A woman thinks Hallmark should “count its days” after noticing a 2024 card was smaller and more expensive than a 2023 one.
Katie Turner posted photos on TikTok of two Hallmark birthday cards her father bought and hinted that the card might have been part of “shrinkflation” – the process of reducing the size of a product while keeping the price the same.
“I don’t know what’s worse: my dad giving my mom the same birthday card two years in a row, or Hallmark making the card smaller and raising the price,” Turner captioned the first photo.
The college student placed the products side by side, showing that this year’s card cost $6.99 despite being worth $6.59 in 2023.
The TikToker’s father then allegedly asked her how she was supposed to remember the price of a card she bought a year ago.
Katie Turner posted photos on TikTok of two Hallmark birthday cards her father bought and hinted that the card could have been part of shrinkflation
The greeting card market has been changing in recent years even though 6.5 billion American shoppers buy at least one a year, according to the Greeting Card Association.
Turner did not disclose where her father purchased the birthday cards, but similar products cost between $1 and $20 on Hallmark’s website.
Global Industry Analysts Inc concluded that the greeting card market was estimated at $15.9 billion globally in 2022 last year.
However, they also found that it is expected to fall to around $13.6 billion by 2027.
“The global greeting card market is significantly impacted by shifting consumer values and beliefs, demographic changes and technological developments,” the company wrote in a press release.
‘With the new tech-savvy generation preferring e-cards over physical greeting cards, the impact has been evident in the greeting card industry.’
Online greeting card sales in the United States are expected to reach $2.6 billion this year, up from 2023, according to IBIS World.
One of the reasons for this increase is the popularity of holidays such as Christmas and Valentine’s Day.
Turner did not reveal where her father purchased the birthday cards, but similar products cost between $1.00 and $20.00 on Hallmark’s website.
Apparently, the shrinkage has not been as noticeable on the cards compared to products like Doritos and Tampax tampons.
It was a major reason behind the price increase of Card Factory products in 2022, which lasted throughout the year.
While the company hasn’t been very vocal about what it’s done with its cards over the years, more than one supposed Hallmark employee wrote that it was indeed a reduced inflation.
“I work at Hallmark and we are currently in the midst of a card epidemic that is on the wane. They need to stop,” one user wrote.
Another TikToker wrote: ‘I stopped buying cards because for $7-$10 I can get them an extra gift.’
Others have suggested ideas for what Turner and her family members can do instead, such as buying a card from another store or making one by hand.
More than one TikTok user claimed to work at a Hallmark store and wrote that the company was allegedly running a contraction campaign.
Turner, who read a comment written by someone saying Trader Joe’s cards cost 99 cents, wrote that she would start buying her cards there.
Daily Mail has contacted Hallmark for comment.
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