The Secrets to Penny Shopping at Dollar General

Dollar General penny shopping is a big thing! And those who do it are completely hooked but you have to know what you are doing and what to look for inside the store. You also have to be prepared to spend time looking and researching. If you are prepared then you can score some amazing deals for just one penny!!

First Things First

These items do not have a tag saying, “Penny deal here!” You have to learn how to decode the tags and know the system. And everything is YMMV, or your mileage may vary. What is pennied in one store may not be in another. So be happy if you do score a hot deal and polite if you do not.

Know the Code

When you look at the barcode on a product there will be a code underneath. It will include a combination of the following codes:

• SP – Spring
• SU – Summer
• FA – Fall
• WI – Winter
• 15 – 2015
• 16 – 2016
• 17 – 2017

So if you see a shirt, for example, that says WI17 on that means winter 2017. So if it says WI17 and it is December of 2017 the item is not likely to be seriously discounted. If it says spring or summer for 2017, or a prior year, then it should have some type of a discount. This is the first place you look to see if you have a possibility of getting a penny item.

Understanding the Symbols

The next things to look at are the symbols.

• Purple Dot
• Brown Dot
• Red Dot
• Pink Dot
• Pink Star
• Blue Dot
• Brown Diamond
• + others

The right symbol combined with the right code increases your chance of a penny find! And there are certain items, like Disney, that have their own codes. You can follow the sales at Dollar General and get a pretty good idea of what symbols are on sale.

Discounts start at anywhere from 10% – 25%. They then move on to 40%, 50%, 70%, 90%. Of course, this can vary per store. After they hit 90%, usually within 2 weeks, they will “penny out”. Tuesday mornings are when this often occurs so obviously this is when you want to be in the store. Again, it is very much the luck of the draw.

Understanding Penny Items

You need to realize that items that are penny deals are not supposed to be in the store. They are supposed to be removed from the floor but it doesn’t always happen. That is when the game is afoot! Dollar General’s policy on penny items is clear – they are supposed to sell it to you if you find one but some stores will refuse. You have to be prepared for this. And you can almost guarantee if you find one and they let you buy it the cashier will not let you go back for more. So if you think something is a penny put all you want in your basket!

Hot Tips for Penny Shopping

• Don’t ask employees about penny items. This is a HUGE no no!
• Be polite. Don’t argue or demand that something should be a penny just because you saw someone else got it for that.
• Load your cart with all you want if you think it is a penny because the employees are supposed to go pull it off the shelf the minute they realize they are there.
• Remember – not every store gets the same discount at the same time. If what you want isn’t pennied out yet check back.
• Don’t get it price checked. If it rings up for more than just ask them to remove and explain you thought it was on sale for less. Don’t mention penny sales!
• Be NEAT! Stores get trashed by people looking for penny stores and it makes DG less inclined to be nice about it.
• Know what you are looking for when you go in. Have screenshots, a list etc. The internet almost never works in DG so don’t count on that. Look around and follow our Dollar General group the. do our best to keep up with the penny sales.

Dollar General Penny Store Policy

Knowing this can make things much easier. Here is what the policy is for DG for dealing with items to be pennied out.

Monday-Identify and Remove PRP items from the Sales Floor:

• In preparation for completing the PRP Event, the specific product should be pulled from the sales floor and by close of business. Stage in the Receiving Room.
• The product will still ring at the register at the current clearance price until the following day.
• All areas of the sales floor must be checked to ensure that ALL PRP items are pulled.Tuesday-Product will Ring at the Register at ( 0.01 ) one cent

• The product will ring at a penny.
• If any additional PRP items are identified by the store team, immediately pull from the sales floor.
• If any penny item is identified by a customer, ALWAYS sell the product to the costumer at 1cent. If we fail to pull all of the penny product from the floor, it is never appropriate to deny the sale or argue with the customer.
• After taking care of the customer, locate any additional penny items and remove from the sales floor.

Wednesday-Begin the PRP
The PRP is live and should be processed by the deadline using the instructions provided in START.

So the best way to get in on the deals is to be able to read the tags, know what symbols are on clearance for the season (i.e. = gray dot – men’s boots) and then watch the clearance progression.  Joining a group (such as ours)  that focuses on penny deals can be a huge help. There are also subscription sites that will list what is happening each week in the penny world. Happy hunting!

Be sure and check our deal breakdowns in the HTSFF Forums 

We also get early ad scans for Dollar General ad many other stores you can see them all HERE

Join our Dollar General Freebies and Deals Facebook Group