If you like hunting for deals during Dollar General penny sales, you'll definitely want to make time for this weekend's Dollar General clearance event, happening Friday, May 10 - Sunday, May 12. This is the first clearance event we've seen since early March.
Whenever a Dollar General Clearance Event pops up, you can plan on saving at least 50% on an assortment of already-reduced items. And the current sale will see 50% markdowns on seasonal and core items.
The only catch? These clearance events happen in stores only, so inventory is limited. But some lucky shoppers find savings as high as 70% off.
But before you shop this clearance sale, you've gotta know exactly which products to hunt for, since not every item gets marked down by 50% (and it's not the same deals from the Dollar General weekly ad). You’ll also need to know how to navigate their app, what the price tag stickers actually mean, and the importance of bringing your own Dollar General coupons to the sale.
For more smart shopping tips and savings hacks, download the KCL app or text HACKS to 57299.
Dollar General Clearance Events happen every few months and give you 50% - 70% off select items in stores.
To make room for all their new seasonal inventory, Dollar General holds clearance sales a few times a year at most store locations. Generally, the items that get the markdowns are the same at all participating stores.
The Dollar General Clearance Event runs May 10 - 12.
There’s really no specific schedule for Dollar General Clearance Events, but they tend to pop up every few months (or sometimes, every few weeks). When a clearance sale happens, it typically takes place on a Friday through Sunday, and we'll hear about them a week or two in advance.
To give you an idea of the pattern, here are the most recent dates we've seen:
March 1 - 3, 2024 (Friday - Sunday)
Oct. 20 - 22, 2023 (Friday - Sunday)
Sept. 29 - Oct. 5, 2023 (Friday - Thursday)
Sept. 22 - 24, 2023 (Friday - Sunday)
Sept. 1 - 4, 2023 (Friday - Monday)
Aug. 20 - 26, 2023 (Sunday - Saturday)
Aug. 17 - 19, 2023 (Thursday - Saturday)
Look for these items to be 50% off during the May clearance event.
Quite a few seasonal and core items will ring up for an additional 50% off during the Dollar General Clearance Event in May 2024.
You'll want to be aware of the Dollar General return policy, which has special restrictions for seasonal items like the ones included in the clearance sales.
Here's the full list of product categories that will be an additional 50% off in stores:
Bebe-branded White Dot Apparel
Blue/Gray Dot Apparel & Accessories
Brown Dot Home
Calendars
Green/Yellow Diamond Electronics
Clearance Section — Look for name-brand laundry detergent, dryer sheets, scent boosters, Kotex liners, hair products, OTC medicine, lotion, and more
Fall/Winter Hardware
Holiday Novelty & Decalmania Hardware
Mission-branded Apparel
POG Clearance — Look for Orange clearance tags throughout the store
Purple Clover Home
Red Triangle Socks
Select Dinnerware Pantry
KCL TIP: Many of the items included in the clearance event are already marked down, so you'll get an additional 50% off at the register.
Best Dollar General Clearance Deals We’re Finding
Below I'm sharing some of the best deals I’m finding at my store during the Dollar General clearance event.
Tips for Shopping a Dollar General Clearance Event
1. Get to the store early — the good stuff goes fast.
Unlike the seasonal clearance events at Dollar General (like the sales that happen after Christmas, Valentine’s Day, etc.), the three-day clearance events don’t get any better as the event goes on. So head to your store early, before things sell out. Also, know that the inventory varies by store.
KCL TIP: If you can, visit a bunch of Dollar General stores near you in the days leading up to a clearance sale. That way you can scout out which store seems to have the most items in stock and know which store to visit first!
2. Clip the $5 off $25 Saturday coupon in your Dollar General app to save even more.
With this particular store coupon, your total has to be $25 after all discounts are applied. These coupons are typically valid on Saturdays only.
And when you’re scanning items in the Dollar General app, if a coupon shows up below the item, clip it to save it to your account. This will maximize your savings potential — as long as the coupon actually sticks. We’ve had issues with getting the DG coupons to save properly, so you may have to keep trying.
Once you get to the register, just enter your phone number to apply any coupons to your order automatically.
TIP: The $5 off $25 coupon also gets printed at the bottom of your receipt if you make a purchase during the week. If you have multiple printed coupons, you can split up your transaction to save even more.
3. Use the Dollar General app to scan clearance items before you check out.
The Dollar General app is easy to navigate and a must to check your pricing on items before you buy them. Open the app and use the CartCalculator to scan the item you think is on clearance and confirm the price while you’re shopping in-store.
TIP: If you’re having trouble with the app while in the store, check your Wi-Fi connection. You’ll want to make sure you’re connected to the DG-Customer account. It’ll take a second or two to load the Terms of Service screen that you’ll to accept first, before you can connect to their Wi-Fi.
4. Check for orange clearance tags throughout the store.
Don’t get fooled into thinking the only items with markdowns are the ones in the clearance aisle or on the tables at the front of the store. For a General Clearance event, items with orange clearance tags all throughout the store get additional markdowns, too.
For example, if the regular price on an item is $3 and there’s a 10% off sticker on the shelf, you’ll first take 10% off the regular price, then take 50% – 70% off of the sale price. This is what insiders refer to as “POG Clearance,” which refers to Dollar General’s “planogram” terminology they use for shelf displays.
5. Also hunt for penny sale items while you’re there.
As long as shoppers have not swiped them all up yet, you may be able to find some of this week’s Dollar General penny list items still on shelves at your store. Penny list items have already been heavily discounted — usually by more than 90% — and will ring up as just $0.01 at the register.
When we shopped the Dollar General Clearance event in May, we found a few penny items scattered throughout the store.
Use our list so you know what hidden penny items to look for while you’re shopping in-store.
6. Look for deals at Dollar General Market locations, too.
It’s not just regular Dollar General stores that get the markdowns. Dollar General Market stores need to offload excess inventory from time to time, too. Just bypass the fresh foods area and head straight to the regular aisles with the seasonal and clearance merchandise.
7. Check Ibotta for cash back rewards on items you purchased.
If you already use the Ibotta app, you know that it’s a goldmine for finding rebate offers on grocery and household items you were probably going to buy anyway. Check the Dollar General page on the app to see if any offers match with clearance finds — then upload your receipt to get the credit!
Related: A new partnership between Dollar General and Ibotta is bringing some changes to your DG app (hint: Dollar General rebates!).
Tell us what you think
We're having a little work done... Comments will be back soon!