A week ago I left for Ohio from CT. I thought I would test out my theories at the Home Depots along the way. During my trip I would be passing thru New York and Pennsylvania. I set my GPS to include any HD’s that were no more than 1 mile off route, there were 7. What a great way to break up a 550 mile trip!
The first store was in Waterbury, CT. That store is about 35 miles out and I don’t often visit that store as I have no occasion to.
Waterbury, CT
8:43 AM
Too bad I parked so far from the front door! I had to walk all the way back to off load this drill pack I found in the recycle bin
It’s one of the newer Makita 3.0Ah packs with the “star”. That means it has the BMS on board and actually has a lifetime warranty. Why would anyone toss one in the recycle bin?
I found 2 displays with this worklight, they had about 50 pieces in all. These are only 45 lumen and run on 3-AAA cells, not included. It’s a fair light and at $1.52 makes a good stocking stuffer.
I searched around for “penny” items, the only item that could qualify was this Power meter. Functionally it is like the Kill-a-watt meters and can measure the amount of energy used be an appliance or electrical device.
I could tell from the price, on clearance and ends with a “3” that it could be a good candidate. The date of 03/22/14 is certainly old enough, so I brought one up to scan and sure enough it’s a penny. There were 2 so I went back and got the second one too. Got 4 of the work lights also.
From there I traveled on to the Danbury store. At this store I struck out! (maybe jmpaul320 was already there?)
9:50 AM
I am fairly certain my theories hold true in CT, but do they extend beyond my home state borders? Can I find “penny” deals in other States?
Next store is Brewster, NY. I am starting to get a little smarter, parking closer to the front entrance.
10:44 AM
to be continued………………
EDIT:
continued
BTW, as I walk into each store I have been checking out the recycle bins for Drill packs. The recycle bins are usually right next to the returns counter just inside the entrance. Occasionally they are behind the return counter so it is impossible to check them. No worthwhile packs in Brewster, but after having walked the store I did find 1 penny item. It was the florescent “Silva” light that I had posted about earlier. It was on a shelf with other odds and ends with no pricing. It was only because I had come across it before at a penny that I figured that it too might be a penny. Also in that pile was another of the propane gauges that I had come across before. I had paid as little as $5 for it. This time I was hoping it would be a penny, but it was still $5. Instead of bringing the propane gauge back, I thought of one more person I could gift it too so I checked out.
On the road again. (Canned Heat, 1967)
Next stop,
Middletown, NY 11:54 AM
At this store the recycle bin outside in the vestibule! But there is a baffle at the top that makes it impossible to reach in.
The rest of the store was a bust also.
But I did come across a table of odds and ends. Nothing of interest except for about 10 - 4 foot, 12 outlet power strips. No prices on them though, but I suspected they could be on clearance so I brought one up to scan. It scanned at $15.06. That means that it could be on that price spiral. An item like that usually goes for about $40, so $15.06 is a good price. I was tempted to get the one, but I brought it back.
On to Monticello N.Y. 1:04 PM
As always, I first checked the recycle bin, nothing, then on into the store.
First thing I ran into was a display for the very same 12 outlet power strips as the last store. This time they were hanging in electrical and were priced at the scanned price of $15.06. The date on the tag was 06/09/14, just days away from another price reduction!, maybe. I would be coming back this way in a week, I made a mental note (more like a mental obsession) to stop by. That new price, when it comes will end with an “03”
I turned the corner and came upon this display.
“LED Madness CLEARANCE, check it out.
I didn’t need to check it out, I instantly recognized a couple of the penny lights in the lower right hand corner.
Scanned them and sure enough a penny. I also saw this one on the regular light shelf and I also recognized it as a ”penny light” but it scanned at $16.97, not the penny or even the displayed price of $20.97.
Now it’s about 1:30PM and according to my GPS there is only 1 more HD until Ohio, about 6 hours further in Erie, PA. Up until now, I have been hitting a HD once about every hour or so.
What am I going to do for the next 6 hours, just drive How boring.
My GPS has “an along the way” function that will find “points of interest” locations that are no more than a mile or so out of the way. I used my HD app on my smart phone and found 1 HD that was along the way, about 3 hours out and not too far out of the way. So I set course for that one. Nice way to break up that 6 hours of deprivation.
Painted Post, N.Y. 4:47 PM
I walked the store and found no penny deals, but I did find this. I have never noticed these before and wouldn’t even have given it a second look except for the fact that I found those 5 USB outlets in an earlier post about a week ago. These were 16.88 and are reduced to $4.32. Not a bad price for what it is. It screws into an existing outlet and gives you 4 swivel outlets AND 2 USB charging ports.
They were displayed in 2 different places and they had about 20 of them. Like I said, I have never noticed them before in any HD store.
The date on the tag is 10/27/14, so I wouldn’t expect them to be reduced further anytime soon?
On the other hand, I have seen prices that end with a “2” go to a penny before.
I also saw these again. So I bought another.
After I went outside, I thought that rotating swivel outlet was just too cool, so I went back in for another.
Days later, after I had arrived in Ohio, I saw those units in a Radio Shack. I had already decided that I blew it, I should have gotten more as Christmas gifts. What I saw in Radio Shack only confirmed what I had already concluded. These units were well worth the price at $4.32!
Radio Shack asks $24.99! (No wonder they probably won’t be around after Christmas)
Well, on to the last HD during my trip to Ohio.
Erie, PA 8:24PM
Usually when I make this trip and arrive in Erie I make a bee line for my FAVORITE restaurant, GOLDEN CORRAL. All you can eat, just my kind of place. But THIS time I went straight to HD across the street. It’s 8:30PM and HD closes at 9. No time to do both. I struck out in the store but I found a new old stock Ryobi Drill pack in the recycle bin. Instead of all I could eat steak, I had a hamburger at BK. ECK.
Well I must conclude that my penny hunt didn’t go as well as I had hoped. I did prove that these penny deals are wide spread, I believe my lack of GREAT success was more of a matter of timing than anything else. I am quite sure that if I was at those same stores a month ago when all those penny deals were first taking place, I would have been MUCH more successful.
On the return trip I made it a point to stop at the Painted Post store for a few more of those $4.32 swivel outlets, but they were all gone! I was sick about that, did they go to a penny and I missed out? Or did someone else buy them all?
I also stopped back at Monticello to check on those 12 outlet power strips that were $15.06. When I got there, the display was still as I had left it a week earlier, price tag still at $15.06. I grabbed one and brought it up to scan anyway.
I was right!, they reduced the price again while I was gone. They scanned for $5.03
I bought all 7 that they had. The only reason they were still there is they neglected to change the price tag.
Not only that, but I found 3 of the swivel outlet devices that were sold out of the other store. There they were, hanging nearby marked at $16.88, but I knew they would scan at $4.32, so I grabbed the last 3. Once again, the only reason they were still there is they neglected to change the price tag.
A happy ending to a very long story.