Home Depot Military Discount

Updated
A man in military uniform pushing at cart at The Home Depot.

Home Depot offers a military and veteran discount for in-store purchases, but it's not the most black-and-white policy in the world. Here's a little clarification on how it works.

Home Depot military discount is 10% off regular price items.

Home Depot's 10% military discount can be applied to almost any regularly priced in-stock item from any Home Depot store. This includes in-stock tools, flooring, lumber, lawn, garden, patio and appliances, no matter the brand.

Sale prices, special buys and clearance items are ineligible for the military discount.

Installation & delivery fees, sale items and select SKUs are excluded.

All installation costs are ineligible for the military discount. So are delivery fees. And you can't buy Home Depot gift cards with the discount. The military discount cannot be combined with any other discount or coupon.

The eligibility of select SKUs and certain Home Depot exclusives is at the store manager's discretion.

From the official Home Depot price match policy, "Many of the products we sell have a unique pricing model. . .we will at times exclude certain SKUs within specific departments from receiving the military discount."

In speaking with Home Depot customer service, I received additional information about what this means. Generally these select SKUs will be Home Depot exclusive items or products where Home Depot negotiated a special deal. When these select SKUs are excluded (and unfortunately the only way to know is to test at a register), a store manager has the power to override the exclusion.

Home Depot military discount is available in store only.

Sadly, the Home Depot military discount applies only to in-stock items in the store. If the item you want to buy is an online exclusive, even shipping it to store won't allow you to use the discount. The item must be in stock at time of purchase. There is no workaround.

Additionally, the military member or veteran must be present at time of purchase in order to receive discount. Even if shopping for your elderly veteran parent, Home Depot will not honor the discount unless the veteran is present.

Only active duty, service-connected veterans and retirees are eligible for the everyday military discount.

Person pulling out military ID from Army uniform in Home Depot

The Home Depot requires one of the following military IDs in order to receive the everyday 10% military discount:

  1. Veteran ID cards that say "service-connected" under the photo.

  2. Common Access Card (standard ID for active duty and reserve personnel)

  3. Uniformed Services ID Cards

    • Blue — retired with pay

    • Tan — dependents of retirees with pay

    • Red — retired reservist or reservist dependent

  4. DD214

Home Depot military discount is available to all military personnel on Memorial Day, July 4th and Veterans Day.

All military personnel and veterans are eligible for a 10% discount at all Home Depot store locations during national holidays such as Memorial Day, July 4th and Veterans Day. This includes:

  1. Uniformed Services ID Cards

    • Green — inactive reserves or national guard

  2. Veteran's who are not 'service-connected'

  3. Other non-retired former military personnel

The military discount is valid on purchases up to $5,000 — a max savings of $500.

There is some misinformation on this point circulating online about the max purchase price being $500, thus the max discount would only be $50. This is inaccurate. Home Depot official policy states, "The 10% discount is for in-stock and special-order purchases up to $5,000." That means veterans and military can save up to $500 on a purchase.

If you have more than $5,000 in expenses at Home Depot, separate your transactions so you don't miss out on the discount. Whether you can do back-to-back transactions is left to the discretion of the store manager.

For orders over $1,500, The Home Depot Pro discount may beat the military discount.

Join the free HD Pro Xtra program, make your shopping list, then request a bid from the Pro Desk. You might qualify for a volume discount of up to 30%. Most bids I've received have been in the 7-15% off range. Paints, stains and primers can be up to 20% off. Items like appliances and tools are the least likely to be discounted at the Pro Desk.

You cannot stack the Pro Desk savings with your military discount.

Stack your military discount with discounted Home Depot gift cards and save $5.

Officially, there's no way to stack your military discount with additional savings, but we've got a workaround! Check out Home Depot digital gift cards at Raise.com. Savings typically aren't huge. But even an extra 1-2% off can make a difference, especially on large purchases. Plus, as a new user, you'll receive $5 off your first gift card from KCL with this link.

The digital gift cards are delivered instantly and can be redeemed immediately by any cashier or at self-checkout by scanning a barcode in the app.

Learn more ways to save at Home Depot.

The consensus among veteran communities is that Lowe's offers a better military discount.

There are a few main differentiators between Home Depot and Lowe's military discounts:

  1. Lowe's military discount can be redeemed in-store or online.

  2. Lowe's military discount can be connected permanently to your Lowe's account.

  3. Lowe's military discount has fewer SKU exclusions.