Ultimate Christmas Clearance Guide: Top 11 Items to Buy + Our Best Shopping Tips!
Don’t miss out on Christmas clearance deals!
Christmas clearance shopping is basically here! 🤗
Oh, how we love this sweet, little word: CLEARANCE! 😍 The 2024 after-Christmas clearance sales are around the corner – and we couldn’t be more excited!
One of the best times to stock up on holiday decor, non-food gifts, paper items, ornaments, and more for next year is after Christmas when items typically go on clearance for 50-90% off! This is a great time to score deep discounts on all things Christmas so you can avoid paying retail prices next year.
Check out this video we created on Instagram:
Follow these shopping timelines for the best deals…
Usually, retailers like Target, Walmart, Michaels, Hobby Lobby, and other popular stores start marking down their holiday inventory to 50% off on or in some places before December 26th in order to make room for New Year’s, Super Bowl, and Valentine’s Day items.
Then, a few days before New Year’s Day (around December 28th-31st), many stores will mark down their Christmas clearance items to 70-75% off.
Then, after the New Year, things get REALLY exciting…
After the New Year is usually when you’ll start seeing up to 80% and even 90% off Christmas clearance at stores like Walgreens, CVS, Michaels, Lowe’s, The Home Depot, Target, AND Hobby Lobby!
While you can’t beat paying only 10% for next year’s holiday items, the selection of items may be picked over, so stock up if you can!
Here are 11 Christmas clearance items to watch for:
1. Gift wrap
Grab these items while you can! Look for wrapping paper, gift bags, tissue paper, gift tags, ribbons, and bows on the cheap and stock up for next year (and boxed greeting cards, too)!
Also, consider buying colors or prints that can be used for other holidays throughout the year (i.e. silver/gold for anniversaries, red for Valentine’s Day, purple/blue for birthday parties, etc).
2. Paper products & storage
Stock up on holiday paper plates, cups, napkins, facial tissue, paper towels, cutlery, etc. when they hit rock bottom prices and store them away for next season. You’ll be able to throw next year’s holiday party on the cheap, which will take a little stress off when that time rolls around again.
Also, watch for discounts on holiday items like Ziploc storage bags & containers, holiday-colored plastic wraps, baking cups, foil pans with lids, and other kitchen essentials you can use all year long!
3. Kitchen & bath items
Another thing to look for is holiday kitchen towels, potholders, dishes, storage tins, serving trays, kitchen rugs, bath towels, soap dispensers, and other fun items that would also make great gifts and hold up nicely until next year! I love having fresh, new hand towels to hang up in my kitchen or bathroom every year that I’ve forgotten about—and they make great gifts, too!
Also be sure to price-check any holiday household items (like dish soap, hand soap, etc) if they’re not marked down as they may ring up with holiday clearance pricing!
4. Ornaments
In the past, we’ve seen pre-Christmas clearance deals of up to 50% on ornaments from stores like Target. We expect these deals to get even better after 12/25 when you can score ornaments from 75% – 90% off!
5. Holiday Decor
This is the perfect time to stock up on boxes of lights, ornaments, stockings, tree skirts, throw pillows, and loads of other festive home decor on the cheap. If you’ve been waiting for a deal on a new Christmas tree or an inflatable for the front yard, now is the time to snag one at a huge discount!
Don’t forget to look for full-size seasonal candles that have been discounted. These would make great holiday gifts the following year so stock your gift closet while the prices are low!
6. Gift sets
Need a belated holiday gift this year? If so, you may want to snatch up a discounted gift basket filled with food, hot beverage mixes, K-Cups, or candies. Otherwise, steer clear of stocking up on pre-packaged gift baskets that have food/candy items in them as the items may not be edible by this time next year.
However, if you don’t care about the gift packaging and are able to score a sweet deal on one, it may be worth breaking apart the gift basket and eating the items separately before they expire.
It’s best to look for non-food gift sets, such as body wash duos, beauty sets, cute mugs, stationery sets, ornaments, games, etc. that you can use all year long OR that you can save to use for gifts next year (think teachers, neighbors, co-workers, friends, and family members!).
7. Seasonal food items
Love drinking Peppermint Mocha coffee year-round? Have kiddos who love any type of cookie in their school lunches? Be sure to look for discounted food items and snacks in seasonal flavors that you or your kiddos wouldn’t mind eating soon OR for upcoming parties or events (i.e. Super Bowl).
We can’t get enough of those frosted sugar cookies from the bakery, so I’ll definitely be watching for those to be marked down!
You can also often find flavored coffee and coffee creamers, refrigerated or packaged holiday cookies, various candies, flavored snacks, meat and cheese sets, etc. that will be marked down. But they often go fast, so you’ll want to be quick! Just remember to grab foods that you’ll be able to freeze or eat soon to minimize your chances of having to throw out expired food.
8. Clothing pieces & accessories
Don’t skip the clothing aisles! If you find any clearance on ugly Christmas sweaters, shirts, socks, pajamas, or other apparel items that would be fun to wear to your next company Christmas party, be sure to grab those while you can. You can always tuck them away in the attic and you’ll have a surprise when you get out the holiday items when next year rolls around!
These clothing items always make fun stocking stuffers and White Elephant gifts, too!
9. Pet toys & treats
Chances are your pet likely won’t care if they’re chewing on a candy-cane-shaped bone in June or playing with a Santa-shaped squeaker toy in February. 😂 Look for clearance deals for your pet and stock up on treats if you think your pet will enjoy the items before they expire.
10. Books & advent calendars
Books and coloring books are always great gift ideas, especially if you have kiddos who participate in book exchanges at school. If you see any reading material on sale (especially the popular Elf on the Shelf set), grab them and store them away for next year.
Also, non-food Advent Calendars are another great item to be on the lookout for!
11. Stocking stuffers
While you won’t want to purchase candy now to fill next year’s stockings, you can fill up your cart with discounted holiday pencils, plush toys, mugs, mini candles, travel games, crafts or activities, and more! Check out some stocking stuffer ideas here!
Plus, follow these additional tips to save:
Use your store rewards.
Earn points by joining a store’s loyalty program. If you already belong, you might get extra savings or be able to use your rewards to reduce the cost of your purchase.
Use and/or stack coupons.
Whenever possible, use coupons to get a deeper discount on clearance items. Some stores may even let you stack coupons and then you’re really paying bottom dollar!
Be aware of return, exchange, & price adjustment policies.
Try to choose places that allow you to return items. It’s easy to get excited over a low price only to later realize the product doesn’t fit, is damaged, or is offered for less somewhere else. Write down any important dates in your personal planner so you don’t get stuck paying for goods you don’t want!
Also, take note if returns come in the form of store credit or cash back. And if you’re shopping somewhere where all sales are final, give the product a good once over before placing in your cart.
Save your receipts.
Don’t end up with an item you don’t want or need. For the best chance to get money back or receive a price adjustment, keep your receipts!
Use receipt scanner apps.
Keeping those items? Scan your receipts to scanner apps to earn a bit of cash back.
Use a store credit card.
If you have a store credit card, you may receive extra cash back on purchases. Though we usually don’t recommend opening these types of accounts, if you have one and it makes sense to do so, use it to earn a little back on your clearance haul.
Choose free delivery or pickup.
Avoid wasting time or paying delivery fees. When able, take advantage of a store’s free delivery or pick-up services!
Make a list before you go.
Don’t buy just to buy. Write a list of items you tend to use during the holidays, so you know where to focus your attention. It’s okay to deviate from the list a little, but writing down your needs can help you keep your spending on track. Plus, you can use your list to look up prices at different stores so you know where the best deal is before you go!
If I remember correctly, Target in the past goes to 90% the weekend after Christmas but I can’t remember if it’s Saturday or Sunday 🤔 Either way I’m excited to be going with my husband this year!
It’s usually not a specific day, rather a certain number of days after Christmas. That could fall on any day of the week.
Ah, okay. I’ll keep an eye out 🙂
Laura, in my experience it’s usually on Jan. 1st.
That sounds right 👍 I’ll keep checking! Thanks Kim 😁