[US] 2013 Year End Clearance

OUWxGuesser · December 2013

#30106 and #30270 down to $1.19 in the holiday section (70% off). Note that our store had them still marked at 50% so it's worth a scan.

bsiu922 · December 2013

both Target near my home are pretty much wipe clean for the 30270

scotty12 · January 2014

My local Target was 15% off LEGO sets (Hobbit Goblin King, LOTR Pirate Ambush, a few Galaxy Squad) stayed at 15%off but the Ninjago Ultra Sonic Raider went from 15% off to 50% today. ($39.98)

nkx1 · January 2014

I got a TIE Fighter #9492 for $41 and a Galactic Titan #70709 for $50 at the LA Beverly Target in Los Angeles. There were multiples of these sets there, as well as various other smaller sets I can't remember, on clearance. Unfortunately I forgot my Red Card :(

galahad2309 · January 2014

$40 Ninjago Ultra sonic Raiders at one Target, and $50 Castle sets at another.

bsiu922 · January 2014

saw a few star wars lego sets are 15% off too

scotty12 said:
My local Target was 15% off LEGO sets (Hobbit Goblin King, LOTR Pirate Ambush, a few Galaxy Squad) stayed at 15%off but the Ninjago Ultra Sonic Raider went from 15% off to 50% today. ($39.98)

ninjagolightly · January 2014

What is Walmart playing at? Both in my area had completely purged the shelves of old sets, leaving only a smattering of new Ninjago and LEGO Movie and the newer Chima. There is no evidence at all of any clearancing... all the shelf tags are still there at full price, and random refugee sets plucked from surrounding shelves all scan at full price, including the SPongebob stuff that has not moved a single unit in 2 years. There is nothing in the clearance section, and no place it could have ever been there from the look of it. It takes these WMs till late February to clear out their stock usually, with sets dropping to 70 off not infrequently, I fail to see how they could have magically sold them all this year. So what gives? are they sticking them in a container until next Christmas? Did they run some crazy NYD sale that hasn't been reported from any other WMs, with stickers only and no shelf tagging and an immediate price reset afterward? Any WM experts have an insight into this? There are also no shelf guides taped up the way you usually see in a reset.

1265 · January 2014

^^
My guess is that WM finally figured out inventory management to maximize profit and minimize loss.

adol7 · January 2014

3 Targets, found 1 Castle @ $99.99 :(

Thanos75 · January 2014

I saw a castle at the Target that I found the Forrest Station at. Never did scan it.

scotty12 · January 2014

Only the Ninjago got the lower clearance tags this week. Everything else stayed at 15%off. #9449 got lowered to $39.98 and found 2 #9450 today at $59.98.

krklint · January 2014

when checking at Target for the holiday polys at discount, remember to go through the toy aisles. I did so at the Targets around Miami, and at one of them I found 85 of the Friends Ice Cream Stand poly in a random toy aisle. A worker had stacked them in the wrong location. Price was the $1.19 holiday clearance price, too!

Also, at another Target, the Holiday Train poly wasn't showing up on the walkway price scanners. I took it to checkout, and $1.19 was the price. Have fun searching the stores :D

kwkw · January 2014

2 targets, 3 kraang polys for $1.19...meh... anyone want to trade?

gmpirate · January 2014

ninjagolightly said:
What is Walmart playing at? Both in my area had completely purged the shelves of old sets, leaving only a smattering of new Ninjago and LEGO Movie and the newer Chima. There is no evidence at all of any clearancing... all the shelf tags are still there at full price, and random refugee sets plucked from surrounding shelves all scan at full price, including the SPongebob stuff that has not moved a single unit in 2 years. There is nothing in the clearance section, and no place it could have ever been there from the look of it. It takes these WMs till late February to clear out their stock usually, with sets dropping to 70 off not infrequently, I fail to see how they could have magically sold them all this year. So what gives? are they sticking them in a container until next Christmas? Did they run some crazy NYD sale that hasn't been reported from any other WMs, with stickers only and no shelf tagging and an immediate price reset afterward? Any WM experts have an insight into this? There are also no shelf guides taped up the way you usually see in a reset.

Maybe your preference is to only read the end of every thread, but if you were so inclined to read deeper you would see numerous posts explaining how Walmart works as well as other retailers. The "Walmart Clearance" thread in the shopping section would be one of such threads :)

ninjagolightly · January 2014

Maybe your preference is to leave snarky and unhelpful replies.
I have read a lot about Walmart from seemingly well-informed folks in a lot of threads, although it is possible I have missed some, and I was hoping for some insight for such people on this situation, to help me judge how often it is worth swinging by in the weeks ahead.

I just scanned through several pages of the "shopping section" (I assume by that you mean "Shopping USA/Canada" subforum) and also did a search, and I'm not sure which thread in particular you mean as I do not find one called "Walmart Clearance", but in any case I asked the question because it did not seem to fit with any pattern I had observed in the past or read about. I believe the purpose of these forums is to share and seek information and I fail to see how your post advances that purpose.

tamamahm · January 2014

This shopping season did not fit any pattern.

If your Walmart was anything like mine, the shelves were quite bare of Lego 1.5 weeks before Christmas. I said this before Christmas, but I did not expect after Christmas sales with all the huge Lego deals out their before Christmas.

No reason to clearance stock if you do not have stock or only have little stock.

I would assume those that did have stock would have simply moved items off the floor for now. They were probably store anomalies compared to most other Walmart store, so there probably was not any corporate directive to discount. Either they will discount later or not discount at all.

Whatever the case is, Walmart is not playing at anything, and yes, most stores by me did get rid of most their inventory well before now. Big Box stores just went a very different direction this year.

red237 · January 2014

Saw a bunch of storage containers/trailors in the parking lot of a local WM today, and the toy woman said they had loaded a lot of overstock out there this year instead. For what purpose, she didn't know :(

RomanticWarrior · January 2014

Was at Kroger and found several of the $12-13 sets from various themes for $3.50-4.00.

ninjagolightly · January 2014

Thanks, tamamahm!

Zon · January 2014

90% off Christmas stuff today at Target - scooped up 2x Friends polys and 7x TMNT polys for $0.39 each.

ecmo47 · January 2014

^ I left them for you! They were $1.19 yesterday but did nab a Umbraan (SP?) tank for 30% off.

LEGOCollector2504 · January 2014

Grabbed a Malibu Mansion Attack at Sam's Club today for $15. Apparently it was a post-Christmas return.

margot · January 2014

I got a .39 cent Kraang poly, woohoo. (sarcasm)

BTHodgeman · January 2014

My guess is that Walmart got (much) better at inventory management this year. The 30% off sale on Saturday of Thanksgiving weekend certainly didn't hurt. Up here, the shelves were pretty wiped after that event.

I'd next to guarantee that the stores aren't pulling the stuff and storing it in a container until next year. They usually at least try to put them in the clearance aisle/area for a while and try to sell them at full price before they pull them to the backroom.

Decker · January 2014

I was at Target tonight and found 1 #79107 Comanche Camp for $13.98 and 1 #79006 Council of Elrond for $9.98. They also had 4 #79110 for $9.98 but that was more than I wanted to pay for the Silver Mine Shootout

legomason · January 2014

@Decker Is that 79110 price a typo? 49.98?

Thanos75 · January 2014

I found a couple of sets that were marked down 50% today at Target...nothing big but.....#41001 Mia's majic Tricks..$4.98 ....#9491 Geonosian Cannon $9.98 .... and #70706 Crater Creeper $9.98

madforLEGO · January 2014

margot said:
I got a .39 cent Kraang poly, woohoo. (sarcasm)

Man, I had to pay a whole 2.79 for mine when I found them (more sarcasm), but that was some time ago, doubt they still have them there now. Glad I found one for a good price (not as good as .39 cents, but I am not going to run to Target every week to see if there are Krangs on discount :) ), I bought 3, and there were plenty left

scotty12 · January 2014

I don't think I'd wait too long...eventually Target raises them back to full price of $3.99...at least that's what the Targets around here have done as soon as they get rid of the seasonal clearance. I was going to pick up a bunch of Umbaran after Halloween when they were in the checkout aisles for $1.19 and went back 2 days later and they rang up full price.

BTHodgeman · January 2014

@scotty12 - That's an interesting experience with the post-holiday clearance. I've never seen that happen with an item that is coded as Seasonal in their system. Holiday items are supposed to get 3 markdowns (15/30/50, 30/50/70, or 50/70/90, depending on category) and then be salvaged.

Technically, sometime this week (probably Wednesday), all remaining Christmas items will actually be coded as salvaged and sent to local Goodwill (or other thrift) stores.

If you find one on the shelves after it has been salvaged, it will not scan at the price scanner, and at the register, it will either say "item not found" OR prompt the cashier to enter a price. I've gotten many many "salvaged" items sold to me for $.01 or $1 depending on the supervisor/manager.

Technically, they're not supposed to sell them to you, but most of the time they do.

I have seen it before where a couple months down the road, they find a box of a certain item somewhere, and put it on the shelves at full price.

Decker · January 2014

legomason said:
@Decker Is that 79110 price a typo? 49.98?

Yes...typo. My bad. The price was $49.98. Sorry.

adol7 · January 2014

BTHodgeman said:

If you find one on the shelves after it has been salvaged, it will not scan at the price scanner, and at the register, it will either say "item not found" OR prompt the cashier to enter a price. I've gotten many many "salvaged" items sold to me for $.01 or $1 depending on the supervisor/manager.

Technically, they're not supposed to sell them to you, but most of the time they do.

Yeah, the last couple of holidays where I found a stray poly that wasn't ringing up, they just took it and said it couldn't be sold. :( Too bad there aren't sticker prices on them so they could at least sell it at what it was last priced.
I haven't bothered tracking down a manager...yet.

LegoFanTexas · January 2014

^ Why would they bother taking it away and not selling it?

First, it was a $4 item at full price, then it was marked down. Now it is so old it isn't even in the system anymore.

Frankly, why not just give it to you. :)

adol7 · January 2014

Can't argue with that, unless you work for Target. :p

Poochy · January 2014

I've been told by both a Toy Dept Manager as well as a Store Manager (at different stores) that these salvaged items cannot be sold, no matter what. Seeing that other stores had no problems doing so, it appears to be highly YMMV :).

BTHodgeman · January 2014

It really does depend on the store, although I have never had them outright tell me that they can't sell the item. What always varies is the price. Sometimes cashiers ask me what I'm willing to pay, and I always tell them 1 cent.

@LegoFanTexas - I think what happens behind the scenes is they "mark the items back up" before donating them, so they can claim the largest amount of a donation.

In doing so, they likely look at their on-hands, mark the items back up, "donate" the inventory and corresponding dollar amound, and reduce the on-hand to 0. That essentially clears the books for the entire Seasonal/Holiday category.

The reason they tell some people the item "can't be sold" is because it would create a negative on-hand for the store, which can result in inventory numbers being goofed up and P&L implications.

It doesn't seem like much for a single item... but multiply that times 2000 stores and millions of transactions, and it could add up to millions of dollars a year for Target Corp.

nkx1 · January 2014

^If the negative on-hand inventory rationale is as you say, perhaps they should consider hiring new people for executive positions. Foregoing an opportunity to sell a retail item at full price (or any price if no one is otherwise going to purchase the item), when you are a retail store, doesn't seem like the brightest idea I've heard today. In actuality, maybe the retail-level staff and/or management needs to be better trained on how to better negotiate situations like this.

Multiply lost sales by "2,000 stores and millions of transactions", and that's millions of dollars of opportunity cost, both to generate revenue, and to build goodwill with your customers.

LegoFanTexas · January 2014

BTHodgeman said:
@LegoFanTexas - I think what happens behind the scenes is they "mark the items back up" before donating them, so they can claim the largest amount of a donation.

Yes, but that isn't how charity donations work.

As a business, you can only write off what you paid for the inventory, not what you "wish you sold it for".

Sometimes for old or hard to price items, you can write off fair market value, but if you didn't sell them for 39 cents each, then it is hard to say FMV is $4. :)

For example, if I donated a UCS Falcon that I paid $500 for, it would be reasonable at this point to take a $2,500 tax write-off, that is clearly FMV. These polybags don't really meet that requirement. :)

Note: I'm not a CPA and I don't play one on TV, but I have donated tens of thousands of dollars worth of inventory over the years and taken a lot of write offs, and I do have a CPA do my taxes. :)

BTHodgeman · January 2014

nkx1 said:
^If the negative on-hand inventory rationale is as you say, perhaps they should consider hiring new people for executive positions. Foregoing an opportunity to sell a retail item at full price (or any price if no one is otherwise going to purchase the item), when you are a retail store, doesn't seem like the brightest idea I've heard today. In actuality, maybe the retail-level staff and/or management needs to be better trained on how to better negotiate situations like this.

Multiply lost sales by "2,000 stores and millions of transactions", and that's millions of dollars of opportunity cost, both to generate revenue, and to build goodwill with your customers.

Or is it? When Target has an item marked down to 90% off, they are certainly losing money on that item.

When they can mark it back up* (reply due to LFT in a moment), they are going to make more money on the tax write-off than they are by selling that item.

Realizing that they are primarily in business to sell items, not donate them, they do reasonably try to sell them for a few days at 90% off. The goal here is to minimize the work they need to do in processing the goods to be donated. (The process of marking items back up to count then, package them, and in some cases deliver them to a charity often costs quite a bit in labor.)

BTHodgeman · January 2014

LegoFanTexas said:

BTHodgeman said:
@LegoFanTexas - I think what happens behind the scenes is they "mark the items back up" before donating them, so they can claim the largest amount of a donation.
Yes, but that isn't how charity donations work.

As a business, you can only write off what you paid for the inventory, not what you "wish you sold it for".

Sometimes for old or hard to price items, you can write off fair market value, but if you didn't sell them for 39 cents each, then it is hard to say FMV is $4. :)

For example, if I donated a UCS Falcon that I paid $500 for, it would be reasonable at this point to take a $2,500 tax write-off, that is clearly FMV. These polybags don't really meet that requirement. :)

Note: I'm not a CPA and I don't play one on TV, but I have donated tens of thousands of dollars worth of inventory over the years and taken a lot of write offs, and I do have a CPA do my taxes. :)

Sorry that I wasn't clearer in my original post. I understand that they can't necessarily claim the entire $4 as donated.

At the very least, however, they can claim whatever they paid for it, which is certainly more than $.39. Maybe more in the range of $2-ish.

LegoFanTexas · January 2014

BTHodgeman said:
Sorry that I wasn't clearer in my original post. I understand that they can't necessarily claim the entire $4 as donated.

At the very least, however, they can claim whatever they paid for it, which is certainly more than $.39. Maybe more in the range of $2-ish.

That is true, but keep in mind that they can claim that even if they sell it for 39 cents.

Lets say Target actually did pay $2 each. When they sell them for 39 cents, they record COGS (Cost Of Goods Sold) as $2 and gross income as 39 cents.

The difference, they write off on their taxes.

It really makes no difference to their bottom line if they sell them for 39 cents or donate them outright, but there is far more labor in donating them than in selling them out the front door, and selling them for 39 cents brings in happy customers. :)

flyingpig · January 2014

Store policy against selling salvage is to discourage shrinkage via employees marking inventory as unsalable salvage and selling to friends/each other. Standard practice at many large retailers.

BTHodgeman · January 2014

I'd agree with that, but I don't think anyone in a Target store has the discretion to mark an item as salvage. I could be wrong, but the information I've been given is that is always directed by corporate.

pcirone · January 2014

How about hiding stock until it is declared salvage. If there's a way, they'll find it.

BTHodgeman · January 2014

In theory, yes, and you could go to Target right now and hide full price items until they're clearanced for 90% off....

You're certainly correct: where there's a will, there's a way... but that it true with everything :)

starfire2 · January 2014

Great theory but here is the reality. When an item goes salvage, it cannot be sold. What that manager did was wrong business wise but was good guest servicing. We at Target try to make sure all salvage items are accounted for. However there are times when not all salvaged items are accounted for ( hidden, stolen, improperly charged back). It is at this point when a guest finds the item that a manager or ETL can input a department code and price to make the guest happy.
I would not suggest hiding merchandise though in order to attempt a HUGE discount. It is dihonest and illegal and I will laugh my butt off when you get arrested or kicked out of a store for it.

mdelleman · January 2014

If anyone finds some 2nd wave LOTR sets on clearance I would happily take them any extras off your hands and pay you for you for your effort!!!

BTHodgeman · January 2014

starfire2 said:
Great theory but here is the reality. When an item goes salvage, it cannot be sold. What that manager did was wrong business wise but was good guest servicing. We at Target try to make sure all salvage items are accounted for. However there are times when not all salvaged items are accounted for ( hidden, stolen, improperly charged back). It is at this point when a guest finds the item that a manager or ETL can input a department code and price to make the guest happy.
I would not suggest hiding merchandise though in order to attempt a HUGE discount. It is dihonest and illegal and I will laugh my butt off when you get arrested or kicked out of a store for it.

Good info re: salvage. There are as many descriptions/explanations out there as Target has employees. And by the way, I have literally bought dozens (maybe even a hundred?) items from various Target stores that were previously salvaged. All of my experiences are in the Minneapolis area... not sure if that has anything to do with it?

As for hiding merchandise, while I certainly think it may be morally-questionable, I'm actually not sure that there's anything illegal about it. You're not shoplifting, and you're certainly not guaranteeing that you'll even get the items for a discounted price.

That being said, Target can (and will) trespass people for any number of reasons they see fit. This would certainly get your banned from Target.

(Target could probably try to make a case on the basis that you are defrauding them, but it's not likely they'd go through the effort and expense of doing that. It's a heck of a lot easier to trespass someone...)

BTHodgeman · January 2014

By the way, I feel I should add - I am *NOT* advocating that anyone hide anything in order to attempt to get a discount, nor have I ever done that myself.

I was simply stating that it is a technique that could be employed by an individual highly motivated to get a discount on an item.

BulkheadX · January 2014

hmm Target US HQ is in Minneapolis(ish)... I woooonder ;D rofl I actually went thru one the other day down here in Missouri and they had diddly. ah well. time to move to MSP (although maybe I will wait until the temp is above 0) ;D

[US] 2013 Year End Clearance

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