HomeDepotRob
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- Mar 12, 2015
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The thread is for discussion and education on how to get clearance deals at Home Depot. For actual current deals, visit the HD clearance thread here: http://garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=277228
Home Depot regular clearances out it's merchandise that makes for some really good deals...and if you are lucky, you can even score merchandise for a penny. Remember that everything mentioned below are general guidelines. There are sometimes anomalies that sometimes deviate from the norm.
Markdown Schedule:
Every HD store runs clearance sales throughout the year. But the markdown schedule seems to vary between stores, and vary between regions. The markdowns follow this general pattern:
First level markdown: **.00 or **.06 or sometimes **.04
This is the first markdown level. If the price ends in .00, the actual discount off of the regular retail price is usually not that great. If the price ends in .06 or .04, the discount is greater, but still not very significant. For example if an item has regular retail price of $100, at this stage of the clearance the markdown might only be a few dollars.
Some have speculated that the last number in the price (6 or 4) indicates the the item will drop down to the second clearance level pricing in about 6 weeks or 4 weeks. However, this is just a very rough estimate. I have seen items $**.06 items drop to the second clearance level in less than 6 weeks. I have also seen **.06 items that have not dropped further in price for over 1 year
Second level markdown: **.03 or **.02
After a certain number of weeks at the first level, clearance items drop down to this stage. This clearance level is roughly 75% off the regular retail price. So if the item was originally priced at around $100, it will now be $25.03 (or $25.02). Again, the last number in the price roughly indicates the amount of time it will stay at that price (3 weeks or 2 weeks respectively).
This clearance level is officially supposed to be the last clearance price. If the item does not sell after a certain number of days/weeks, the store associates are supposed to remove it from the shelves and either donate it to charity, return it to the vendor, trash/destroy it, or make some sort of free promotion give away (credit card signup for example)
This level of discount is significant and usually provides a good value that beats any other store's pricing. So if you are really interested in the particular item, I suggest purchasing at this stage. However, if you are intent on maximizing the deal, read further.
Penny deal status: 00.01
Once an item remains unsold for a certain number of days/weeks at the 2nd markdown stage, the inventory system automatically drops the price of that item to $00.01. At this point, store employees are supposed to remove the item from the shelves as I stated above. However, this does not always happen immediately. In fact, items can sometimes remain on the shelves for days before a store employee actually does remove it from the shelves. This means that if you find such an item, it will scan at $00.01 at checkout, which means you just got a penny deal!
Furthermore, discounted/penny items are often found stocked high up in the rafters. These items could remain there for days and weeks unnoticed. Use the in-store computer to identify such items (more info below)
How to find clearance items
Method 1: Use the in-store computer kiosks
Most every HD has computer kiosks located in numerous departments within the store (windows/doors, flooring, appliances etc) as well as in the front of the store at the "Pro Desk". These computers have a section for public access. Within that section there is a "price check" app. You can use the app to find clearance items/inventory at your store. Simply enter a key word in the search box (Dremel, mower, Husky, Dewalt, etc). All the results matching that key word will appear. Simply click on the filter icon on the upper left hand side, then click on the "clearance" button. The results will further filter down to all the clearance items for that keyword. Make a list of the items you are interested in, and note down the last digit of the clearance price (as mentioned above) to determine markdown schedule.
Method 2: Pay attention to date printed on yellow clearance tags.
Often, store employees fail to update the clearance yellow tags to correctly reflect the current markdown price (as mentioned above). But most yellow clearance tags have a date printed on it. This can provide you with clue regarding the actual price of the item. The older the date on the tag is, the more likely that it has dropped further in price than the price indicated on the tag. For example, a $100 price tag with a date of 9/1/2014 could very well have dropped to $25.03 or even $0.01 at this point.
...more will be added later
Home Depot regular clearances out it's merchandise that makes for some really good deals...and if you are lucky, you can even score merchandise for a penny. Remember that everything mentioned below are general guidelines. There are sometimes anomalies that sometimes deviate from the norm.
Markdown Schedule:
Every HD store runs clearance sales throughout the year. But the markdown schedule seems to vary between stores, and vary between regions. The markdowns follow this general pattern:
First level markdown: **.00 or **.06 or sometimes **.04
This is the first markdown level. If the price ends in .00, the actual discount off of the regular retail price is usually not that great. If the price ends in .06 or .04, the discount is greater, but still not very significant. For example if an item has regular retail price of $100, at this stage of the clearance the markdown might only be a few dollars.
Some have speculated that the last number in the price (6 or 4) indicates the the item will drop down to the second clearance level pricing in about 6 weeks or 4 weeks. However, this is just a very rough estimate. I have seen items $**.06 items drop to the second clearance level in less than 6 weeks. I have also seen **.06 items that have not dropped further in price for over 1 year
Second level markdown: **.03 or **.02
After a certain number of weeks at the first level, clearance items drop down to this stage. This clearance level is roughly 75% off the regular retail price. So if the item was originally priced at around $100, it will now be $25.03 (or $25.02). Again, the last number in the price roughly indicates the amount of time it will stay at that price (3 weeks or 2 weeks respectively).
This clearance level is officially supposed to be the last clearance price. If the item does not sell after a certain number of days/weeks, the store associates are supposed to remove it from the shelves and either donate it to charity, return it to the vendor, trash/destroy it, or make some sort of free promotion give away (credit card signup for example)
This level of discount is significant and usually provides a good value that beats any other store's pricing. So if you are really interested in the particular item, I suggest purchasing at this stage. However, if you are intent on maximizing the deal, read further.
Penny deal status: 00.01
Once an item remains unsold for a certain number of days/weeks at the 2nd markdown stage, the inventory system automatically drops the price of that item to $00.01. At this point, store employees are supposed to remove the item from the shelves as I stated above. However, this does not always happen immediately. In fact, items can sometimes remain on the shelves for days before a store employee actually does remove it from the shelves. This means that if you find such an item, it will scan at $00.01 at checkout, which means you just got a penny deal!
Furthermore, discounted/penny items are often found stocked high up in the rafters. These items could remain there for days and weeks unnoticed. Use the in-store computer to identify such items (more info below)
How to find clearance items
Method 1: Use the in-store computer kiosks
Most every HD has computer kiosks located in numerous departments within the store (windows/doors, flooring, appliances etc) as well as in the front of the store at the "Pro Desk". These computers have a section for public access. Within that section there is a "price check" app. You can use the app to find clearance items/inventory at your store. Simply enter a key word in the search box (Dremel, mower, Husky, Dewalt, etc). All the results matching that key word will appear. Simply click on the filter icon on the upper left hand side, then click on the "clearance" button. The results will further filter down to all the clearance items for that keyword. Make a list of the items you are interested in, and note down the last digit of the clearance price (as mentioned above) to determine markdown schedule.
Method 2: Pay attention to date printed on yellow clearance tags.
Often, store employees fail to update the clearance yellow tags to correctly reflect the current markdown price (as mentioned above). But most yellow clearance tags have a date printed on it. This can provide you with clue regarding the actual price of the item. The older the date on the tag is, the more likely that it has dropped further in price than the price indicated on the tag. For example, a $100 price tag with a date of 9/1/2014 could very well have dropped to $25.03 or even $0.01 at this point.
...more will be added later
Last edited:
priceless.