@vowell1055: These are their clearance days - the red tagged items on the end-caps. The chances that you would pull an item from normal stock and find a super secret sale are probably slim to none.

Diet-Orange-Soda

@vowell1055: The sale is really for members of the secret club. Who's in the club? I could tell you, but I'd have to kill you.

SeanOHara

When I worked at Target years ago they would put the sale shelf tags for the prices in the Sunday flyer underneath the regular tags on Saturdays. It was a good way to see what was going to be put on sale.

trecool95

I've had several clearance items I bought at Target come up cheaper than they were marked. I've also had the same item come up cheaper at one Target over another. Basically I bought all the stock of an item at one Target, went to the other one to get more and it was the price as marked, not the cheaper price I got at the first Target. Talking to the manager got me nowhere, since the price was correctly marked. It was strange.

friendlynerd

This is great info, thanks for the heads up. There's always crazy discounts at these huge stores, but it's usually so hard to find them.

Benjo

What would be the purpose of having secret discounts on certain days of the week? I would think that the purpose of having a discount would be to increase sales. But that would require telling people about it. So, what gives?

vowell1055

Brillant! Target is my favorrite big box value store. I'm already there at least once a week. Now I can plan my purchases for maximum deals.

wolfsong

Is this just at the store, or online as well?

selfdestruct

I've never understood Target's "clearance" policies, but I've found some wicked deals on those endcaps where the red-tagged items go, and it's made Target my favorite omni-retailer as well.

E.G, the week that Guitar Hero III was released I found three third-party wireless guitar controllers for 12.98 ea. They had- and still have- the same item in Electronics for 49$!

I've found other similar awesome discounts, and I never go to Target now without cruising those endcaps.

VeeKaChu

@KogeLiz: I didn't know there were Super Targets. The two Targets around here basically stock milk, ice cream, cereal and snack food.

Diet-Orange-Soda

@randotheking:

Not so much. Their Market Pantry cereals, at least, are delicious and less than half what it could cost at the grocery store.

friendlynerd

@Diet-Orange-Soda:
I do. Living in the city, it's a pain to have commute from one store to another with bags of items.
Also, Super Target has an entire supermarket.
The regular ones have pretty much anything I need to pick up besides meat. It is also cheaper to pick up at Target than the Supermarkets around here.

KogeLiz

@randotheking:
Oh man, not where I'm from. Target it cheaper than any of the supermarkets here in Boston. Except maybe the creepy ones.

KogeLiz

I have a specific route i take through Target and it always is along the back side of aisles. I love me some Target clearance.

whiplashchick

@randotheking:

Not hardly. Birdseye steamfresh veggies 97 cents, Eggos a buck and a half, canned fruit, etc etc, I could go on and on, their prices are the best in town on many things, though granted not all.

gmanj

@randotheking: But who buys food at Target? We only do when we're there shopping for household items and media and need to pick up a gallon of milk or something.

Diet-Orange-Soda

@randotheking: Not where I'm from--their prices are FAR lower than several of the supermarkets.

schwnj

While my wife does her shopping I troll the end of the aisles for clearance items. I almost always come up with something that's a great deal.

aeronaut

Or you could save money all together and not shop at Target.

Target has the most expensive prices when it comes to food.

randotheking

@kelmeister:

I've seen a ton of stuff at the Goodwill that was clearly from Target, most of it still in the box. Unfortunately our Goodwill charges a pretty penny for it, so it would probably have been cheaper to catch it on clearance at Target.

friendlynerd

Target also supposedly donates merchandise to Goodwill. I have friends who got some really nice bargains in this way.

kelmeister

I worked at a Target for a year in FL. From my personal experience I don't recall these sales happening on specific days. I primarily worked in clothing and jewelry (what is known as softlines)... I recall marking down clearance items on any random day, including weekends. Maybe things have changed?
Check the endcaps for most clearance items though..and the new ad always went out on Saturday, so sometimes you got a sneak peek a day before on what was going on sale.

ChChChacos

@whosyourdaddy: "I was a store manager for Target for several years.... As the store manager I would give the store away if it would avoid a freaking complaint to anybody above my head."

So I guess someone finally called you on that huh... too bad I could have used a whole store....

Super targets are great for in between major grocery store runs.. and they have had some random deals that were crazy good deals...

DocGratis

WHOSYOURDADDY is exactly right. I'm a former store manager too and there are no 'secret clearance' items only items that were not ticketed either because the price change team ran out time or couldn't find the item on the shelf. It is a good idea to scan clearance items you are interested in as they may have missed being ticketed and are cheaper than indicated.

brian

I was a store manager for Target for several years. These are not secret sales, this is the schedule for clearance markdowns in those departments. The only reason an item would be "secretly" marked down without being stickered clearance is because the items which are set to be clearanced automatically get marked down in the system on the specified day, but if the pricing team is running behind schedule and doesn't get it stickered that day then it would ring up clearance without being marked clearance. If you truly want an insider guide on getting good deals, this is the best I have to offer...never buy a "seasonal" item during the season. EVERYTHING in the store will be clearanced out at the end of that season. People are constantly going into stores and hiding merchandise under the base decks of shelves or where ever they can and then coming back to buy the stuff when it goes clearance to 75% or more. Understand that the customer rules supreme at Target, complaints are taken very seriously and if you are really determined to get what you want...call the district manager. If you nicely complain and are determined in your point, you will get your way. As the store manager I would give the store away if it would avoid a freaking complaint to anybody above my head.

whosyourdaddy

The Target I shop at has great salsa selections.

sarabadara

If there are only 1 or 2 items of a clothing size left they will also place it on clearance. Even new styles will go on the clearance rack if they sell quickly. The children's dept. is a great place for items like this.

warmhart

I bought a copy of BioShock at Target, marked down by $10 already, and received a free in-store $10 gift card for my next purchase. The availability of the card was clearly marked on the price tag, so these are useful things to look for as well.

It ended up getting my dog free food the next week.

jhendrix84

The first rule of Target Discount Club: there is no Target Discount Club.

The second rule of Target Discount Club: THERE IS NO TARGET DISCOUNT CLUB.

RStewie

Looks like I'll be shopping at Target on Wednesdays. One of my friends works thee too, so there's even more discount!

AbstractConcept

i worked at target for 5 years and the clearance stuff was addicting. i found a box of AA battery 24 packs hidden in my backroom and they rang up at $2.24 each. i always use the price scanners to check clearance items cuz a third of the time the price is lower...

nowbrewing

@randotheking: Target might be pricey when it comes to food (I never checked that) but around here, at least, they have the best prices on name brand cosmetics anywhere.

infmom

More info on Target price hacking

[digg.com]

playdoh

@jhendrix84:

"It ended up getting my dog free food the next week."

I prefer dog-free food as well.

BrockBrockman

Another good price tip at Target is that if you find an item without a price tag and it's the last one there, you can usually get it for super-cheap. I got a rug there for $10 and a travel cosmetic case for $5. The rug was probably at least $25 regularly and the case at least $15. The cashiers have a certain amount of authority to just price these items really low to get them out of the store.

catperson

I have to chime in and say that the Super Target is absolutely the best around here on food prices, especially produce. I would shop there all the time, except that it is a good 20 minutes away. It still might be worth it.

snowmentality

It seems like Target puts items on clearance when the PACKAGING changes. I also have a routine of always checking the endcaps for clearance bargains.

ChrisC1234

I like how everyone talks about the great deals they got by just looking at the endcaps and buying things that were on sale. In reality, had you needed the item or even wanted it, you would have been looking for it, not just stumbling past it while browsing, so they got you to spend more than what you normally would have. Not exactly a great deal.

xtc46

Look closely at the prices. About two weeks ago I bought a shirt at Target for ~$3.50. This shirt was on clearance but the rack it was on was right next to a rack full of the same shirt for full price, $12.99. It was really cool but strange.

Mark

Mark

I always check the cosmetics end caps before buying things like shampoo. They put the specially marked packages on clearance. I end up getting the product with the bonus item cheaper than the regular packaged item on the shelf.
I was so happy when I saw Target when I moved to Australia. I am sad to report it is not the same as the one back home.

Kelebek

Unless you want to sat that everything that doesn't move might be up for clearance on Mondays, you are in need of a correction.

The word you were looking for is "stationery" not "stationary".

waltdakind

Actually, I go to Target looking for things that I need, but look on the ends first. If I can't find them on clearance, then I'll just get them on the regular shelf, plus I get really good deals because I clip coupons too.

ossum

I live in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area and Target definitely has the cheapest prices of any supermarkets around town. My guess is that Target generally sets their prices at a national level, which means that they will probably be cheaper than their competition in areas that have a higher cost of living.

I also have a Target Visa and get 10% off my groceries every once in a while (I really stock up when I get those). SuperTarget actually has a pretty good selection of food too.

rodie23

If you actually still buy physical copies of music any more check out Target on Tuesdays for new CD releases. They're usually heavily discounted and the price goes up over the next few days.

abeckstrom

My only Target tip is to watch the register like a hawk when they are ringing you up. Last time I was there they overcharged me almost $4.00 on 4 items that were on sale (in the flier, and clearly marked on the shelves). Sure that doesn't seem like much, and I was able to get a refund, but imagine how much $$ they make on customers that don't pay attention and trust that they will ring up the correct sale price.

applestocrapples

@whosyourdaddy: Yes: buy when the season is over! Last year my wife browsed the clearance section after the holidays and found a bunch of seasonal items marked down 90%. Ninety! She bought ten boxes of cake mix, marked down to $0.09 from $0.99. Nine cents! They were white cake with holiday-color sprinkles. Without the sprinkles, your holiday-season cake becomes regular white cake. Score!

Posco Grubb

save money by avoiding Target altogether and going to Walmart with the plebs.

Spaceboy

I worked at Target for a number of years on the Pricing Team. Like everyone else said the discounts are really just Clearance items. Here are some tips that might help:
1. The clearance prices don't update automatically. Someone from the pricing team must scan at least one item with that specific SKU for it to get marked down. So if see a someone marking down items, make sure they scan your clearance items before you check out. This insures that you have the lowest price. If the item you are buying hasn't been marked down in awhile because it was hidden or lost, then you could end up with a 90% clearance discount even if currently scans at only a 15% discount.
2. The clearance items are always found on the BACK ENDCAPS unless they are clearing out an entire planogram (aisle), then the clearance items will be in the aisle until they will fit on the back endcap.
3. The best time to look for clearance items is in the morning after the pricing team has gone through and marked everything down.
4. Take the items to a scanner to see what the price is. The item might have gotten missed during the mark down.
5. The discounts go from 15%->25%->50%->75% and after that the item is either trashed or sent back. After the 75% discount, there is an option for an additional markdown to 90%, but normally they just trash it.
6. Clothes that don't sell after the last clearance markdown are sent to goodwill (along with some other items). Goodwill came by at least once a week and pick up a lot of stuff.
7. We would always find good stuff in the stockroom when we did audits. If it had been back there long enough, it would be an instant 90% discount!!!

DipDog3

Maybe their stock of stationery would move better if they spelled it correctly with an 'e' and they might not have to put it in the secret Monday sale.

duncan7

@vowell1055: I thought the same - "clearance" pricing is supposed to motivate people to buy, but if they do not know easily about it, how does it motivate?

howardd21

@xtc46: Not necessarily. There are a lot of things people would like, but simply don't buy because they don't want it badly enough to pay the full asking price. Would I like an iPhone? Sure, it'd be cool, but would I pay half a grand for it? No way.

NakariaSan

dipdog wrote:
After the 75% discount, there is an option for an additional markdown to 90%, but normally they just trash it.

Being a life-long dumpster diver, are the trash cans easily accessible at Target, or are they the compacting kind that belong in action movies?

supermelodrama

You may really want to ask yourself, "do I REALLY need that item?"

Before making the purchase after watching this enlightening, yet sobering, 20 minute film:
the Story Of STUFF

Evelyn Vincent