Thread: Tips for shopping at HomeSense

How to shop HomeSense/Winners and get the best deals.

Shopping at giant discounters like Winners and HomeSense and be hard work but do often pay off with a bag full of great deals. Here are a few tips I’ve picked up while shopping. More tips to come!!!

Tip 1- Its true new merchandise is arriving daily...well almost! Delivery trucks arrive at the back door of each store around 7pm Monday – Friday and get unloaded and sorted in the back room to be on the floor by 9am. This is actually strict company policy that all new merchandise is on the floor with nothing kept in the back room. (unless it’s an upcoming promo) So if you want the first look at new merchandise shop early in the day, and shop weekdays instead of weekends.

Tip 2 – Location determines stock. All merchandise is package out of the the TJX warehouse for each store. The value of the merchandise often determines where the product will go. If you are looking for higher end brand names you are better off shopping in a HomeSense/Winners in a large city. Therefore Toronto, ON is more likely to have Donna Karen, Gucci, Guess or Lululemon than Brantford, ON.

Tip 3 – Damaged items get discounts. Never assume that an item is at Winners/HomeSense because it is damaged. If you find an item on the shelf that is damaged, blemished or open always ask for a discount. You will most often get a 10% discount but can sometimes get an even higher % knocked off. They get this request all the time, only takes a few minutes and can often be done by the customer service person without a manager needing to be called. I’ve had items marked down up to 30% went home and touched it up with hot glue and was as good as new! Another tip to keep in mind while purchasing damaged items at HomeSense is to ask to borrow the stores scratch fixers. These stores pay top dollar for scratch fixing pens and most are happy to let you use them to fix up any small damages before leaving the store. After you get home with your damaged purchase if you are worried the repair is bigger than you had hoped in the store just bring it back. Items marked down for damages are never final sale!

Tip 4 – Markdowns. Each store has a small area for clearance or markdown items. During regular seasons these items are located in the designated department often at the end of the rows. Depending on the store you can be in for a real search. Markdowns are done daily and are send directly from head office with little control from the sales staff. A great tip for checking for marked down items is to find the sales person marking down items (usually done during the weekdays) and have them quickly scan your item...make sure you do this if the store is preparing for clearance events. I would however never recommend asking at the front customer service desk for items to be checked, most will not do this for you!
Tip 5 – Reading the price tag. The first thing to remember; the compared at price means nothing!!! This price is data entered by someone who in most cases is guessing at the retail value. The TMX company often buys from manufactures by weight (200 lbs of Guess Jeans for $200) then prices them so they appear to be 40-70% lower. Sometimes they rip themselves off...sometimes they rip you off.
Your Price tag has a bunch of areas with numbers most including the Dept, Cat and type mean nothing to you. However always check the date code, in this picture the A1202 means these items came into the store to be sold in the month of December 2002. This is great to keep an eye on if you’re willing to wait for an item to be marked down (or you see the markdown person and want your item checked) Most items will stay in the store at full price for 2 month, sometimes shorter.



More great tips to come....

Really interesting
I wonder what else you have

I never buy anything when it's full price there. I'll keep checking till it's discounted, and if it's gone when I go back then it wasn't meant to be. I have to stick to these rules for myself when shopping there otherwise I could spend a small fortune every time! lol