It's the 11 cents that broke the camel's back. Or, well, at least one TikTok user's temper.
After refusing to pay the 11 cents for a plastic bag at Best Buy, an irate customer couldn't help but share his opinion on TikTok.
Mike Plapp, who is the CEO of the restaurant marketing website America's Best Restaurants, recently uploaded a video showing two teenagers—possibly his sons—each holding an armful of electronics amounting to over $3,000 as they walked out of a Best Buy.
However, the purpose of Plapp's video wasn't to boast about the items, but instead to lament the fact that upon purchasing the tech items, he was then informed that a bag for the items would be an additional expense. A whopping 11 cents.
In an email that Plapp wrote to The New York Post, he clarified that it wasn't the cost—it was the timing of the additional 11 cents.
He wrote:
"I have zero issue with them charging for bags."
"I pay for bags at businesses all the time."
"My point was that it wasn’t mentioned until after we had already paid for the five items, which at that point I’m not pulling my wallet out of my pocket to buy an 11-cent bag."
While Plapp clarifies in the video comments that he lives in Kentucky where this is not the case, many states in the U.S. have restrictions and explicit prices on plastic bag use and often require additional money for them to offset the environmental damage and incentivize using reusable bags. Those states are California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Vermont and Washington. Other times, stores will have a pay-per-bag system for charitable donations.
So what of this situation?
As commenters were quick to point out, the incentive to use reusable bags—or at least carry out your purchases in your arms—worked in this situation.
@tico.wright/TikTok
@hot_jesus/TikTok
@thelakhia/TikTok
@chunkyb3/TikTok
@sassquatch_grizzly/TikTok
Some just came to poke fun at the huge difference between the total cost of what was bought and the price of the bag.
@cesaar201/TikTok
@jdubz125/TikTok
@apollothepineapple/TikTok
Others commented on how little, really, there was to even carry. It wasn't even a load of groceries!
@angellesslie/TikTok
@rebeccajq/TikTok
@kevinglobke/TikTok
Finally, people asked why this concept seemed new to him and suggested that he get on board with much of the rest of the world and get a reusable bag to carry around.
@mandajoe4/TikTok
@ritav17/TikTok
Hopefully Plapp will remember that helpful suggestion the next time he's out shopping for expensive goods.
@priscillachan/Instagram