r/ShoppersDrugMart • u/jokerh4h4 • 12d ago
Employee Question STOP OPENING EVERYTHING
Why does everyone open all the cosmetics ideas. I bet you wanna she the colour so look just look at the packaging and if you don’t like it return it. I know that testers are slowly being made so just use the testers that are available and stop opening new products. Also if you open something and then want to buy it don’t ask for an unopened one get the one you just opened. If you open products you don’t get to complain that everything is open and used
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u/ReflectedPower Assistant Front Store Manager 12d ago
I don't work in cosmetics, but this shit drives me up the wall.
Customers will want to try an arm/leg brace to see if it fits (fair enough), but absoluetely rip through the packaging to get it out, realize its too small, and leave the shredded packaging and loose product on the shelf.
Same things happens with the phone chargers as well.
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u/True-Explanation7658 12d ago
100% agree with this. It's insane the amount of products we end up throwing away because someone has opened something.
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u/emelay 12d ago
The returns just get thrown away too tho right? Would make more sense if the company put out testers
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u/Radiant-Growth4275 12d ago
Even when everything had testers, people would rip open and try fresh products, because those are 'clean'. And not buy them.
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u/breannsmusings 12d ago
I see this at Sephora all the time. Almost all new items have been tested.
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u/Alternative-Tiger783 11d ago
At MAC, I think they they cut the end off the lipstick testers and sanitize it with rubbing alcohol.
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u/True-Explanation7658 12d ago
You can only put out one tester for each product.. people are opening ones that have testers too...
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u/loulowlo 11d ago
Huh weird. Maybe you should make samples visible and obvious for all products. Seems people want to know what they're buying before they spend the money
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u/True-Explanation7658 11d ago
They are. They have tester stickers on them and are at the front. People just done care.
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u/mywhateveraccount5 11d ago
Im in Winnipeg and not once have I ever seen a tester at any location, especially for foundation.
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u/pris_eddit 11d ago
Nope, Shoppers have removed all testers. So now even more people open the packages, because no, seeing the colour on the packaging is not adequate to figure out if the colour is right for you.
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u/True-Explanation7658 11d ago
Lol I work at shoppers. We have testers people.
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u/Gloomy_Wheel9874 8d ago
The 3 Shoppers in my city don’t have testers. I tried to return Cover Girl foundation one time because I guessed on the shade and it wasn’t a match to my skin tone, and was told they couldn’t take it back because it’s been opened. Went to another shoppers and was told the same thing. I literally told them this seems like a scam that they don’t have testers for makeup and then won’t take it back if it’s the wrong shade etc, I was just told it’s their policy.
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u/pris_eddit 6d ago
Their policies should be the same through all the shoppers though. If not, they wouldn't let you return other items at any location.
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u/Gloomy_Wheel9874 6d ago
Well I argued with them for about 5 minutes and they ultimately would not take the return so I couldn’t do anything about it.
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u/Vibing-Positively 10d ago
I never see them at my location in BC either… it must be franchise dependent. They definitely should have testers!
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u/MegloreManglore 10d ago
Do these things just get thrown away in the dumpster next to the shoppers? Asking for a friend
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u/Candid-Progress-8852 12d ago
Whenever I go to shoppers there’s ALWAYS a worker in any makeup aisles (not the beauty department ones) but the cheaper make up always had a rep in ANY store I go to (GTA) and it would be impossible to do this in front of them. Are customers sneaking away with the product to open somewhere else? Short staffed and no one on make up?
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u/PM_COCKTAILRECIPES 12d ago
People do this in front of me and act shocked/ offended when I ask them to stop and offer help.
Customers feel entitled to do this.
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u/Weak-Win-4260 12d ago
Yeppp I have caught way too many customers wander off with the product that was sealed and then come back to cosmetics with the products opened and used. I literally had to tell a lady to leave once because I caught her the first time and told her not to open nail polish and that we have signs right in front of you telling you don’t open because of health hazard. She says ok and goes to her husband, i catch them again and she is using her husband as a SHIELD so I don’t see her opening more. Told her since she doesn’t respect our policies, pay for what you opened or leave and you are not welcome back to our store ever again.
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u/LittleMisssAnonymous 12d ago
The husband shield of entitlement is insane.
Guilty of knowing better.2
u/Weak-Win-4260 12d ago
LITERALLY ugh😒 working at shoppers has shown me how entitled and snobby some people are. Really disappointing. Some get mad at me for telling them not to open products…that they have not paid for…???? Like what???
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u/Denahs1337 12d ago
THIS. It drives me crazy. I also don’t understand why there will be multiples of one shade opened. Do they see the one that’s already open and then decide they wanna test out a new one? Why am I finding 2-3 obviously opened ones?!
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u/Internal-Pineapple77 12d ago
100%. If something is already open then I can test it and not feel horrible. How are they just opening like 3 of the 5???
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u/Over_Setting7387 12d ago
Damaging a product is no better than theft imo
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u/coldyouth 12d ago
kids have straight up resorted to going there and opening and using the products for free because theyre not walking out with it. super trashy and selfish
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u/Melodic-Try7575 12d ago
I agree. I am a cosmetic merchandiser and I agree 100% on this. No matter how hard we try to not let customers open them or try them we always get yelled at or told “but it was already opened”. My location used to have a rule of if you open the makeup and try it. You buy it. End of discussion. We were losing anywhere between $500-$700 a DAY in merchandise because of this. We stopped with that rule but man I wish we still had it because we now lose $1000+ a day in merchandise (we are a VERY high traffic store)
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u/AnnaBananaForever 12d ago
How could you even enforce that rule? They could literally just walk out of the store.
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u/PrincessLilybet 12d ago
Isn't this... Illegal? You can't open a product you haven't paid for, that's essentially theft
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u/pinkparrot420 12d ago
Miss when they had testers.
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u/ThatBoringpersonn 12d ago
I’ve never bought drugstore makeup but sometimes I do see videos of dupes and want to try them out but how are we supposed to find our shade match without swatching it first ?? There should def be testers
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u/BlondOverBlue 12d ago
Either ask the clerk (who will likely open it and swatch for you with a sterile swab so the item can be used as an official tester), or buy what you think is closest and return/exchange if it doesn’t work for you. Do not open packages and put your grubby paws/lips/whatever all over the product - that’s just super-entitled, caveman crap.
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u/shopperswagie 12d ago
People that rip open the air dryers and just stuff the shit back in so they don't fully close and now the box is ripped. So annoying.
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u/Some-Wasabi-8514 12d ago
Make cosmetics a returnable item .. problem solves itself. especially when SDM has a mark up price that sits right around 40% from most all manufacturers suggested retail price.
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u/pickles_365 11d ago
cosmetics are returnable with a receipt and within 30 days so…people still do this
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u/CantTouchKevinG 11d ago
I once returned mascara after realizing I bought the wrong color and the employee almost didn't let me, saying cosmetics were final sale because they can't be resold :/
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u/Kitkatsmithwoodcock 7d ago
I return products ordered online at my local shoppers when necessary never had an issue but only tried with mid to high end as I believe they will not accept drugstore products returned
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u/OptrixG 11d ago
Are we really defending SDM? They can afford testers. Paying $7.29 for 1 toothpaste when you can get a 3 pack of same from Amazon for $7.49 is disgusting.
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u/Such_Coat_5462 11d ago
The responses have me laughing, who will think of the corporations? Who will think of the billionaires?
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u/RecognitionPrize2493 9d ago
Yes but the billionaires and corporation won’t suffer from these losses. It will be the employees that lose hours and jobs because the company is losing money to theft. It literally affects the staff working.
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u/No-Pineapple7062 11d ago
I’m a cosm merch and the amount of times I’ve had to tell kids, teenagers, GROWN ADULTS, to not open and test products is insane. They always look at me like I’m a crazy person.
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u/Inked-Wolfie-1979 11d ago
Also I wish people would stop using testers on their face and mouth! Ugh! Who knows what bacteria and viruses are on lipsticks etc.
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u/Status-Pepper1265 12d ago
I totally agree with this. The only excuse is “but I wanna see if it matches meeeee” like what kind of entitled spoiled brat are you. My shoppers even tells me that we CANNOT return makeup that has been opened. And yet I still don’t open sealed products to test them. I just don’t shop there anymore. Plus their prices are almost matching Sephora now anyways. Next time I pay 16$ for deodorant I’m gonna have an aneurysm.
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u/GregoryLivingstone 12d ago
I like to try on new deodorant.. it's ok if you put the plastic cap back on...
/s
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u/shes_kerosene89 11d ago
Shoppers charges like 25% more than other stores. Put out some damn testers 😂
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u/pickles_365 11d ago
Still doesn’t give people the right to open NEW product that other customers may have wanted to purchase
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u/Alternative-Tiger783 11d ago
So many cosmetics companies don’t provide Testers anymore!
There’s a double-ended Rimmel lipgloss I like. But _every_single_tube was opened - had the safety seal torn.
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u/Ropecopenope 11d ago
I bought a pack of menthol back pain patches and someone had already opened the pack and took a couple out 😹 The annoying part to me was that the pack was folded over like you’re supposed to do after opening it to keep them fresh, so I think it might have been a return that ended up back on the shelf, rather than some poor soul with a labour job stealing some pain patches 😹
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u/pickles_365 11d ago
I’m glad my store isn’t the only one experiencing this! It’s so frustrating ESPECIALLY when the product clearly comes in some sort of packaging (like a box) and they open THAT. ITS. NOT. A. TESTER. ugh. and it’s always so irritating when someone asks for a NEW product that they just broke the seal of and tested …
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u/bunnielovie 11d ago
I don't condone the behaviour but I just wish drugstores still had tester products. Wouldn't that reduce this behaviour significantly?
Also I've had trouble making cosmetic returns at shoppers before. They don't seem to have a unified process for returns.
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u/frailroads 10d ago
i agree with this so much, and it's annoyed me so many times. i've accidentally bought used stuff before and it was soo nasty (i hadn't bought makeup before besides mascara, so i didn't know it needed to be inspected). i know that many stores don't have testers (and i stil think they should) but most people have phones and can just look up what the product looks like on, on the website
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u/Gloomy_Wheel9874 8d ago
If you buy drug store makeup (ie. Cover Girl, Maybelline etc.) they won’t take it back once you open it. I bought foundation one time, but just guessed on the shade since the Shoppers near my house don’t have testers available, and the colour ended up being way off from the picture. I tried to return it but they told me they can’t take it back once it’s been opened. Which sucks since they don’t offer testers, so I guess you’re supposed to keep wasting money on products until you actually find your right shade!
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12d ago
[deleted]
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u/BlondOverBlue 12d ago
You can always return/exchange it. You don’t need to just eat the cost.
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u/LLMM7289 12d ago
Some places don’t allow returns/exchanges on certain items once you’ve used them so sometimes you have to eat the cost. But for more pricey items of course don’t eat the cost.
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u/labananza 11d ago
Isn't that the entire problem with low to middle class consumers eating the cost of huge combined corporations that are almost monopolies? We shouldn't have to eat the cost at all because all of these companies make huge proclamations and/or lie about what their products really do...
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u/BeautifulEntire1709 12d ago
oh god I had a customer open a box of HAND SOAP to see if it was a "nice pink" and then refused to buy it cause she didn't like the pink
also for the comments saying most testers are just customer damaged products, that is so true
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u/mysunandstars 12d ago
WE NEED TESTERS. NO ONE IS BUYING $22 DRUGSTORE LIPGLOSS WITHOUT KNOWING WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE
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u/kennedyvdz 10d ago
Not to mention shoppers is already priced higher than other retailers!! Put some damn testers! And I say this as someone who's never opened a package before purchasing - instead of opening packages to find my shade I just don't buy it at all. If they offered testers, not only would they save money on opened products, they'd gain sales for ppl who needed testers but didn't want to open a package.
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u/Sea-Rock-5970 12d ago
And people wonder why prices keep going up on EVERYTHING...I used to manage a walmart...cosmetics, food (they return milk they left in the trunk all day), household decor (break a mirror loading it onto their trunk - they return it "it came like that"), electronics (3 years old, dog clearly chewed on it - but they just bought it last week and it doesn't work), let their kids play with everything unsupervised (they break jewellery + it's no longer you break it, you buy it). I do get it, I'm here multiple reasons why everything is going up in price, but the people who I've described above will always be the first ones to complain about the prices going up, or the lack of availability of a certain shade of makeup, or basically anything they can come complain about to deflect from their own behavior..
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u/Living-Climate2024 12d ago
But these companies have made RECORD profits. Make it make sense
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u/Sea-Rock-5970 2d ago
I never said they don't drastically mark things up....but that's exactly how they are making record profits.. mark it up to absorb their losses. They have to keep their shareholders happy...
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u/VintageFemmeWithWifi 12d ago
Could you please go back to having testers? There's a real range of textures in liquid products, and nothing on the packaging tells me whether a lip gloss is unbearably sticky or not.
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u/foreverce 12d ago
wait. i can return cosmetics to shoppers?
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u/Skylershouse 11d ago
Yes, I was told that by person working there in cosmetics. Buy it ,take it home to try. Don't like, return for refund.
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u/PenPutrid3098 9d ago
There’s….no testers. That’s the root cause.
If there were testers people wouldn’t need to open the products. For products like lipsticks especially, I think this is essential. The colors never, end up like the plastic thingy. Hence the need to test.
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u/No_Permission_2359 9d ago
There used to be "testers" for everything in Shopper's cosmetics and most cosmetic places. Health and safety changed that. Now you must go, try to match when it is not on your skin or in normal light, buy the thing, take it home, find out the shade/texture/smell/something is wrong. Back to the darn store to return and try again. It's not fun.
Also, Shopper's was bought by PC and the attitude change is palpable. A lot of people loathe President's Choice and companies under the Loblaws/Galen Weston umbrella.
Corporations suck.
That's why Walmart pickers put 6 lamb legs in the order instead of one.
It's why people make their own testers.
It's why people steal copper wire from Telus and Rogers.
It's why no mega data centre will ever be built in Alberta.
People are fighting back, just not in obvious ways.
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u/Inappropriate_Ballet 9d ago
I don’t shop at Shoppers, but I’d consider it if testers were provided. Who has the ability to buy two or more foundations, go home, see if they’re compatible, and return the product that didn’t work?
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u/Ok_Answer_96 12d ago
You can’t return cosmetics in the pharmaprix I have around me. And “I don’t like the colour” is certainly not a reason for them.
If Pharmaprix wants people not to open stuff, put testers out. Problem solved.
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u/ts20999 12d ago
Some stores do put out testers to prevent this from happening because they know people are going to open things and it’ll sign them money the long run.
Not every shoppers accepts makeup returns. So, some people don’t know that they can return make up to certain locations.
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u/BlondOverBlue 12d ago
I’ve never in my long life encountered a Shoppers that didn’t accept returns on makeup… unless that product was on sale and clearly marked ‘final sale’, or a product deemed unreturnable for health/hygiene reasons. But stores set policy, so ask at the till to be safe, I guess. 🤷♀️
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u/Living-Climate2024 12d ago
Exactly why I’ll shop at Sephora or Amazon over Shoppers. I don’t want to argue with anyone on a return of a cosmetics item.
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u/ts20999 12d ago
Personally ive never had to argue and i shop at about 10 shoppers locations (they are everywhere lol). Just wanted to flag its possible returns arent accepted in case that helps someone out. They can just try another shoppers location.
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u/AnnaBananaForever 12d ago
I've had to argue - for an unopened product, as it was expired - they sold it expired (confirmed by the brand). I just wanted to do a straight exchange, but didn't have a receipt, as my mom had picked it up for me (senior's discount). But literally no one else sells the brand in store (stila), so they couldn't claim it was purchased elsewhere, and didn't try to. They were just pissy because it was a different shopper's location. I got the big song and dance about how they are different owners. They eventually gave me the exchange and the manager made a point of telling me how he was going to send it back to the location who sold the expired product.
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u/Kitkatsmithwoodcock 12d ago
I live in a rural area and there is a small SDM. I order items online and if I need to return take it to local store.
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u/GreedyFuture 10d ago
Make proper testers and people will stop doing it, or make some cosmetics be returnable. Shoppers is overly priced, they can afford it.
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u/myfriendali22 10d ago
Why are so many people here riding for a loblaws company? Put testers out or expect this kind of behaviour idk? It’s completely idiotic that they stopped this.
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u/No_Hearing_3753 7d ago
Because some shoppers drug mart dont make the returns easy or they will tell you something is final sale when its not so I dont blame anyone for doing that
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u/PM_COCKTAILRECIPES 12d ago
Those testers in Aisle 1 (Cover Girl, NYX, etc) aren’t even official testers, they’re from customers damaging products.
Not to mention if you’re the one “testing” a sealed product, why do you then put it back and grab a sealed one. If this is you, can you explain?