[US] Wal-Mart mid-year clearance/shelf reset

bmwlego

Nice @doubledbrick! I paid $60 and settled for that. I usually don't bite on something unless 50% off, especially on a parts pack like this.

sandtherapy

Yesterday I checked out a Walmart about 50 miles away from where I live.
On the clearance isle I found a handful of Lego sets marked at 30% off. When I scanned them however some of them were even less.

60005 City Fire Boat for $10.50
6873 Doc Ock Ambush for $10.50
7006 Chima Cragger's Command Ship for $26.50
60004 City Fire Station for $33.50
and the one that made me especially happy (cuz I wanted the bear really bad)
4440 Forest Police Station for $20

jamiew

My local WM had Hulk's Breakout at 30% off but that was about it

prevere

sandtherapy said:

Yesterday I checked out a Walmart about 50 miles away from where I live.
On the clearance isle I found a handful of Lego sets marked at 30% off. When I scanned them however some of them were even less.

60005 City Fire Boat for $10.50
6873 Doc Ock Ambush for $10.50
7006 Chima Cragger's Command Ship for $26.50
60004 City Fire Station for $33.50
and the one that made me especially happy (cuz I wanted the bear really bad)
4440 Forest Police Station for $20

Wowsers. Do you live in the middle of Death Valley or another remote area?

DoubleD

It does help to find a store in the middle of nowhere. That is where I find the best deals.

Goldchains

Wow that Doc Ock Ambush is a steal. Around 60% off. I wish I could find one for that. I would buy it immediately. Most of the Walmarts around here have now sold out of most of their clearance items and are stocking Summer sets.

juggles7

Several Wal-Marts in NC are still holding fast to their 30% off on some LOTR, Hobbit and Star Wars sets. Also a few Galaxy Squad sets. I know one store that's got several dozen of Gandalf Arrives, and I think it's unlikely shoppers will find them in their new home in the Garden shop! Some clever (or should-I-say devious) manager has them marked as $9 and the price stickers falsely claim the item "WAS $19.97", which is a lie; they were $12.99, tops.

gmpirate

^ Why do you assume its some "devious" plot? and a lie?

sandtherapy

@prevere Death Valley was a pretty good guess. I'm actually in the southwest corner of New Mexico. I would love to know if any other Brickset folks are anywhere near.

Brixy

@sandtherapy hey I'm in the rural southeast corner of az, right on near the NM border.

DavidBrickley

gmpirate said:

^ Why do you assume its some "devious" plot? and a lie?

Good point! Could be just straight-up stupidity, carelessness, apathy... all of the above?

scarecrow2400

@sandtherapy - se corner of NM here!

juggles7

It's a very old trick to falsely claim that an item was previously $19.99, so it's sale price of $9 seems a lot more appealing; it seems a savings of over 50%. But I, the consumer, and the retailer both know the item was only $12.99 and was never higher; was never $19.99, and the sale item is, in reality, only 30% off. If an ill-informed consumer buys, thinking he's getting 50% off (when he's actually getting 30% off) then he's been deceived or lied to. The retailer has used a deceptive practice, and has lied. But if you find my plain language to be too harsh, or your sympathies lie with the retailer, rather than the hapless consumer, just insert hot air, and replace "devious" and "lie" with your own choice of kindler, gentler euphemisms.

DoubleD

Maybe he work at TRU before he moved to Walmart. Then it could be true, lol.

Bumblepants

I wouldn't read too much into the signage. Much more likely it was a careless/incompetent presentation team than a devious plot.

Or maybe there really is a boss in the back room reclining in his oversized chair and cackling manically as Lil' Timmy falls prey to his clearance pricing scheme on the security feed.

juggles7

There was no signage, just price stickers and they were on several different Lego sets and themes, all showing false (is the term 'false' okay with you people?) previous prices. So I'll stick with my claim of a deceptive practice, knowing there's always bored people who will disagree just for the fun of it.

Back on topic, I found some Monster Fighters sets in Tallahassee, FL but selection was poor (no Castles or Swamp Monsters) and the discount was only 30% off.
























L,,

sandtherapy

@Brixy
@scarecrow2400
It's nice to know I'm now the only AFOL in in my neighborhood :)

gmpirate

juggles7 said:

There was no signage, just price stickers and they were on several different Lego sets and themes, all showing false (is the term 'false' okay with you people?) previous prices. So I'll stick with my claim of a deceptive practice, knowing there's always bored people who will disagree just for the fun of it.

Maybe an independent would try this given they are flying under the radar, but Walmart is hardly flying under the radar. I mean seriously, a company the size of Walmart is going to have the time to play games with the clearance prices of Lego??? On average, each store does around 100 million in sales a year. So yeah, I hardly think a store manager is going to sit down and devise a "devious" plan to entice some people to buy whats left of some clearance Lego. Or maybe its like you said. I'm just bored or possibly the manager at Walmart just got bored one night . . .

pvancil27

juggles7 said:

There was no signage, just price stickers and they were on several different Lego sets and themes, all showing false (is the term 'false' okay with you people?) previous prices. So I'll stick with my claim of a deceptive practice, knowing there's always bored people who will disagree just for the fun of it.

Back on topic, I found some Monster Fighters sets in Tallahassee, FL but selection was poor (no Castles or Swamp Monsters) and the discount was only 30% off.

Which store? Only one I even see clearance reliably on is the N Monroe store.

BuriedinBricks

Found a couple Escape from Mirkwood Spiders tucked away in a clearance shopping cart. Scanned at $15.

My nearby store still has like 6 copies of Attack of the Wargs at $35, but every single one of them has obviously been opened a resealed. They still have a few spider-wrapped Goblin King Battles as well at ~$70, but that's still too much for that set.

DoubleD

^ if you get lucky they will throw them in a 50 percent off shelf,

BulkheadX

I found some in clearance at my walmart and, if you scanned it with the walmart app, it would show the online price, the price at the nearest store, and you could look at the prices at other stores by clicking something. even had a barely accurate 'in stock' indication ('barely' as the Battle of Helms Deep I picked up for $89 was 'out of stock' where I got it lol)

joshuagay

Now now.... they usually knock at least 0.01 off the price when they "clearance" it at Wal-Mart. :-p

tensor said:

^Most retailers call that a "featured price." Obviously it couldn't be called a "sale price." The same can be said for why Walmart puts lots of things in "clearance" at their normal price. They expect people to ignorantly react to the big red sticker/shelf tag and say "Ooo, that must be a good price. After all, it's in the clearance aisle." Yes, these same people shop at TRU.

cody6268

In the local Walmart store, the discounted items are in two back isles near the lawn and garden and pet items. Of the three Walmarts nearest me, this one carries the most Lego. It's also less than five minutes from where I live. Usually, they mark Lego down around when Lego releases the next years set.

Brixy

So my walmart has had the clearance also in the garden center. I've been checking for a while on the stacks of weathertop and gungun subs ( both marked 40) but there were just empty tables. I asked the worker who showed me boxes of all the clearance toy not just Lego and said they would not be out again until the after Xmas sales. This is the 1st time I've known them to do this.

I did finally get the grandma cmf so the trip wasn't all bust.

psychopuppet

My Walmart in Camden, DE started finally marking the clearance stuff down. Got a couple Attack of the Wargs for $10.00 each and Riddles for the Ring for $3.00 each. Went for Milk and ended up with them. Can use the trees and Wargs for Halloween.

wagnerml2

There is a rural walmart near me that is LOADED. Everything has been 30% off for the last two months. Anyone know what the time limit is before they drop the percentage?

Brickarmor

^One day longer than eternity.

Kidding aside, every store has a different budget and varying leeway.

Thanos75

From what I know each store has a certain amount of clearance money depending on sales and size and things like that. Each store has a different amount. Every monday or tuesday the store manager gets together with all of the department managers and they go over the store and assign each department a monitary amount for clearance. Its then up to each manager to use the money how they see fit. When you get lucky is when the stuff is moved to the lawn and garden area. Thats a totally different manager then the toy section and they usually hate all of the stuff taking up their space so they are eager to get the stuff out of the door.

addemlit

There is An Unexpected Gathering for $50. The box is in new condition. And then the Goblin King Battle for I think $60. The box is damaged and open but is complete. Now I'm not too big on The Hobbit theme but for these prices it sounds like a steal. Should I pull the trigger?

jonboy2000

Surely only you can decide if you want them or not???

GIR3691

This is the thread you're looking for. http://www.bricksetforum.com/discussion/11374/us-wal-mart-mid-year-clearance-shelf-reset#latest

Devastator

Before you pull that trigger, take the damaged box, stick your nose up real close to the edge, and take a big ole whiff. Now if you get like a dog or cat food type smell coming from the box, you're going to want to avoid purchasing the item. Trust me...

margot

If you're not too big on The Hobbit then save your money.

piratemania7

Haha, ORRRRRR since it is Walmart just open the damaged box; visibly, so its not looking like you are a sneak and just see whats there. THEN, go to customer service and explain you know what it retails for and ask since it is so badly damaged if they can take another 10% off. As for Unexpected Gathering, its the best in that line IMO, so go for it. However, ultimately only you can decide your fate, I mean purchase.

GIR3691

I was in Walmart yesterday and they had a number of sets with "reduced price" stickers. I forget specifics, but the exclusive Doc Ock Ambush set was marked down, as well as about a dozen others that hadn't been before. Everything was around 20% off MSRP.

legogal

I, too, noticed that WM often marks up the original price on the sale sticker so that some sucker will think he got a really good deal. It bothers me a lot because I can easily check the price on my phone if I can't remember it, and know what the retail price is before falling for the fake sale price.

It doesn't matter to me why it happens. It is just plain wrong. Period.

Poor and or uneducated folks get hit the worst; those are the ones who suffer the most from such shenanigans.

augen

I picked up #6873 Spiderman's Doc Ock Ambush for $24 yesterday from Walmart, which I think is a bargain as it's £30 in the UK.

yys4u

I found #6864 Batmobile and the two face chase for $40 yesterday.

But I had a question, The price tag on the shelf had an extra tag hanging out letting you know the set was on sale, and the original price sticker had a scribble on it from a red marker. The quinjet sets next to it had the same red scribble on their price tags. Could this mean the quinjet is going to be discounted as well? I'm really interested in buying this set as I didn't pull the trigger when amazon had it for $55...

DoubleD

My mom picked up a Quinjet in August on clearance for 30 percent off at a Walmart, but It was only at marked down at 1 of the 4 around my house. So I would imagine after Christmas it would be marked down.

juggles7

I expect they'll be marked down IF you can find one. This is just guesswork, but I wouldn't wait too long on the Quinjet. It's been out of stock on and off at Shop at Home lately and Amazon is out of them. The Hulk Helicarrier set came out at the same time in mid-2012 and it is already gone. Given the Quinjet's history of discounts, I don't think it is a hot item, so Lego would have little reason to keep on making it. Don't forget what happened last year to those who waited for after-Christmas sales on Harry Potter sets. There were none.

pharmjod

After Christmas is going to be interesting this year. I spent a lot of money last year, but don't anticipate doing the same this year. I will be much more discriminatory with what I purchase at this point. Of course, that all depends on what they actually clearance out this year.

prevere

^I think you're seeing "discriminatory spending" across the board already. A couple examples are eBay prices for recently retired stuff, and current Amazon offerings with some nice discounts of 30% or higher that aren't selling out quickly.