The Best Time to Buy Everything - Good article.

[JDub]

Came by this the other day. Figured this board's users would like it.

Best time to buy everything (http://www.smartmoney.com/dealoftheday/index.cfm?story=20060905&pgnum=1)

Enjoy,

Ward

[scarab007]

Good article - Nice, quick and easy read. Thanks!

[paulringodaman]

Thanks!

[mather]

Fun read, I can see how some of the reasoning makes sense but obviously applies to bargain hunters not necessarily geared towards buying what you want cheaply.

[PopcornTreeCt]

I do most of my shopping during the weekdays. I didn't think it was bargain shopping just common sense.

[kevmalone]

Re: Airplane tickets: When to buy: On a Wednesday, 21 days (or a couple of days earlier) before your flight.
Pretty much debunked here:
http://upgradetravel.blogspot.com/2006/08/mythbustin-is-wednesday-at-midnight.html

[GreenMonkey]

Groceries

When to buy: Sunday evenings.

Why: Store sales tend to run Wednesday through Tuesday, says Teri Gault, founder of The Grocery Game, a consumer savings program. On Sunday, you'll also have the latest round of manufacturer's coupons from your morning paper. "You can maximize your coupons available for that shopping week," she says. Heading to the store close to closing time means you'll have access to sales on fresh items that must be sold by the end of the day, such as meats and baked goods.



:confused:

Every grocery store I know runs their sales Sunday - Saturday like everyone else.

Your best bet is Saturday night IMO at about midnight - 4am at 24-hour stores. The ad prices tend to overlap from one week to the week before, as not all the signs have been pulled down yet, and yet new ones are going up. :D

[shelland]

:confused:

Every grocery store I know runs their sales Sunday - Saturday like everyone else.
Depends on your area of the country.

I work for a Fortune 100 company, which is one of the largerst grocery companies in the country. I know that some of the retail companies we own run their Ad with a Wednesday start day, and there are some that start on Monday as well. I'm just in IT, so have no idea what the business reasons are, but I'm guessing it's a regional preference.

The way they worded the grocery piece isn't very good either. They say to shop on Sunday because stores tend to run their ad Wednesday to Tuesday, but nowhere in the rest of the explanation does it give a reason why shopping on Sunday has anything to do with a Wednesday ad break.

[shelland]

I do most of my shopping during the weekdays. I didn't think it was bargain shopping just common sense.
Why is that? (I'm asking seriously out of curiosity - hope it doesn't sound like a smart a$$ question)

[Gambit]

The way they worded the grocery piece isn't very good either. They say to shop on Sunday because stores tend to run their ad Wednesday to Tuesday, but nowhere in the rest of the explanation does it give a reason why shopping on Sunday has anything to do with a Wednesday ad break.

That's the way it works in my area as well. The ad papers go out midweek and that's when the sales for that week start. I believe what the article was getting at is that if you go on Sunday, you can take advantage of the coupons that you get from the Sunday paper. Of course, it seems irrelevant when the current week's sales start, because you'll be getting the new weeks sale ads anyway.

Actually, I find that it is a bit of a disadvantage to go shopping on Sunday when the sale had started on Wed. Sale items that are in high demand (such as limited meat selections) are gone by the time Sunday comes around.

[GreenMonkey]

Huh. Weird. I don't think I've ever seen a Wednesday - Wednesday grocery ad.

[JoeR63]

All of the grocery ads in the SE Virginia market run Wednesday - Tuesday.

[bmello]

Huh. Weird. I don't think I've ever seen a Wednesday - Wednesday grocery ad.

Publix & Winn Dixie here in Florida are Wed-Wed.

[cornflakeguy]

Most all the grocery stores in Dallas are Wed-Wed. Thats why I shop Wed or Thur nights, avoid the crowds.

[Brian Shannon]

Grocery ads begin in my area on Friday.

As someone who has worked in retail for many, many years the best time to buy something is when YOU think the price is right, not when some marketing gimmick or article tells you it is.

[shelland]

All of the grocery ads in the SE Virginia market run Wednesday - Tuesday.
Go Farm Fresh and Shoppers! I know both of them have ad break days of Wednesday. (the company I work for owns them both and the system I support sends them all of their price changes for tags, scales, registers, etc) :banana:

[rfduncan]

Giant Food in the DC area runs Friday to Friday now - Safeway still runs Wednesday to Tuesday.

In my experience, Sunday evening is the WORST time to go. Everything is picked over and/or hasn't been restocked from the weekend shoppers (i.e. working parents who can only grocery shop on the weekend). I get my Sunday supplements (coupons) delivered with the Saturday paper. So that is all totally contrary to what it says on that site.

[rassi]

Our local news (Cleveland, OH) is running a week-long series on this topic starting next week. I wonder if they ripped off the entire story from the original article?

[pizzamousechips]

Broadway Tickets
When to buy: Hours before the curtain rises.
Why: How does a $25 front-row seat to the smash musical "Wicked" sound? Several musicals offer same-day ticket lotteries that offer up orchestra seats at inexpensive prices. If you'd rather not gamble on getting a seat, wait in line at the famous TKTS booth in Times Square. There, you can get tickets for hit musicals for up to 50% off. On a recent night, prime seats were available for "Hairspray," "Rent," "Sweeney Todd" and "Beauty & the Beast." (For the right times to drop by TKTS, and other ways to save, see our column A Midsummer Night's Dream.)
I did not know this. I shall keep this in mind.

Thanks!

[jiannichan]

Most all the grocery stores in Dallas are Wed-Wed. Thats why I shop Wed or Thur nights, avoid the crowds.

Albertsons used to be Wednesday morning around 4am. Thats how it was a couple years ago when I did support for the west and central stores. So, it would be Wed-Tue. It makes no sense to have ads run from Wed-Wed. When would the scan coordinators come in the do price changes? Surely they're not going to come midday during hours of high volume. So the prices can change while the customer is waiting in line? Sounds like it would cause a lot of descreptancy in prices and allowing customers to get stuff for free/cheaper due to prices being rang up differently from the posted/ad price.

[shelland]

Albertsons used to be Wednesday morning around 4am. Thats how it was a couple years ago when I did support for the west and central stores.
Do you still work for Albersons? If so, we now work for the same company! (hopefully I'm not opening a can of worms by mentioning that... :) )