What's with Advance Auto clearance products ringing up for 5 cents

[pbm]

I walked into an AA today in Florida looking for Castrol Edge EP that's on 'CLEARANCE' but of course none was on the shelf.
I asked the counter guy if they had any 0w20 or 5w20 and he went into the back and returned with a 5 quart (or maybe 5 litre) jug of Total Quartz 0w20 saying he had no Castrol. I said I'd take the Total Quartz knowing it was also on 'CLEARANCE'. It rang up for a nickel and the guys face dropped. I said I'd pay more than that just tell me the price. He asked his boss who said he couldn't sell it. I asked what he was going to do with it...he stammered and couldn't give an answer. I would have thought that he would have been happy to sell it for $10 or so but I guess he'll take it for himself for a nickel or give it to a friend for that. What do you think?

 

[michaelluscher]

That Total clearance was last July/August

It's now reached the point where (per multiple AAP managers) it has to get sent back to the warehouse, or poured into the waste oil bin

They aren't supposed to sell it at 5¢

Glad I bought plenty @ $5.73-$14.75 per 5qt, depending on time

 

[slacktide_bitog]

Yeah, that's usually what they do, keep it for themselves

 

[Timmastertech]

Unfortunately that is Advances policy that if it rings for 5 cents they arent supposed to sell it its something thats either going to be called back or disposed of. Our local store usually disposes of a lot of that stuff into a box that winds up in my office.

 

[Carmudgeon]

That's how retailers mark clearance items destined for disposal in some fashion, and not meant to be sold to customers.

I've seen them described as "penny items" and employees that do sell them, or buy them for themselves, can get into trouble.

At Lowes and Home Depot, that figure is 2 cents.

 

[RedSpider]

I saw this a lot when I worked retail many, many moons ago.. I would see the head of security back on the loading docks tossing bins full of still-in-the-box merchandise into the dumpsters. I asked him why he was throwing stuff that looked perfectly good, or at least sellable, into the trash. He said it had been reduced for clearance, and when it didnt sell by a certain time it got written off the books and if they sold it after that point they could get in serious legal trouble so he had to witness it being thrown out. He did say if I wanted to go dumpster diving for something after he threw it in there that was ok.

 

[Sayjac]

That Total clearance was last July/August

It's now reached the point where (per multiple AAP managers) it has to get sent back to the warehouse, or poured into the waste oil bin

They aren't supposed to sell it at 5¢.....

I heard similar about disposal in waste oil recycle bin from AAP counter jock when inquiring about Castrol Edge EP clearance pricing. 'If' the employees keep it for themselves, rather than dispose of it as rule instructs, guess I'd consider it one of the few perks of the job. In that case, 'I' wouldn't begrudge them that move.

Fwiw, I got some TQ 0w20 when it was on clearance. And more recently, some Castrol Edge EP too. Years ago, grabbed some Idemitsu Syn for like $2 a jug if iirc. I'm just glad they have the oil clearances. Only time I buy oil there.

 

[pbm]

It's a shame these things (oil included) are thrown away instead of being donated to charity.

 

[CR94]

It's a shame these things (oil included) are thrown away instead of being donated to charity.

Or sold at some reasonable discounted price, which would be better than dumping good oil into a waste oil vat for the corporation, the manager, the customer, and the environment.

 

[slacktide_bitog]

It's a shame these things (oil included) are thrown away instead of being donated to charity.

Or sold at some reasonable discounted price, which would be better than dumping good oil into a waste oil vat for the corporation, the manager, the customer, and the environment.

This.

Donate them to charity or sell them in bulk to Ollie's Bargain Outlet and similar outlets

 

[BrendanC]

i’m lucky and have a very good relationship with my local AAP manager. he just gives me anything that he can’t sell.

 

[GMBoy]

Atleast once a month my local Autozone where I have my shop commercial account lets me go in the back and grab whatever I want on the pallets that get sent back due to returns, overstocks, discontinued etc items. I regularly stock up on oil, washer fluid and other chemicals for free. Manager tells me he does this as a courtesy to his commercial accounts and it is cheaper to give away then to ship it all back.

 

[mjk1967]

It's a shame these things (oil included) are thrown away instead of being donated to charity.

Charity, tech programs, disabled vets

Imagine the PR sales they could get out of it....

 

[97prizm]

I walked into an AA today in Florida looking for Castrol Edge EP that's on 'CLEARANCE' but of course none was on the shelf.
I asked the counter guy if they had any 0w20 or 5w20 and he went into the back and returned with a 5 quart (or maybe 5 litre) jug of Total Quartz 0w20 saying he had no Castrol. I said I'd take the Total Quartz knowing it was also on 'CLEARANCE'. It rang up for a nickel and the guys face dropped. I said I'd pay more than that just tell me the price. He asked his boss who said he couldn't sell it. I asked what he was going to do with it...he stammered and couldn't give an answer. I would have thought that he would have been happy to sell it for $10 or so but I guess he'll take it for himself for a nickel or give it to a friend for that. What do you think?

They are required to dump it. I think AA should be fined and their corporate office employees (whomever came up with this policy) sent to federal prison for waste. Other members have noted in the past that they dispose of new oil filters with the clearance sticker on them.

 

[nv1z]

I walked into an AA today in Florida looking for Castrol Edge EP that's on 'CLEARANCE' but of course none was on the shelf.
I asked the counter guy if they had any 0w20 or 5w20 and he went into the back and returned with a 5 quart (or maybe 5 litre) jug of Total Quartz 0w20 saying he had no Castrol. I said I'd take the Total Quartz knowing it was also on 'CLEARANCE'. It rang up for a nickel and the guys face dropped. I said I'd pay more than that just tell me the price. He asked his boss who said he couldn't sell it. I asked what he was going to do with it...he stammered and couldn't give an answer. I would have thought that he would have been happy to sell it for $10 or so but I guess he'll take it for himself for a nickel or give it to a friend for that. What do you think?

I have worked for two different Advance Stores (I will not say where). At the first store, if the employee found the 5c item, it was zeroed out of inventory and put in a bin I called "the nickel bin" where employees could take if they needed it, with the understanding if they tried to sell it *then* they got in big trouble. If a customer found it (and it happened several times) we would zero it out of inventory and just give it to the customer and say Happy Chanukah/Merry Christmas or something like that. Customers have been willing to pay the nickel and some have even offered more. If no one took items in the nickel bin, like tools, I would give them to a community workshop I belong to.

At the other store, I asked the general manager (now district manager) policy regarding items ringing up at a nickel. He said we were not allowed to sell it. If we found it before the customer did, we zeroed it out, and I am not sure what happened after that. If a customer found it, we sold it at the nickel. DM said that implied we were not doing our job, clearing out nickel merchandise. Of course, no one ever trained me in that procedure, that is, how to locate items showing in inventory that are a nickel.

Personally, I do not have the heart to throw out anything someone else might be able to use. I remember when I first transferred from store A to store B, there was a 3/4" drive ratchet that was a nickel. Now I do not even have any 3/4" drive sockets, but that is an item I would have just donated to the community workshop.