T.J. Maxx Employees Reveal the Disturbing Truth About Unsold Merchandise

Because T.J. Maxx sells discounted brand-name and designer items, inventory is constantly being turned over—and there are rarely duplicates of clothing in the same size. The same can be said for footwear. But what happens when there is more stuff than empty racks and shelf space? The truth is more disturbing than you might think.

According to store employees at T.J. Maxx locations across the country, the retailer disposes of unsold merchandise via a trash compactor.

RELATED: 10 Items You Should Never Buy at T.J. Maxx.

Employees claim that T.J. Maxx discards unsold merchandise in trash compactors.

The receptacle “crushes” items into a small cube using “a hydraulic-powered metal ram,” explains American Home Shield. Typically, a machine of this nature is used to compact food waste and trash—not clothing and home decor—to maximize space and simplify disposal. But for these very reasons, T.J. Maxx reportedly utilizes trash compactors to discard unsold products.

“We use the compactors, and there’s a key to operate it that only managers and key carriers can have,” shared a T.J. Maxx employee in a Reddit thread.

In another Reddit thread, a customer said they watched HomeGoods employees (owned by the same parent company of T.J. Maxx) throw out “gift baskets with food that is surely edible into the trash compactor.” They reasoned, “Why not open them and put the food in the break room for the associates to eat?”

A third person shared, “My wife is in charge of mark downs at her store and just finished up yellow tags this week. She was just telling me about how there are soaps, razors, and other things that could help the homeless that will just be thrown away (literally compacted), if they don’t sell.”

(Yellow tags refer to the lowest prices on items, usually marked down during two huge annual sales.)

“Once, a coordinator at my store marked items out of stock but went to management and said that she refused to put the items in the compactor because of how wasteful it was,” wrote another worker.

“Our store has a compactor because god forbid we actually donate blankets or food that didn’t sell,” quipped a T.J. Maxx employee.

RELATED: Former T.J. Maxx Employee Reveals the Best Time to Go Shopping.

However, some stores are made for “dumpster diving.”

Elsewhere in the comments, other T.J. Maxx employees admitted that they fill dumpsters to the brim with unsold merchandise because their stores don’t have trash compactors. In other words, you might be able to find a lot of never-used items (still with the tags on!) in garbage cans behind your local T.J. Maxx.

“Not only does the product not go to someone in need, but it ends up going to a landfill. It’s infuriating,” wrote one Redditor.

“I’m a [dumpster] diver in SoCal who frequents Tjx & their sister stores’ dumpsters & it seems like a lot of stores in Southern California aren’t doing what they’re supposed to if there’s a partner program. I frequently find an abundance of items in yalls trash,” wrote another.

“I see all these TikToks where people find a [expletive] of stuff still in good condition in garbage bags in dumpsters. I can tell by the merch and tags it’s one of our stores,” confirmed a T.J. Maxx employee in the thread.

The TikTok account GlamourDDive (@glamourddive) came across an “expensive jackpot dumpster” while sifting through the trash cans at a T.J. Maxx store. Her treasure trove included jewelry, perfumes, wood furniture, personal care products, and more.

RELATED: Here’s What Those T.J. Maxx Price Tags Actually Mean.

Other employees say T.J. Maxx does donate unsold items.

However, this isn’t the case at all T.J. Maxx locations. Some employees chimed in that their stores do donate unsold products, especially clothing and bedding, to homeless shelters and local charities.

“Our store only started donating last year. Prior to that we were instructed to break the items and then throw them directly in the dumpster,” wrote one person.

“When I worked at my nearest tjmaxx we would donate the yellow ticket items such as clothes, bedding, shoes. If beauty products such as makeup and soaps were still in good condition we’d donate that too,” said a second.

Another explained, “We don’t donate liquids or breakables as that is a liability but do clothes and some toys.”

It appears that each T.J. Maxx location does something different, thus the confusion remains. And to make things even more complicated, one employee referenced a policy that states all stores must “send all usable items to a salvage company who sorts items and donates them appropriately.”

“Every yellow ticket cycle we send numerous boxes out, the company even provides pre printed shipping labels. The only items we don’t send are those that would be unsafe to send in the mail like fragile glassware,” they said.

Hopefully, most T.J. Maxx stores adhere to this policy—or else, you might as well throw on some safety gloves and get to diving!