Spill the beans... Trade secrets: supermarket staff, tell us your reduction policies! 1 June 2012 at 1:03PM edited 30 November -1 at 1:00AM in Gone Off! 123 replies 108K views

Former_MSE_Debs

Spill the beans... Trade secrets: supermarket staff, tell us your reduction policies![IMGRIGHT]http://images.moneysavingexpert.com/images/spillthebeans2.gif[/IMGRIGHT]

We're all for hanging around supermarkets near closing time to bag a bargain, but since different supermarkets mark down their perishables at different times, it's hard to know when to go. So, this week, we'd like to hear from any insiders on the staff at big supermarkets to find out when to go, what to buy and any other tricks of the trade that can help MoneySavers do what they do best.


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kookai9

The yellow stickered reduction are only about 10% off now ,on the 1st round of reductions & most items are to go out of date on the day now too .Its not worth it any more

worriedfirsttimebuyer

Last night, DP went to Asda about 6.30pm (due to close at 7, bank hol) and got a whole side of salmon fillet for £1.28 and 2 bags of salad for 10p. Delicious! We live off Whoops deals towards the end of the month...

Zajko_Zuzulyatovsky

I send one of my kids to analyse the bread department for reductions, the other one to secure any salamis at the deli while I go to the reduced rack, and oh yes my wife is responsible for the fish counter. We then synchronise our watches and meet at the tills for a briefing. Life is a military operation. Oh and by the way I have trained each member of the family to scan for the red stickers...;-)))

waterhouse_melons

When I worked at Sainsbury's we have a policy whereby the system tells us a 'preferred rate' to reduce the item down toward (starting from about 15% off down to about 75% off). As for tricks of the trade, I would say just to be nice to the 'reducer', there have been many times where I have been asked to reduce further but have said no just because of how customers can treat you. The nicer the customer, the more likely the 'reducer' will give in and go below that 75% off margin!

emuratty

Got loads of bread in my local Asda for 5p each (including 2 garlic breads for 5p) about half an hour before closing on a Sunday recently - straight in the freezer when I got home, kept us going for about 2 weeks.

I sometimes hit Sainsbury's on my way home from work 6pm-ish and usually lots of bread items for 40p - 50p.

Reduced counters seem to be a bit more pot luck.

Tesco don't seem to knock as much off as the others.

iviv

From around February to April I was living off 10p reduced bread from the 24 hour Tesco where I work. Finished at half 6 on a saturday, off to the bread aisle and grabbed a loaf of kingsmill (Or more rarely an own brand loaf), down to 10p to clear it out, and then right into the freezer. Same on the Sunday when the store closed.
Not been any the last couple of months, we seem to be running out of bread rather than overstocking it now, so they've not quite got the balance right. But its better than it was, there were so many loaves for 10p they were trying to sell off, its a waste, really.

sammyroser

In my local sainsburys they have an area in each cold isle where they put the reduced items. But if you scan the bottom shelf all the way along you can often find a joint of beef or some luxury ham slices reduced down to 50p or so. Only usually get the good offers on sundays or bank holidays as it shuts at 10pm rest of the week.

Yesterday popped in asda after work, saw lots of salad reduced at 10% off. Had to go back in later that day 8pm ish and all the salad was down to 5p! Bargain

Gingerscot_2

I love shopping in English supermarkets on a Sunday afternoon as this is the best time to get bargains with them shutting at 4pm. Rather than stand at the fridge where the marked down items are kept, waiting for the final reductions, I have a hunt round the various fridges looking for items they have missed and take them to a staff member to be reduced, usually by 75-90%. However, this weekend I was told that they cannot reduce items brought to them by customers as it is against the law so now I just tell them where they are and wait for them to go round and reduce them.

The best bargain I ever got was in an Asda in Glasgow when they reduced 3 large meat joints, valued about £45 in total, to 3p!

Helix

Gingerscot wrote: »

I love shopping in English supermarkets on a Sunday afternoon as this is the best time to get bargains with them shutting at 4pm. Rather than stand at the fridge where the marked down items are kept, waiting for the final reductions, I have a hunt round the various fridges looking for items they have missed and take them to a staff member to be reduced, usually by 75-90%. However, this weekend I was told that they cannot reduce items brought to them by customers as it is against the law so now I just tell them where they are and wait for them to go round and reduce them.

The best bargain I ever got was in an Asda in Glasgow when they reduced 3 large meat joints, valued about £45 in total, to 3p!

Its not against the law, it will be against store policy. The reason they have this policy is due to some customers hiding items, then retrieving them when they were close to running out of date and asking for them to be reduced.

toadfinder

If you are lucky enough to live/work near a Waitrose, they have fantastic bargains at the end of the day - fruit, veg, bread and cheese are most consistent spots for bargains, but they occasionally pop up in other depts too. Also fish counters will often give you v good discounts at the end of the day if you ask nicely.

We are on a low income and could never normally afford Wrose prices, but thanks to the red/white tickets we eat like kings :j