involved after looking at the receipt.

When the manager arrived, he told the customer the vanity was “not for sale” and offered to refund the penny. The customer declined, saying he had already paid for the item. The man tried to show the manager his receipt, but the manager appeared to stand firm.

The confrontation between the customer and the manager escalated quickly

As the disagreement continued, the manager pointed toward the door and repeated, “It’s time to leave. It’s time to leave.” Other disputes between customers and staff have also ended with a customer being asked to leave a business.

When the customer tried to protest, the manager threatened to call law enforcement. “Do I need to get the sheriff?” The customer responded, “No, I paid for it.” The customer offered more money at one point, saying, “I’ll give you a f—-g dollar.” 

The manager replied, “I don’t want no dollar.” The customer also identified himself during the exchange, saying, “My name’s Ed Johnson,” to which the manager responded, “I don’t care, Mr. Johnson.” The manager eventually led the customer out of the store without the vanity, again stating that it was “not for sale.” Disputes between managers and customers have escalated in other cases as well, including one where a manager identified a guest using security footage after a separate disagreement.

The video drew significant support for the customer online, with many commenters criticizing the manager’s handling of the situation. Some viewers appeared to mock the manager and argued he should have let the customer keep the vanity.

One commenter wrote: “And these are the reasons I won’t step foot in home depot!” Another asked: “How can it not be for sale, he has a receipt? Clearly it’s for sale and he bought it.” Some comments defended the manager as well. 

“The thing is they can refuse the sale on several reasons,” one of them wrote. When another user pointed out that it’s already paid for, they replied, “Doesnt matter, even if the officer would agree and plus store policies. they dont have to honor the the penny stock.”

Separately, in an unrelated thread on the Reddit forum r/HomeDepot, users who identified themselves as current or former Home Depot employees discussed how individual stores tend to handle penny items. 

One user wrote that their store treats a penny item being found “like it’s a major felony.” Another user said some stores assign overnight staff to specifically search for and remove penny items before customers can find them.

Some commenters described workarounds used at the register. A user said that for a single penny item, they will tell the customer they cannot sell it and just give it to them instead, but if a shelf has been cleared out, they will tell customers it is part of a recall. Another user said they have used a similar recall explanation, adding that most customers accept it, while the rest receive the item for free.

Other comments raised the possibility of legal risk for stores that refuse to honor a penny price. A user claimed that some states have laws requiring an item to be sold at its lowest scanned or advertised price, with potential fines for stores that don’t comply. Another user said the store procedure is technically to confiscate a penny item mid-transaction, but added that this is rarely enforced in practice.