The Great Hunt: What time(s) have you found the biggest yellow sticker discounts?

MSE_Sarah

We're looking for your insider tips on what time you can get the biggest discounts in the supermarkets. Please share any experiences you've had of finding bargains in the reduced section.

Thanks in advance.

louisekatie31

I work at Asda and reduce the left over reductions on Saturday nights. I normally have to do it between 7pm - 7.45 pm. Depending who is in charge that night they could tell me to mark everything down to 10p or tell me to charge what I like!

System

Each supermarket is different and depends on the manager who is on.

hannerrbabes

It really depends on the specific store and the day. I've been to my local Tesco at 10:30pm and got a tonne of vegetables and bakery items for 3p each, but I've also been there at 8:30pm and all the reduced items have sold.
I used to work for BP in a garage with a simply M&S food range. The first reduction would be around 25% and that'd be after 11am-12pm, then we'd do 75%+ reductions in the evening. Usually after 7pm, but it just depended on how busy the shop was, how many staff were working and how many items there were to reduce.

mr-mixalot

I once picked up 72 eggs in Morrison around 7pm on a Sat evening

Worked out to be 12p per dozen, best thing was wife was baking the week after for charity so it was win win for all concerned

:T

tain

My local Asda are pretty reliable for making reductions around 7pm.

The big difference here is that on a Monday, there are actual physical and verbal fights for the mark-downs (often just 20% off as well); mostly around the bread and pastry aisle. It all kicked off two weeks ago when about 20 packs of croissants were reduced from £1 to 40p, and someone tried to take 10 packs...

On a Friday, however, you can waltz in at 8/9pm and you'll almost certainly still find plenty of bread and cookies and doughnuts reduced to 10p each. Plenty, like no one wants it. The bread consistently lasts until at least Tuesday without freezing, the cookies and doughnuts have never lasted past Saturday to find out longevity.

dlusman

My local Asda & Morrisons both do final markdowns around 5/6 pm

I think this thread proves yet again that it is pointless asking these types of questions. Every store is differemt - and people have to do there own research as to what works in their area.

VfM4meplse

dlusman wrote: »

My local Asda & Morrisons both do final markdowns around 5/6 pm

I think this thread proves yet again that it is pointless asking these types of questions. Every store is differemt - and people have to do there own research as to what works in their area.

Yes, you have to invest to reap the reward .

Isn't there an existing thread on YS bargains?

Former_MSE_Rhiannon

Hi guys - has anyone got any tips for yellow-sticker hunting outside of the main supermarkets? Would love to hear about that as well

Ilona

I did an experiment for Rip off Britain. Four big supermarkets, spend £5 at each of them, get as much as I could. Tesco first, Sainsbury's, Morrisons, and Asda last, starting at 4pm and finishing about 9pm.

I got £80's worth of food for £20. Asda was the best, everything was 2p, but as it was late they wanted rid of it. Sainsbury's a bit pathetic, struggled to spend the £5, not much on offer. Too early at Tesco for the third and final sticker. Morrisons ok, had to search for it.

A lot depends on if they have overstocked on some items and not judged correctly how much they can sell. The weather can have a bearing on it, they might have stocked extra for barbeque's then it rains. Christmas and Easter is a bit hit and miss, they don't know how much they will sell.

There isn't a best time, each store has their own methods. You have to visit your store regularly at different times. Look for the assistants with the sticker machines, hang around them as they price things up.

Some people are happy with a few pence off and will take things because they don't want to wait around. If you go late there might not be anything left. The choice is yours.

Ilona

DiscountofMonteCristo

A few weeks ago I dropped into my local Tesco Metro at about 10pm to find a mobile shelfstack of discounted bakery items in the entrance area. I like going to supermarkets late because it's quiet, but bargains are another benefit. There were six types of artisan bread for 32p each and packets of 5 doughnuts for 16p each. I grabbed all the jam doughnuts, ignored the custard ones, and took one type of bread each. If I'd had a bit more energy or someone else with me I could have had several of each loaf type, but I guessed correctly that they wouldn't all fit in my freezer. As it was the total was around £3.50. I won't finish off those doughnuts for months.

That's an example of occasional late night basement level reductions, which are actually not that common. Once I got three 300g hummus tubs at 5p each, and I've seen celeriac or swede for 3p and similar with bags of potatoes. Mostly our Tesco knocks 10p off fruit or veg that was originally £1. Even so most of these reduced items are gone by the evening anyway. People cluster round the ticketing staff member (what a terrible job) like flies around meat. The typical time is about 5pm.