OK, /r/frugal; what's the greatest deal you've ever gotten, ever

glassuser · 3 months

Once I was at Foleys shopping with my sister. There was a great leather bomber jacket, new on the rack, that I had to have. But it was $550. They had a 75% off sale, so it was about half off reasonable price. I stacked a 30% off coupon on that, and my sister sweet talked the cashier into putting another $50 off coupon on it. End result: $550 leather bomber jacket for $50. And now, fourteen years later, I still wear it every winter.

Tom_Wheeler · 3 months

Worked in supermarket on selfscan for a year. Same old man came in everyday. Bought cat food, always asked for paper plastic. Saved up money started asking the regulars if they knew or had a cheap car for sale. Ask the old man, he says he will give me his car for free. I laugh and smile and agree. Two weeks later he comes in. Gives me a set of keys and the bill of sale. Went to his house and picked it up. Found paper work in the glove box, he had put 1,000 of work into the car before he gave it to me. Greatest old man ever. Put 65k on it before trashing the car. After I left my job I would come see him on holidays. He was a lonely guy and had no family.

Picture: http://i.imgur.com/LC4PS.jpg

renco · 3 months

A $150+ Tassimo coffee maker for $8. I worked at Bed Bath and Beyond and whenever people return used items, we get a huge discount plus our normal employee discount on the as-is item. It had only been used once and was in nearly perfect condition.

missoulian · 3 months

I got a baby girl for the price of one condom last year. Turns out the condom was defective.

digitabulist · 3 months

I studied my ass off in high school, took the ACT three times (at $35 a pop) and got a full ride scholarship out of the deal.

bkayh685 · 3 months

I just got 4 boxes of cheerios for $2.50

g-e-o-f-f · 3 months

My wife bought a neat dining table set about 3 years ago. On ebaay for $60. Mid century. It wasn't going ti fit well in our new place, so she wrote a killer description, and sold it for $400 on craigslist. 340 profit and we got to use it for years

donttellmybossimhere · 3 months

I bought a car that had been in a barn for 5 years, for $500. The kicker was that I had to take all the 'other stuff' with it. The other stuff turned out to be a small chest freezer, couch, loveseat, 2 recliners, coffee table, 2 end tables, washer, dryer and miscellaneous other stuff. I sold what I could. Kept what I wanted. Bought 4 tires, a radiator, thermostat, alternator, battery, got it inspected, and registered for total cost of $600. In April I will have driven it for a year. It also gets at least 10 mpg more than my truck that I now let my son drive. It is ugly as sin, but I love that car for the money it has saved me. The last time I worked it out I save $5 every day I drive it to work.

edit it is a '92 Mazda 323 that had 35K miles on it. I have put over 20K miles on it this year.

GirlOverboard · 3 months

This is going to sound stupid, but I'm going to go with my $1 spatula. I have a lot of things I've gotten on the cheap, but this one keeps on giving.

See, it's just the perfect shape and the material is just right for removing every last molecule of peanut butter, Nutella and jam from their respective jars. When I scrape the inside of the jar with that thing, you would've sworn I'd washed and scrubbed the damn thing clean. It beats the shit out of other spatulas I've used and certainly beats scraping bits of jar into your food when attempting to get that last bit with a butter knife.

xyz66 · 3 months

I once got a $1,800 guitar (a Fall Limited Taylor 314-ce) for a 30gb Zune.

Kalgaroo · 3 months

Story time! I was wandering around and found a flea market. I browsed around and stumbled upon a Martha Stewart dutch oven. Got it for $15. After lugging it around the city for awhile, then home, I went to Google it to find out some information about it and such. Turns out it had been recalled just a few days prior. Being a Macy's exclusive, I just brought it into Macy's. The salesman sort of lamented Macy's poor handling of the recall and gave me back the full purchase price, though apparently it was often on clearance. Full purchase price: $170.

Yessir.

Diggrefuge1 · 3 months

I bought a fully restored 1966 mustang fastback in 2001 for $3000. It is worth well over 20k. The only catch was that he didn't have the title (just a bill of sale) so I had to wait a couple months to get the proper paperwork from the DMV.

Mr_Brightside_ · 3 months

This actually just happened a few weeks ago: Found a Mitsubishi HC1600 720p DLP Home Theater Projector at the local Goodwill. It had never been used before, you could tell. It still had the "IMPORTANT DOCUMENTS" sealed and stapled on the side, and the remote, manuals, and even the batteries for the remote were all still sealed in their factory-wrapped bagging.

MSRP: $1495, sells used on Amazon for $400, sells new on Amazon for $750.

I got it for a single $20 bill.

tl;dr: 720p DLP Home Theater projector for $20 by sheer dumb luck.

inspired221 · 3 months

Got a free laptop off circuitcity.com about a year and a half ago. There was a price mistake that brought the $1k laptop down to zero. I was charged shipping but through a clerical error I was refunded the shipping so I ended up paying zero. Needless to say I am not surprised the place is bankrupt.

lazyjane · 3 months

Was working at a discount store (TJX company). People often go to elaborate lengths to rip us off by bringing in a tagging gun, taking a ticket from something cheap, and attaching it to something expensive.

Either this particular woman got greedy, or just stumbled across another tagger that got nervous and left it, but she brought up a True Religion jean jacket that normally retails for about $300, mistagged for $14.99. The cashier, bless her, noticed the odd tagging: it was tagged through the center of the back, and the sensor we use on anything over $30-ish was still on the coat label; the tag that is usually pinned under the sensor was noticeably torn off). Cashier brought it to me, I went out on the floor to do a price check and found the same jacket properly tagged for $149.99.

Brought it to the counter and explained what probably happened, but the woman was already flipping shit, saying that that was the price on the tag, so we had to sell it to her at that price because it was "advertised" that way.

I explained that we did not, in fact, have to sell it at that price, according to the law. Had it been advertised at $14.99, then that would be the store's mistake and fair game, but we don't advertise, and a price tag is not an advertisement. Nope; she keeps flipping shit and saying "advertised".

I try again, explaining that price tags are more like an offer, which can be rescinded right up until money changes hands. I pointed out that, if price tags were the be-all, end-all price, then stores would have to change their price tags every time a sale happened, and they don't. The mac and cheese you bought on sale for $1 is probably still tagged $1.29, for example, and missing price tags do not make an item free. This also protects stores from scammers, who say stuff like "I found this BBQ grill on that shelf marked $1" or - I emphasized - "people" who switch price tags.

"Now, I'm not saying you specifically did it, but SOMEONE switched this price tag. I'm going to correct the tag. You can buy it for $149.99, or I can put it back." And I rip off the wrong tag and go about pricing it properly.

Woman starts in with namecalling "bitch" at this point and demands that I give back HER jacket. I tell her she hasn't paid for it; not hers. She demands to see management and keeps yelling at me. Cashier pages the assistant manager on duty, who is jaded but still puts up a fight against thieves and assholes. He hears the story and confirms that I'm correct, and also asks her to stop calling me a bitch.

Woman gets in his face for a bit, finds out he's an AM, and demands the store manager. AM says he's not in for another 2 hours. Woman demands his HOME PHONE NUMBER. AM says "no", obviously. Woman demands the jacket be put on hold with the original tag (which I've already thrown out) and she's coming back when the SM is here. AM agrees (which I seethe at, but whatever) and puts it on hold. Woman yells some more about what a shitty store this is and storms out.

Whatever; SM comes in later and almost immediately gets a phone call from this woman. I am told she's on the phone and come to listen. SM is jaded and worn down from thieves and assholes; he says she can have the jacket for $14.99. I seethe even harder. Woman goes on to piss about how she can't come tonight and will pick it up tomorrow, and she should get it for free for ALL HER TROUBLE (for real?), does some more bitching, and hangs up. I asked SM why he was gonna let her rip us off like that, and he just said, "I just don't want to hear about it from the DM later."

Closing time comes, and someone up front is going to put away all the holds that nobody picked up. SM asks if the jean jacket is still there. It is. He says to leave it there; a customer's coming for it tomorrow.

I think quickly and jump in. "But SM, our store policy states that we don't hold unpaid merchandise overnight."

"Yeah, well, she's coming tomorrow, so she'd just find it on the floor and buy it anyway."

"You're really gonna sell it to her for $14.99?"

He just looks at me.

"SM, can I buy it for $14.99?"

He looks at me a bit longer, shrugs, and says, "If you want to go to all the trouble of re-opening and closing a register, go ahead."

Hells yes, I want to go to all that trouble.

Was told she was waiting at the doors come opening time and was told that I got the jump on her due to store policy. DM apparently didn't give a shit. Woman kept shopping there despite her threats; she gave me lots of shit, but I didn't care. Took pleasure in telling her that I gave the jacket to a friend who actually gave a shit about designer clothes.

Tl;dr: Bitchy thief tries to rip off store; I get the jump on her via a policy loophole.

P.S. I'm usually very nice to customers, but fuck her. Glad to be out of retail now.

king_of_pancakes · 3 months

After deciding to get a dog, my wife and I poured over breeds and breeders, though eventually decided on picking up a dog from a farm. We ended up getting a lab/rotti mix and he cost us 50 bucks (we were looking at labs originally, and the going price for a pup was 500). Hands down the best 50 dollars I've ever spent. If I'd spent a million I would still consider it a deal.

GyroscopicSpin · 3 months

Free motorcycle. It runs.

johnnyrico19 · 3 months

How about 2.625% fixed rate 10 year refi?

When I was a little kid, savings accounts paid 5%. I can't believe nowadays I can borrow money at a lower rate than many sovereign nations.

Atomo_v · 3 months

Robert Jordan Wheel of Time series for $13 from a Goodwill. To date I think that's the most entertainment hours for money spent ever.

Morsolo · 3 months

My car.

1999 Mitsubishi Verada (aka Diamante). Was listed for $14000 on the lot, there were a few problems with the car; and it was a trade-in, so no doubt they paid peanuts for it... After a few days of back and fourth, I argued them down to $6000 plus satisfaction of an independent vehicle assessor deeming the car to be road-worthy.

Surprise surprise, the vehicle assessment came back with a massive list of problems; but I had already signed the contract, the dealer had to cop thousands of dollars worth of repairs to get the car to perfect standard (all factory genuine parts, no cutting corners).

My father got in contact with the head mechanic of the dealership (who was a contractor) and persuaded him to fix EVERYTHING and just send the dealer the bill.

So... I got a car that was originally $14000, for $6000; and made the dealership take the hit for thousands in repairs and on-road costs.

I am forever happy with that purchase.

TL;DR: Got a $14k car for $6k, plus the dealer had to pay to repair all faults.

face_phuck · 3 months

[deleted]

dead_brill · 3 months

Just got two new couches and a nice, large cabinet for $300 from an upstairs neighbor. Played "dumb cop, nice cop" with my boyfriend.

Me: ooh, so, like, would $225 do it?

Him:(feigned shock) what, dead_brill?! That's crazy. It's at least $300, right?

Neighbor: oh, um, yeah, $300 yeah.

BOOM

vanderwaerden · 3 months

Huge cast-iron enameled Dutch oven (think Le Creuset, only without a brand name), 3 Euros at a flea market in Toulouse on a business trip. I schlepped all 10 kilos of it back to the U.S. in my carry-on, and it was absolutely worth it. A re-seasoning later, and it's as good as new and will last me the rest of my life.

Unkochicken · 3 months

A local Office Depot realized they would rather sell their old stock for ridiculous prices than pay a trash company to dispose of them. I thus got my current desk for $5.

Comotose · 3 months

I got a 1st edition Zapdos for a Staryu.

bedog · 3 months

i just got a dozen boxes of cookies for 45 cents each, they were on clearance and i got a 10% employee discount because i work at a grocery store

Bearasaurus · 3 months

Small but nice: I got $96 (full retail price) worth of various shampoos, soaps, conditioners, and other stuff I can store and use for effectively -$6.50, including tax. Items were on sale, I had manufacturer's coupons on everything, and some of the items were free after rewards good on next purchase. I probably didn't have to buy any shampoo or soap for the next 2 years after that =P

Xeno_phile · 3 months

About 15 first paperback printing Philip K Dick novels for $.25 each at an estate sale. Most of them go for $20+.

Rantipole · 3 months

Late 2010 I got a 2004 Mercedes E-Class for $18,500. Had only 37,000 miles on it and was kept in a garage its whole life. Looked (and still does look) nearly brand new. It is decked out with tons of cool options, which would have cost around $70,000 new.

I got it by placing minimum bid on it on eBay to shut up my Mercedes-enthusiast friend, not expecting to win. When I did win, I got to fly out to Florida and drive it home to Texas... such a fun adventure! If I hadn't fallen in love with the car, I could've traded it into a Mercedes dealer for more than I paid, so it was definitely the deal of a lifetime.

xuanyan · 3 months

I just bought a suit at Kohl's. It was on clearance. Original price: $220 for the jacket and $100 for the pants. Both were 90% off. So $22 for the jacket and $10 for the pants made it $32, and I had $20 Kohl's cash from previous purchases. So $320 suit for $12.

Big_Timber · 3 months

I got a Ben Sherman suit my exact size for $80 brand new. Beautiful fabric, slim cut, with msrp of $700. Basically the price was half off, half off of that, and half off again.

tmann80 · 3 months

I got a 1999 Nissan altima for $500 because my aunt knew the guy selling it and since my cousin didn't know/ want to learn how to drive standard, I got it. Car was in awesome condition with about 130,000 miles on. So I sold my current car for $1500 and made $1000 when all was said and done. By far the best $500 I've ever spent.

Box-Monkey · 3 months

Went to a mall in Toronto sometime in the fall. For no real reason, one store had dropped their prices in a random sale, forcing the hand of all stores around it to also initiate a sale. I didn't intend to buy anything, but ended up finding a sweater that fit me, and was $10 bucks. I'm an athletic build, 6'7" guy, so this was rare to find something that fit well. Regular $90. Not the biggest deal, but most mentally prevalen.

Hadephobiac · 3 months

When I was a teenager in school I could get a girlfriend for 2weeks for under $50

KazamaSmokers · 3 months

You folks know about Toyota Tacoma trucks, right? Find one from the recall years and Toyota will buy it back from you for 50% over the book value.

KazamaSmokers · 3 months

I bought a gas grill at Home Depot. A friend helped me assemble it. Then later that night he got drunk and stole a tank of propane and left it on my porch and the next day he shipped out, so I have no idea where he stole it from. Soooo... free propane.

midgisms · 3 months

The prom dress I wore my senior year was originally marked at $300. It was perfect but I never would've paid that much. The store was going out of business and I walked in two days before they closed. My total was $5 plus tax.

nierlisse · 3 months

I was browsing the meat section one day at the store and came across a nice steak (normally about 15-20 bucks each) priced for 53 cents a pound! After digging through the stack I found 2 more. Nothing wrong with them; looking at the other ones I saw that the price was simply missing a number. But I had no trouble buying them. I think I paid less than 4 dollars. We ate like kings that night...still my finest moment.

ukineko · 3 months

Once I bought some Twinkies from an American candy shop in London. It was "buy one get three free".

DNAguy · 3 months

I found a Concept2 Model B rowing machine at a yard sale for $5. It was seriously sitting behind a 1960s console television and couldn't be seen from the street. I almost didn't get out of the car at that sale. It was 11AM and there didn't look to be much left there. I came back to the car almost shaking with joy.

These machines routinely sell on Craigslist and Ebay for $500-600 used because they are highly sought after for CrossFit. That and they are absolutely the best rowing machine on the market. I had wanted one for myself for years, but couldn't afford it used or new.

The seller told me up front that she was pretty sure that the display was broken... it needed 2 AA batteries. And her kids had colored on the slide with crayons... came right off with Simple Green.

For any who are curious: Concept2

jooes · 3 months

My brother picked up a full size violin at a yard sale for $2 because the bow was in bad shape. Like, half of the hairs are broken... And he later gave it to me. It's only a cheap Chinese violin, but they're still kind of expensive to buy brand new anyway. All I have to do is just replace the bow or fix it or whatever and I'm good to go... And then I'd have to learn violin to actually play it, but still... And hey, it'd make good art too if hang it on a wall. I'd look sophisticated.

And oh, I found a massive jar of olives at the store once for only $5. It was like a gallon of olives, I swear. It was a ridiculous amount of olives. I wasn't able to finish the whole jar, I bought it in like October/November when I was in school, and threw the rest away at the end of the year. I did get maybe 3/4 of the way through, so it wasn't too much of a waste... But I haven't seen those jars of olives ever since that day which has saddened me for years :(

rykai · 3 months

A pair of Klipsch Forte floorstanding speakers for simply mowing someone's lawn for 2 months

EvacuateSoul · 3 months

I bought a Conn tenor trombone in perfect condition, no dents, perfect slide, with case, slide cream, and oil, for $65 at a flea market. Worth >$1000, easily.

ZionsIronLion · 3 months

Had my local dispensary sell me a brand-new MFLB with all the accessories for $20. The stem mouthpiece was broken. Costs $5 to replace.

Bigriff · 3 months

Some odd Christmas' ago.. At BestBuy- the clerk told me that some random mp3 player was available as a price match discount price of $29.99 because thats what it was at Circuit City...

Me: But yours comes with a $50 gift card? Clerk: I know, but thats our policy... Me: I'll take all 22 of them then... Me: Can I pay for some of these with gift cards? Clerk: I don't see why not. Me: I hate Circuit City- you guys rock!

Scenario was repeated the following day when they restocked the shelf.

Oddly enough Ebay was flooded with that model mp3 players that December...

YourDirtySlut · 3 months

They mispriced a $300 ferret cage... I got it for $150 :) It was taller than me AND I could fit inside! I shoulda never let the ex keep it...

sellyberry · 3 months

I've gotten a few dressers, mattress set(non matching), shelving, a chair, and a slew of other things for free just buy living in a college town and being willing to go curb shopping.

Also, a guy I knew (met him at a reddit meet up) moved away and gave us a giant comfy blanket and a coffee maker for free.

Baqtobassix · 3 months

89 cents for a 5 pound sack of potatoes, safeway, could only buy one per person but I bought two because fuck it, so 1.78 for 10 pounds

HonziPonzi · 3 months

bought a motorcycle with 800 miles on it for 400 bucks. 8 hours and a 3 dollar can of carb cleaner later and it ran like brand new

NinjaHighfive · 3 months

Bought a Chris Craft boat for $2000. I have to put about $1300 of work into it. Got it valued at $15,000-20,000. Going to sell it to pay for our wedding. Oh yeah, I was drunk when I bought it.

phaqueue · 3 months

Two come to mind actually... not sure how good of a deal the one is...

First, my winter coat. Got it for $35 at Salvation Army, nice liner inside, real leather, easily a very expensive coat (not sure exact price) but it fits me well and I love it, great deal there!

Second, got 2 HUGE boxes of rather old books for $10 from someone on craigslist. Inside I found a few books about the history of the area I live in, including a program from the dedication ceremony of our Municipal Airport in the 1950's, and a magazine documenting the flood that occurred in PA in 1972 (I believe). The magazine will probably go to my dad who lived through the flood, he was interested in that.

Also included in the books are some old grade-school books, including some of them from the late 1800's - haven't really sold any yet, or even really looked up prices yet, but even at $1 a book I would get 3-4x my money back pretty easily - and all kinds of entertainment looking through the old books

DarcyHart · 3 months

Someone sold me a 2010 MacBook for £70.

Terrible thing is I knocked her down from £80.

KazamaSmokers · 3 months

I bought an old mail jeep off the post office for $150. Drove it to high school for 2 years, then sold it for $75. Pretty decent ROI.

duck_butter · 3 months

About 5 years ago. I was looking to buy a box van for service work. After some researching. I located one for a great price, in great shape.

When I contacted the seller getting ready to strike a deal. He informed me the 'trash' in the cargo area was mine also. The van was a good enough deal, with all the service records and remaining warranty.. That a trip to the dump was not much a of issue. He told me nothing was liquid or dangerous. He did suspect a pee jar.. Since the van was seized on a lien. He just wanted money, not cargo or hassle getting rid of it.

So I bought the box van for $1500. A REALLY good deal actually. I got nosy pre-trip to the dump. Lo and behold, the cargo hold had a bunch of boxes containing computer parts and related gadgetry. I was very stoked, since that is what I got the van for.

I got a working oscilloscope, bitscope and 26 (1994) IBM Model M clickys. Not just all the server towers and cabling. Oh yeah, a 1000' spool of TIA/EIA 568-B and a case of RJ-45 connectors.

I sold the parts that were outdated. To a recycler and kept what I could use.

Best deal I ever got.

yupDIARRHEA · 3 months

I bought Dark Side of the Moon on vinyl for a quarter. Turns out there were two Floyd Posters and a Floyd postcard in there as well.

/thread

3 months

[deleted]

Asperoth · 3 months

I'm not sure if this is /r/frugal quality, but a few years back I really wanted a nice pea coat.

A simple, black, properly-fitting pea coat.

Turns out it wasn't that easy to find. Most I tried on were too large, or just way too big for me (I'm not a big guy).

Then I found one at Express that fit perfectly; models don't have clothing that fits them this well. The only thing is, it was ~$270.

At the time I had a decent paying job and figured I could afford it. I also had one of those "Save $30 on your next $90 purchase" cards they send out regularly. And I figured I could always sign up for the Express Credit Card to get another 15% off. So I bought it.

The cute girl cashiering was friendly, commented on the nice jacket and we talked for a minute. She then asked if I wanted to get an Express card for the extra 15% and I said I'd like to do so. She scanned my $30 off card, and it rang up as $150 off (not sure how; the cashier was noticeably surprised, too, but she just smiled at me and didn't question it). Then she entered in the 15% off savings and it came up as a FULL 15% off, not 15% off the already discounted price, so I got another ~$40 off.

I'm not sure what else was applied, or if the cashier did something awesome, but in the end the bill was only $75 for this coat.

That was almost 3 years ago and I've worn that coat pretty much daily for at least 2/3 of each year; it's still in great shape and fits like a dream. I've gotten comments on it from strangers more than once.

tl;dr -- Got a perfectly fitting $270 coat for $75.

(And for those thinking the Express card was a bad idea; I went online and paid it off later that day and haven't used it since.)

ENRICOs · 3 months

$25 hooker on Allegheny Avenue.

"Yo Poppi, I'll do anything for $25."

"OK, paint my house, then help me move."

tyfabes · 3 months

42" LG TV from Best Buy. Sale price supposed to be $529 in the weekly ad, but online price mistake had the TV at $188.99.

Ordered 2 online for in-store pickup. Went to the store, paid for the TVs, and walked out no questions asked. :)

mabba18 · 3 months

The Lego UCS Death Star, and UCS Star Destroyer clearance from the Lego store in Orlando.

Regular price was $399CDN. They were clearance for $199US each, plus $5 coupon for every $100 spent. With a brick separator to put it over $400, I was also able to grab a bunch of 9V train tracks that were also on clearance for free. So I picked up over $900CDN worth of Lego for $400US

The icing on the cake? The dollar was above par at the time.

jedi1354 · 3 months

i worked at a department store in oregon. after Christmas time the electronics section always had good clearance sales i got a open box samsung 5.1 blu ray surround system 1000watts for 80 bucks. started at 500 than i had open box discount clearance a 30 bucks off 100 coupon and my employee discount

jeffybigh · 3 months

The stickers on 2 liter coke bottles said .99 cents so they legally had to give me the ten I brought to the counter for a dime

mamacrocker · 3 months

Late to the party, BUT: our house. It was a foreclosure that had been empty a couple of years, and our realtors knew it was about to go on the market so we were able to get the first bid in. It initially appraised for about twice what we paid, and at the height of the market we could have gotten triple. Our payments have gone down every year for the last five years, and we currently pay less than half of what we did on our last apt. It makes a huge difference in the choices we have.

Blarvey · 3 months

Not me but one time a truck was disabled on the side of a road my dad was on so he stopped to see if they needed any help. Turns out the truck was delivering candy from a warehouse but because it was in an accident, all food in the truck could not be brought to market. He gave away boxes filled with the boxes of candy you see in the checkout lanes and at convenience stores. My dad got several boxes of Skittles, Snickers, M&Ms (peanut), and Reese's Cups, gave a few away to friends and family, but since it was early December most of it went into our stockings.

[deleted] · 3 months

3000$ computer for 600$

Damadawf · 3 months

Last week I managed to buy a $2200 computer for about $1400, brand new for my younger brother (who desperately needed it for high school).

The sales guy made a mistake and thought the computer he was selling me was only worth $1600 but I didn't say anything, mainly due to a disbelief that anyone could make that sort of mistake. Because he kept saying it's $1600 I assumed that I had looked at the wrong price online while doing research prior to coming to the store.

So I kept haggling with him, and got it down to $1400 and after agreeing on the price he tried to print up the forms and receipt but his computer locked up. A few minutes later his manager came over quite furious, and explained what had happened concerning the price mix up but said because we had agreed on a price the store was obligated to sell it to us for that price.

I just kept my mouth shut the whole time, because I wasn't about to say no to a $800 dollar discount.

TL;DR: A sales person screwed up and accidentally gave me an $800 discount on a computer

JehPea · 3 months

Baught used textbooks from students, sold them back to my schools used textbook store for more than I paid. They rip us off, might as well do the return

RenegadeMoose · 3 months

Canadian Tire had an 800$ swingset marked with a 279$ pricetag. Pointed it out. Asked to have it at that price. Walked out with an 800$ swingset for 279$ :D

finest_bear · 3 months

This is tough, I do a lot of thrift store hunting so I run into some good deals, like finding a first edition For Whom the Bell Tolls at goodwill this week for $1.60

Madmabes · 3 months

I once bought a big ass pack of rib eyes originally 68$ on sale they went to 34$ which paid but before we got home I saw that they didn't apply the discount and so we went back, they gave me all of my money back and the steaks for free!!!

SafetyComesFirst · 3 months

That $500 gift card deal from chase last month was amazing... pretty much free cash

backstab · 3 months

My food store had a deal going on in which if you bought eight items from the advertisement, you would get an $8 off next purchase coupon. Only two of the 10 items on the list cost less than a dollar. With that knowledge and a coupon that my dad had received a day before, I was able to get ~56 microwaveable pizzas-for-one for free.

macrolith · 3 months

A deal that I got for seasons 1-6 of 24. Best buy had a 50% off deal and on the first season there was a sticker that got you $15 off the next five seasons so all together they ended up being $30.

KirbyTails · 3 months

I bought a fryer and a crockpot at a yardsale for $3, both practically brand new.

hondajvx · 3 months

Ever? Jeeese, let me give two please!

In April of 2010 I got a Sony XBR9 46" TV for $999. It was clearance, down from over $2000.

In October of last year I got a Sony 24" TV for free. Kind of a right place, right time sort of thing, it was the TV for one of those PlayStation demos you see in stores. The guy that worked for Sony was replacing it with the new PlayStation Display. I asked him if I could have it, he said it was going to the trash so if it disappeared it was fine by him.

doctorpepperphd · 3 months

Got the entire Adobe CS4 creative suite for free. Having graphic design family members really pays off sometimes.

[deleted] · 3 months

i purchased a made in america fender jazz bass (retail ~800-900) for $138 at a pawn shop.

thepdm · 3 months

I bought Microsoft Flight Simulator 2002 and 2004 simultaneously, then cashed in on two rebates + another "upgrade" rebate, and I ended up making enough to get both games for free plus 5 dollars back!

cloudiestdragon · 3 months

I once traded a kid 2 fire energy cards and a pikachu card for a holographic venusaur 1st edition. I have no idea how he actually agreed, but that actually did go down. This was about 10-11 years ago.

tricupcake · 3 months

About 15 years ago, I was in Kohl's with my mom during one of their sales. I was looking for luggage and came across a 3 piece set of Atlantic luggage. Just a side note, I grew up pretty poor and basically had to buy the cheapest thing available. I knew nothing about Atlantic luggage but when I saw it was on clearance for $15 for the entire set I bought it. I still have all of the luggage and, apart from some damage done by baggage handlers to one small part, the luggage still looks great.

QuickPhix · 3 months

Early on in woot.com's life I picked up a Bag of Crap that had a sixty dollar set of knives in it. So I got that and some junk for eight bucks!

srs2000 · 3 months

I think the best deal I've ever gotten is an entertainment system that I actually forgot that I had purchased. It's still sitting in a massive box.

It was marked down at Frys from about 1500 to under $100. Frys does some insane markdowns but it really helps if you know someone who works there and can tell you what and when to buy something. The really good deals are never marked.

milesdriven · 3 months

Bought a 1995 Ford Escort for $400, a little banged up but nothing the junkyard couldn't provide. Drove it for 3 years, put almost 80,000 miles on it delivering pizzas, and sold it for $800.

aniso · 3 months

My first vehicle, it was a 1995 Ford F-150 with about 100,000 miles on it that I picked up for a grand. It was a pipe delivery truck and served me very well working construction through high school and college summers. Did all of the servicing myself and by the time I gave her away to NPR she had 210,000 miles of excellent service on her.

63hz · 3 months

I've got a few that I can't seem to decide amongst, plus I kinda want to share them all.

First, I scored a 60yr old kitchen-aid mixer in great shape for $20. It was originally 40 but the cord was shot and I talked the seller down. Easy fix.

Second I scored a pair of $250 Asolo hiking boots at an REI scratch and dent sale for $40. Nothing wrong with them. Still wearing them 4 years later.

Lastly is my most recent deal, but it wasn't for me. I work for a nonprofit foodshelf that operates out of a converted transit bus. I managed to get us a newly decommissioned transit bus (1999 Gillig Phantom) to replace our old rustbucket of a bus. They sold new for $500,000 and must be maintained meticulously by the transit company so its in great shape. Our price after some creative problem solving on my part: $1,000.

redonculous · 3 months

My sofa. Boring purchase, but the original price was £1,200 (Italian leather three seater, wide arms for laptops, it's perfect) the store was closing down & clearing all thier stock.

So I got it for £200.

I still have it 4 years later. Looks & feels like new!

rm_a · 3 months

My mom got into a bad car accident last year where this douchebag ran a red light and smashed the entire front of my mom's car. Long story short, the car was totaled and she was out of work for about a week and had to look for a used car. We were looking around for the same size car (since it had to bring me to college) and noticed a great deal online at a usually overpriced dealer.

Well she goes in and test drives it and plans on putting money down (Carfax looked good and it was essentially the same car as the one that got smashed up) and the salesman gives her a quote of ~$3k more than the price online (~$16,000). Well she shows the salesman the printout that she brought with her and sure enough the price online was ~$16,000.

What happened was whoever was updating the stock accidentally put the price the dealer paid for the car instead of what they were trying to sell the car for, and this was on their entire inventory. The dealer honored the lower price, mainly because she saved the dealer a good amount of money. Most of the cars at that dealer cost around $25,000-$30,000 and they would be losing even more money on those.

rafkamodie · 3 months

Went to Antigua, Guatemala for 3 weeks of immersive training in Spanish.

$1500.

Air Fare. Travel to and from Antigua. Room & Board (2 meals). 6 hours Spanish 5 days a week for 3 weeks.

Did I mention $1500?

(Unfortunately, I didn't have money for my actual school semester after that!)

rafkamodie · 3 months

One more. Both of these involve the apartment I just rented.

There used to be a whole bunch of shit apartments right around our lake that goes throught the center of town. There's a hike and bike trail around the lake too.

Well.......all that property is being bought up razed, reconstructed and being sold to people way richer than me. There's only one property left that isn't really all that "shitty." So I call up and ask the rent. $500 (wtf?) So, I go look at it. New paint, decent carpet, new countertops and cabinets, good water pressure, balcony that looks out over a community backyard and trees in the distance (i.e. not a parking lot!), nearly 800 square feet. Only a two lane road separating the entrance of the complex from the lake and hike and bike trail.

Sold! I now live very literally 1/8 of a mile from lake shore property w/hike and bike trail for........$500/month!!!!

Efffing completely unbelievable. It will for sure be the very last affordable piece of lakeside property FOREVER. And, I snagged it!

js74793 · 3 months

Went to buy a generator during a hurricane power outage once. The power at the store went out while I was checking out so they had to process my credit card manually. They said come back for your receipt in a couple of days when we have full power back to the store. It was a good deal at $600, it saved ALL my food in the fridge and freezer. Two weeks went by and the power was back on. I looked at the CC statement and noticed the charge had not shown up yet. I went back to the store to inquire about it and get my official receipt. The lady looked it up in the computer and said they had no record of that transaction. I asked her then how I was supposed to pay for it if they are not going to charge my card and how do I get a receipt. She looked at me like she had better things to do and just said Umm, I don't know. I said ok thanks and went home and never actually paid for it. Pretty good deal!

abryant · 3 months

The other day I bought 6 large containers of organic Greek yogourt for $0.50 apiece, regular price $7.50. They were expired the day before I bought them, but a guy delivering yogourt told me that people often eat yogourt up to 2 or 3 weeks past the expiry date. Tastes amazing for $0.50!

tomyownrhythm · 3 months

I bought one of those faux fireplace/heater/entertainment unit combinations a few months ago. I really wanted one, but most of the ones I found were for more than $450. In my searching, I came across one on Target's website for ~$150. it seemed too good to be true, but I figured if it was shit, I could return it at my local Target store for a full refund, so I went for it. The next day, the item disappeared from the website.

I set about watching the tracking on the package, and one saturday morning (the morning of my grandfather's funeral, actually), I got an e-mail from Target telling me that they had only sent one of two packages, and I should call in if I wanted the other one, or I could return it. Now I knew something was fishy, so I called in, was transferred to some special call team, and was told not to worry, they'd send out the other package free of charge (after 20 mins of typing). Everything arrived as described, and I couldn't be happier with the fireplace.

My theory is that an error between the inventory system and the website listed one box at its price but with the full item description. I was really impressed with Target coming through on that one.

tl;dr: Target's website mis-prices a $450 item as $150, Target honors the price.

intrepidengineer · 3 months

Got about $2000 worth of circa 1930s china for $10 at an auction. That's based on extrapolating from the prices of the individual pieces on ebay. It's a whole set, though, in pristine condition.

DystopiaNoir · 3 months

I desperately needed furniture for the apartment I moved into after I got divorced. I had a ratty, musty old couch that had been given to me by a relative for nearly two years while I searched for a furniture set I could afford. I happened across an ad on CraigsList for a nearly new sofa set that was EXACTLY what I wanted, right down to the color and style. I wound up getting a super nice couch, love seat, oversized chair and matching ottoman for $350.

abgazelle · 3 months

My most recent deal:

Over the summer there was an ankle-length pink chiffon skirt at anthropologie I really liked, but it was over $200. It went on sale for 1/2 off, then down to $100, but it was still too much for me. A month or so ago I was at Buffalo Exchange and they had the skirt, in my size, for like $16. It had some stains on it, which I pointed out to the cashier, and she promptly gave me 50%. So I got this skirt that was originally over $200 for $8! (Plus around $6 in dry cleaning...the stains came out!)

charles__ · 3 months

I have gotten a lot of great deals. The highlights:

Maserati biturbo for $425 Mercedes 300te for $275 Genuine Stella Scooter for $700 Vespa for $1000 Turntable for $100 that sells for $300-400 on ebay

Probably my favorite was a stamp collection I bought at a garage sale. I am an avid philatelist, and I found a collection of mint never hinged US stamps from about 1945 to 1996, complete for $100. In postage they were worth many times that.

Second to that was another garage sale where I bought seven NES' from a guy for $5 because he said they were broken. I put a new 72pin connector in them and voila!

scolopaxmajor · 3 months

My Oldsmobile Alero for $9,000 (had only 37,000 miles), believe it or not. That car has paid for itself. All parts have been so incredibly cheap compared to most vehicles. I finally had to replace brakes last month, and the mechanic was incredibly jealous at how it only cost me $200. I also had a buck run into the side of it, and this car is such a beast that it left only a mere dent in the door that I didn't get fixed. Some old guy purposely ran into it later on and got charged $1400 for only $100 damage that he actually did.

I will miss this car when it is finally a goner.

auchim · 3 months

Good as new Johnston & Murphy dress shoes; retail at $180, picked up for $6 at the thrift.

Alexcellent · 3 months

A few years ago, while in college, this text book store that sold art supplies was going out of business. They knocked their prices down %90. I managed to spend nearly all the money I had, $45-50 at the time, and got $400 of paint, palettes, paper, brushes, pencils, pens, markers, etc. for $40.

It was amazing.

drgradus · 3 months

I found a medium size CrockPot for $0.25 at a yard sale. Best quarter I ever spent.

SARASA05 · 3 months

when i was in hs i went into the Disney store to look for a birthday present for my 6 year old sister shortly after christmas. they had a puffy pink coat decorated tastefully with the different disney princesses. it was steeply marked down to $15. my sister loved that gift and wore it all fall and winter until 6th grade.

Also, trading braces and dinner for once a week English conversation practice while living abroad.

BrainSturgeon · 3 months

Four years of graduate education for a PhD for free (valued at $34k/yr), plus a $24k/year stipend.

notbad.jpg

BrotherSeamus · 3 months

Laser eye surgery. $3000 for never having to deal with contacts or glasses again.

thisisvienna · 3 months

I buy clothing lots on eBay for usually less than $1 per item. I then sell each item individually on eBay for about $8 per item. Not only does one sale usually cover the cost of the whole lot, but it also means I get to keep the stuff that I like. So basically I got a fresh wardrobe for free and it has been a nice little booster for my college budget

jerrrrry · 3 months

Bought a fairly thick hoodie from Old Navy 2 years ago for $20 on Boxing Day, and got 4 movie tickets for being an early bird. The hoodie is still holding up great.

gabemcg · 3 months

Hard to say, as I frequent Slickdeals

Some of my best:

42" LG 1080p 60hz LCD TV - Free (well I got 2 for $410 tax incl. on a price mistake, sold one for that much on Craigslist, making mine free)
Another price mistake: 3x Canon SX30IS cameras for $199 +tax each, sold 2 for ~$350 apiece, kept one.
I got Best Buy to price match a print ad for a Boxee Box from a retailer that was 300 miles away, paid $90 for a $180 item
I spent ~$100 and a few hours fixing a computer for someone on Craigslist, they gave me an almost new side by side refrigerator and a lightly used ceramic top oven/range as payment, turned around and sold them as a pair for $1000.

TL;DR: I'm a shyster...

813594 · 3 months

Signed up for a SWA Credit Card and got 50,000 points. Converted them to $500 on Amazon.com. Total cost to me: $0.

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