# Grocery store liquidation - what to stock up on? Need answer fast **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 15, 2017, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grocery-store-liquidation-what-to-stock-up-on-need-answer-fast/789007 "2017-06-15T03:18:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2017, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grocery-store-liquidation-what-to-stock-up-on-need-answer-fast/789007/21 "2017-06-15T14:41:11Z")
> [@Spud](#): > > I understand this logic, but the savings is for a very limited time. If I buy one laundry detergent that will last me 2 months, I get 40% off times 1. If I buy 4 I get 8 months worth at 40% off. > > This was not unexpected and people were lined up at 5:30 am. Apparently it is not a flat rate across the board. > > They closed out the hard liquor a few months ago (all at 40% off) and it was a mad house. All inventory at all stores sold out in under 24 hours. > > Sad though since this has been my go to store for 23 years. Got it. Thanks for the clarification. ---
**Author:** ![Spud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spud/32/347_2.png) [@Spud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spud)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2017, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grocery-store-liquidation-what-to-stock-up-on-need-answer-fast/789007/22 "2017-06-15T14:42:01Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > I suggest comparing the battery price against Walmart or Amazon’s price. That’s something that’s often highly discounted. I’m trying to think of products that are _never_ discounted. Good idea… looks like I saved between $1 and $1.50 (8 pack Duracell AA and AAA) from what I could find on-line. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2017, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grocery-store-liquidation-what-to-stock-up-on-need-answer-fast/789007/23 "2017-06-15T14:43:59Z")
Spud - which one’s your store? I’m headed over to the Allisonville/82nd street one soon. ---
**Author:** ![Spud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spud/32/347_2.png) [@Spud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spud)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2017, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grocery-store-liquidation-what-to-stock-up-on-need-answer-fast/789007/24 "2017-06-15T14:46:22Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > Spud - which one’s your store? I’m headed over to the Allisonville/82nd street one soon. 116th and Keystone I did see someone buying a full steak cut of some sort and the butcher said it would be 50% off. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2017, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grocery-store-liquidation-what-to-stock-up-on-need-answer-fast/789007/25 "2017-06-15T15:00:58Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > I’ve gone to close-out sales at places like Circuit City or Borders bookstore and I got the impression that they brought in crappy merchandise, figuring that people will snap it up on the assumption they’re getting a bargain. What happens is that the owner already sold everything to a liquidation company so it’s not really a “Borders Liquidation”, it’s a “ACME Liquidation Assets, LLC sale” under a Borders sign. The difference being that you’d expect Borders to be desperate to get rid of the stuff at any cost and discount it accordingly just to make back _some_ money and minimize their losses. Instead, you’re dealing with a company out to make a profit on what they bought, just like any other store. Which is why these sales are usually disappointing for the typical consumer. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2017, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grocery-store-liquidation-what-to-stock-up-on-need-answer-fast/789007/26 "2017-06-15T15:17:31Z")
> [@Spud](#): > > Good idea… looks like I saved between $1 and $1.50 (8 pack Duracell AA and AAA) from what I could find on-line. Batteries don’t last forever though, don’t stock up more than you can use short term. Of course you could probably spend your limit on stuff you’d use all in the next few months anyway. You could get anything no more perishable than frozen foods to take advantage of the deal. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2017, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grocery-store-liquidation-what-to-stock-up-on-need-answer-fast/789007/27 "2017-06-15T15:22:21Z")
> [@steatopygia](#): > > You’ll save the most money by buying the most expensive things you use. Liquor, coffee, meat, razor blades. Buying something at 40% off that only costs a dollar or two, won’t net you much savings. > > Sounds like fun if it isn’t too crowded. But if you buy $100 of small items, it’s the same savings as buying a $100 bottle of booze for $60. It doesn’t really make a difference if you buy big ticket or small ticket items. The one difference might be that it’s more unlikely that you’ll find a $100 bottle of booze for $60 elsewhere, whereas there might be a decent chance you’ll find a $3 item for $1.80. It depends on what you’re buying. The ultimate strategy would be to consider which items are very unlikely to go on sale anywhere, and get those. But, for me, I might as well buy anything and everything that is non-perishable that I regularly use (in other words, pantry staples), and maybe a few perishable things for dinner in the coming week. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2017, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grocery-store-liquidation-what-to-stock-up-on-need-answer-fast/789007/28 "2017-06-15T15:45:06Z")
I’m surprised that no one’s yet told you to get potatoes. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2017, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grocery-store-liquidation-what-to-stock-up-on-need-answer-fast/789007/29 "2017-06-15T16:07:00Z")
> [@Spud](#): > > I don’t really have a fixed budget, but if I buy lettuce at x% discount now I have to pay full price next month (If I stock up on it I throw most away next week). If I buy 4 detergents at x% off I save that x% for 8 months and have the extra to spend on other things later. OK, I’m just going to say I don’t really understand how you’re doing the maths. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2017, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grocery-store-liquidation-what-to-stock-up-on-need-answer-fast/789007/30 "2017-06-15T16:10:51Z")
TP ---
**Author:** ![sitchensis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sitchensis/32/4892_2.png) [@sitchensis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sitchensis)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2017, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grocery-store-liquidation-what-to-stock-up-on-need-answer-fast/789007/31 "2017-06-15T16:30:50Z")
One thing people often overlook is the cards. Birthday cards have a huge markup and are usually one of the first things to get marked down. The other things I found to be significantly cheaper were cleaning supplies and weird stuff like party supplies. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2017, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grocery-store-liquidation-what-to-stock-up-on-need-answer-fast/789007/32 "2017-06-15T16:49:13Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > OK, I’m just going to say I don’t really understand how you’re doing the maths. Not that hard. If you stock up on say, 10 units at 50% off, but end up throwing 9 of them away because they spoil before you can use them you’ve just 5 times what you’d normally pay for the one unit you actually used. There’s a similar phenomenon that my wife used to do where she’d stock up on a year’s worth of something, say laundry detergent, because it was 5 or 6% off, but then she’d end up giving away all of it to friends or relatives because “we have so much and we don’t need all of it.” End result: we spent almost twice as much as we would have if we’d just paid full price as we used it. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2017, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grocery-store-liquidation-what-to-stock-up-on-need-answer-fast/789007/33 "2017-06-15T16:57:57Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > > [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > > > I’ve gone to close-out sales at places like Circuit City or Borders bookstore and I got the impression that they brought in crappy merchandise, figuring that people will snap it up on the assumption they’re getting a bargain. > > What happens is that the owner already sold everything to a liquidation company so it’s not really a “Borders Liquidation”, it’s a “ACME Liquidation Assets, LLC sale” under a Borders sign. It seems to me that the really good merchandise could be put on a truck and sent back to the distributor or wholesaler for more money than selling it at fifty or more percent off. I would think this would be especially true for high-value electronics. Some stuff is perishable, or has an expiration date or is too expensive to return to the distributor, so in those cases, the store might want to sell it at a good price. ---
**Author:** ![Spud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spud/32/347_2.png) [@Spud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spud)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2017, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grocery-store-liquidation-what-to-stock-up-on-need-answer-fast/789007/34 "2017-06-15T17:00:51Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > OK, I’m just going to say I don’t really understand how you’re doing the maths. That’s because you’re looking at it wrong… I know that 40% equals 40%. But, 6 months from now when someone says “we’re out of detergent” I can brag that I have more in the garage and I saved 40%… wasn’t that a wise thing to do… lets get some steaks to celebrate!" After all, if I had to run out then I’d have to spend $25 for a new jug… but I don’t have to so there is $25 dollars… plus I saved $10 dollars so we’ve got $35 extra! It is sort of the same “special” math you do when you calculate if you came out ahead in Vegas. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Spud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spud/32/347_2.png) [@Spud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spud)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2017, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grocery-store-liquidation-what-to-stock-up-on-need-answer-fast/789007/35 "2017-06-15T17:11:05Z")
> [@sitchensis](#): > > One thing people often overlook is the cards. Birthday cards have a huge markup and are usually one of the first things to get marked down. The other things I found to be significantly cheaper were cleaning supplies and weird stuff like party supplies. They finally posted the discounts… cards are 50% off. General Merchandise is 30% off (I assume includes cleaning supplies, batteries, etc.), and beer/wine, frozen foods, canned goods and I forget what else are 20%. everything else is 10%. I’m waiting for the fixtures… one of those lighted soda fridges they have at the end of the check out lines would look good in my basement. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2017, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grocery-store-liquidation-what-to-stock-up-on-need-answer-fast/789007/36 "2017-06-15T17:33:44Z")
In my opinion, even at fifty percent off, greeting cards are still a rip-off. They’re basically just a folded piece of paperboard and normally you’re paying three or four or five bucks for it. I hate buying them. ---
**Author:** ![steatopygia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steatopygia/32/3132_2.png) [@steatopygia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steatopygia)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2017, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grocery-store-liquidation-what-to-stock-up-on-need-answer-fast/789007/37 "2017-06-15T18:42:36Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > But if you buy $100 of small items, it’s the same savings as buying a $100 bottle of booze for $60. It doesn’t really make a difference if you buy big ticket or small ticket items. The one difference might be that it’s more unlikely that you’ll find a $100 bottle of booze for $60 elsewhere, whereas there might be a decent chance you’ll find a $3 item for $1.80. It depends on what you’re buying. The ultimate strategy would be to consider which items are very unlikely to go on sale anywhere, and get those. But, for me, I might as well buy anything and everything that is non-perishable that I regularly use (in other words, pantry staples), and maybe a few perishable things for dinner in the coming week. My post would result in saving the greatest\* amount\* of money, not the greatest percentage. Let’s say you use 3 bags of coffee every month and coffee costs $10 a bag. You’ll save $12 that you would have spent anyway. Now let’s say you use 3 bars of soap, (unless you are Dude Robert), a month and soap costs a dollar. You will save $1.20. Your strategy of buying things that rarely go on sale is a good idea. I have no idea what rarely goes on sale. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2017, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grocery-store-liquidation-what-to-stock-up-on-need-answer-fast/789007/38 "2017-06-15T19:10:49Z")
ISTM that it is like coupons in general - if you were going to buy it anyway, you save money. If you weren’t, you don’t. I would stock up on non-perishables. But only of stuff I use. My mother-in-law bought non-perishables because they were on sale. It was five years ago, and we still haven’t used up the aluminum foil and waxed paper we inherited. I wouldn’t buy more frozen food than I could use up in six months or less. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2017, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grocery-store-liquidation-what-to-stock-up-on-need-answer-fast/789007/39 "2017-06-15T19:32:34Z")
> [@steatopygia](#): > > My post would result in saving the greatest\* amount\* of money, not the greatest percentage. > > Let’s say you use 3 bags of coffee every month and coffee costs $10 a bag. You’ll save $12 that you would have spent anyway. > > Now let’s say you use 3 bars of soap, (unless you are Dude Robert), a month and soap costs a dollar. You will save $1.20. Or you could just buy 30 bars of soap, since soap doesn’t go bad and you’ll use it within a year, and you’re saving $12 you would have spent anyway, too. It doesn’t really matter either way. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2017, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grocery-store-liquidation-what-to-stock-up-on-need-answer-fast/789007/40 "2017-06-15T19:36:47Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > It seems to me that the really good merchandise could be put on a truck and sent back to the distributor or wholesaler for more money than selling it at fifty or more percent off. I would think this would be especially true for high-value electronics. > > Some stuff is perishable, or has an expiration date or is too expensive to return to the distributor, so in those cases, the store might want to sell it at a good price. I’d assume that the good stuff is included in the liquidation package deal because ACME Liquidation LLC isn’t interested in trying to move a bunch of clearance Betamax machines and uses the “10% off!” clearance 90" TV (based on highest possible MSRP) to offset the junk they’re selling for 65% off. If the store had already offloaded the sweet stuff, no one would want to bother purchasing and liquidating the chaff. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grocery-store-liquidation-what-to-stock-up-on-need-answer-fast/789007.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grocery-store-liquidation-what-to-stock-up-on-need-answer-fast/789007.md?page=3)