Are we looking at a Hot Gap Summer this year? I hope so. Because after sifting through four years of Gap sale data, I know exactly how to shop this store for ultimate savings.
Turns out Gap clothes practically live at 50% off, and if you plan your Gap shopping trips based on the usual sales schedule, you’ll be saving like a pro in no time.
I’m here to help you with that last part, so read on for a month-by-month breakdown of the best Gap sales, plus several other tips to maximize your savings every time.
Make sure you stay on top of the latest deals and giveaways with The Krazy Coupon Lady app.
1. Know the difference between regular Gap vs. Gap Factory Outlet.
So what is Gap Factory, you ask? According to them, Gap Factory Outlet stores sell their own unique line of clothing styles — not regular Gap’s overstock or last season’s trends — but at a lower price point. Their designers create certain items just for Gap Factory, so you won’t find them in regular stores during a Gap sale.
2. Hit up the Great Gap Sale for the best savings.
The Great Gap Sale, around June and December, boasts 30% off all regular-priced items. But what really makes this Gap sale best is the 60% savings offered on already marked-down items. Gap slaps markdowns on anything that falls out of season, including jeans, dresses, button-up shirts, sweats, and tops.
On marked-down items alone — so outside of the Great Gap Sale — I’ve found slim GapFlex jeans for 65% off, khakis for 80% off, and knitted sweaters for 70% off. Factor in the additional 60% off of marked-down prices, and savings from this sale start to look monstrous. Like practically free.
3. Buy Gap jeans in February and Gap sweaters in the fall for 50% off.
Gap classics — such as jeans and sweaters — go on sale around the same time each year.
Since 2018 February’s the only month where I found Gap jeans discounted as much as 50% every year. These were usually flash or holiday sales. Last February Gap dropped sale prices on all of their jeans, plus an extra 10% off regular-priced styles.
It’s the same case for Gap sweaters, which hit 50 – 60% off in October. These smaller sales still had massive savings on specific items, which I’ve outlined below in the next tip.
TIP: When shopping online, compound your online savings with the Honey extension to ensure you stack coupon codes for days.
4. Know the Gap sale schedule to get the best deals all year.
5. Sign up for Gap sale emails and get a 25% off coupon.
Gap’s flash sales are dangerous. These 48-hour online events happen at least once per month and boast savings on par with Gap’s Friends and Family sales. Expect a storewide 40% off code — plus a 10% – 20% off promo code — which I used to save 58% on a bomber jacket (regular price $98).
Here’s the rub: flash sales are unpredictable as all get out. The best way to know about these events is to subscribe to email updates. Signing up for emails earns you 25% off any regular-priced item, which I put toward a pair of GapFit shorts that rarely go on sale.
6. Turn your old clothes into Gap shopping credit with ThredUp.
ThredUp is an online thrift store and a recent Gap partner. Gap stores will freely provide you with a shipping label you can use to send any of your old clothes to ThredUp, who will try to sell them. If your stuff sells within 60 days (or 90 days for nicer brands), you’ll receive $5 – $200 in the form of a Gap gift card.
If you don’t want to wait two or three months, then you should take advantage of Gap’s Give Back Box. Through this program, Gap provides you with a shipping label you can use to donate your clothes, for which you’ll receive a tax deduction receipt.
7. Use their app’s barcode scanner to get a Gap price adjustment.
Gap will price match with Gap.com, which is why I don’t buy anything without scanning it through the barcode scanner in the Gap app.
I scanned with it and saved nearly 45% on a Henley T-shirt that was marked in store as full price. Instead of making me pay $34.95 for a T-shirt, Gap employees matched the $16 price I got through the scanner. I also found prices on pants that were cheaper through the app than they were in store, even though they were already on sale for 30% off at my local store.
TIP: The barcode scanner pulls up any applicable promo code to an item, so check with your store clerk to see if you can add that code to your in-store purchase.
8. Stack Daily Deals with a Gap sale in the Gap app.
The app gives you easy access to daily deals through the “Sale” tab, which has hundreds of marked-down items sorted by department. Gap’s app also shows which items are eligible for extra savings by listing promo codes next to each eligible item.
Online and through the app, Gap allows a maximum of five promotion codes or rewards to be used on a single purchase.
The sale items vary, but you can usually count on finding deals on Gap classics. Think:
- Jeans, which I found for at least 40% off for men and women
- Sweaters, which were on sale for as much as 75% off
- Dresses at nearly 50% off
9. Combine items online from Gap, Banana Republic, Old Navy, and Athleta to get free shipping.
Gap’s standard shipping is $7, but it’s waived whenever your online order exceeds $50. Each sister brand has their own tab at the top of Gap’s website, and your shopping cart will automatically add items selected from each store.
Seasonal sales across Gap, Old Navy, and Banana Republic often overlap, so take advantage of that and do your shopping during one of the seasonal sales outlined above.
Related: Learn more ways to save at Old Navy, too!
10. Open a GapCard, score 25% off, and then leave it in the dust.
The Gap Good Rewards Credit Card isn’t really worth your time in the long run, but you can easily game Gap’s system for one-time savings. When you sign up for the Gap Credit Card, you receive 25% off your first purchase. That’s 20% off the final price — with none of the restrictions you’d find with the 25%-off email promotion.
You can apply online for the Gap Good Rewards Credit Card, too. Do that, and be sure to make your first purchase within 30 days of your approval. You’ll enjoy the same 25% off plus free shipping. The icing on the cake? This reward stacks with any promo code.
Here’s what you do:
- Pay off your card within 24 – 48 hours after your first purchase. This ensures you won’t pay interest on the purchase.
- Don’t use the card ever again. After six months of inactivity, the issuing bank will cancel the card.
TIP: You can use your 25% off code across Gap’s sister brands, too. Remember this when you’re pooling Gap, Banana Republic, Old Navy, and Athleta items for free shipping.
11. Save 10% when you buy a Gap discount gift card from stores in December.
Shop secondhand gift cards and save an extra 10% – 20%, plus they’re great for stacking. Gap has sold eGift cards for 10% off in previous years during December, which is an easy way to make sure future-you adds to those savings down the road.
You can also browse the selection at Raise.com and look for the greatest discount. I recently purchased a $25 Gap gift card for $19.53 (21% savings) and added it to an online purchase where I got a $98 bomber jacket for only $8.11.
Related: Here’s everything you need to know about where to buy discount gift cards.
12. Slash your final bill into four interest-free installments with Afterpay.
This is only available to online shoppers, but it’s an easy way to save by spreading your payments out over a 4-week period. Through Afterpay, you can spread out paying your bill over four interest-free payments that are automatically taken out every two weeks.
I used it and paid four $15.94 installments on jeans instead of making one payment of $63.75. All I did was click on the Afterpay button located in the “Payment Method” section of Gap’s checkout screen. You’ll need to fill out a few basic bits of info (name, email, phone number, and address) before entering your card information — then you’re good to go.
13. Earn and redeem points across Gap, Old Navy, Banana Republic, and Athleta brands with One Membership rewards.
Gap Good Rewards members and Gap cardmembers can earn and redeem rewards across all four Gap brands, online and in stores, under the One Membership Rewards program. Here’s a quick breakdown:
- Rewards members earn one point for every $1 spent at any of the Gap brand stores.
- Cardmembers earn five points for every $1 spent at any of the Gap brand stores.
- All members can redeem rewards in $1 (100 points) increments across all four Gap brands instead of having to meet the previous $5 (500 points) threshold that you could only use in the store where you earned them.
The program has three tiers based on how much you spend each year:
Core: Spend less than $500 annually and receive double reward redemption days, 125 quarterly bonus points when you shop across Gap brands, free 3- to 5-day shipping on orders $50 and over, early access to promotions, and a birthday surprise.
Enthusiast: Spend $500 to $999 annually (or as a card member) and you get all the benefits of the Core tier plus more exclusive offers and 250 quarterly bonus points.
Icon: Spend $1,000 or more annually (or 5,000 points as a cardholder) and get the perks from the other two tiers plus free 2- to 3-day shipping on orders $50 or more, Double Reward Day, 500 quarterly bonus points, Create Your Own Sale Day (15% off any Gap brand), and free alterations at Banana Republic.
TIP: Reward members and cardmembers can convert GapCash to points as well.
Wondering which retailers have the best loyalty programs? We got you covered.
14. Shop in the kids’ section if you’re a size 0 – 8 for lucrative savings.
Gap often reproduces basic items, like khakis, tees, and denim jackets in kid sizes, which are significantly cheaper.
You can buy boys’ sizes up to XXXL, which mimics a women’s 8. Girls’ sizes go up to 16, which mimics women’s sizes 6 or 8.
A quick online price check will tell you that women’s flat-front khakis run up to $80+ a pair. The most expensive boys’ khakis average around $40 – $45. That’s a steal.
NOTE: According to the size chart, adult sizes tend to be a half-inch wider in the waist. You should still try on the corresponding kids’ size item since measurements and proportions aren’t always exact. If your exact size in kids’ is a bit small, then size up.
If you want to do some more research yourself, you can compare sizes by viewing the Gap size charts.
(Psst … this tip works for shoes too! Save money buying kids’ shoes that are identical to women’s.)
15. Skip any Gap sales offering only $25 off men’s and women’s jeans.
The savings don’t add up to anything worth your time. Better ways to save on jeans include:
- Checking out any Friends and Family sales (reference the Gap Sales Schedule above to find out when these happen)
- Shopping February flash sales, which generally offer 40% – 50% savings on jeans.
- Perusing the Gap clearance section. Sure, this is a bit obvious, and items aren’t in season, but the payoff can be huge — like, 80% off full price.
16. Brave the crowds and enjoy 50% off markdowns at Gap’s Black Friday sale.
Gap’s Black Friday sale starts the Monday of Thanksgiving week, and that’s exactly when you should hit it. The sale is simple: 40% off of everything, plus an extra 10% off when you shop online and use the accompanying promo code (50% off total).
Shop Cyber Monday for 50% off of everything, plus an extra 10% off (with code).
You can get these Gap sale prices online, but your best savings will be found physically inside Gap stores on marked-down items. Here’s what these deals have looked like in previous years:
17. Snag in-season items for 40% – 60% off at Gap’s Friends and Family events.
These events hit in March, May, August, and November each year going back to 2018.
I think of Gap sales like Friends and Family Gap as a good opportunity to buy in-season jeans and sweaters, which are included in the storewide 40% off and stackable with a 10% off promo code. Use the barcode scanner on the app to apply those same codes to in-store purchases.
18. Don’t count on price adjustments from Gap unless you paid full price.
Honestly, kudos to you for finding Gap apparel that was full price. Your reward is qualifying for a one-time price adjustment on items that have been marked down within 14 days of your purchase. Not all employees know this policy, though, so be prepared to show them.
19. Use Gap’s Military Discount for an additional 10% off your final purchase.
Think of the military discount as a 10% boost on top of whatever other Gap sales or coupons you’ve applied to your purchase. (Yes, you can stack this.) Make sure to bring your military ID in order to get the discount, which you can only get in store.
Related: Put your military discount to work at these other stores that’ll honor your service.
20. Gap stores are dog friendly.
This tip won’t save you money, but it will be very cute. Plus this hopefully boosts the chances that I’ll see a good dog when I shop at Gap, which is hugely important. The fact of the matter is, this should’ve been the first tip.
Did we miss anything? Let us know in the comments. Thanks for reading.
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