Deal or No Deal?

How many times have you gone to the mall looking to find the perfect outfit for a special occasion and ended up going home empty handed and upset?…too many to count right? Or maybe you found everything you weren’t looking for, but everything you wanted and went broke…tragic. Lol I’ve seen this happen to too many people. I have a few tips to make your shopping trip successful and how to get more BANG for your BUCK!

First off…let’s get something straight…there’s a big difference between Clearance and Sale! In my opinion, clearance is better because once an item is marked down it stays that price or may be marked down lower. Sales are only temporary and items may vary over limited time periods. For example, one weekend an item may be BOGO free and then that sale ends at the beginning of the week. Then the next weekend the item may be just 50% off.

I don’t want to completely shade “sale offers” because I have purchased several items on sale and received a great deal on them. I find that sale offers are more beneficial on shoes. Shoes tend to be more expensive than clothing, so any amount of money off is a deal.

When shopping always look at the signage placed around the store. Buy One Get one’s and any percentage off is always a plus. I do have to warn you to beware of certain sale offers. Some retail stores jack up prices on items before debuting a sale…tricking you into paying the original price if not more. Do your research before buying an item on sale…you’ll find that some sales are not worth it.

The first thing I do when I go into a store is walk straight to the clearance section. I know that sounds a little off-putting, but trust me the clearance section is more exciting than the rest of the store. You’ll never know what you will find. I ALWAYS find it better than regular-priced items and this isn’t because of the price, but because of the unique nature of the items I find in clearance. Clearance includes items from previous seasons and eliminates the chance of someone else purchasing the same item as you.

As I stated before once an item is marked down and put in clearance the price will NEVER go back up. You may even get lucky and find a sale within the clearance section…I call this a DOUBLE DEAL. For example, I was recently at Forever 21 and their clearance section was full of items that were 30-60% off. I also received an additional 30% off on top of that.

Working in retail really helped me to notice how many hidden gems are placed into the clearance section. Retail businesses send a list of items that need to be pulled off the floor, marked down, and placed into the designated clearance section.

Items are marked down for several reasons. Season shifts, increase sales, and to reduce inventory.

Season shifts are my favorite because shopping off-season is good for planning your future wardrobe. You’ll have a wardrobe for each season at a lower cost.

Fall season = summer items are on sale or clearance

Winter season= fall season items are on sale or clearance

Spring season =winter items are on sale or clearance

Summer season= spring items are on sale or clearance

Retail stores place items in clearance to reduce inventory. Vendors may send too many of one type of item that may not be selling fast enough and room may be needed for a newer item. I have witnessed a brand new item being out on the floor for a few weeks and customers not purchase it. When this happens the items may be pulled and marked down. So, if you have an eye on an item and the price is not what you want to pay…there’s a chance to pay less for it…so keep checking!

Increasing sales is an important part of business. Most retail stores use a sales metric called UPT or units per transactions. This is the amount of items a customer purchases during a single transactions. Clearance drives the UPT up. If you have a section of items at a lower cost then more items will be bought.

The next time you go shopping, challenge yourself…avoid buying items full priced. Follow these simple tips. You will be amazed at how much money you save and most importantly you’ll know what’s a deal and what’s not a deal.