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I was in a foul place that evening. I needed something pink to wear for Breast Cancer Awareness Day at the school where I teach. Given my slightly olive complexion, pink is hardly my color, although I can get away with certain, more vibrant shades of it. But I'd had a bad day dealing with some shameless students. The last thing I wanted to do was spend my measly salary on an item of clothing that I'd forever identify with their behavior.
Fortunately, a Nordstrom Rack was located close to where I was running errands. I'd never been in, but I'd always intended to give it a try. That evening, browsing not only became a shopping victory, it gave me the soul-soothing benefits of a yoga session capped off with a glass of wine.
I immediately found a pair of Coach stilettos in my size. I didn't need them, but they were reduced from $345 to $100, and just by handling the finely tooled leather, I could feel the remnants of the day fading from my brain like a bad nightmare. Done deal, I thought, and put them in my basket.
However, the hot pink cashmere tank top I found on the reduced rack, even though it was marked down several times from a very overpriced $129 to $19.99, still had me hesitating. While it's hot and humid outside during autumn in Miami where I live, inside schools and office buildings the air conditioning can make your bones as brittle as a Charleston chew in the freezer. I wasn't sure how much use I'd get out of it. I went back and forth internally until I finally became so annoyed with the sound of my own inner voice that I gave in and headed for the register carrying both the shoes and the admittedly soft and comforting scrap of pricey pink.
The heels rang up as marked: $100. That was enough to begin some serious mood improvement. Then the bar code for the top registered: $0.01.
I was about to alert the clerk that there was a mistake when she congratulated me. "Good for you! You found a one-penny deal. You must be a really lucky person."
Me? The person who had just that day discovered two sophomores engaged in an exchange of body fluids in a place they had no business being? And who then had to spend long extracurricular hours filing referrals and awkwardly informing the parents about what their beloved children had been doing with each other? I was lucky?
In fact, the deal was completely legitimate, the clerk confirmed. I really was able to buy this item for a cent. Not only that, because I had spent more than $100—literally $100.01—if I opened a credit line, I would be eligible for a $20 gift certificate. I gave her my details, as eager as an overachieving student receiving extra credit, and in return was given a temporary Nordstrom card along with my purchases. It was like ingesting instant-activation anti-anxiety pills.
As it turns out, the one-penny opportunity is something of a cross between extreme couponing and gambling. Two or three times per week, the salesgirl told me, the staff is required to roam the floor with scanners and read all the price tags, especially those of items that have been on clearance for a while. When a top or dress or pair of shorts rings up for a penny, that's an alert that it needs to be pulled from the stock and sent back to the central warehouse. Staff isn't allowed to buy it. However, if a customer finds the item before the staff pulls it, she's allowed to walk away with a steal—and a story.
Nordstrom spokesperson Naomi Tobis hesitates to confirms this. "Technically, there shouldn't be items in our stores for a penny," she notes. "We make every effort to ensure the price of an item rings correctly. However, we have heard [of] this happening on occasion at our Rack stores. In the limited case an item rings at a penny, we will honor that price."
I can certainly understand why Nordstrom would not be happy allowing items to escape their outlets practically for free. The mechanics of how the scanners and tags are coded to alert the clerks—by initial coding date? by reprogramming?—remain a company secret.
So are there ways you can be a repeat winner? I asked deal-hungry friends and scoured the Internet to see if there were any secrets. There's no surefire process, and every markdown-conscious fashion-lover seems to have her own method. Still, if you're a diligent shopper, the following tips may help you score a one-penny deal for yourself.
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On the sale racks, search for out-of-season, heavily discounted items. The more times a tag has been reduced, the more likely that the piece of clothing or pair of shoes is soon going to be targeted for shipment back to the warehouse.
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Frequent a less-populated store. Stand-alone stores or stores in strip malls are often better targets for bargain hunters than those in popular, crowded centers. When traffic is slow, prices go low.
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Look for a Nordstrom Rack in a geographical region where it either has a lot of competition from other high-end outlet stores—Saks Off 5th, for example—or in neighborhoods where upscale clothing traditionally doesn't sell well. Unlike areas where a Nordstrom Rack has a monopoly and the merchandise moves quickly, here the clerks have the option of re-stickering articles over and over in order to get them to sell.
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Conversely, busy Nordstrom Rack stores that may be understaffed, temporarily or otherwise, don't have the option of checking tags as often as they should. If you know of a store that has tons of merchandise but not enough employees, it's prime for spotting a penny giveaway. Waiting on line for a clerk is the only price you'll have to pay.
Ultimately, in Nordstrom Rack as in life, don't be afraid to take the chance on something. You can always say no at the register if you don't like the price after all. But if you're a regular shopper, armed with your card and the subsequent coupons you earn with points for spending money, you just might find that even if you don't get a one-cent steal, the buys are well worth it anyway. They're certainly cheaper than hiring a therapist who practices mindfulness-based stress reduction, and can help you un-see something you never wanted to view in the first place.
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