It’s no surprise that bargain retailer Ross Dress for Less has great finds. But when clothing, home decor, and more get marked down to just $0.49 — oh, it’s on.
Ross unleashes the $0.49 tags once a year (fans call it the "49 Cent Sale") in January. In 2025, it happened on Jan. 27 at most locations.
Technically, the Ross $0.49 Sale isn't an official sale. You won't see Ross advertising it. Instead, these $0.49 clearance markdowns are the end of the big Ross January clearance event. Throughout that event, new markdowns happen on Mondays. And that final Monday in January is usually when clearance hits the lowest price Ross goes: $0.49. That day is what deal hunters refer to, unofficially, as the "Ross $0.49 Sale."
Things vary a LOT by store, and not everything goes down to $0.49. But our deal hunters go looking every year because finding clothing, home decor, and more for $0.49 is one of our favorite Ross shopping hacks .
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The Ross $0.49 Sale is an annual January clearance event with prices as low as $0.49.
As a discount department store, Ross already has lower-than-retail prices on lots of things, but once the New Year hits, stores clear out old inventory with their biggest clearance event of the year. Although there are lot of different price points in this sale, the one that gets the most attention is $0.49, the lowest possible.
KCL predicts the next Ross $0.49 sale will begin Jan. 26, 2026.
We predict the 2026 Ross $0.49 Sale will kick off Jan. 26, the final Monday of the month.
How do we make our prediction?
Ross doesn’t officially announce the dates of their $0.49 January Clearance Sale, because it's not an official sale. However, in past years, Ross has run a clearance sale that lasts the entire month of January, with new markdowns on Mondays. We usually see the most $0.49 tags hit that final Monday, as Ross shifts into high gear in trying to get clearance off the racks. Sometimes, there's a trickle of $0.49 items a few days earlier, but expect the bulk of those pink tags to hit the final Monday. Keep in mind there's no official end date to the tags, but expect them to sell out quickly.
How to Shop the Ross $0.49 Sale
There's no easy way to shop this sale. You have to head to a store and start flipping tags over. We've always had the most luck in the racks that have the red "Clearance" signs, as well as in the seasonal endcaps. The baby section also a smart place to look. But even then, we've been lucky to find one $0.49 tag for every 10 items or so.
It can pay off to start looking a little earlier than the last week of the month. In 2025, we found a few $0.49 tags trickling throughout the month and then a flood of them on Jan. 27 (along with very long lines and a shortage of shopping carts).
On Jan. 6, we spotted our very first $0.49 item (baby socks).
On Jan. 9 we spotted our second one (a women's shirt).
And on Jan. 15, we spotted a Nightmare Before Christmas lollypop holder for $0.49 in a bin near checkout.
As expected, the Ross $0.49 tags started dropping for real on Jan. 27, and our deal hunters found plenty in the clothing and home sections. See our finds:
The $0.49 Ross clearance doesn’t happen at every store, but you can still find some amazing deals.
Even if you never find a $0.49 tag, there are always solid finds during Ross' January clearance markdowns. Last year, we spotted $0.99 dresses, $5 appliances, and more, for example. And at the $1.99 mark, you'll find even more options. In recent years, items we found for $1.99 included women’s sweaters, baby sweaters, tops, and sunglasses (from brands including Gap, Free People, and Steve Madden).
Expect lines at Ross when stores open on $0.49 Day.
Last year, we saw lines at the door and long lines at checkout. However (and this might sound counterintuitive), waiting around a bit might get you more $0.49 items. That’s because employees have to scan each item by hand to see if its price is getting further reduced or not. So we suggest arriving at opening time but then taking another pass through the store before you check out.
You can return Ross clearance items (even those with $0.49 tags), but "As-Is" items are the exception.
Look closely at that clearance tag. If it says "As-Is" on it, you can't return it. Otherwise Ross clearance items have the same 30-day return policy as regular-priced items.
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