Home Depot Is Selling Unused Custom Paint for Just $5—What to Know

Mixing up a custom paint color is always a bit of a gamble. You never know exactly what you're gonna get. And sometimes it just ends up being wrong. But instead of tossing those misfit shades, many hardware and big-box retailers sell them at major discounts—as one Redditor recently found out. They stumbled upon a treasure trove of rejected and unclaimed custom paints at their local Home Depot, all for $5.

They posted about the discovery on the r/Frugal forum on the platform, saying they "went through the stack for like 10 minutes and walked out with a gallon of what turned out to be a really nice warm sage green, a pale terracotta, and an almost perfect off-white. $15 total. That same off-white from Behr would've been like $45."

Other Redditors said that they've known about this DIY "secret" for years, with one writing that "the insides of our sheds, the floors in our cabin, one of our decks, all painted with Home Depot 'oops!' paint. The 5-gallon buckets are the best deal since you get enough matching color to do more than one room."

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Another commented, "it's like winning the lottery if you can find exactly what you need when you need it."

Keep in mind, though, that the selection and pricing differ across Home Depot locations. As one commenter pointed out: "my Home Depot sells oops paint gallons for $9. I guess prices are set regionally. Still a good deal over the $30, $35 a gallon would normally cost."

So if you're looking to complete a paint project and are open to different color choices and finishes, be sure to scope out the shelves of paint rejects during your next trip to the home improvement store.