First, I want to say sorry to Amy for kind of hijacking her thread a little bit.
I hope you find the cheap boots!
Thanks, Ignora! Wow... :bow:
LOL.... no problemo. I don't claim to know everything there is to know about Target, but I guess I know a lot more than a lot of people.
LOL -- I know what you mean about the clearance stuff going to Goodwill. There's a tiny branch of GW right next to one of the McDonalds in town. DD and I regularly walk over to browse.... In fact, I can almost track when the GW will get new items based on the clearance rack at the only Target in town
Yeah, I got one of those Magic Bullet blenders at GW for super cheap and it had come from Target.
With the issue of buying gifts -- at purchase, ask for a 'Gift receipt'. It's an option that has coding on purchase price and method, but doesn't print the price out in plain English.
Yeah, I know... I was talking about those poor souls who get gifts and the gifter didn't happen to give them a gift receipt.
Each Target itself does not decide what to clearance, a list comes down from one of the big offices. That means that TB's might not clearance at all locations, just the ones they are not selling at, or the location that is getting something else.
The major difference is that each Target does clearance on a different day.... Each store has a team that does that, and each team has their own schedule.
That would explain why there are no car seats on clearance at my Target like everyone is talking about. Thanks for all that info! :thumbsup:
Last I knew, the policy for registry purchases was that the guest service ppl could look up the purchase via the registry - if the person brought a printed copy, g.s. could scan the registry and then scan the item, and it would bring up the original transaction, in a gift reciept kind of way, therefore providing the person w/ a gift card.
Hmmm... I've never bought anything for a registry there. But, it sounds reasonable. Ok, so their new policy might only suck for people who get birthday gifts and stuff w/o a gift receipt.
This is the way I understand Target clearance markdowns. They are determined by the number of items left at each store on the day markdowns are taken. The price will go down again if/when the stock reaches a certain number (but will only change on the day the system is updated). Each department is updated on a different day.... So, it's determined by the inventory at each store, not necessarily set by each store independently.
Also good info to know... though, I kind of suspected that it works that way just based on what I see. I go to see my sisters a few times a month (where I used to live... about an hour away) and I usually check out a few of the Targets there just for fun. There are 6 in town there and definite differences in how fast they mark stuff down.
Nora, I think we're target twins. Although I did actually get a job there in college.... I also re-buy a clearance item if it goes down again and return off the old receipt. I'd be in heaven if I had one 1/2 a mile away. The closest one right now is at least 20 minutes (though the current rumor is they're building one 3 miles away ).
Target twins... LOL! Actually, I did work there in college WAY back when for about a week. I did the morning stocking, which was fun... but I got offered a better job at an answering service for medical offices. It was over a dollar more and hour and, at the time, I really needed the money so I took the other job. I don't know if Target would actually hire me back now (almost 20 years later) because I'd just started and wasn't able to give 2 weeks notice. I'd love the employee discount now!
And, I'm glad to know I'm not the only re-buyer and returner... my family thinks I'm weird... but I don't care. Target is so close that I don't have the gas price issue, so why shouldn't I? I hope you get your close one!
Well in my circle, I am known as THE CLEARANCE QUEEN, lol. I've got target and walmart down to a science! I don't live as close as I did, but I do still love the thrill of the hunt. I have thought about strating an ebay business for all the great deals that I just don't need, but have a hard time passing up. I have a hard time paying full price for anything at this point.
I know what you mean about passing stuff up and paying full price. I've gotten so cheap lately! I sometimes buy stuff that I don't necessarily need right now, but it's not crap and the price is too good to pass up. Sidney has WAY more clothes and shoes (which she LOVES) than she really needs. It's hard to tell her no when she wants a pair of $1.98 shoes. A few months ago, they had 2-packs of photo albums down to something like $2.48 per 2-pack. I think I bought 8 packs! I did need them, but not really that many. I gave a couple to my sister, but I'm not sure what I'll do with the extras. I may convert my old photo albums (ie, not acid-free) to these new ones. I think that ebay is a great idea... don't know why I didn't think of that. And, yeah, I'm pretty good at Walmart, too... but I like Target clearance better. Walmart stuff will sit around at the same price for a long time before they do more markdowns.
i love targets sales! i try to go in there like once a week to see what they have. most recently i got my friend a pair of shorts for her baby for .47!
What a deal! My sister just had a baby and I've been having fun getting cheap tiny clothes again. The summer clothes are already almost gone where I am... I got a bunch of stuff for next year for Sid. Seems like they clearance summer clothes right after the 4th of July. And toys, too. Most people know about the post-Christmas markdowns, but fewer know about post-July 4th... so it's sometimes easier to get good stuff before it's all gone.
I wonder if some things are different by area. When I asked a few different employees if they could see if another store had the clearance item I was looking for, they both said no, not on clearance stuff. And here I've returned stuff without receipt, and as long as I've used a check, debit or credit card they just look it up using my card. When I'd used cash, they just gave me a gift card. I've never experienced the 'must be from the same dept.' thing. That stinks.
I guess they must be different... or the policy just hasn't changed at all the stores yet. They've got me trained, though, to always keep my receipts so I don't run into return problems (they only let you return 2 items per year w/o a receipt). I have an envelope that I keep my receipts in by date order because I never know if I'm going to need to return something I found cheaper later. I almost never have to deal with their 'no receipt' policy (unless I get a gift). I just thought the new policy might suck for other people.
I went to yet another Target today with high hopes, the one I called last night just in case the employee was mistaken. Sure enough, they still have the TBs at $50.... I'll keep checking Target, b/c my receipts for the Big Kid boosters expires on 8/10.
Like I said earlier, no carseat clearances for me... bummer. Though, they have had a Recaro Young Start (I think... the one that's booster only) there for over a month clearanced for $104. They don't normally carry Recaro here, though, so maybe it was an online return or something. I'd get it if Sid was anywhere near booster age... it's blue and really nice. Maybe if it goes down more I'll find a reason to buy it.
And just another FYI, they give you at least a week's grace period on your receipt expiration (shhh... don't tell). So, you really have until at least 8/17. One of the customer service people told me that the computer always gives at least a week, but didn't know exactly what the outside number of days was. I've returned things as late as 8 days past the date on my receipt. As long as the computer accepts it, it's fine. If the computer says no, they can't override that.
Anyway, thanks, everyone, for all the info. We should start a Clearance Queen club... I love talking clearance! Since I'm not a tech, I sometimes feel kind of useless around here... but I hang around anyway. It's nice to know a little bit about something for once.