Home Depot’s clearance sections don’t get nearly as much traffic as stores like Walmart or Target. This is understandable as shopper going to Home Depot already know what they’re looking for, and not likely motivated to buy a lighting fixture, or lawn mower blades on clearance.
As a result, you can get Home Depot clearance items at huge discounts. In fact, all clearance items will be priced to 1 cent if it doesn’t sell at end of clearance! I’ll explain below.
First we should understand how Home Depot clearance pricing works:
Home Depot Clearance Pricing Guide
You can find clearance price items in the isle end-cap clearance sections, sometimes in the isles themselves, or at random places where it doesn’t seem to below (These have the best chance of being discounted to 1 cent. I’ll explain in a minute).
Home depot decides to clearance items on a national store wide level. When an item or line goes on clearance, it will be discounted at progressively higher percentages over a period of usually 6 to 9 months. So if Home Depot decides to clearance out a light fixture in March, it will initially be discounted 25%, then 50% in June, 75% in September.
Here are the Clearance price codes.
$xx.x6 = 50% off
$xx.x3 = 75% off
If the light fixture hasn’t sold by June at 75% off, the item will be priced at $0.01 in the computer system, and someone at the store is supposed to pull it off the shelf for the item to be destroyed. If you can beat the store employee to find item before it can be pulled off the shelf, you can buy that item for $0.01.
Each time a clearance item is discounted, an employee has to create a new pricing sticker, find the item in store, and place the new price sticker over the old one.
As you can tell, with a Home Depot store of over 100,000 items, items are misplaced at wrong locations all the time. So if an employee can’t find the item to stick on the new price sticker, the item will be at a lower price in the computer system than the price tag.
So don’t always trust the sticker price of a clearance item. It might ring up at a lower price.
Clearance Item Price Tags Born On Date
Every clearance price tag has a Born-On-Date, it indicates the first day the item was put on clearance. Why do we care about this? We can determine how long an item has been on clearance, and if it’s longer than 4 or 5 months, there is a good chance it will be at least 50% off. If it’s longer than 6 months, it might be priced as a penny in the system.
Check an Item’s Real Price with Pro Desk
If the price tag of a clearance item is wrong, how do I check the item’s real price?
Good question. Home depot doesn’t offer in-aisle price checkers, but their Self-Checkout machines offer an option to price check an item.
This is not the best way though, as you might have to wait in line, and it’s not practical to take a cart-full of items just to price check.
Don’t try to price check on HomeDepot.com, as the price on there always shows the full-retail price, even though it’s on clearance in store.
The best way is to write down the item’s UPC code, or the Home Depot SKU. Then use one of the computers at the Pro-Desk. These computers are for customers to use, and they’ll be facing outwards.
There is a “Price Check” application, where you can search by typing in the SKU, UPC or Item’s name.
The great thing about the computers are the Pro-Desk is that you can search the store catalog for an item you want to buy, and it’ll return all items that match the search criteria, with lowest price first. As you can see with the picture below, it shows many 1 penny items!
Strategy to Find and Buy Penny Items.
Here are some strategies I’ve used to find penny items. It takes some patience and practice. Over time, your success rate of finding 1 cent items will increase.
1. Go to the clearance section of the store, and look for clearance tags with Born-On-Date of 5+ months. These will have the lowest prices.
2. Write down all the SKU numbers, or just be lazy and take a picture of the price tag, which will the SKU on it.
3. Go to the Pro Desk Computer, and search the item by SKU. The real price will show up on the search result.
4. Most of the time, the price shown on the Computer will match the price tag. If the item shows a lower price, you’ve scored an item at a price no one else knows about. If an item does not show up at all in the system, that item is priced a penny.
I would find every last one of that item in store, and then checkout.
If an item does not show up at all in the system, that item is priced a penny.
I would find every last one of that item in store, and then checkout.
Home Depot May Deny Selling You the Penny Item
Technically, if you find a penny item in store, Home Depot was supposed to have pulled and destroyed the item, and it’s no longer for sale.
To avoid hassle and scrutiny, always go through Self Checkout line, and add a couple of non-penny items to avoid suspicion.
Go through check-out quickly, and try to go when the self-checkout employee is busy.
When you scan the penny item, it may pop up a message that you’ll need an employee assistance to check out the item. Ignore this message and continue to scan rest of your items, and pay as quickly as possible.
If the self-checkout employee happens to comes over, and tells you the penny items are not for sale anymore, just be calm, friendly, and tell them you didn’t know and would like to buy the item.
Most of the time, they will just let you have the item, as they were supposed to throw it in the trash anyways. (They’re contractually obligated to the manufacturer to destroy the item if it doesn’t sell within a certain time frame)
Got any stories or tips on Home Depot Clearance? Share it in the comments below. I’d love to hear about it
no stories or tips, but thank you for the info!
well, I do have a question. Will the scanner in app give the true clearance price? I may find out later today (1-6-2020), first time looking for penny items at Home Depot 🙂
Yes, when you scan the item at the scanners located throughout the store. It will give the actual price, even if it’s a penny.
The Home Depot App does NOT scan clearance price. You need to check on computer in store. Sone employees carry store scanners and can look up the sku. I always say I’m checking to see if they have ithe item in stock instead saying “price check”. Watch their screen when it comes up and you’ll see price.
Any Home Depot location in special?!?!?
All of them
The store will not sell you a .01 item. You must buy it without a cashier knowing.
How do you buy it without the cashier knowing?
Self checkout mixed amongst other regular priced items.
They are supposed to and I would call the district office if they don’t, The reason they won’t is because those items should have been pulled off the floor and selling you that penny item alerts district that someone’s not doing there job.
What is overhead management pallets
Overhead management is a way to track and inventory stock that is on pallets up in the racking. Nothing to do with clearance.
Hi, did your method and used the pro computers and found item for 1 penny. Found the item on shelf but it scanned at full price. Check the SKU and barcode number. Any reason why this happened? Thanks.
Need to scan the yellow label produced by Home Depot. Not the upc on the item itself.
I bought several items of one UPC on clearance at two different stores. There’s another store nearby that has inventory on that same UPC but they are not marked down at the 3rd store. Any idea why?
Pricing comes in waves and pricing deadlines are usually by 10 AM on Friday mornings. I usually start my week off with clearance but every store is different and may wait until that Friday to take the price.
I actually do pricing and keep track of clearance items at my store. My days start at 5 AM and I will hunt penny items like a Wolf before the doors open to the customers.
Trent I do the same n then buy em
Give us people a break we always have to pay the high prices due to thieves!
I found penny items in a home depot cart today and they wouldnt sell them to me. They have to be sent back.
They don’t get sent back, they go in the dumpster. Ever tried dumpster diving? It’s a game changer!
Well… you can’t really do that since we run trash compactors for our trash disposal. Everything gets crushed into dust inside a SEALED roll off dumpster.
Found 4 flats of multiple items today (August 31, 2020) marked with a clearance date of jan, 14 2019 and july 7 2019. Dusty, dirty from over a year sitting on the clearance rack. Not only did they NOT ring up a penny, but they didn’t even ring up with the yellow tag clearance price. Rang at FULL original price. Very bummed. Oh and our HD doesn’t have the ProService computer to do lookups. ProService is a one on one across the desk meeting with an associate. No HD penny shopping in my town.
I’ve never heard of $.01 Sku items until today. I found a clearance item and put it in my cart with other items. Clearance gal employee was tidying up the area. I asked her to check the price and she told me it’s a $.01 Sku item and I couldn’t buy it and took it out of my cart. I asked where’s the other Home Depot that has this item. She told me I couldn’t order it online and it’s not available in 100 mile radius. I asked to speak to the manager but he never came. The gal called him on her phone and came back saying he’s in a meeting and he said the same thing we can’t sell it to you. I left feeling very didappointed. I was going to write to HD to complain. I thought I’d ask Google if it had info on $.01 Sku at Home Depot and this is where it brought me. Now I’m really upset that it WAS sellable but the gal took it so I couldn’t buy it.
Got 2 $149 Hunter ceiling fans for $.01 each.
Scored thank you for the tip!!
I have one question… Did any of u even read the damn passage? You’re literally asking obvious questions that could have been answered had u guys actually read… Tf
Right, lol
I’ve been penny shopping at Home Depot for about 5 or 6 years now I know all the tricks you are talking about and I got one more for you I always go over to the clearance section and try to look behind it or in back of the shelf and look for a dusty item that has been there a long time. If u find a dusty item behind kind of underneath the shelf there is a good chance it a penny. When you check out if they mess with you just tell them that you don’t care about the penny and will pay full price( they can’t charge u more then a penny.)
Say “ I spend a lot of money here and your going to make me go sonewere else to find annitem that you have in stock..) they’ll probably give it to u
What if I buy an item at 75% off because of the born on date, and while I get home I see that the penny date is nearing so I take it back with just days to go to hit the penny. What are the chances I get that item for a penny if they put it back on the shelf?
Got a microwave for a penny then returned it the next day an got $598 in store credit , heck ya super score
Your a crook! NOT a bargain hunter.
I work for HD and someone literally walked out with $2k of cabinets for $5. They were literally marked down to .25 each!!! Seriously!
Another guy wanted to return a ton of light fixtures today with no receipt. It was 2 years since bought and he only would have received. 01 for each one.
It’s so hit and miss.
Can i shop this online?
I ordered a patio set online about 2 weeks ago. This was a big sale 4 cushion chairs wurh a fire pit table. Originally priced at 888.00 but paid 59.00. Was wondering if this sale is legit as it said it was coming from hongkong
I too ordered the same. Check my email after I ordered it and it DID confirmed the order…
Did you ever get the 5 piece set delivered?
I have the HD app on my iPhone with scanning, will this show penny items?