7 useful tips to ‘excel’ in a toy warehouse sale

Having attended a Toys ‘R Us warehouse sale last week, it refreshed my memory on the do’s and don’ts during such hectic and metally draining events.  Here are 7 tips to help you sail through not just toy warehouse sales, but most other warehouse sales in general. 

1) Go with at least one partner.  Trust me, you work better in a team than alone.  Remember that unity is strength.  It is best if you and your teammates are going for the same or similar types of toys.  In this way, you can help one another look for your respective targetted toys.  However, it is still ok if your team members target different toys.  Sales items get displaced easily too so the more eyes on the lookout at different sections, the better.  It still beats being a lone soldier.

2) Don’t bring a bulky bag along, especially a hand carry one.  Guys especially would fair well if they go with just their wallets.  If you really need to bring your bag along, then carry a flat back pack or flat sling bag so that your both hands are free to dig, grab and shove your targetted toys into your given shopping bags.  Don’t worry for most warehouse sales organizers provide large canvas shopping bags for bargain shoppers to contain their would-be purchases.

3) Have a system in going through all the aisles.  You should have worked this out in your mind (if alone) or with your teammates while in the queue waiting to enter the sales area.  Even if you arrive after the queue has gone in, always work out a route along the aisles to ensure that you have covered almost every section.  Remember that many items get displaced during a warehouse sale when shoppers changed their minds and tossed back the items anywhere and everywhere.

4) Grab first think later.  This is because of the crowd, narrow aisles and potential intense competition from other shoppers around you for the limited ‘good stuff’ at the sale.  If you take too long to decide on getting an item, you’re likely to miss out on other ‘better stuff’ elsewhere, which are probably being beset by other shoppers already there.  Hence if you are unsure of getting an item, just chuck it into your given canvas bag and move on!  Key point to note during a warehouse sale - don’t waste time!

5) Dig with unrelentant persistence.  It can be quite a challenge to dig for your targeted toys in a huge and deep box when other shoppers are constantly squeezing past you along the same narrow aisles.  Make way where you can, but not to the extent of being ‘pushed’ away from the box that you are digging at.  That is why I suggest that you leave your bulky bags at home.  You will need your hands to carry the canvas shopping bag/s given. 

Anyway, despite the difficulty in digging and in your tossed-aside toys threatening to come down back into the box like an avalanche, be persistent because untold treasures can be found and your determination rewarded.  You just have to be shameless in hogging the aisles because it’s not your fault that the aisles are so narrow.  Don’t care too much about the passing crowd for even if you do, nobody cares for you anyway.

6) Find an evaluation corner.  This is a corner such as the CD-rom section where hardly any shopper stops by to browse.  Everyone tends to rush for the toys, and neglect the PC games or educational materials.  Apparently the larger the toys, the more popular they are with toy shoppers, especially with both parents and collectors. 

Okay this evaluation corner is supposed to be any quietest corner free from most shoppers that you can find to go through all the items in your canvas bag/s.  Some toys were probably put in on impulse just to get away from the crowd along the busy aisles earlier. 

Be quick in regaining your composure and weed out all the impulse items that were not on your want list but had looked ‘interesting’ when you had come upon them just now.  Chances are that since they were not on your want list or friend’s want list, you can return them back to the shelves.

7) Watch out for the little kids, pregnant women and old folks.  If the aisle looks passable with fewer shoppers, a polite ‘excuse me’ will usually open a path for you.  For the rest, just ‘bash’ your way through.  Nobody’s going to give way unless you force your way through.  Of course not to the extent where you push somebody down, but with just enough force to open a ‘path’ for yourself. 

It’s no use being too ‘nice’ in warehouse sale for no one has the time or space to give way unless you make your intentions known in a more ‘assertive’ way than usual.  However despite that tensions can occasionally get high in a crowded and restricted space, don’t be outright rude either.  It’s a fine balance so you really need to be there to experience it yourself. 

As an after-thought, here are some more extra bonus tips:

8.) Watch your toy budget and don’t over spend, especially if you feel that your targetted toys are not marked down enough.  Don’t be tempted to pick up impulse toys, even if they have been heavily discounted.  If you don’t collect or play with certain toys for the past year, chances are you can do without them so don’t ‘invite’ them home.  Focus on the toylines that you collect and refrain from jumping to another toyline just because it looks ‘interesting’ at a sale.

9.) Don’t fight over a toy with little kids, pregnant women and old folks.  Be gracious and let them choose first, as if you’re in an MRT and letting these people choose to take the seats first.  The last thing you want is to bring home a toy that reminds you of a fight you had with someone at a sale to get it.

10) If you missed out on a ‘treasure’ toy to another shopper, take heart for it’s only a toy.  There will be a next time for you elsewhere.  The world works in its mysterious ways.  If you are destined to be with a toy you want, you will somehow end up having it eventually.  It’s only a matter of when you both reunite.

That’s all I have for today.  Hope that these tips be useful to you too.  Happy shopping at warehouse sales!