I’ve been a pretty enthusiastic Target shopper for awhile now. I mean, I can get cute shoes and the latest Taylor Swift cd AND dog food in the same store. Yes, I still buy CDs. I am a child of the 90’s.
Over the past year I’ve picked up some great tips for finding the best deals at Target and one thing I learned is that after each big holiday the holiday and seasonally themed items get marked to 90% off. For example, my Target just marked certain summer items 90% off. See those hoses? They were $9.99 marked down to 99 cents. NINETY NINE CENTS, Y’ALL. I picked up a few to tuck into some housewarming gifts because who doesn’t need a garden hose? And the sidewalk chalk? Twenty nine cents.
(Also, I ran into a friend at Target and basically forced a 99 cent hose on her. I was all “GET THIS HOSE IT IS ONLY 99 CENTS HERE I WILL PUT IT IN YOUR BUGGY FOR YOU SINCE YOUR HANDS ARE FULL OF BABY.”)
Another thing I learned about was the Big Secret Annual Target Toy Sale where Target marks a ton of stuff in their toy department down to 70% off in July and January. They don’t tell you about it because they are sneaky like that but thanks to awesome facebook pages like All Things Target you can get a heads up on it from other savvy Target shoppers.
So the big question is:
When is the Target Toy Sale?
Traditionally the (now not so) secret Target Toy Sale happens on the 28/29 of July and the 12/13 of January. Put that on your calendar, y’all, because last year I spent less than $75 and found great stuff for Christmas and birthdays for Scarlette AND all of my nieces and nephews. My store has already started marking some things to 70% off so I picked up a few things this week, like the Twister dance game for Nixie. It was $29.99 but after the sale + coupons it was less than $7 and I know she’ll love it.
Tips For Shopping The Target Toy Sale
– Arrive early! It can get a bit crowded and the best stuff (I.E. LEGOS) goes fast! (The perk of living kind of far out is that I typically am waiting for the doors to open with the same four women each year, lol!)
– Be patient. Sometimes they are still marking down product the morning of the sale. Once they scan one item the price changes on all of additional stock of that item. So you can go ahead and put something marked at 50% in your cart and then wait a bit for them to get through scanning and it should ring up at 70% off.
– Use the store scanner! I make my selections, do the rest of my shopping while they finish scanning, and then I use the price scanner on the aisle endcaps to check anything that wasn’t at 70% to see if the prices have corrected before I check out.
– Use your Cartwheel App + Shopkick App to save even more! I’ll likely pay for a good portion of my haul with the free Target gift cards I’ve earned from my Shopkick App!
You can combine this with some other tips, like shopping Target’s markdown schedule, to score some really great savings at the store.
Are you like ‘Um, what are the Target department markdown days?” I know, this was news to me too when I started following some Target deal blogs.
So I asked Marci, who is an expert deal blogger (Like, she goes on television and tells people this stuff, y’all. That’s legit.) to share Target’s markdown schedule so that I could be sure I had my information right. So here is what Marci had to say. This is good stuff, y’all. Use it wisely, young Jedi.
Target’s (totally unofficial) Markdown Schedule
Frequent Target shoppers will know that Target tends to typically mark down items on a weekly basis. Every department in the store is known to have a “markdown day” if you will! By knowing when these days are you’ll add to your weekly savings!
A tip: When shopping at Target the best places to find marked down items are on the end caps. Larger items will often remain marked down within the aisles but be sure to stroll the back aisles and look for clearance signs and red stickers.
Monday: Expect to save on electronics, accessories, kids clothing, books, baby and stationery type items. For the clothing markdowns take notice of clearance racks as well as Target associates marking down these item. In electronics you’ll want to scour the aisles and also check the end caps. I’ve often found televisions marked down in unexpected parts of the electronic department.
Tuesday yields savings to domestic items, women’s clothing, pet supplies and food/Market products.
Wednesday: Head to your local Target store(s) for savings in the men’s clothing department, health and beauty, diapers, lawn & garden items and furniture items.
Thursday: is the day you can pick up housewares, lingerie, shoes, toys, sporting goods, décor, and bedding & luggage. So late in the day on Thursday is a great day to shop if you need a gift for an upcoming party or wedding/baby/lingerie shower.
Friday is the last day for mark downs. You’ll find the automotive and cosmetics section being marked down as well as hardware and jewelry.
Are you wondering if it’s really a good deal? One of the I love about Target markdowns is that you can easily tell how much of a discount you are getting by looking in the upper right of the red markdown sticker. You’ll often times see 30, 40, 50 and even 70. That number yields the discount you are receiving off the original price, which is in the bottom left corner.
(This information is good for people like me, who can’t do math. Thanks Marci!)
Also, if you’re like me you probably pick up a clearance item and are immediately plagued with thoughts wondering if you should buy it now or not. So here is another secret: the items get marked down every two weeks. So if it’s a hot item and you think it’s going to go fast at that price, buy it. If you decide you want to wait, come back on that department’s markdown day two weeks later to see it at the next markdown price.
(Personally, I think Target should let me set it’s markdown days. Like, I’d be all “Let’s put shoes and diapers on sale on the same day, y’all.” Probably everyone would think I was a marketing genius.)
You can see these tips in action in this video about my Valentine’s Day clearance haul!
(P.S. Marci says that sometimes stores in the same area tend to have different markdown days. This is very tricky of them. One store may mark down kids clothing on Monday while the Target store a few miles away may mark down kids clothes on Wednesday. So this schedule does vary based on a store to store basis but it’s a good general idea. It’s also completely unofficial and not meant to be any sort of representation for Target, just personal observation and I’m not liable for any information that is wrong so you’re agreeing not to sue me if your store does something different mmmmkay? You can always ask an associate at your local store what their markdown days are. Only some of them look at you weirdly.)
Also, if saving money at Target is your thing, here is how I use the free Shopkick app to earn Target gift cards – I love this app because it really lets me earn a lot of points, I redeem a gift card nearly every single shopping trip. You can also visit my friend Jess over at The Mom Creative for some more tips on shopping Target’s clearance!
