Money-saving home improvement store hacks
Want to forget for just one minute we are still in the midst of a pandemic? Head to your local home improvement store.
On any given day, Home Depot, Lowe’s and similar stores are crawling with consumers scooping up everything from paint to petunias. Parking lots are packed, free shopping carts are scant and checkout lines snake through half the store.
If not for the masks and social distance markers, you could almost forget about coronavirus, even if just for a minute. Spring is typically the busiest season for home improvement retailers, but now that many are spending more time at home, this can be seen as the perfect time to tackle lingering projects or transform lackluster living spaces.
Sales are soaring at Home Depot, Lowe’s and Ace Hardware. It’s like Black Friday every day, I recently overheard one Lowe’s associate say to a customer. All three stores reported first-quarter sales growth, with Lowe’s realizing a net sales increase of nearly 11% to $19.7 billion from $17.7 billion last year. At Home Depot, first-quarter net sales increased 7.1% to $28.3 billion.
Since many of us find ourselves inspired to improve our surroundings or are itching for a hardware store stop respite amid the stay-at-home edict, we may as well spend less if we can. There are quite a few ways to nail down savings at both Lowe’s and Home Depot. Here are some home improvement store hacks.
Sign up for text alerts: Register to receive The Home Depot and Lowe’s text messages and you’ll have access to special offers, exclusive savings and promotions.
Price match: The home improvement titans will price-match the competition, both brick-and-mortar and online merchants. You’ll need to provide proof a lower price exists and some exclusions do apply. The Depot goes a step further. They will not only meet, but beat, the competition’s price by 10%.
Take advantage of military discounts: If you’re in the military or a veteran, you’ll receive a 10% discount off your purchase, year-round at both stores. Just head to the customer service counter for details.
Scope out the daily deals: Both stores feature online-only daily bargains, f leeting savings on select products like power tools or lighting. You’ll find these offers prominently displayed on each store’s home page. Some deals go quick and all typically ship free or can be picked up at your local store if available.
Head to ebay for coupons: I rarely make a big purchase at Lowe’s without buying a store coupon on ebay first. On ebay you’ll find a slew of Lowe’s printable coupons and online codes good for $20 off a $100 tab or 10% off a total purchase. They’ll run you about $2-$4 each. There are Home Depot coupons available as well but they tend to be priced much higher. The coupons appear legitimate. I’ve never had an issue. Like anything bought online, I caution you to vet the seller and verify the expiration date.
Join the club: Join The Home Depot’s Garden Club and you’ll instantly receive a $5 off coupon good on your next lawn and garden purchase just for signing up. Similar coupons will pop up in your inbox throughout the year. Most Lowe’s stores will accept these as competitor coupons.
Search for price clues: At The Home Depot, if a clearance item’s price ends in $.06 the price will be reduced again in the not-so-distant future. If it ends in $.03 that’s as low as it will go. At Lowe’s, yellow tags will either say “Clearance,” which indicates a permanent markdown, or “New Lower Price” which signals a 60-day sale.
Return poor plants within a year: Both stores offer a oneyear guarantee on perennials, trees and shrubs so hold on to your receipts. The Home Depot also offers a guarantee that your plants will harvest. If you purchase their line of Bonnie plants with Miracle-gro soil and they do not produce in the course of the growing season (March-october), you are entitled to a refund.
Pounce on “cull” lumber: Both Home Depot and Lowe’s routinely discount “scrap” lumber. These pieces are pulled because they do not meet the store’s standards or they are leftovers from a previous project. The pieces in these scrap bins are reduced by as much as 70%. At The Home Depot you’ll find scraps marked in purple in the bins in the middle of the lumber department.
Opt for unwanted paint: Be sure to swing by the “oops” paint displays at both stores for significant discounts on cans of color. The Home Depot will reduce mis-tints to $5. Lowe’s will typically sell them for around $10 a can.
Buy in bulk: Both stores offer bulk pricing discounts on thousands of products, so the more you buy, the more you save (and you don’t have to be a licensed professional). Home Depot offers the Pro Xtra volume pricing program. It’s free to join and you can shave a percentage off eligible products like pavers, insulation, roofing materials and more. Lowe’s offers similar discounts through their Volume Discount Pricing program.
Head to the post office: The U.S. Postal Service offers exclusive “mover savings” packets to anyone who completes a change of address form online, but they’re also available upon request at your local USPS branch (even if you’re not actually moving), according to the deal sleuths at Slickdeals. net. These savings packets often include a 10 percent-off coupon for Lowe’s that can be used in-store or online.