- These are 10 shopping secrets HomeGoods does not want you to know. Welcome back to the channel, I'm the YouTube Deal Guy Matt Granite. I'm ready to bring you
inside my local HomeGoods and spill the goods to save you money, from inaccurate in-store advertising, to the truth about the
HomeGoods markdown schedule, plus which section of the store
actually has the best deals. Plus one trick to almost
always score you a lower price than what you see on
this special price tag. I've got you covered. If you guys like this content, please feel free to give it a thumbs up, and share it with any other
fellow HomeGoods shopper. The first thing that HomeGoods
might not want you to know, it's a great shopping secret, you can put items on hold, kind of. Let's say you are in the store, and you are forced with
that split second decision on a piece of furniture, they only have one item left, and you do not know whether or not this large item will fit in your home, and you haven't had the
opportunity to measure, absolutely no problem. As you pay for the item, whether it's the store
associate ringing you up, or you wanna approach the
customer service desk, there is an internal store policy that they will hold the
item in their own inventory in the back of the store
for you with your name on it for up to one week. That will give you an
opportunity to measure, maybe consult with another
member of your household. You still have that free
30-day return policy, but with this one week hold where they retain the
item in store for you, you don't risk any unnecessary damage to the item through transportation, and the cumbersome task of bringing a large
item back to the store. This hold service is
particularly great in the event that you realize the car that you have is not able to accommodate the size of a specific piece of furniture. No issue, you can always
borrow a friend's pickup truck, or swap it out if you have another vehicle in your household one week
later when you return. The second shopping secret HomeGoods does not want you to know is that you can almost completely ignore the compare at prices that you see in the store. And I wills how you some
specific examples in a moment, but understand that they
majority of the products you're interacting with at a HomeGoods are manufactured
specifically for the store. So there is no compare price. The list price is just
basically someone's opinion of what a product could sell for at a much fancier store. Enjoy the item, but do not get too
caught up in the pricing. Let's take a look at this
granite mortar pestle set that I did find at my local HomeGoods. HomeGoods sells this for $16.99 and they list a compare price at $30. Let's be honest here, if I were to search for
a nearly identical mortar and pestle set made out
of unpolished granite, which is what they used
to call me in high school, this retails for $17.47 on Amazon, and comparable sets of
roughly the same size range somewhere between $11 and $24, almost never 30. If you take a look at this monitor stand and organizer set sold at HomeGoods with a $24.99 price and a
compare at price of $40, you may also note the compare at price is a little bogus. While I can't find the exact same item on Amazon or any other major retailer, you will find the going
rate for a set like this which offers many of the
same features is $13.99. And if you wanna get get fancier, something like this
SimpleHousewares desk monitor set which is very well rated, $20.97. And I would argue this SimpleHouseware desk monitor
stand riser set that I found with an additional
adjustable organizer tray at $20.97 is probably
the nicest of the group, specifically compared to
$24.99 as a selling price, and $30 as a list price. In the number three spot for a secret HomeGoods
does not want you to know, before I explain the restocking schedule is reach all the way
to the back of the self to often find the best deals. And the reason I am
speculating this is a secret HomeGoods does not want you to know is you can really mess up
their in-store organization with this tactic that I've employed. The store tends to stock its
shelves a few items deep. And as shoppers go through the items, they are not always in the
tallest to shortest order. The bathroom accessories, kitchenware and art
sections are key for this. So if you are looking for a piece of art, obviously going to the very back is something you might
already naturally do. But let's look at some of the
mismatch items I have found, which have scored me some
great deals and products. For example, at the back of a
shelf in a random decor area, there are these beautiful hanging lights that I was able to find. They've been sold out all summer at many other HomeGoods stores, but I was able to score these by simply just reaching
to the back of the shelf. This glass food storage bamboo system, another item that my store only listed as having one in stock of that no one else was
necessarily able to find unless they reach to the back
of this respective shelf. Awesome. And other items like serve wear and cake cutting sets, all items you can find if you just reach a little bit further, sometimes to the back of a shelf. In the number four spot for a top 10 shopping secret HomeGoods does not want you to know, understand that your HomeGoods has multiple restocking days per week. And the reason HomeGoods
does not necessarily want to give you this information is they wanna stagger their traffic evenly over the course of the week. They don't want everyone jam packed only on the days that
they stock per store. Unlike many other retailers, specifically Hobby Lobby, that might only restock
once or twice per week, and not on Sundays, HomeGoods has multiple restock days over the course of a week, including Sundays. And they vary significantly by store and by region. A quick tactic that could
help you beat the system, specifically if you
are a frequent shopper, ask a manager when your store restocks. I found that the customer
service at HomeGoods, phenomenal. Many of the managers very receptive and able to identify
their frequent customers. Once you have that connection established, just simply ask "What days of the week "do you guys restock?" And shopping the day
after HomeGoods restocks might actually be your best bet to access that inventory once it's all been placed
on the store shelves. In the number five spot, a quick trick that could diminish the amount of time you spend
treasure hunting in HomeGoods. Now a favorite thing for our family, specifically my wife, is she loves that sensation
of a treasure hunt and roaming the store to find items that have been marked down, overlooked, and heavily discounted. But based on my regular
research of HomeGoods, and sometimes come in
with a notepad and paper and mapping things out, which generally freaks
out the store employees, the most heavily reduced
items with red tags are generally located
on the end cap displays nearest the back walls of the store. As I'm sure you guys know, the red tags signify a mega discount, and this is one of the best ways to ensure that you get to these
heavily reduced items first. And speaking of red tags, one quick bonus that HomeGoods might not want you to know is if you do see an item with a red tag, please double check it for damage. The red tagged items are often
the most frequently handled, and also the most frequently manhandled, or person handled. So double check each red
tagged item for damage. On just one shopping spree I
was able to find this damaged TV stand/console table sitting
in the middle of the store. And for items like this
solid wood three tier shelf, or even a pillow with a small tear that has an as is tag on it, this is very important
for all of you to know, you can ask for an additional discount if the item is damaged
on top of the markdown. This even applies to those occasions where you might come across a chair with a few nicks on the leg, or a bench with slightly worn fabric. It's also important to know that you can ask for
an additional discount on items where the color of the item appears different in contrast
to what's already beside it. So if for example you see
a dark green coffee mug which has the exact same style as a bunch of almost neon
green coffee mugs around it, it could be a manufacturing defect, which would then in turn possibly score you an additional discount. In the number six spot is a top shopping secret HomeGoods does not want you to know, understand the markdown schedule. And you can derive that information by reading the price tag
like a store associate. Markdowns at HomeGoods
occur every three months. So if you are trying to
chart the life of a product, to understand when it will go on sale, read the label or the price tag. It will show you the month and the year the item was
first put onto the store shelf, and then you can calculate the
three months from that point. As an example, tied to
this Simplify ironing board cover and pad, you'll see that the price at 9.99 is tied to an item that went onto store shelves on July 21st. If you look just above the
compare at price of $14, you'll see the B signifying when the item was born onto the store shelf, 07, July 21 being the day, and then from this point, if you really do not need
an ironing board right now, you can wait three months, and I can guarantee you you will see an additional substantial discount as long as that item is still in stock. In the number seven spot, if you are a frequent HomeGood shopper, get a TJX Rewards Card, and shop with it there. If you already have a TJX Rewards Card, you likely know that you
can use it at HomeGoods. But if you are not yet
an owner of this card, and you do frequently shop at HomeGoods, consider using this as a
way that you can use points on your purchases, which can then convert to spending cash. And TJ Maxx being the
sister store of HomeGoods means there are different ways for you to work your
rewards and your perks into every purchase you make, even if the card is tied to
a slightly different store. In the number eight spot, before I explain the truth
about store inventory tied to HomeGoods, which
might surprise you, this next piece of advice defies what I would apply to pretty
much any other retailer. Always shop far in advance
for seasonal items. Now if you are a frequent
shopper of other stores you likely know the early
bird never gets the bargain when it comes to seasonal items. HomeGoods on the other hand, puts many of its top seasonal offerings onto the store floor one season prior to when you might
actually really need those Fourth of July outdoor throw pillows, or some really awesome
Halloween decorations. Unlike Walmart, Target or Toys R Us, where you would actually score your best Halloween discounts the
day after Halloween, HomeGoods puts those
items out early on sale, way in advance. The only thing you would experience by buying those seasonal items
after the specific holiday is disappointment and often the same price
as before those items are just completely
removed from the store. This also applies to
Christmas decorations, shop early rather than those situations where you need to buy the
best Christmas decorations the day after Christmas
from so many other stores. In the number nine spot
is a top secret HomeGoods does not want you to know, check the app and the inventory for your local store, which you can find by zip code, well before you even get into your car to visit a HomeGoods. Now of course HomeGoods
would like you to spend as much time as humanly
possible in their store, looking through the different aisles and different options, and maybe buying something
that you didn't intend to buy in the first place, that's all fine and dandy. But the HomeGoods app actually has one of the most up to date stock inventories for
your specific local store that you can use to figure
out which items you wanna buy, and which items you actually need, perhaps actually forcing you to spend less money
than you otherwise would on a treasure hunt inside HomeGoods. For example, on this Fanta drink cooler. If you needed one, you could find this in your local store. And if you look at the timestamp from the top left hand corner right here where it says eight hours ago, you can see at which point this last item's inventory was updated. If you were looking at
something from over the weekend, like my wife was, this outdoor hanging egg chair is now still in stock
at my local retailer. And one other quick trick if you need to even further
narrow down your search is use the filter button for your specific score feed, you can find out which items are still available in the store, and track your inventory down by category, which is one of my favorite ways to shop well before I ever set foot inside my local store. In the number 10 spot
I have more of a hack before I get to a bonus secret that HomeGoods definitely
doesn't want you to know. But if you are not yet aware, look for the areas around
the checkout for great deals. Generally, deals near the checkout are marked up at other retailers and grocery stores so you will mistakenly buy
an item out of convenience. At HomeGoods that's definitely
not the store's strategy. It's almost as though
they wanna reward you for all of the money you've
already emotionally spent before you go to pay and
complete your purchase. So, look for great last
minute deals in this area, at a time where many other shoppers are already in a rush, or have already committed to a bunch of other purchases and the thought of buying anything else
is not conceivable. You could potentially even
wrack up even more savings by paying specific attention to this part of the store. And now, for a bonus shopping secret that HomeGoods definitely
does not want you to know, avoid shopping the weekends, and any time around the weekday
lunch period when you can. People come on their breaks from lunch and on weekends as though
this is the only thing they're gonna do the whole weekend, and the stores are often
impossibly crowded. It is very difficult to
access the best stock, even see what you are doing without getting body checked
by the person beside you. Now for myself personally I don't mind the human to human contact, but it's not necessarily the
best shopping experience. So if you can, plan around the crowds. It will score you considerably better, less passed over merchandise that hasn't been handled by
every other person in the store. I wanna thank all of you for getting to this point in the video. If you are a HomeGoods store associate and you're watching this video right now, first of all, I really appreciate you, and second of all, if you have any other insider secrets that you'd like to share
in the comments section, or correct me if you think
I'm wrong on something, please feel free to do so. This video is not sponsored in any way, and most of the research that I've gained has just been through
repeated store experiences, speaking to customer service, asking a couple of invasive
questions to managers, and going back time and time again to survey how different HomeGoods operates throughout my community. So drop me a line, let me know if you guys wanna join my insider Deal Guy texting club, the phone number is 440-298-2181. And if you did like this content, please feel free to give
this video a thumbs up, subscribe, turn your notifications on, and I can promise I'll hook you up with more store secrets for your other favorite
retailers very soon. Bye bye.
