How to Find Items That Are Marked Down to 1 Penny at Dollar General

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It’s sometimes possible to get items at Dollar General for a cent. Here are four steps you’ll need to take to make that happen. 

If you’re trying to keep your credit card bills down, buying something for a penny may seem like a dream scenario. After all, what could be friendlier to your bank account than purchasing an item you want or need that costs only a cent?

In today’s day and age, it may seem impossible to find anything to purchase so cheaply, but that’s not necessarily the case. In fact, it may be possible to find penny items at Dollar General.

That’s because the store has a system in which items that are supposed to be removed from stock are priced at $0.01. If employees do not remove these items from the shelves before the price adjustment happens, they’ll ring up for only a penny.

So, how can you find these items? Here are the steps you’ll need to take.

1. Go shopping on the correct day

Items are marked down to a penny only when it’s determined that they need to be removed from stock. Typically, this markdown process happens on a Tuesday, so if you want to be able to buy one of these deeply discounted products, you’ll want to go shopping then.

Since others may also be on the lookout for the penny products, it can help to go early in the morning before all of the items you might want are bought up.

2. Check the penny lists online

Penny items are not advertised, since they are not really supposed to be for sale at that price. This means you can’t just consult the Dollar General sales flyer to see what’s on discount. You also shouldn’t ask cashiers, as they not only won’t help you find the items but instead are more likely to remove them from the shelves before you can purchase them.

Since these products are like hidden gems, you’ll want a guide to discovering them — and there are a few lists online that can help you do that. The Krazy Coupon lady publishes a weekly list of penny items. You can also join Facebook groups dedicated to finding them.

Since penny items change regularly, you’ll want to check out these resources every week to see what’s on discount.

3. Load up your cart

When you are lucky enough to find a penny list item on the shelves, you should bring up as many of the items as you want to purchase.

As soon as you have alerted the store to the fact the items were left on the shelf, they will be pulled so you won’t have a chance to get any more of them. If they ring up for a higher price, you can just say you changed your mind.

4. Get lucky with your cashier

Finally, you need to hope that the cashier you have ringing up your items allows you to actually buy them. Official store policy is that they should not be purchased, so you may well be told you can’t actually get the item for a penny and may have to put the item back.

While there’s an element of luck involved in both finding the penny items and being able to buy them, it may be worth the effort to try if there’s something on the penny list you are excited about purchasing — or if you happen to be at Dollar General anyway.

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