EXPIRED: [US] Walmart: clearance, 50% Off

DJ_Blocks

Lol, funny, I was just there this weekend. There wasn't one set to buy at the time -- Cars stuff aside.

lol, I was at that same location last night. it's a small world after all.

scotty12

is there a specific day of the week when Walmart marks down all their toys?

I've been told it's Wednesdays. So when the day shift comes in at 7-8am, they start in repricing. Last week I talked to 3 different WM employees in the toy department that said they had 900 to 1,000 items to reprice. That figure might be a little high because of the 1rst day of WM 2012 calendar year.

sidersdd

One of my Walmarts was marking them down on Monday this week. There was a whole gaggle of workers in the clearance section scanning and tagging.

gmpirate

@sidersdd great, now I have to go check certain stores again . . . :(

brickupdate

I went to a different Walmart today - they had quite a few of the sets that others here mentioned being on sale. But... most everything rang up at full retail price. 10 photos of what I found: http://brickupdate.com/the-weirdness-of-lego-sales-at-walmart/

BrickDancer

^wow that is a well-stocked Walmart! I wish mine was that deep in inventory.

brickupdate

@BrickDancer I agree, but I think it's well stocked because everything is retail price. There are some Walmarts near me that have a TINY LEGO section. But the others have nice long LEGO aisles.

zipxan

Can someone explain Walmart's pricing patterns? I went through six walmarts in my area last week and picked up a bunch of stuff at half off:
frigate, falcon, police station, queen anne, city space launch, grievous, etc.
The black pearl had a red clearance tag at most of the stores but wasn't discounted yet. So I went back around this week, and all of those sets I previously bought at half off, were now restocked at full price in the lego aisle. They didn't just remove the tags either because in some stores, I got the last one of each of those sets.

So what gives? Is it that they had overstock in their regional warehouse and needed to clearance the in store stock to clear the warehouse for summer product? Otherwise I can't make sense of it.

DavidBrickley

I think you did an EXCELLENT job of making sense of it, what sense there is to make. I have multiple Wal-Marts within driving distance, and what is on clearance and by how much is all over the place. I think it varies by store, as the one store with the most discounts (and stock) is the one in an area that is very unlikely to have a lot of Lego sales, even at Christmas. Also, at this one store, the toy aisles themselves are half as long as I've seen in larger stores with a zero clearance.

Best not to dwell on the rhyme or reason, there really doesn't appear to be either. Just enjoy it when you make that incredible find or that huge score. :^)

dk1007

Black Pearl on sales at Paramount, Walmart in L.A. for $65. Hurry while supply last!

Odindusk

^ jeeze, Walmart is a state now? I knew they were getting out of control but this is nuts.

BrickDancer

@dk1007 how many were there?

dk1007

@brickDancer There are maybe 15 left.
@Odindusk Paramount, CA in Los Angeles County.

Dougout

My local store which is a supercenter has had nothing on clearance at all. The stores I have gotten stuff at have been marked down so randomly. First, one did 25-30% off on everything in the clearance isle, then they marked everything back to retail. Now they marked them down to 50% including Police Stations, Space Launch and Whitecap Bay. Theres another one I have gotten more at including one Podracer, Hagrids Hut, T-6 and Sith Infiltrator. I would love to get another Podracer and Millenium Falcon. The only problem is all the other Walmarts I have been to are usually fully stocked, almost overstocked, and have absolutely no deals. They are simply too far for me to drive to (unless I'm in the area) in the hopes I might score a Podracer, Falcon or maybe Hogwarts castle.

I assume some Walmarts are overstocked with certain sets and must clear out extra sets. Once their stock is low enough and they have enough shelf space, I'm assuming they can stop mark downs and stock its "current" line-up. I also think there is some confusion among employees about which sets to mark down. I have found a few Falcons, Hogwarts (4867) and other cool sets all in the "clearance" section but at full retail.

I've noticed inventory sheets taped to the shelves as well. After checking these, I realize they show which sets are supposed to be on the shelves with the new line-up. Usually when I cross check the sale sets with the inventory list they are not listed, so WM really must be getting rid of these sets to clear space for the new ones. JMO

BrickDancer

@dk1007 omg thank you so much for the heads-up! That was my best Walmart score so far. If you happened to buy the BP, my advice is to go back because I've persuaded them to lower it to 50%! I asked the Stocker nicely and he discounted everything to the max possible rate. I got the following:

PotC Blackpearl x6 @ $50 (50% off)
PotC Captains Cabin x1 @$5 (60% off)
City Harbour x2 @$45 (50% off)
City Marina x1 @$20 (60% off)
HP Hogwarts x2 @ $20 (60% off)
HP Forbidden Forest x2 (60% off)

Matthew

HP Hogwarts x2 @ $20 (60% off)
HP Forbidden Forest x2 (60% off)

Nice!

dk1007

@brickDancer thanks, do I need to ask them to lower the price when I go back? Or it scan $50 now? I wish I can get a City Harbour, it there anymore?

yys4u

Blackpearl times 6?? Did you leave any?

BrickDancer

He changed the stickers on all of the BlackPearls to be $50 after he helped me out. They had 1 more I think. Also some AQ and Creator sets, like the yellow sports car.

@yys4u there were about 12 more when I left. So did not clean them out. I had to practice a lot of restraint not to finish off the rest of the BP's tho at that price. Still itching to go back actually, but probably better I don't.

dk1007

All the black pearls are gone in just under 6 hours since I post, there is just one open box BP left. Man we are efficient here, Walmart should pay us for the advertising here.

vedder1029

Looks like my local WM finally pulled stuff from the back last night and put it out in the clearance aisles...

TONS of Kingdoms sets:

(All at 50%)

x 12 King's Carriage Ambush (got 4)
x 5 Escape from Dragon Prison (got 2)
x 20 Blacksmith (got 8)
x 5 Whitecap Bay (got 2)
x 10 Cannibal Escape
x 5 The Mill
x 1 T-6 (got 1)
x 1 Turbo Tank (got 1)

I'd love to make a trade with someone for a 4841 Hogwarts Express...

gmpirate

@vedder1029 What area/store?

I wish the forum could display our whereabouts under our id's. Would be very helpful. Hint, hint ;)

vedder1029

@gmpirate - East Coast - Maryland to be exact!

gmpirate

@vedder1029 bahhh . . .

yys4u

Darn I didn't get a chance to get a BP... oh well hopefully other stores will pull out hidden stock too.

wagnerml2

I picked up 2 7498 Police HQ and 2 7288 Police Mobile Units looking to trade them for an equal quantity of the following:

Creator Lighthouse
Creator Cabin
Turbo Tank
Anikan's Pod Race.

kks

@vedder1029 Where in Maryland? I have been checking several stores here every couple days for weeks and have only found one with any discounts and none at 50%. Also did you leave any? I have been looking for a Whitecap Bay and Black Pearl in particular.

vedder1029

@kks - Germantown/Frederick area.

I've honestly driven to about 15 different WM's in the last 2 weeks within a 50 mile radius and came up empty until today. I just happened to see them bringing pallets out from the stock rooms and leaving them in the clearance aisle last night. So, I checked back this morning and everything was out on the shelves!

cloaked7

I could be wrong, but for the WM's near my home, 6-7 of them, none seem to have excessive inventory. Most only have 2-3 each of the larger SW sets, as well as the BP and QAR. Beginning to doubt that I'll find any of them on sale any time soon. And, I when it happens I may not be there to know. I can't drive around to 6-7 WM's every few days checking for clearance. :-(

gmpirate

I'm hoping to hit a few Walmarts every other day to see if anything changes. There are still a lot that are fully stocked and have either not run any sales or very little. Hit one up last night and they actually had a pallet of Lego (and other toys) to put out. They actually had cases of AC to unload as well :P

Don't know where I would put anything else either. Storage is so expensive in California.

scratchdesk

Yeah, I've noticed a lot of junk coming out of the back. Saw a Temple of Doom today. They still had it for $90 so I passed. Walmart clearance prices fail again.

doodlebird

^ BL avg sale price over the last 6 months for the TOD is $137+. lowest available now is $149. i think i would snap it up at anywhere near MSRP. i love finds like that one.

i think all my local WMs (austin, tx) are cleared out of the clearance. my finds: half price marinas, whitecaps bays, Mack, geonosian starfighters, krusty crabs, ultimate build maters, and a couple of AC sets at 30-35% off, and a 2260 ice dragon for $7.50. was really hoping for a half price t-6 or m falcon... alas, twas not to be.

scratchdesk

Odd, I did a quick search on ebay while I was looking at it and it seemed to be about the going rate. I figured it would have been more at first glance.

graphite

I finally managed to find some good deals. I made a trip out a bit further than I normally would. Did ~300 miles over 8 hours and hit up 1 target, 1 kmart, and 1 TRU (with no finds) and a total of 8 WMs (2 of which were in my normal ones just because they were on the way back through town). Here is what I managed to get.

8098 Clone Turbo tank $59
8095 General Grievous' Starfighter $25
7930 Bounty Hunter Assault Gunship (x3) $25 ea
7931 T-6 Jedi Shuttle (x2) $30 ea
8084 Snowtrooper BP (x11) $5.90 ea
8083 Rebel Trooper BP (x3) $5.90 ea

4865 The Forbidden Forest (x2) $7 ea
4736 Freeing Dobby (x2) $5.40 ea
4866 The Knight Bus (x2) $17 ea
4738 Hagrid's Hut $19
4867 Hogwarts $35

7286 Prisoner Transport $21
7288 Mobile Police Unit $9

7326 Rise of the Sphinx (x2) $24.90 ea

$529.58 total with tax
7922 piece count ($0.067 a piece)
127 minifigs

lulwut

^^ Good haul. Gotta gamble to win big.

gmpirate

^^ Amazing. Seemed like all the battle packs were sold out on the 26th.

bmwlego

^^^@graphite
Your parts per piece count doesn't include cost of gas and the time spent on your hunt.
Great finds and dedication on your part. The lengths we travel for cheap LEGO!

Jenni

@gmpirate my closest WM has about 50 battle packs in the clearance aisle, the price isn't marked and I haven't bothered to check it, so price may be the reason they're still there.

For those, like me, who didn't get broad sales (no HP, no BP, no MF, etc) I did find London Escape half price yesterday, it may be worth checking.

Dougout

When you check prices on ebay or such make sure you search completed auctions otherwise you may be looking at auctions that haven't finished and thus have a lower selling price.

Nice haul @graphite, I like personally like almost all those sets. 8 hours is not a bad time depending on how much time you spent deciding on what you wanted, and how far away each store was.

Just thought I would mention my buddy grabbed a Hogwarts (4842) for $65 at a WM that pretty much hasn't done any sales at all when I was checking. Hope is still out there

brickupdate

Good point by @bmwlego on cost of gas and time, though it's hard to calculate that for ANY hobby, because you can't really calculate the joy you receive in terms of dollars and cents either.

I'd figure @graphite spent $30 or so on gas, and then we would each have to estimate the cost of a day for each of us. EG: what else could we have gotten done in that time.

This is where it can get fun - consultants and lawyers likely have more experience here. How much is your downtime worth? $10 an hour? $50 and hour? $150 and hour? At $50 an hour, that works out to $400. At $10 an hour, it's $80.

Also: it's fun playing with the calculator!
:)

graphite

That trip for me was basically my friday night which probably would have accomplished less than I did on the Walmart trip. It wouldnt begin to be worth it if I would normally have spent that time say contracting out for what I do for work. But I get enough work at work and wouldn't want to spend my offtime doing it as well.

Gas was probably $35 which would put the Turbo Tank at $94 and everything else at listed prices so it was still a good haul for me. I check prices on completed auctions on pretty much everything I buy and for the most part I don't buy stuff if I wouldn't be happy if I ended up with it not selling. Like all the snowtrooper packs are worth it just for the army of minifigs so if they dont sell I'll just come up with a project for them. I've bought a few of the Pharaoh sets but for the most part I don't pick those up or the alien ones (mother ship etc) cause I don't feel those would sell well and they aren't ones I would build and display with the rest of my stuff.

yys4u

Well I finally found a snow trooper battle pack. Only it rang up at full price....

Pacific493

I stopped by a WM to return some stuff today and checked out the clearance aisle. They had the SIth Infiltrator, T-6, and AQ Mothership for 50%. I passed on all of them.

avoiceoreason

^Sith Infiltrator is a new one. My kids would actually like that one, so I may be back to making the Wal-Mart rounds after having sworn them off.

gmpirate

@pacific493 where at?

gmpirate

Went to 5 Walmarts last night (3 of which I'd never been to kind of out of the way). Picked up a few sets including 3 beat up Burrows. All of them were pretty well stocked with nothing really on sale. The interesting thing was they all had pallets of Lego ready to go out -- Frigates, Whitecaps, all the smaller PotC, AC, etc. I don't remember everything but much of the stuff we thought they were clearing for new stuff is being reloaded.

cloaked7

I don't think I will ever figure out this WM clearance thing. It's simply too all over the board. No rhyme or reason that I can find.

Dougout

One of my out of the way walmarts had about 8 millenium falcons two weeks ago in the clearance isle. They rang up at retail at the time but were all gone yesterday. I could tell someone else was checking on them because one was left by the scanner the first time I visited.

cloaked7

Unfortunately, the early bird gets the worm. Getting the MF half off would probably attract a lot of interest from pretty much any customer that noticed them. And, most WM's have a lot of people in the toy dept on the weekend. Just saying, it could have been one person that bought all 8 or several people. Most of the WM's in my area only have 2-3 MF's, so I think I would need to be there the morning they are marked down to get any. And, I doubt that will happen.

Dougout

Yea, that's why I didn't get any MFs. The WM was too far for me to check up on everyday. I don't know if someone got all of them, I bet it was only one or two people grabbing a bunch, but I know they left very happy. If I got some I could have ended my WM hunting satisfied. Oh well...