When I shop at Dollar General, I stop in when it’s convenient, grab what I need, and head out without giving the timing a second thought. But like many other popular stores, such as Walmart, Trader Joe’s, Costco, and its competitor, Dollar Tree, specific days and times at Dollar General offer the best deals and fully stocked shelves to browse.
After reading advice from Dollar General’s current and former employees and former on Reddit, I learned that when you shop can determine the bargains you find and whether the shelves are full or picked over. And if you’re up for an adventure, there’s one morning in particular some deal hunters say is worth planning your week around.
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The Best Time To Shop at Dollar General for Bargain Hunters
Because of an imperfect internal inventory process, you can sometimes find things for a penny at Dollar General. When a product is discontinued or otherwise pulled from a store’s system, it can be repriced to a single penny. Employees call these ‘MOS’ or marked-out-of-stock items.
For Dollar General, this happens on Tuesdays. A former assistant manager revealed on Reddit that on Tuesdays a list of discontinued items would ring up for a penny. While the list might go out on Fridays, according to another assistant store manager, the products are removed before a Tuesday morning system update, which is why early morning Tuesday shoppers have the best shot at scoring the deal.
The catch? These items aren’t meant to be sold at all. One employee explained, “There aren’t supposed to be penny items on the shelf.” They’re meant to be pulled and sent back. So these finds happen when things slip through the cracks. One commenter shared that a customer got “over 100 items and only spent a dollar.”
Keep in mind that while Tuesdays offer the best odds, they’re stressful shifts for employees because some shoppers leave things in disarray or hide products until the price drops. One former employee described penny hunters “tear[ing] the store apart.” So be a courteous shopper and put things back where you found them, keep shelves tidy, don’t open boxes or hide items, and never make an employee’s day harder over a one-cent find.
The Best Time To Find Fully Stocked Shelves
If you’re just after everyday groceries and household basics, mornings tend to be a good bet, since employees describe stocking shifts that run from 6 a.m. until late in the day. New product delivery days aren’t uniform across stores. So the best way to find out about your local store is to ask a friendly employee when their truck usually arrives, how long stocking takes, and when refrigerated items come in.
Checking out your local store early on a Tuesday gives you a fun chance at finding penny markdowns. However, taking a moment to learn your store’s truck schedule remains the key to stress-free Dollar General shopping.
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