Frugality tip: How to get deals at the gap.

hermit · Heavy Crude Joined: May 13, 2008 Posts: 166

I'd like to share a way to get decent clothes, cheap:

When new clothes go on display at the gap, an "automated" ticket starts counting down their price. The longer an item has been in the store, the lower the price will be.

On occasion, particular lines don't sell well (A silly print on a boxer, or long sleeved plaid shirts in summer), so there'll be a whole rack that will just get cheaper each week until it eventually leaves.

So if you see something at the gap you like, keep coming back... if there's a lot of it, and it's not moving, the price will keep getting lower.

I make a bi-weekly gap trip, and keep my eye for impending deals. Every few months I can stock up on boxers for $2, or get some long-sleeved workshirts on the cheap.

HTH.

Sixstrings · Heavy Crude Joined: Jul 08, 2008 Posts: 150

Thanks for the tip Hermit, though I somehow doubt most of the folks on this forum are Gap types.. Cool

hermit · Heavy Crude Joined: May 13, 2008 Posts: 166

alpha480v

Sounds good but how much gas is it costing you to go there every couple of weeks to check prices? And how much is your time worth?
To me, saving a couple of bucks on something isn't worth the time and trouble to drive to the mall on my day off.

Cashmere · Light Sweet Crude Joined: Mar 27, 2008 Posts: 1971

desultorypawn · Tar Sands Joined: Jun 04, 2008 Posts: 41

Goodwill/Salvation Army will yield much better deals, also probably more lady friends.

smallpoxgirl · Moderator Joined: Nov 08, 2004 Posts: 6278

I appreciate the effort hermit. I think I'd rather get dental work twice a week than go to the GAP twice a week. I rarely venture to the temples of capitalism and it takes me at least a week to recover afterward.
_________________
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I can hear the flowers a-growin in the rubble of the towers.
I hear leaders quit their lying
I hear babies quit their crying.
I hear soldiers quit their dying, one and all." - OCMS

wisconsin_cur · Moderator Joined: May 10, 2007 Posts: 3212

In the last 5 years I have bought one jacket (Columbia), one winter coat (Carhart) and nothing else but blue jeans, black t-shirts and "wife beater" undershirts... oh and some boxers and two nice pairs of dress socks... everything is still being reused.

By quality that will last and then don't buy anymore. The bride is wearing hand me down maternity wear. the boys (mostly) hand me downs as well .

joeltrout · Light Sweet Crude Joined: Sep 19, 2007 Posts: 1317

Hermit,

I do the same thing with Banana Republic and J. Crew.

I am not willing to pay $90 for a shirt or $125 for jeans but if they are 50-75% off then I am.

A good place to get outdoor clothing/gear is REI Yardsales. They cannot sell any items that customers return and they do not send them back to the manufacturer. So every month or so they have a yardsale. I have picked up many North Face, Cloudveil, Marmot, Mountain Hardware, etc... jackets for under $50. Most of them full price would cost between $150-$275 each.

Our best deal was a Burley Bike Trailer that we bought for $85. The regular price is $475. The reason it was returned was 2 reflectors on the back were broken. We don't have kids but we can use it for groceries and future kids.

Anyways good deals are out there if people are willing to look.

joeltrout

emersonbiggins

Nice tip, Hermit.

Also, prices at stores like Target (Wal-mart - maybe?) are also good indicators of how well an item is selling and whether it is on closeout or clearance. The last digit of the price of a regular or new item is usually something high, like 8 or 9, while closeout items, depending on how long they've actually been on clearance, will continue ticking down from 8 to 7 to 6, etc. So if you find an item for an odd price like $11.94, chances are it is the only one of its kind left in that store.
_________________
"It's called the American Dream because you'd have to be asleep to believe it."

George Carlin

patience · Expert Joined: Jan 04, 2008 Posts: 1664

Good approach to economizing. For myself, I only shop at discount and thrift stores, and don't remember paying more than 5 bucks for a shirt. I get most of them at Goodwill for around $1. That's part of the blessing of working in a dirty job. Nobody expects me to look like a fashion statement.
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Local fix-it guy..

Auntie_Cipation · Heavy Crude Joined: Aug 18, 2005 Posts: 100

I will occasionally pay "full price" ($12-25) for a T-shirt, if it's to support a cause that I advocate and want to help spread the word about -- the latest one was for a nearby organic farm. I like to endorse my favorite environmental organizations by wearing their logos as well.

But other than that, undies, socks, and hiking boots are the only clothes I'll buy new, normally. Everything else is thrift store, yard sales, etc. At 50c a pop in the local thrift store, I can decide later I don't like 3/4 of what I buy, and each one I keep still only cost me $2. And to clarify, this is a once or twice a year splurge, not all the time.

So that's my primary reason for not taking advantage of the Gap's markdowns.

The other reason would be that I have no idea where the nearest Gap store is, but I can guarantee it's at least 100 miles away and that I don't go anywhere in the vicinity more often than once a year at the most...

Life is good!
_________________
"It's not that hard times are coming, it's that soft times are going."

Harpo Marx

heartandseoul · Tar Sands Joined: May 29, 2008 Posts: 31

In my area (northern Ky/Cincinnati) there is a Gap Outlet store. I go there and get socks for 25 cents and Old Navy shirts, pants, etc. for $1, $2. They don't advertise it much. I learned it existed simply by word of mouth.
Lots of moms now go there and purchase the stuff (tags still on it) and resell it on e-bay. These are not seconds, although some may have a small snag, tear or discoloration.
It wouldn't hurt to check in your area (if you're interested) to see if there is a Gap Outlet located there.
I have three kids and purchasing decent clothing that lasts more than a few months is important to me. But I surely can't pass up 25 cent socks. When I go there I do become a sort of hunter-gatherer.