My daughter is about to start kindergarten, so naturally we did some back to school shopping. Our state sales tax break weekend happened recently. When we noticed the local Wal-Mart had shopping lists not only specific to school and grade level, but to teacher, we were thrilled. We started tossing items in the cart to spend, spend, spend.
Weren’t we a little surprised to learn afterwards that Wal-Mart invented those lists. Not only were we a bit surprised to learn they did not, in fact, base the lists on anything remotely suggested by the school. Wal-Mart, in fact, put items on the list that are BANNED from being brought to school.
Our daughter’s school said Wal-Mart makes up those lists on their own, and a number of items (such as crayons) are on a list from the school. A list of items parents are specifically told not to have their child bring to school. Seriously?
The real back to school list also featured several items that are not on Wal-Mart’s list.
So these lists are, in essence, a trick to get parents (and I can only assume, being that it’s a discount store like Wal-Mart, a great many parents who are on a tight budget) to drop cash on unnecessary purchases. That really aggravates me. It isn’t a big deal if I buy a few extra supplies. I can afford it, and I am sure we will use these items elsewhere. I wouldn’t have bought them otherwise, but it isn’t the end of the world.
But what if I was broke? Or a single mom living on a low income? Or both? I truck over to Wal-Mart thinking I will stretch my precious dollars, only to drop cash on crap I don’t need just because I am trying hard to be sure my poor child isn’t embarrassed by missing needed supplies. That part of it sickens me.
I can imagine they would say that they are making these lists as suggestions to assist shopping parents. (In fact, Wal-Mart officials can feel free to comment and explain the rationale here. I will definitely approve your comments, and would frankly love to hear your explanation).
Here is the problem with that, however. I have done things like create registries and so forth. Often there is a suggested list of items to get or add to the list. Always, it is clear to me these items are not necessary. So, for example, Wal-Mart could make a list that is titled something like, “Suggested Back to School Items for Kindergartners.” Shoot, even then I would make the top of the page have a statement along the lines that these are suggestions and are not an official list from the school.
Instead, there is no way to describe these lists except as ones that are trying very hard to look official. They have a fax send line at the top of the page (who on earth faxed these, if not the schools?). They not only state the school, but also the grade level and they have various lists based on teacher. Each teacher has slightly different supplies required. If that doesn’t look like something official from the school, I’m not sure what would. Perhaps adding a medieval wax seal to each list?
I also presume other retail stores are doing the same thing, but I honestly haven’t checked.
Either way, be sure you get your back to school shopping list from the school itself. And let me know what’s on it. Because right now I have a shopping bag packed with crap I don’t need. Classy.
UPDATE: Because of so many comments here and on other sites, I created a follow up post on the back to school list issue with pictures and rebuttals.
Photo of back to school supplies, © Sophie.
Tags: back to school, back to school lists, consumer BS, consumer rights, rants, wal-mart
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OMG… That irritates me. I don’t use the Wal-mart lists but if I did, Wal-mart would be getting everything I didn’t need; BACK.
Because I’m like that and with three kids in school, I cannot afford for them to just “make it up” as they go.
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This is one of the many reasons I brought pre-packaged school supplies into our school last year. I got lists from each grade, got them approved by administration, and provide this pre-packaged goodness to the parents as as service through the PTA. The parents write one check and pick up everything they need in one fell swoop at the school in the Summer. In fact, the Kindergarten kits don’t even need to be picked up because the supplies are “shared” by the class which means nothing needs to be labeled with the child’s name. Everything is exactly as the teachers request it (down to the color, size, and brand) and is all in one box.
How awesome is THAT?!
What Walmart has done is bad business and they should be outed for this. I’m sending your link to everyone I know.
(You may want to speak to your PTA prez about getting a similar program set up at your school.)
Unreal. And sick. I’m definitely passing this on. I’ve got one year left until the dreaded first day of kindergarten for my little one, but I’ve heard loads of rumblings from my friends about the cost of back to school supplies and where to get them cheap. But cheap is relative when you’re being tricked by a big box store like Wal-Mart! Thanks, Kelby, for passing this story on to everyone.
That’s getting pretty low. I saw their lists, but fortunately my school provides theirs online and emails everyone to let them know they are available.
I don’t know how far the school takes it, but my daughter’s first grade class will also be sharing supplies. Makes sense to me; lots of crayon and marker use still at that age.
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Yicks I’ve seen those lists but never used them because our school gives us a list in the spring for the next year.
There is a mom at our school that has created a WAHM business by basically doing the shopping and kitting them up like the previous commenter described. She marks the stuff way up and makes a killing but tons of working parents use her.
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That is so shady! I wonder if all Wal-Marts do that as well?
It is bad enough that school supplies cost so much as it is, but having people buy stuff they do not need is ridiculous!
Wal-Mart makes billions a year, why in the world would they trick people into buying stuff they do not need?
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That may have been a misguided attempt to increase sales by that particular location’s manager. Perhaps the person in charge of getting the lists forgot to get them on time and tried to cover his tracks by making something up. I have used the lists at my local Wal-Mart for several years and they have always been the official lists, so I know that every location doesn’t do this.
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Wow. Sometimes I think I’m over-reacting by refusing to shop there, but then I realize I’m not. They’re evil, evil, evil.
Jesus Christ, have a little common sense. Anyone could’ve just went straight to the teacher and got the list instead of believing the company.
I mean, unless I received a letter from the school saying “Lol, we partnered with Wal-mart!” I’d just hold out for the real thing. Sure you got duped, but seriously, it was more your lack of common sense than corporate sneakyness.
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I picked up one of the lists that my local Walmart had in abundance and was amazed at what I thought the teachers were asking for…
Pre-K thru 5th grade, Decker Elementary in Austin Tx, listing just Pre-K which is the LARGEST (Walmart@Norwood Park, I-35@183)
—
PRE-KINDERGARTEN
4 Folders with brads and pockets
1 scissors
6 glue sticks
1 ream of construction paper
1 pack of manila paper
1 comp notebook
4 cans of play-doh
1 package large safety pins
1 ream of copy paper
1 ream of white cardstock
1 full sized backpack, no wheels
1 change of clothes
2 boxes of crayons
1 pack of pencils
1 box of large ziploc baggies
Ok, wtf, a composition notebook for pre-k? bag of safety pins? 3 reams of paper and cardstock?
I’m just wondering… why would you ever imagine that a Wal-mart knew what your particular school and grade specifically needed for school? Why would you even look twice at a list from Wal-mart? What did they ever do to be so trusted?
That’s just crazy. A fool and their money are soon parted.
It sucks that your local Wal-mart would stoop so low as to make up lists. I know that in our little town the schools actually send their lists to the stores in the area. Not just Wal-mart, but all the other stores.
Someone care to explain why crayons would be banned?
Yeah, it’s just fine and dandy that Mal-Wart is the predominant driving force behind sweatshop exploitation of little brown people in other countries. But to think that they would dream of tricking Real People here in Amerika into buying a few items they don’t need, well, now, that’s just unforgivable!
Shame on them for stooping so far below our (double-) standards!
Sorry to get all trollish, but alongside Mal-Wart’s long-running global crime-spree, this is downright trivial.
I learned about this the hardware with having 4 children I am one of those who can’t afford to get it wrong. Even though walmart is super cheap I am begining to realize that I would rather shop somewhere else and spend a little more then put up with walmart
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That is utter crap. I’ve seen these lists at Walmart and at Staples but have never looked them over because we homeschool. That’s just fraud, plain and simple.
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If the theory is that Walmart is putting together this list purely for profit, and not for the benefit of parents, then what explains the fact that some items are on the school’s list but not Walmart’s?
Wouldn’t Walmart want every item on the school’s list on their list to get the parents to spend more?
I would ask Walmart to correct the list and see how they react before assigning any reason other than bad coordination.
Good customer service means responding to concerns like this one. It doesn’t mean never making mistakes. If Walmart refused to change the list, then it’s a different story.
Also, what were the banned items?
-Mev
No real story here
Wallmart gives you a list of what kids need for school. If the parents are to lazy to check otherwise they get stung. Thats life. Make your own list if it bothers you.
I’m curious what kind of items they were suggesting? I always use the list the school gives us or check their website before I go shopping. I can see how people would grab and list and think it was official! Around here, though, most of the school have their letterhead on the top of it.
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[…] has clearly gotten itself in trouble again. Frankly, this seems like small potatoes to me, but since the story has a link from Boing Boing I think that […]
Robert -
Because many stores, even chains, DO ask schools for various lists (such as reading lists, supply lists, etc) through out the year, and make them available for parents.
This is because kids often misplace the lists they are given, and it helps ensure the store carries the items that their local customers need.
Its not unusual at all.
[…] never resort to fraud. Or would they? It’s back to school time. And it would appear that some Walmart stores have taken to faking school supply packages, by school and teacher. They’ve even gone so far as to gin up a phony fax header on the top […]
If I am reading this right:
“…and a number of items (such as crayons) are on a list from the school. A list of items parents are specifically told not to have their child bring to school.”
What kind of sick school bans crayons? Really!? REALLY!? No wonder kids are having problems these days, and will end up working at places like Wal-Mart. The arts are something that should NEVER, EVER be ban, and yet it happens more than it should. Maybe some Dodo was munching his orange crayon, or some devious brat wrote on a wall, but that doesn’t mean you ban them. It’s not like my five year old is going to pull a Joker and put the crayon through someones eye.
Granted it is pretty crummy to have Wal-Mart deceptively force you to purchase crayons for your child. I mean, you could probably put them to use too, assuming you bought them because your child already didn’t have a set.
My son’s school does the “pre-packaged” thing, and it’s great. One check, made out to the school, and the box of supplies is there with his name on it waiting to be picked up on the first day of school. Done.
Hmm I must say I live in Europe so that does not happen here. Not that shops aren’t greedy but the whole consumer thing is very controlled here.
We get recieve lists together with the school report on the last of school. What is great though you can order the school stuff via the internet. They put the package together for you and you just go and pick it up. Which saves hours of time and searching for the right pencil, notebook etc.
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@Moses and Robert: Ok, have you ever heard of a store having fake school supply lists? Who would be on the lookout for this sort of thing? So many places have the real list that I wouldn’t think about any supply list I see being fake unless it said right on it that it was a list of suggested supplies.
I went to Staples recently and saw a list of suggested supplies for college (I think, I didn’t look because I know what I need after being in for 3 years). It had a few things on there that I think are just crazy.
1 - Laptop: Come on, that’s just the store trying to get you to buy a new computer. I know plenty of people who do very well with a desktop. I did 2 years without a laptop, and still use my desktop as the main machine.
2 - USB drive: Having one is nice, I’m not going to argue with that. But is it essential? I don’t think so, especially not at Winthrop where you get space on a network drive.
3 - Pencil pouches: I’ve yet to see someone using a pencil pouch.
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And yet you’ll all continue to shop there. To feed the beast the screws you, it’s workers and the american economy. Keep pumping your money into cheap, substandard goods that you have to keep replacing with more cheap goods.
Keep pumping your money into chinese manufacturers, and then act all surprised when our dollar is falling. Be shocked when you have learn to speak Mandarin someday.
“By WAHM Tara on August 19th, 2008 at 2:24 am
…Wal-Mart makes billions a year, why in the world would they trick people into buying stuff they do not need??
How do you think they make billions per year?
Oh, and be sure to take a small notebook with you to record the posted prices for items. At least 20% of your purchases will end up higher priced at the register.
@Moses
On the contrary I think that the parents were quite justified in assuming that Walmart wasn’t blatantly lying and false advertising.
Seriously, this is probably illegal.
This article would be a lot more effective if it, I don’t know, INCLUDED A PICTURE OF THE SO-CALLED-LIST.
It reads to me like you’re exaggerating things.
And I am not a Wal-Mart supporter. There is one 5 miles from my house and I have been there exactly one time in the 5 years it has been open.
First time reader, Thanks Boing Boing…
I call BS on this, Kelby, you don’t say what items were on the list that weren’t required. Did you check with the Store Manager? What makes you think this is malicious. Did you compare the list you have from your child’s teacher with the list from Wal*Mart?
Zang’s list looks pretty much like the list my wife (a teacher) sends home with her students. Yes, your kid is going to use some composition paper in Pre-K to 5th grade. And your teacher is going to use the safety pins.
When I used to work at Wal*Mart (albeit, 20 years ago), we got the lists from the local school district.
Look, Wal*Mart is an evil corporation bent on extracting as much of your money as it possibly can, but I really don’t think the average Wal*Mart employee is out to get you.
This has to be a single-store issue — all of the Walmarts near us get the school lists from the school — it’s the same crappy copy-of-a-copy-of-a-copy that we get from the school, so I know it’s not made up.
It is, however, a good warning to make sure you’ve got the right list.
As Robert said, “A fool and their money are soon parted”
Don’t shop at Walmart, check your facts, don’t allow a retailer to think for you and last but not least, don’t shop at Walmart.
I saw one of these lists at Office Max recently, and got a chuckle out of the items on the list for little kids.
Oh god this makes me sick. I can’t believe they would put CRAYONS on the list. What kind of monsters are they?
I hate to say it, but it’s WALMART.
As soon as the public figures out one of their scams, they cook up another one. The best way not to get tricked by Walmart is to avoid shopping there if you can.
OK, why would crayons be banned?
What other “banned” items were on the list?
Can you cite some examples, please?
It’s called marketing and advertising. Grow up people. Do you really believe everything you read? If a parent actually cares about their children’s school, maybe they would take the time to go there or speak with the child’s teacher about what they need. Are you really going to let a Wal-Mart, K-Mart or other big box retailer advise you?
and by the way, kudos to Kristin’s post, she gets it…you don’t *have* to shop at Wal-mart…
Just to respond to Zang’s comment..we are asked to bring safety pins for our pre-K classes too..they are used to pin notes to the kids so they don’t get lost on the bus ride home.
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I’m curious. In what city/state did this Wal-Marting take place?
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Please, stop sending your kids to a school that outlaws crayons.
Maybe this is a crazy idea, but why don’t you take those items you don’t need back to the store and get a refund?
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Wow, that’s sneaky. But I think I would have hoped to trust them, since in libraries and bookstores they usually have real lists of the summer reading books (sometimes the books are collected in a specific section).
Really, I think everyone would have been fine with these lists if they said “suggested” or something like that. And then you can use your own judgment. But being sneaky enough to mimic a real letter from school with such detail, well, that’s not cool.
I don’t think that’s a phenomenon that’s happening at Wal Marts nationwide. My local Wal Mart has lists that are faxed to them from the school (school’s fax imprint is at the top of each page) and/or on school letterhead.
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This is just more proof that Walmart is EVIL. Why does it surprise you that Walmart would screw over its customers when they treat their own employees like dirt? Remember the employee who became permanently mentally disabled just as her son dies in Iraq only to have them take away the money they had promised for her hospital bills? Her husband had to try and get the money back all by himself. If it wasn’t for the news spreading all over the internet, they would had gotten away with it. THEY ARE ASSHOLES. . . DON’T BUY THEIR SHIT.
Hello, MOMS!!! You have the purchasing power for this stuff! Stop shopping at Walmart! You aren’t saving your family any money. You hurt smaller businesses and everyday people when you buy from this dishonest business. Wise up and go somewhere else!
Quote
It’s called marketing and advertising. Grow up people. Do you really believe everything you read? If a parent actually cares about their children’s school, maybe they would take the time to go there or speak with the child’s teacher about what they need. Are you really going to let a Wal-Mart, K-Mart or other big box retailer advise you?
Maybe because it’s summer , the school isn’t set up for all the parents coming in and finding the teachers who might not be there, you might believe a copy of what looks like an official fax?
Since It’s all marketing and you should assume that Walmart is lying , why believe the silly part about having to pay for that stuff, or the silly restrictions about not testing the chainsaws and guns in the store . After all you can try on shoes , why not lawn mowers. Remember anything Walmart tells you is a lie.
wow. I knew wallmart was evil, but that’s really low
Actually in our area the lists are prepared and submitted to walmart by the schools. Even then though there are items missing or unneeded on the lists. Keep in mind too, in this day, the day of the global community, the reason they ask for 3 notebooks and 4 boxes of crayons isnt because your kid is a coloring fool, it’s because you need to help the less fortunate in the class who don’t have supplies.
You have to find out from a teacher exactly what you will need a preprinted list is only useful as scratch paper.
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Walmart is no more evil than any other large retail chain, nor any small non-retail store. Most likely just reusing a previous year’s list without checking for changes.
In the case of the lady who was injured and lost her settlement back to Walmarts insurer - I suspect her lawyer never sent a letter asking if the insurer wanted to participate in the lawsuit plus didn’t sue for the insurers costs - more likely bad legal advice, not an eeeevil big corporation.
At the expense of sounding like a liberal kook, the problem is that you shopped at Walmart. Are you unaware of their treachery?! Their reputation for tearing communities asunder then holding it’s occupants hostage in it’s system?!
When has any of us ever gone to the first day of school and needed anything more than a notebook and pencil?! They are in the business of selling, of making money, not providing actual convenience to you and yours. Does anyone think pharmaceutical companies have our best interests at heart as well?
Sorry. I guess all that needed to be said was, “Duh.”
I was in Virginia about 3 years ago, and the WM in Harrisonburg was doing the same thing. Ridiculous. Further proof that WM is about the money, and the destruction of communities. Eff them!
First. Shop at WalMart if you want to. They are a store. They are in business to make money. This is not a mystery. If you don’t like them, do not shop there. Second. Be responsible and get a list from your school. We always got lists from the school, and I put four kids through elem grades with them. When I went to buy supplies, I took the school list and didn’t rely on the store (no matter what store I chose) to do my remembering for me. Third. No school is going to turn your child away because he’s missing an item on the list. And fourth. I despise teachers who pool school supplies after *I* spent money on them for *my* kids. Collectivism and socialism. Start ‘em early, I guess.
Simple way to deal with this.
DO NOT SHOP AT WALMART!!!!!!
There that was easy.
They buy cheap crap, pay crappy wages, and they treat their people like crap.
Don’t support their company.
p.s This happened in Everett WA too.
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@ Mark: “It’s called marketing and advertising. Grow up people. Do you really believe everything you read?”
If Walmart is pretending to represent schools then this is fraud, not just marketing. I don’t think it’s a good situation where people have to be skeptical of messages from their kids’ school.
As Kelby says, there’s a difference between a list of suggested items from Walmart and something purported to come from a school.
I’m also curious why crayons are banned. Maybe because of the mess? Hopefully alternatives are there for kids’ art. I don’t think it means banned in a ‘you will get a detention’ kind of way.
Nikki: “Wal-mart would be getting everything I didn’t need; BACK.”
No. You don’t get it. You take everything back, even the things you need and you take your business elsewhere. They expect you to return the things you don’t need. Doesn’t bother them a bit. You’re the one inconvenienced, and they still get the rest of your money.
[…] Truth About Wal-Mart Back to School Lists […]
A corporation… WAL-MART(!) ‘tricking’ people into buying crap they don’t need? What planet do you live on? It’s called marketing and it really is not possible to overestimate the gullibility of the average person…
This wasn’t the case with us. The list at my son’s school is identical to the one at Walmart. No difference at all.
The bundled supplies they sell to low income families was the same, too.
This may be the case in some places, but I don’t believe it’s everywhere.
I was a manager in a rural Wal-Mart in Atlantic Canada for one year (a sad, terrible chapter) and I KNOW that we only gave out the lists that teachers gave us. I remember this because I was required to get a list from EVERY teacher in EVERY school in the area (there were several) and most of these teachers couldn’t be contacted in July or August!! I also tried to steer customers to the least expensive options.
I loved my co-workers, but was less than enthralled with the organization…
Wal-Mart scamming people…why am I not surprised? I think the parents and teachers both should stand up against this kind of manipulation. I personally avoid shopping there, but I understand that it is quite difficult for some people not to (since Wal-Mart causes stores to close down when they open.
I remember when I was in elementary school (back in the ’80’s) that you had to go to the first day of class and the teacher would give you the list of things you needed. Then they gave you a week to get it. That seems like a better system to me.
at rmark:
“In the case of the lady who was injured and lost her settlement back to Walmarts insurer - I suspect her lawyer never sent a letter asking if the insurer wanted to participate in the lawsuit plus didn’t sue for the insurers costs - more likely bad legal advice, not an eeeevil big corporation.”
Sounds like you either get paid by Walmart to shamelessly defend their soulless practices, or you’re just a dumbass loser lawyer loving fascist. Either way . . . I’m with Emily, ob1, and definitely Charity. I won’t shop there EVER and I hope for your sake that you can find some sort of conscience before your time on this earth is up.
In response to the guy who doubts this: this is SO Walmart.
They say don’t vote for Obama…then they say you need items for school; be sheep and buy ‘em. I say I just bought a house, I’m spending hundreds a week on tools, basics and sundries. I’ve made a vow: we aren’t going to WalMart for the next 30 days.
Kudos for writing this article!
There are a multitude of reasons I refuse to shop there, and their blatant disregard for honesty ranks high on that list.
If I were you, I’d return it ALL and shop elsewhere.
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A story about this was on our evening news in Ohio in the ‘Don’t Waste Your Money” segment. Indeed.
Well the list at my wal-mart for my 1st grader was the same as the list from school, so it sucks that, that happened to you. I would return the items that weren’t needed even if they had already been used or opened!
Take it back…. duh… best way to send a message to them… you bought it because it was on sale… why do you think wal-mart has taken over? because they don’t play by the rules… if you really want something to be upset about try looking up their tax deals they made with your city… they get kickbacks equal to what they have to pay in taxes so essentially they don’t pay taxes at all… that’s right they don’t contribute to your schools, police, fire, or local government… just one more why they steal…
With all due respect, Wal-Mart has a long history of anti-consumer behavior. What surprises me is not that Wal-Mart would play a trick like this; but that people are still surprised that Wal-Mart would play a trick like this. Rather than continuing to support an organization like Wal-Mart and waxing indignant when you get ripped off, you would do well to vote with your wallet and take your shopping list elsewhere.
[…] Truth About Wal-Mart Back to School Lists | Kelby Carr Big business gets a little creative with school lists hoping to boost the lagging back to school sales. [via boing boing] (tags: news business education school economy ethics walmart) […]
I work for wal-mart and know for a fact that they get the lists from schools and do not make them up.
To Wal-Mart employee:
What on earth makes you think that just because one little Wal-Mart of hundreds of Wal-Marts uses real school lists that every single one, including mine, does?
If I trusted Wal-Mart to do their own research and unwittingly bought everything that they told me to, I might also be clueless enough to be indignant about it.
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dkmnow, take your liberal hippie corporate hate someplace else. Crawl back under your rock at DKOS or HuffPo, you idiot.
Hey. Just wanted to chime in and say that I think Kelby has done a great service with this post. We are so tightly budgeted and the schools require so much more STUFF these days and, I’m sorry, but around here Wal-Mart is the least expensive place to get them. I’m glad to have a heads-up that all is not always what it seems — I mean, lists made to look like they came from the schools? I’d have gone for that. Kelby, you keep on rocking!
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I do my best to avoid Walmart, however I recently went because I couldn’t find an item elsewhere. Had I have seen our school supply list posted and I was missing some things, I would have bought them. So thank you Kelby for forewarning the rest of us!
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I actually work at Walmart in GA. The back to school supply lists at our store are given to us by the Board of Education. We do not create our own. I have never heard of that practice, but I guess anything is possible. Sorry for your bad experience.
This is at the local SW Florida WalMart as well. I don’t have kids but I did pick up one of the sheets because I thought it was such a neat idea. The lists have the school’s letterhead and everything. I would imagine most people wouldn’t think it’s fake advertising. WalMart’s name isn’t even on the paper. Working for a bookstore and a library, I can tell you teachers give out lists for AR books, test books, etc all the time. I don’t know why some of you think parents should just assume it’s fake.
For the weird banned items, my sister-in-law goes to middle school and she is banned from bringing erasers. Apparently some kids are grinding them up and snorting them (ew).
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Not happening at my Wal Mart. I work for a local school and we FAX our list to the local Wal Marts. Even went to check and see if it’s the same and it is. Has the teachers name and everything for each class just like we sent.