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You Can Score 1-Cent Buys at Nordstrom Rack!

After finals season, we’ll all be down to indulge in some much needed retail therapy. Why not head to Nordstorm Rack to see if you can swipe one of their penny deals? You read right—new clothes for $0.01. It’s almost too good to be true.

Nordstorm Rack’s elusive one-cent deals are the epitome of a bargain. A few times a week, the staff at Nordstorm rack staff scours all the store’s merchandise, scanning the price tag on every item, particularly ones that have spent some time on clearance. If the price shows up as one cent, it’s a cue to take it off the rack and send it back to the main warehouse. Staff can’t take advantage, but if a customer is lucky enough to find one of these pieces before the staff gets it off the sales floor, they get the best deal anybody has ever come across.

Technically, these crazy steals aren’t supposed to be on the floor, and staff try their best to make sure it doesn’t happen. But every so often, some items slip through and if they do, Nordstorm Rack sticks to the ring-up price.

So how can you score one of these crazy deals? There isn’t a guaranteed method, but there are some tips and tricks you can follow to up your chances.

  • Head for the sales rack and comb through for things that have been marked down a few times, a sign that it’s been on clearance for a while and therefore will soon be taken off the rack.
  • See if you can find a store in an area where there are similar competing stores nearby, or where their clothes don’t normally sell as well, forcing associates to slash the price a few times.
  • Find a less populated store; in busy stores, people are buying up product at a higher rate, meaning there’s less of a chance that any given item sits for an extended period of time.
  • However, busy stores also have their advantages. They’re more likely to be understaffed and employees don’t always have the chance to be sifting through the merchandise as much as they usually would, giving you a better chance of getting there before they do.

Even if you don’t score a penny deal, it’s well worth the chance. And if you do, then revel in the post-shopping bliss that’s cheaper than a pack of gum.

Anna Jonas is a third year Honours Sociology and Management student at Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia. Anna loves to be busy, with executive positions for the Dalhousie Camp Brigadoon Society, Dalhousie Equestrian Team and her sorority, Alpha Gamma Delta. She is also completing an Intercultural Communications Certificate. In her down time, she works at the campus Arts Centre and enjoys ballet, reading and playing the piano.