Hobby Lobby Furniture Clearance: Here's Why I Skip Shopping It

Perhaps an unpopular opinion: Hobby Lobby’s furniture pricing is the worst. It’s actually been the subject of quite a few lawsuits over the years. And things don’t necessarily get better when you’re shopping clearance furniture. In fact, Hobby Lobby furniture clearance is actually more difficult to get a discount on than furniture that hasn’t made its way to the clearance section just yet.

I'm going to tell you my biggest secret to shopping Hobby Lobby clearance furniture: you should probably shop somewhere else. If that sounds negative, you’re right. But I'm here to steer you in the right direction for the best deals, so I'm dishing out honesty.

Despite how it sounds, I am not a Hobby Lobby hater. If you want to find out how to save on furtniture at Hobby Lobby, I'll still get into that. But understand there are tons of Hobby Lobby savings hacks to use in other parts of the store. And if you follow the Hobby Lobby sale schedule, there are great buys to be had. Yes, even without Hobby Lobby coupons.

For money-saving hacks that will keep cash in your pocket, download The Krazy Coupon Lady app.

Hobby Lobby Furniture Clearance Schedule

There isn't a cut-and-dry clearance schedule for Hobby Lobby furniture. However you can expect to see two major clearance events at the store every year. These typically happen in January (right after Christmas) and at the end of May. And if you're looking for how to save on furniture at Hobby Lobby, these are probably your best bets.

Yes, you may see some one-off Hobby Lobby furniture clearance happen at other times of the year, but largely you're looking at those massive price-slashing moments in January and May.

How to Shop Hobby Lobby Furniture Clearance

Just because I don't think Hobby Lobby's furniture clearance is a great idea doesn't mean I'm going to leave you hanging in terms of how to shop it (if you must). There are a few things you really need to know if you're going to go that route.

1. Know that furniture is always 30% off at Hobby Lobby.

Here’s a head scratcher for you: furniture is always 30% off at Hobby Lobby. Confusing, right?

Hobby Lobby got sued and had to issue payouts to customers in Florida and Alabama in 2021 over this misleading advertising. The cases hinged on the once-popular 40% off Hobby Lobby coupons. You couldn’t use them on sale items.

Which meant you could never use them on furniture. Because it was literally always “on sale.”

Some customers had success asking for the furniture to be charged at full price, then applying the 40% off coupon. But more often than not, this strategy failed, as it was against company policy.

Some disgruntled customers sued, and the case ended up in court. Rather than changing the perpetual 30% off furniture model, Hobby Lobby decided to revoke the 40% coupon altogether.

Super not cool.

But, seriously, furniture is the worst thing to buy at Hobby Lobby.

We have long said that furniture is the worst item to purchase at Hobby Lobby. Even with that perpetual 30% off, prices still aren’t great. For the price, the quality of the furniture isn’t up to par either.

2. You can ask for 10% – 15% off damaged furniture.

Ok, so there are actually a few ways to save more than just that “30% off” of Hobby Lobby furniture. The first is to look for products that may have dings or damage. If it’s damage you can live with for a lower price tag, you can ask for a discount.

If they’re still marked with the 30% off tag, you can ask a manager for a 10% – 15% discount. They don’t have to honor your request. But in more cases than not, they will.

However, you’ll have limited luck on clearance items.

Clearance pricing typically starts at 40% – 50% off at Hobby Lobby. That means a lot of times if you ask for a discount on a damaged furniture item that’s also on clearance, you’re more likely to hear a firm, “No.” The damage has likely already been worked into the pricing.

It never hurts to ask (politely). Just don’t be surprised if requests on clearance items are rejected.

3. Price reductions are less frequent on clearance furniture.

You can tell a clearance item at Hobby Lobby by its red tag. If you’re buying something like stickers for the classroom or holiday home decor, you might notice that multiple red tags appear on a single clearance item every few days or so. This means management keeps marking the item down in an effort to get it off the shelves.

You’re going to be waiting a whole lot longer than a few days to see multiple red tags on Hobby Lobby clearance furniture items. For example, we watched the price on a pink velour kids sofa for seven months to see if it would get an additional price reduction. At last check, it is still at 50% off.

4. Don’t order Hobby Lobby furniture online.

Hobby Lobby’s shipping fees are ridiculous, and furniture doesn’t ship free.

Remember that pink kids’ sofa? Shipping would add another $14.95 to the $84.99 price tag. And that’s only if you didn’t order anything else that pushed your order above $100.

Here’s a little secret, though: Hobby Lobby has a storefront on Amazon where shipping fees are dramatically lower. Our pink couch would ship for just $3.95 on Amazon compared to $14.95 if you shopped via Hobby Lobby’s website.

There’s a huge LOL attached, though. You won’t get as big of a sale if you shop on Amazon, which totally negates the difference in shipping fees.

The pink kids’ sofa is $119.99 on Amazon, plus $4.95 shipping, for a grand total of $124.94 before tax. Ordering from Hobby Lobby directly in this instance would be cheaper.

Either way, you lose. Try to shop in store if at all possible. That way you can avoid the debacle altogether.

5. Repping your church, charity, or school? Score an extra 10% off.

If you’re shopping from an organizational account for your church, charity, or school, you can get a 10% off discount on everything in the store — including furniture. That is a pretty meaningful discount now that the 40% off coupon is gone.

One of the only other ways to get a bigger discount on your entire purchase regardless of product is to work for Hobby Lobby yourself. The employee discount is 15% off.

6. You can't return clearance furniture items to Hobby Lobby.

The thing about furniture is you really don't know how well it's going to work in your space until it's actually in your space. Now if you did find something on clearance that was worth taking the plunge, the Hobby Lobby return policy states that clearance items are exempt from refunds.

That said, if you purchased furniture at the "always on sale" price of 30% off, you can return Hobby Lobby furniture. There are exceptions here, too. To receive a full refund an item must not be "opened or used." Basically if there are even remote signs of wear, they won't accept the item as a return.