The best apps and tools for penny shopping

Updated 2026-10-30

Penny items are products a retailer has flagged for removal, so they ring up at $0.01 but are never advertised. The two chains penny shoppers focus on are Dollar General and Home Depot. To find them you need leads (community penny lists), a way to check your own store (the retailer's app), and ideally a tool that confirms penny prices across many stores (such as DealHawk, which wrote this guide).

Why penny items need special tools

Because a penny price is an internal "pull this item" flag, there's no penny sign on the shelf, nothing in the weekly ad and no penny section on the retailer's website. Penny items also differ by store: an item can be a penny at one store and still on the shelf at full clearance price at another.

Community penny lists (free)

  • Facebook groups, Reddit communities and penny-list websites post items shoppers report ringing up at a penny, often refreshed weekly for Dollar General.
  • Strength: lots of eyes and quick word of mouth.
  • Weakness: many entries are unconfirmed or copied from other lists, and a national list doesn't tell you what's at your store.

Retailer apps (free)

  • The Dollar General app's price scanner and the Home Depot app's in-store mode let you check items at your store.
  • Strength: it's the retailer's own data for your store.
  • Weakness: you have to know what to scan, and penny items often show as unavailable or with no price instead of $0.01.

DealHawk

  • The free Dollar General penny list shows items that rang up at $0.01 in Dollar General's own store price checks during DealHawk's daily crawl of hundreds of stores, not items copied from rumor lists.
  • The free Home Depot penny checker tells you whether a SKU is showing penny signals in DealHawk's crawl of well over a thousand Home Depot stores.
  • Paid plans show clearance at your own stores with price, stock and location, flag likely penny items, and include a members-only Discord.

A simple penny routine

  • Check a confirmed list (DealHawk's DG penny list or a trusted group) early in the week; Tuesday is the most-cited day for new Dollar General penny items.
  • Narrow it to items that are actually showing at your stores.
  • Go, look in clearance aisles, end caps and sections being reset, and scan before you get in line.
  • If the cashier or manager says no, accept it. Penny items aren't officially for sale at either chain.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best app for penny shopping?

There isn't one app that does everything. Use the retailer's own app to check your store, community lists for leads, and a tool like DealHawk to confirm which items are actually ringing up at $0.01 and at which stores.

Is there a free Dollar General penny list?

Yes. Community groups share weekly lists, and DealHawk publishes a free Dollar General penny list of items confirmed at $0.01 in Dollar General's own store price checks, updated daily.

Is penny shopping allowed?

Penny items are meant to be pulled, so Dollar General and Home Depot can both decline to sell them. Many stores do ring them up, but it's at the store's discretion. Be polite and don't ask staff for penny lists.