I’ve seen a lot of information online about Walmart price tags, clearance, and Rollback numbers on the Internets. But to be honest, most of it is straight up inaccurate. So I scoured the Walmart aisles and spoke with Walmart employees to confirm or disprove every Walmart price tag claim.
Here’s everything you’ve got to know about Walmart price tags before your next shopping trip.
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1. Walmart price tags ending in “1” is the lowest the price will go: FALSE.
I actually watched my local news station trying to tell people that prices ending in “1” at Walmart means that’s the lowest the prices will go. When I talked to a Walmart manager, they told me that’s not true at all.
2. Walmart Rollback markdowns are temporary price reductions that usually last four to ten weeks: TRUE.
Check the date each Rollback began to get an idea of how long the price drop may remain. While four to ten weeks is what you should expect, I’ve heard of some items getting Rollback prices for as long as 90 days.
3. Walmart price tags ending in “.97” are always regular, everyday low prices: FALSE.
The most common everyday low price suffix at Walmart is “.97.” However, Rollback prices sometimes end in the same digits, rendering this data pretty useless.
4. Walmart prices marked down the first time end in “0” or “5”: FALSE.
While there have been rumors that the first time something gets marked down at Walmart, you’ll see it end in a “0” or a “5,” that’s incorrect. Who starts some of these rumors?
5. Walmart clearance price tags always end in. “00”: FALSE.
While some Walmart clearance prices will end in “00,” that’s not always the case. This is, in part, because every Walmart store manager has an independent markdown budget to use at their discretion to manage store inventory. Walmart corporate may mandate a markdown to $11.00, but then the manager may determine that because so many items remain on the shelf, they’ll mark it down to $9.88.
6. Walmart clearance items will continue to see a price drop once per month until they sell: TRUE.
Walmart clearance markdowns usually happen within the first two weeks of each month. Often, an item will get marked down monthly until it sells. They might skip a month, but you’ll rarely see a mid-month markdown.
While these items are usually marked down once a month, it can vary by manager’s discretion.
7. The date on the Walmart price tag shows the last time an item’s price changed: TRUE.
Every Walmart price tag contains the date the tag was printed. This can be used to your advantage, since a difference of a few months can mean a new markdown coming up, depending on the store or manager.
The only other reason a tag is changed is due to an item moving to a new shelf or section in Walmart.
8. Rollback prices always beat the competition: FALSE.
While you can find some great Walmart Rollback deals, that price isn’t always lower than the competition. Even though Apple Airpods Pro are currently available for a Rollback price of $197, Amazon has them available at the exact same price.
9. Clearance pricing is always consistent within one store: FALSE.
It’s not uncommon to find two identical clearance items at one store with different prices.
The good news? Both of these ring up at the $2 price. So if you see multiple prices, find a scanner to see what the item will actually cost at the register. Fingers crossed it’s the lower price.
10. A 9-digit UPC on every price tag can help you find sold-out inventory in competitors’ stores: TRUE.
If you find an empty shelf at Walmart, open BrickSeek.com on your phone and select “Inventory Checkers” from the main menu. Select a competitor store like Target or Sam’s Club (just not Walmart — their local inventory data is no longer shared with BrickSeek as of September 2022). Then, enter the nine-digit UPC code plus your zip code to find prices and availability of the same item at nearby competitors.