The United States is famous for stores such as Costco and Sam’s Club, which allow people to buy items in bulk and save money. Often hailed as a great financial move, there is such a thing as too much of something good.
Everything in moderation, right? One Reddit thread posed an important question about owning bulk items:
“What innocent item gets suspicious if you own too much of it?”
We sifted through some of the answers that stood out. Ready?
15. Baby Formula
“Once i saw a couple who were clearly on meth buying a shit ton of baby formula at the grocery store.
At the time I was like shit, that’s sad, they have a kid and they can’t breastfeed it because they’re on drugs. Maybe a week later I saw a post on Facebook about how many drugs are cut with baby formula, which is why it’s a high risk item for large scale retail theft.
So, baby formula.”
14. Pure, Innocent Water
“For me water.
My neighbors had well water and would dry up. They asked if they could run a hose and put it in there well they would pay what was owed. Did this alot last summer no big deal they paid. Then they bought a big above ground pool. Filled it for them they always paid my part was always around the same so I wasn’t bent out of shape. One day the water meter guy knocked with an officer wanting to know why I was using so much water. I explained showed the many hoses to reach my neighbors and they were there to help explain. They explained to me that much water usage was throwing a red flag.
So they were sent out to investigate to make sure no marijuana growing was happening.”
13. Anything You Explain
“Explaining a purchase just makes you more memorable. I worked at a pharmacy back in the early 90s. Lots of people bought lubricating gel. The only one I remember is the woman who bought a couple in December and felt obliged to tell me she used it to hang Christmas cards on the wall. According to her it kept the cards displayed and didn’t leave marks on the wall. Sure. Whatever. Here’s your change. We sold a lot of the stuff. And never cared or commented on people buying it, but that need to explain it means I remember her, nearly 30 years later.”
12. Canned Air
“Canned air dusters.
Some people like to get high off them.”
11. Peroxide
“I worked at a pool supply store. They sell an extra strong peroxide as an alternative to chlorine. Idk why but we had to report large purchases to the FBI.
Reported this guy after we used his customer info to search his address on google earth. It was rural and had a few different outbuildings. Seemed sketchy.
FBI got back to us a few weeks later. He was using the chemical to clean animal skulls he bought from a slaughterhouse. Then he carved the skulls and sold them. The FBI lady said he showed her his whole process and it was pretty impressive.”
10. Good Ole PB
“I saw what I would describe as a suspicious amount of peanut butter in the bed of a truck once.
I think two or three 12-pack cases.”
9. Pressure Cookers
“I saw a TIFU post about a guy who bought a bunch of pressure cookers on sale to give to friends as gifts.
Turned out that set off some anti-terrorism flags. So I’m gonna go with pressure cookers.”
8. Tampons
“Tampons.
A guy we know hordes them because he thinks if the government collapses they will become a hot commodity that he can use to trade. I’m talking a shed full of boxes. ALL KINDS.
Unbeknownst to him menstrual cups exist. And rags.
Edit: Well this blew up. He’s an odd bird. There is also a shed full with bins of socks. He wears them once, tosses them in a Rubbermaid bin and once filled it gets placed in the shed. People have suggested donating them but he says he doesn’t want others to have access to his DNA. Mental illness is real.”
7. Clocks
“When I was in undergrad, me and my two friends lived together in a house. Whenever we saw a yard sale, we’d stop and buy any reasonably priced clocks. We’d then hang the clocks on the walls of the house in asymmetrical places, and we’d leave them on whatever time they were at even if they were dead. So our house had nearly a hundred clocks after 4 years, all of which said different times and several of which made faint ticking sounds.
My roommate who was the least enthused about this decor would wake up after a particularly drunk night hung over as hell and just scream angrily “WHAT FUCKING TIME IS IT?” As he walked from room to room
Anyway, when we moved out, we had our own yard sale with ONLY clocks for sale. People thought we were freaks but we sold about half of them. Sometimes I still hear the unsynchronized clicking today when I lay down at night and close my eyes.”
6. Mirror, Mirror On The Wall
“Mirrors for sure.
I’ve been in an elderly persons house where there was literally too many of em to count and it just feels weird.”
5. Ziploc Bags
“Ziploc bags.
They’re standard in most households, but if you’ve got dozens of boxes you’re either selling drugs or something illegal.”
4. Lye
“Lye.
I make soap in a medium sized home business. Because of this, I had to provide our local fire department with a blueprint of our house marking the location of where i store the 5 gallon buckets of lye.”
3. Cardboard Cutouts
“Cardboard cutouts.
You have one cardboard cutout and it’s a novelty decoration, but you have a room full of them and it gets a little weird.”
2. Click Pens
“Clicky pens apparently.
I once was doing a personal project and I needed tiny springs. I knew my dad was going to be going around to some antique/thrift stores, so I told him to get me a bunch of clicky pens.
At one store, the guy watched as my dad was meticulously picking out all of those pens from a bowl of pens. He eventually said “I’m gonna have to ask why you want those pens so bad…”. My dad explained and they had a laugh.”
1. And This Now-Coveted Item
“Hand sanitizer bottles.”
That’s quite a lot of things that are suspicious once you have too many of them!
Is there anything you would add? Let us know what it is in the comments!
We’re ready.
