‘That’s literally half my tank’: Back-to-school shopper shocked at cost of Five Star notebook

If it's been a while since you've shopped for school supplies, then brace yourself for what this store's selling a notebook for.

Karla Romero Guillen (@karla.romero.guillen) posted a viral TikTok that's accrued over 777,000 views on the popular social media application where her, and others in the comments section of the clip, were baffled over the cost of a large notebook.

How much does a Five Star notebook cost?

"When was a 5 star notebook worth $16??????" a text overlay in the video reads as Guillen covers the price tag for the large, 5-subject ringed notebook. She then moves her finger, revealing that the Mead product is retailing for $16.49.

Online prices for similar offerings from Mead aren't all that better. On Amazon, one can find 2, single subject Mead 5-Star notebooks for $16.80. The item sports "ink bleed" resistant pages that are perforated, for and easier tearing out process that leaves them with "clean edges."

However, it does appear that there are retailers selling the notebook for much cheaper prices. Walmart retails what appears to be the same 5-Star wirebound 5-subject notebook as featured in Guillen's video for just $5.68 for a black cover, and then $6.98 for red, green, blue, and white plastic waterproof covers. Other colors are offered at different price points as well — a yellow wide-ruled one is listed on Walmart's website for $9.00, but other colors of the same variant retail for $5.68 (green) and $6.98 for others.

Target has also listed much different prices for its Five Star offerings as well. A quick perusal online shows that depending on which type of product from the company it is, different retailers sport vastly different prices for them.

Shoppers can't believe the cost

Guillen, expressing her shock at the in-store price of the notebook in her video, writes in a caption: "thats literally half my tank right there." Several commenters thought that the charge for the notebook was way too high, too.

"Weren’t they $5 and even back then i’ll get the $1 ones," one person wrote.

Another replied, "$5 was wayy too much back in 2005-2012."

Someone else recalled flash Walmart sales of notebooks that their mother would stock up on: "My mom used to buy the 70 page ones for 10 cents during Walmart sales."

One user responded, however, that they always thought the 5-subject Five Star notebooks were overpriced. "The 5 subject ones have always been comically expensive," they said.

And another remarked that they now understood where their father was coming from ambling through the dollar store section at Walmart. "Seeing these prices i now realize my dad was onto something shopping in the $1 section at walmart for my back to school supplies," they wrote.

Others said it depends on the store customers go to.

"Yeah cvs/ Walgreens will have those prices go to target/walmart," one commenter remarked.

Another replied, "When you shop at CVS!"

Spending rises on school supplies

According to Edweek, oftentimes the onus of outfitting classrooms with school supplies falls on teachers. The outlet stated in 2018 that teachers were projected to spend on average $673 of their own money for the incoming school year.

Regions also appear to affect different pricing structures throughout the country as well, the Office of the New York State Comptroller wrote that the average cost of school supplies for high schoolers sat at $74, ranging anywhere from $21 to $135.

Edweek, in a more recent 2023 article, reported that families could spend as much as $890 for the upcoming school year, suggesting a shift in the increase in product costs over time, along with taking into account family size. It's a figure that was reiterated by PIX11 as well.

In 2022, Impacks wrote for each upcoming school year, families will shell out around $130 or more per child to ensure they have all of the various and sundry items to attain academic excellence. Or to draw that "S" everyone seemed to obsess over in middle school.

@karla.romero.guillen thats literally half my tank right there #wtf #toomuch #school #fypシ゚viral #fyp #fypage #college #featureme ♬ original sound - †

The Daily Dot has reached out to Mead via email and Guillen via TikTok comment for further information.

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