How to Shop at Dirt Cheap
Inside: Learn our favorite tips and tricks for shopping at dirt cheap, what to expect, and when to buy.
If you follow us on Facebook or Instagram, you’ve probably come to find that Stephanie and I are certifiably obsessed with Dirt Cheap.
If you aren’t familiar, Dirt Cheap is a regional discount chain that sells returned, salvaged, online returns, or overstocked items from local and big box stores (read: Target and Home Depot!) at a deeply discounted price. What kind of stuff, you ask? Everything. Literally everything.
Like what, you ask?
How about a Vitamix for $97?
A Bob Stroller for $46?
A Sharper Image weighted blanket for $35?
Bumble & Bumble shampoo for $3 a bottle?
A 48 inch range hood for $200?
Designer clothes for pennies?
Dirt Cheap, y’all. It’s my go-to spot for just about everything. But here’s the thing: shopping at Dirt Cheap is both an art and a science. We’re here to tell you the best way to do it.
1.) Manage Your Expectations.
Dirt Cheap can be a little… overwhelming. It definitely depends on location, but some of them can be unorganized, messy, and sometimes gross. I recommend bringing plenty of Purell, low expectations, and patience. It’s a war zone in there, and there’s a reason for its name— “dirt” and “cheap.”
2.) Go by yourself, or with someone who is as excited as you are.
On the note of “patience,” I’d recommend going by yourself, or with someone you won’t want to kill when you’re elbow deep in kids’ sneakers looking for the right size. That said, it’s helpful to have someone to tag-team with.
3.) Download two apps: Dirt Cheap Dealfinder and the Target App
I scored this Gravitrax kit for $6! It was part of the 90% off toy section.
DIRT CHEAP DEALFINDER APP
You might notice that it’s hard to decode pricing at Dirt Cheap. There’s usually a price on an item and a “percent off” sign above it, but things get jumbled and it can be hard to tell what’s on sale and for how much (we’ll cover this later.) The Dirt Cheap Dealfinder App is a big help here. You select your location, and you’re able to scan items in the app to tell you an exact price. The only thing it won’t work on is clothes and shoes, but we’ll get to that in a minute.
THE TARGET APP
The Target app is super helpful in the furniture section of the store. You’ll notice that many of the items are flat packed in boxes, which can make it difficult to know what is what. You’ll notice, though, that the majority of them come from Target. Rather than spending hours cutting open boxes to look for a specific chair, you can scan the code on the box to see exactly what’s in it ahead of time.
4.) Decode Clothing Pricing
It took me a while to figure this out, but every item of clothing (and pair of shoes) has a tag with a random sequence of letters on it. Because these items won’t scan, look up. You’ll see a pricing chart hanging from the ceiling. Each letter (or sequence of letters) corresponds to a price. As in, CY = $2, RA = $4, and so on.
5.) Make Use of the Testing Table (and Bring Your Own Lightbulb!)
You’ll notice that all sales are final at Dirt Cheap, which means that testing items before buying is crazy important. Though I’ve been able to work a deal out on some big-ticket items (as in, if you get it home and it doesn’t work, bring it back tomorrow) but for the most part, the rule stands. If you’re buying anything electronic, be sure to take it to the testing table and try it out. If you’re shopping for lighting (they have GREAT deals on Target floor lamps!) be sure to bring your own lightbulb that you know works.
At the bottom of this 95% off sign are two serial numbers. Pay attention to this when searching for the toys with the best discount.
6.) PAY ATTENTION TO THE SERIAL NUMBERS
You’ll notice that on each price tag is a number. Though it might seem random, it’s not. This code coordinates with the date that items were put out. The longer an item has been there, the higher the discount percentage is. This is especially helpful when you’re going frequently and have your eye on a big-ticket item that you’re not yet ready to commit to, or in very messy aisles, like the toy aisle. I love shopping for toys when they’re 80-90% off because… um, DEALS.
Rather than scanning each individual item to see what the price is, save time by looking at the nearest percentage sign. At the bottom, it will say what numbers are included in this discount. I always look for the nearest 80-90% off sign and only pay attention to toys that have that serial number.
7.) Know that you can barter
Fun fact: you can barter at Dirt Cheap. Sometimes, it’s a lost cause, but if a large item has been sitting around for a while, or if you plan to buy many units of one item, you can sometimes work out a deal with the store manager. I got two pre-lit 12-foot Christmas trees for $40 total this way. They’d been sitting for 2 months, so I shot my shot— and I got them!
8.) Get a stamp card — and then mail it in
Each month, Dirt Cheap has a new stamp card that you can fill up with ever $10 spent. When you fill up a card, you get a certain percentage off of your next purchase. Easy enough, right? But there’s more! Once you’ve filled up your card, ask for it back. You can mail it in to Dirt Cheap headquarters for a chance to win something big that month, like a cruise.
SOME OTHER FUN THINGS TO KEEP IN MIND:
Their updates can come to your phone or email, and aren’t super annoying. They’ll let you know when they get new shipments and what they have, so that you have a better idea of what you’ll find before you go. Super helpful if you’re looking to buy diapers!
Saran-wrapped shopping carts are a thing. Yep, you read that right. You can buy a whole cart of random crap, ahem… stuff, for $5. Think of it as a giant, rolling grab bag. But you can’t keep the cart.
If you can, don’t shop for the season you’re in. The best discounts are found either a few months before the season begins, or right after it’s over. But, if you wait until it’s over, it’s more likely to be picked through.
