Lowe's Clearance Thread 2014

[Redex]

Good to know, I stand corrected

I was a seasonal employee last year and we would always have customers come in and expect something to be in stock because of the website.

The real inventory tracking system that employees can access in-store is more accurate. In my experience in comparing the two, the public facing website was always off.

I know lowes was working on upgrading the system so things my have changed in the last year since I left.

 

[Redex]

The tracker was real time. Just my experience from observation.

Some stores might be using the new inventory system that integrates with lowes.com.

The inventory system I used as an employee last year was archaic and I know a new one was being implemented at some point.

 

[duddly]

There were five others available when I ordered late last night (Jawhorse). All five were sitting in the cage this morning when I went to pick up. They sold them out overnight. I should have bought a couple.

I saw the same thing watching the inventory. There are no low priced jawhorses to be had anywhere tonight! Word got out and all the stores that had them for $39 yesterday were wiped clean! That was fast!

 

[bareass172]

My store had 5 carts at $40, I asked the employee to kindly ask the manager if he would match the $16 price mentioned in this thread at a North MS store and the employee told me flat out - "if he will match it at $16 I'll buy them all myself". I asked him if that was possible, because at Home Depot it is NOT allowed for employees to do that (or at least that's what multiple employees have told me) and the employee told me very directly that "it is frowned upon, but only because I'll get the deal and then take my employee 10% off on top of that!" So you tell me if you think they're doing this...

I can tell you that I found an IR 1/2" air ratchet for $12 there today (marked down from $90). I grabbed it and asked the employee if there were any more. He said no so I went to the register. At the register the ratchet rang up $25. I told them that was wrong so they sent me back to hardware to verify the price. When I got there an employee was standing in front of the ratchet and there was a new sign that said $25. When I asked what was going on he insisted that there was never a sign that said $12...
What makes this fun is that I never said anything about the sign to him!!! So obviously he knew why I was there and he knew the sign said $12 at some point!

Annoyingly enough, I have no idea why this happened or what impetus an employee would have to do this, I just know what I saw.

I do have an IR 1/2" air ratchet for sale though.

Check your stores, it seems that they're moving all the IR air stuff out. The air hammers were marked way down too, there just weren't any left by me.

 

[stage20]

All the IR stuff is gone at my store. New dewalt air tools trickling in. I need to see if anyone has opinions on the quality but I believe the tool line is too new to know

 

[drwheels]

Hey bare if it has a low price put the sticker on the merchandise and they cant mess with you on price. Hope that helps. Yes the employees at lowes get a lot of the stuff as they price it. The tool carts were at $12 an employee told me . They took them in the back until they got it back up.

 

[dlhindiana]

Anyone get gift cards from Giant Eagle for Lowes to get the fuel perks and notice that Giant Eagle doesn't carry Lowe's Gift cards anymore? Not happy about this...

 

[riggs1117]

Found the ir impact locally for 50$

 

[erty67]

A lot of shady stuff seems to go on at Lowe's. My lesson learned is not to buy online, but to go to the store and get it in your hands before an employee. Too many web orders were unavailable when I get to the store to pick them up. Email says ready for pick up, store says "we couldn't find it so here's your refund". Total BS. And why is it when they do find some lost stock the price always goes back to normal on the non-stock item??

 

[duddly]

A lot of shady stuff seems to go on at Lowe's. My lesson learned is not to buy online, but to go to the store and get it in your hands before an employee. Too many web orders were unavailable when I get to the store to pick them up. Email says ready for pick up, store says "we couldn't find it so here's your refund". Total BS. And why is it when they do find some lost stock the price always goes back to normal on the non-stock item??

at Lowes, once a store's inventory of a clearance item goes to zero (or the item goes out of the system due to time/age) , the price in their system reverts back to the original retail price. This makes it very hard to buy at the last clearance price if their inventory is wrong and you find one or two more after their price has gone back up. A manager has to override the price and they don't usually like that much of a markdown.

At home depot, when the item drops out of the system, the price drops to .01 - (but they are not supposed to sell them) - boy has that made for some fun purchases! I may have to put together some tips for the home depot thread.

I have all in all had good luck with lowes online ordering of clearance items. I suspect the employees of not looking very hard far more than I suspect them of taking the items for themselves. If the quantity is high enough I will go to the store (after the cancelled order) and often find the merchandise with a little motivated looking.

 

[vamil]

This is an awesome thread. I picked up the Kobalt cart for $40 yesterday, last one in my area. The associate that got it said he didn't expect the box to be so big based on the price. There are still a couple of Jawhorses at one the Lowes in my area for $40. I would jump on it if I didn't already have one.

 

[duddly]

This is an awesome thread. I picked up the Kobalt cart for $40 yesterday, last one in my area. The associate that got it said he didn't expect the box to be so big based on the price. There are still a couple of Jawhorses at one the Lowes in my area for $40. I would jump on it if I didn't already have one.

buy the jawhorses...
flip them quick on craigslist for $90 each...
and BUY MORE TOOLS!!

the cycle of sickness...

 

[ishiboo]

The tracker was real time. Just my experience from observation.

You're missing it though. You bought one on the website, the website decremented the known inventory by 1. That inventory # is still what it was going off of whenever it received an update from the store inventory system whenever that was, it doesn't know if people bought some from the store since then - it just knows you bought one.

 

[duddly]

You're missing it though. You bought one on the website, the website decremented the known inventory by 1. That inventory # is still what it was going off of whenever it received an update from the store inventory system whenever that was, it doesn't know if people bought some from the store since then - it just knows you bought one.

are you saying the online inventory only decrements for sales to southalabama and not for sales from other people? I think you are making a point, but I for one am not getting it. Or am I missing sarcasm?

 

[ishiboo]

are you saying the online inventory only decrements for sales to southalabama and not for sales from other people? I think you are making a point, but I for one am not getting it. Or am I missing sarcasm?

Nope, I got confused. I thought he bought one on the website and then the website inventory went down by 1. Mis-read.

 

[pendragon1998]

Hey bare if it has a low price put the sticker on the merchandise and they cant mess with you on price. Hope that helps. Yes the employees at lowes get a lot of the stuff as they price it. The tool carts were at $12 an employee told me . They took them in the back until they got it back up.

Boy, that pisses me off.

 

[southalabama]

Not to derail thread with this inventory thing

But I checked it online before entering the store. I made purchase in the store. After leaving the store I checked the item again online. Inventory tracker was updated to reflect my purchase.

 

[bareass172]

At home depot, when the item drops out of the system, the price drops to .01 - (but they are not supposed to sell them) - boy has that made for some fun purchases! I may have to put together some tips for the home depot thread.

Not to derail the Lowe's thread, but I just dealt with this. I was walking through HD and saw a basket of Christmas decorations by customer service. I knew that it had to be returns and I KNEW it was going to be cheap. I asked the employee, she scanned it and said they were all $.01. I said "I'll take it" and then she told me that they couldn't sell them because they have to throw them in the dumspter. I asked her why, and if I could speak to a manager. I plead my case stating "don't ************ back later to dig through the trash" and he let me buy them on the spot. I got a light up Snoopy and Woodstock dressed like Santa for $1 each, and the giant inflatable Snoopy riding a motorcycle for $3. The few other misc things he gave me to take for free.

 

[Mr. Brooks]

Well my store showed 4 carts, I ordered 3, and somehow all 4 are gone and they can't fulfill my order and can't help me. Seems really fishy to me...

 

[bareass172]

I don't want to argue with the OP who stated that the store inventory count and the website inventory count are not the same, but that's really a fairly stupid concept. The amount of time, money, and logistics necessary to build and maintain that kind of database would make it pretty silly to try and maintain 2 separate ones.

I don't work for Lowe's or have any insight, but I own my own business and we have to deal with similar inventory and keeping our website counts accurate with our physical inventory. We use ONE tool to do both and I could never imagine trying to use/keep/maintain 2 - and I have WAY less inventory than a Lowe's.

Just my $.02, nothing more.

 

[jim2664258]

I plead my case stating "don't ************ back later to dig through the trash"

Honestly dude, you're pathetic.

 

[fred d]

On the other hand I have seen a shopping cart filled with clearance stuff marked down at the Lowes service counter that belonged to the service employee. I inquired about the contents of the shopping cart and the employee gleefully explained that they were the last ones left and that she and a few others had picked them out to purchase later.

Other times when the clerk rang up my super clearance item they asked which aisle were they found and whether there were any more. The employees are active shoppers too!

Holding things to purchase later is a big no no
Hiding them also a big no no.....but happens

 

[fred d]

Latest deals

$1 each for the magnetic trays

 

[fred d]

$18 for the IR impact/ratchet combo

 

[fred d]

Not sure why pics are upside down

Here s receipt

 

[fred d]

1/2 & 5/8 wire brushes
$.56 each

Drill chuck $2.34

 

[ishiboo]

I don't want to argue with the OP who stated that the store inventory count and the website inventory count are not the same, but that's really a fairly stupid concept. The amount of time, money, and logistics necessary to build and maintain that kind of database would make it pretty silly to try and maintain 2 separate ones.

I don't work for Lowe's or have any insight, but I own my own business and we have to deal with similar inventory and keeping our website counts accurate with our physical inventory. We use ONE tool to do both and I could never imagine trying to use/keep/maintain 2 - and I have WAY less inventory than a Lowe's.

Just my $.02, nothing more.

Considering the guy who did that DID work at Lowes and knew that... the only question is whether or not it's still the case. I'd bet it still is

It's not really a stupid concept at all. Companies like Lowes had an existing inventory system and built a basic website, then they continue to add e-commerce and additional features to the site. They're still separate systems. The previous-generation inventory systems did not need long product systems, custom reviews or images, nor did they need to know how to pick, order from distribution centers, etc.

It's QUITE common that these are still separate, especially in large retail establishments like Lowes/HD/etc. You'll notice that the inventory controls at these companies are largely on ANSI terminals (whether virtual or not) and they use their own website for product info - two separate systems in place, each with various levels of integration. Sometimes the inventory is real-time, sometimes not. Even with the same vendor for both, they are still often isolated systems - a website bug/crash/database issue/etc. on a frequently updated website is kept far away from the core logic that runs the business. You'll note the Lowes, Sears, etc. websites are often down with "maintenance" messages - you won't find that at cash registers or warehouse picking terminals When I worked for Venator Group (Footlocker, Champs, Eastbay, NFL Shop at the time, etc.) it was the same deal - the physical inventory/warehousing/etc. was all done in Sigma's Controller+ (since probably the 80s or early 90s), and the website was completely separate.

So yeah... doesn't make sense for a small business to have two separate systems, a nation-wide Fortune 500 often has 2.

 

[ishiboo]

BTW... that does not mean there are two "separate" inventory systems - it just means the two can get out of sync. They still communicate, people are not manually maintaining two inventory counts in different systems.

 

[PFSard]

1/2 & 5/8 wire brushes
$.56 each

Drill chuck $2.34

Do you have links or SKUs for these? I can't seem to locate them on Lowes site.

 

[Loscaldazar]

Anyone want to ship me an IR impact set for cost+shipping? Let me know what the store has it listed as first!

 

[perkinscl]

I feel lucky and guilty at the same time..

Sent from my XT1060 using Tapatalk

 

[bibman]

Just ordered the cart for 32 bucks!!!! Gotta love this thread

 

[duddly]

I feel lucky and guilty at the same time..

Sent from my XT1060 using Tapatalk

can you get me the dimensions on those boxes? I ordered ... uhhmmm... "several" for pickup on Sunday. It's not gonna be pretty. I guess I won't be taking the smart car.

 

[AndrewV]

Just ordered the cart for 32 bucks!!!! Gotta love this thread

Wtf man.
Gift cards, on the sale price?

 

[bibman]

It listed for 32.22. I had a bunch of lowes cards with balances below 5 bucks... Out of pocket this was only 8 bucks!!!!!

 

[g2shuck]

I want that it set bad but none close

 

[Super Sport]

Stopped at the two Lowe's in town tonight. No Kobalt carts at either. The Jawhorse was marked at $80. No IR combo kits.

I did grab two IR 1770G 1/2" ratchets for $35 each at one store. They had another dozen or so in stock, just not out on the shelf.

 

[mrvm]

Just an FYi to whomever is interested in a Bosch 18-Volt Power Tool Battery Charger Item #: 304385 | Model #: BC630 Happy hunting

$3.20
Was: $16.00
Save 80%

 

[fred d]

Do you have links or SKUs for these? I can't seem to locate them on Lowes site.

315920 brush
315921 brush

83456. Chuck

 

[aarkie]

Found a Jawhorse at one store for the $39 price. All the other stores in the area are still at full price. I also picked up the last 1/2 IR 1770G ratchet they had for $14.40 (SKU 182464)