Dollar-stores overcharge customers while promising low prices

what's the point of this hit piece? isnt that frying pan with a sticker price of $10 and rung up at $12 still $50 anywhere else?

I don’t think this is true. Even if pricing in the shelves is accurate, in my experience Dollar General is typically a little more expensive than a normal mid-range supermarket (or e.g. Amazon) for most things.

Could work like this:

1. You help your friend wash the dishes and notice their hefty, 5-quart stainless steel pot. You look it up on Amazon and it's like $50.

2. At $store, you see something that looks like that size and style of pot, but for only $10. What a steal! It's even ultralight so it should be easier to load in the dishwasher...

*Several months later*

3. Your pot is all warped to hell, making it difficult to cook evenly. But your friend's pot is probably fine for the next few decades if not longer. (Note: if this were an oven pan the warping would make it dangerous to use.)

4. To add insult to injury, $store got two more of your dollars just because.

I picked the 5-quart pot because I've seen one of these with my own eyes.

In any case, OP would have been better off paying me $38 for nothing but crushing their dream of buying a decent quality $10 frying pan.