The Supermarket Clearance Shelf – a How to Guide

It’s the evening. There’s a crowd in your local supermarket. They are reaching, squatting, sniffing, searching, fighting. You have found the clearance shelf. That is of course, if you were not already well aware of it.

Whether you are budgeting or just a tight-arse, the clearance shelf is a thrilling socio-economic feature of every supermarket. Firstly, it suits the car-less London lifestyle of stocking up as and when, rather than a big trip. Secondly, the environment benefits from minimising food waste. You buy only what you need based on what’s available and you can save a good few pounds a week. All it takes is dropping by on your way home and preparing for disappointment, whilst hoping for a win.

Time

If you go in the morning you probably won’t find anything good (Except in Lidl, apparently, who have this earlier system). Also, if you do find the holy grail of a whole chicken, it’s not going to survive a day at work. Even if you do call it your assistant.

The Prize

There’s always plenty of stuff in the clearance. But some things you just can’t keep, like eggs. Some things you just don’t want. What you do want is big hitters- meat. If you commit an extra few minutes to the clearance every day and come away with just a few pence off some bread and vegetables, then you’re likely wasting your time.

A good 30% or more off some meat though is a real ‘score’ that generally saves you over a pound.

Dinner is Decided

No deciding necessary. You can even have some fun and set a boundary to refine your selection even more, if you’re so inclined. Sainsbury have been known to knock their ‘taste the difference’ meatballs as low as 99p from around £3.35. These are good for two servings, so with vegetables you are eating well for under a pound per day.

However, this is probably not what you really want to read. Some excellent ready meals however can have a solid reduction that you can grab for that night. Find some fish? Rice and steamed vegetables it is.

Crap Clearance

What is the point in knocking 5p off an RRP. It really does happen. It’s a kick in the balls to find something you like has been carried by angels to the clearance only to find it doesn’t quite share the same reduction as the rest.

 

Fake Clearance

Some lazy dick decides they don’t want something in their basket. Putting it back is a long way away and it looks too obvious in their current aisle. But the clearance is just there and that’s full of random crap. Someone else meanwhile is amazed to find a salmon fillet in the clearance, only to find it.. isn’t. With no golden sticker of joy it appears naked and inappropriate.

Comradeship

You will probably start to recognise your fellow bargain-hunters. You will even learn the name of the person with the trolley who labels up and stocks the shelf. Of course, if you have just inspected an item and weighed up the formula of ‘do I want it vs what is the saving’ before putting it back, you are sure to get tense when someone else immediately scoops it and does the same. Call it jewellers inspecting diamonds…  or monkeys sniffing bananas.

The Circle of Crows

When the shelf is being stocked, or a stocking is anticipated, plenty of you will begin to circle and wait to pounce. Although, if you had your eye on those meatballs about to expire and wait for them to be carried over and marked, you may have attempted to stake out the shelf. You feel like a betrayed consumer when they fail to arrive.

Bad Labelling

You scan an item at the till and what happens? The original price comes up! Some places have learned to place the clearance label over the original barcode, but not all. Some items also have multiple barcodes. So there’s a queue behind you for the self service but you can’t find how to cancel the item. So the assistant has to come over and help. All you saved was £1.20 (if you found a win) but most people spend that on half a coffee in the morning. Cheapskate.

What have we missed? Got any big win moments to share? Click here and Join our discussion on the clearance shelf!

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