Is That Your Lowe's-est Price?

It has been several years since my last post. In that time, Aimee and I purchased a house, sold it and have moved to another area where we have again purchased a house. Naturally, just as an insect is attracted to a bug-zapper, the homeowner is attracted to the home improvement store. When we owned our first home (the one we just sold), we spent about every weekend at Lowe’s. It was so bad, that we were on a first name basis with several of the employees there.

As we would explore the aisles of Lowe’s looking for parts or items we needed in order to complete our projects, we would wonder past several clearance areas within the store (During the warmer months, there is also an outdoor power equipment clearance section in front of the store as well). At one point, we noticed that a $300.00 wine refrigerator was marked on clearance (pictured below:)

Paid 33% of retail

This item was placed on clearance because there was a newer model on the shelf, so nothing was wrong with it. Over the next several months, we kept an eye on this item as its price continued to decline, $249.99 to $225.00. After about six months, Aimee and I decided to see if the employees in the appliance section would be willing to haggle. We settled on a max price we were willing to pay so we wouldn’t become emotionally attached during the negotiation.

I told the employee that I knew the product had been in the appliance clearance area for several months, and asked if they would be willing to accept a lower price. He indicated that they would, so I threw out a figure of $75.00. Honestly, I had (and still have) no idea what their policy is on how little they can accept on a clearance item, but I figured it was a good jumping off point. Naturally, the employee told me he couldn’t go that low, but could part with the appliance for $100.00. Aimee and I found that price agreeable and agree to purchase it for that price. A part of me still wonders if he could have sold it for less than $100.00 if I would have negotiated more aggressively, but in the big picture we paid 1/3 of retail price for the item.

In some instances, it is possible to save even more on the purchase price o f a negotiated item. Lowe’s sends 10% off coupons from time to time. While those coupons will exclude some clearance appliances, they do not exclude all clearance items in their store. Additionally, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention their additional 5% off savings by using their credit card.

Unfortunately, I didn’t always know that Lowe’s would haggle on clearance items. When we purchased our first house, I needed a lawn mower and found a Troy Bilt mower in that outdoor clearance section I mentioned earlier. The mower had been returned, but the repair tag stated that there wasn’t any problem with it. For maintenance purposes, they had cleaned out the carburetor. The normal retail price was $1,399.00 and the clearance price was $900.00 (the price I paid). If I would have known about the ability to further negotiate the price, I wonder how much more I could have saved…. Oh well.

As I mentioned above, since our last post in 2015, Aimee and I purchased our first house and have recently sold it. There are tons of money saving ideas we employed while living there that I hope to share in the coming months.

Happy Saving everyone!