Clearance & penny shopping guides

How clearance really works at Home Depot, Dollar General, Walmart, Target, Lowe's, Best Buy and Costco — markdown schedules, price codes, penny items and where to find them.

• Home Depot penny items: how penny shopping works — What Home Depot penny items are, why they ring up at $0.01, the clearance price endings shoppers watch for, and how to find penny candidates at stores near you.
• Dollar General penny shopping: how the penny list works — How Dollar General penny items work, why they scan at $0.01, when new penny items usually appear, and how to shop them without breaking store rules.
• Walmart hidden clearance: how to find unadvertised markdowns — Why Walmart clearance prices are often lower at the register than on the shelf, how clearance differs from Rollback, and how to find hidden clearance at your local store.
• Target clearance schedule and markdown percentages — How Target clearance markdowns progress (30%, 50%, 70% and 90% off), the department markdown schedule shoppers commonly report, and how to catch the deepest discounts.
• How Lowe's clearance works — Where to find Lowe's clearance, what yellow tags mean, why prices differ by store, and how to catch discontinued tools, appliances and seasonal items at the lowest price.
• Best Buy open-box and clearance: what each condition means — What Best Buy's open-box Excellent, Good and Fair conditions mean, how open-box compares with clearance, and how to find the best electronics markdowns.
• Costco price codes explained — What Costco prices ending in .97, .00 and .88 are commonly reported to mean, what the asterisk on a price sign signals, and how to use them to catch markdowns.