Whether you’re a fellow charity shop regular or masterful eBay deal spotter, it’s safe to say that when it comes to clothes, most of us love a bargain.
And TK Maxx, which sells overstocked clothing from big-name brands at a reduced price, is a haven of them for many.
Regular visitors might want to know, however, that there’s a secret code the workers are in on which separate the deals from the duds ― and it’s visible on the clothing’s labels.
Daniel Baker, a former senior merchandiser for the brand, revealed the trick on Channel 5′s show TK Maxx: How do they do it?
“On any label [in the store], you can see a number,” he revealed in the show.
Which number should I keep an eye out for?
“The number that is really exciting to a customer is number two because that means it’s genuine stock that was sold at a higher price somewhere else,” Daniel revealed.
“It’s excess stock or something like that.”
This could indicate that you’re getting a really high-quality, or formerly very pricey, item for far less.
What do the other numbers mean?
“The main three codes you’ll see are one, two, and seven. One means produced for TK Maxx, two means it is a ‘close out buy’, so it’s stock that they’ve got at a deal, that is unsold from another brand,” David shared.
“Seven is ‘packaway’ which means it’s been packed for a previous year, like Christmas crackers bought in January for the following year,” he added.
Of course, “You can get good value for money on a type one. It could be that just the sheer volume they are producing means they can price it cheaper,” David explains.
“For the real bargains you are looking for are a two and a seven for sure. That’s also part of the treasure hunt when I got into a store as I’m constantly going ‘oh that’s a type two, that’s a real bargain there,’” he finishes.
The numbers he’s referring to are on the label in the top-right side and have no zero in front of them, the Channel 5 show explained.
Anyway, I’m off to do some shopping...