Lisa accepts a money loan for Nelson's fledgling business, only for it to become so good that it convinces Nelson to drop out from school. Meanwhile, Homer and Marge get addicted to buying and returning items for bogus reasons to get store credit.
Tropes:
- 555: Julio's phone number starts with 555 but the way he holds his card prevents people from seeing the rest of the number.
- Bait-and-Switch: When Lisa asks if anyone at the expo actually graduated from college, one man responds. At first, it looks like he's a big successful business man, to Lisa's delight...only for the man to actually be a janitor that was behind a cardboard cutout.
- Blatant Lies: The list of "unused" items Homer tries to get a refund for includes a suitcase with an airport tag, ping pong balls no longer inside their container, and a still warm hot plate.
- Comically Missing the Point:
- Chief Wiggum doesn't understand the point of undercover operations.
- Lisa's webname is LSimpsonJazzGirl and yet Nelson fails to realize it's her until she tells him.
- Epic Fail:
- When Lisa takes Nelson to an expo to try and show him examples of men who became successful thanks to higher learning. However, the first three people she meets are Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates and Richard Branson, who dropped out of college and become some of the richest men in the world. Meanwhile the only one to graduate from an Ivy league school in the area....is the janitor. Lisa's panicked expression says it all.
- Nelson doesn't realise he has to use waterproof glue on his customs before its too late.
- Frivolous Lawsuit: Discussed. Upon seeing the stuff Homer bought, Lenny asks if he found a mouse in a can of soup. Homer didn't but he wishes he did.
- Ghosts Abhor a Vacuum: in the Itchy and Scratchy episode that parodies the beginning of Up, Itchy kills Scratchy and his girlfriend, and when their souls try to float up to heaven, Itchy sucks them up in a vacuum cleaner. Then he takes out the vacuum bag (which the souls are struggling to get out of) and lights it on fire.
- Hard Truth Aesop: As Lisa found out to her dismay, going to college doesn't necessarily guarantee a successful career.
- Never Win the Lottery: Discussed in the Brazilian dub. Lenny's line where he asks if Homer found a mouse in a can of soup is changed to Lenny asking if Homer won the lottery.
- Shout-Out: Nelson named his business "Snot Wheels". If the name alone isn't enough, his sign's decoration resembles the logo for said toys.
- Strange Minds Think Alike: When Principal Skinner learned how much Nelson was paying, he ripped his sleeves in order to increase his chances of entering Nelson's payroll. Then a sleeveless Superintendent Chalmers showed up and realized Skinner also learned about the wage.
- Tempting Fate:
- After Marge manages to return the five-hundred-dollar-purse and get a refund, Homer decides to push his luck and buy several things. He ends up getting caught.
- Milhouse declares there's no way he'll look like a nerd on his cool-looking bicycle. He then starts singing a lame song.
