Here's an unconfirmed but sexy potential hack on Target's pricing:
Target's full prices end in 9. So the first price tag will be $14.99 or $27.99, something like that.
Then, every time Target discounts the product, the final digit of the price drops.
The lowest the last digit will drop is 4.
If you see something you want at Target and the price ends in 4, buy it. The price won't go any lower.
Update: Andrew sez,
Here's the scheme
for Canadian electronics retailer Future Shop, but it should be identical for
Best Buy in Canada & the US. They're all one big company now. Here it is:Price ends in .99 – Regular or sale price, hardest to get a discount on. Not
that that's saying much.Price ends in .97 – Clearance price, you can push a bit harder for a discount
because they want it out of the store. Stores have a certain percentage goal
of clearance product per day.Price ends in .96 – Open box. Product has been bought and returned or possibly
refurbished. A discount has already been applied to it but you *might* be able
to push for a bit more by accenting any negatives (missing manuals, case
scratches)Price ends in .95 – Pre-clearance price. This is not clearance yet, but will
be soon. You can't push as much as on clearance product, but you can push a bit.
Update 2: Josh sez, "I worked for Target from December 2005 until June 2006 as a departmental manager, that's how I know this information.
There is a pricing team within each store. The sole purpose of this team is to reprice and mark down sale merchandise. Target has a weekly sale that starts on Sunday and ends on Saturday. These sale prices vary and the stores only get the sales flyer 2 weeks in advance.
Markdown pricing is done via a database of prices coming out of headquarters Minnesota. It is not really done on an individual store basis. This information is fed into the store for the markdowns to be taken. Each pricing team member has a PDA (PDA or LRT in Target speak) type device that directs them around the store to change the prices of items. Each department has a set markdown day. In my store, (T1499) electronics markdowns happened every Wednesday. Ideally if an item is being marked down soon, there will be a stockroom purge of those items in the days leading up to the clearancing of those items. The items are then priced and placed on the floor, usually on back clearance endcaps away from the main racetrack aisles of the store. Typically items are first marked down at 15% off. After two to three weeks, the items will go 30% off. Then 50%, finally 75%. It is generally two weeks between markdowns but that varies. For seasonal items (Christmas, Valentines,
Halloween) the markdown is much faster and can vary from store to store. My store once piloted a faster markdown scheme for seasonal items. Immediately after the holiday, they went 50% off, two days later 75% and on the fourth day they were 90% off. The pricing teams have no way to look into the future to see what markdowns will be taken next week, they can only offer you and educated guess as to what will mark down and when. I've found that they are generally helpful if you ask them when items might be reduced further. The pricing team works a morning shift, usually 6 am – 2:30 pm, although this varies. They are easy to spot as they will be pushing buggies filled with items that have gone 'salvage'. These items have been removed from the floor to be returned to the manufacturer or to the Target warehouse where they will be sold off or donated to charity. In my experience, electronics are rarely reduced beyond 50%"
