
🛒 How to Find Walmart Penny Items – The Ultimate Guide (2025 Edition)
Love scoring huge savings? This guide will show you how to find Walmart penny items — products that scan for just $0.01. Hidden in plain sight, these secret deals are your ticket to serious savings if you know where to look!
💡 What Are Walmart Penny Items?
Penny items are products in Walmart’s system marked down to $0.01 – usually because they’re discontinued, recalled, expired, or marked for deletion. While these are supposed to be removed from shelves, sometimes they remain available to scan (and buy).
📲 Step 1: Use the Walmart App to Your Advantage
Download the official Walmart app. This is your most powerful tool for finding penny items. Use it to scan barcodes in-store and check real-time prices based on the store location you select.
- Scan clearance items
- Check for hidden markdowns
- Ensure your store location is set correctly
🛒 Step 2: Know Where to Hunt
Focus your scanning in these high-potential areas:
- Clearance Sections – especially items pushed to the back or bottom shelves
- End Caps – side displays often hold forgotten items
- Holiday & Seasonal Aisles – check 1-2 weeks after holidays
- Baby, Electronics, Beauty, and Toy Sections – these rotate stock often
🌐 Step 3: Follow Penny Item Communities
Join online groups that post up-to-date Walmart penny item finds. Here’s where to look:
- Reddit – r/WalmartClearance
- Facebook groups – search “Walmart Penny Items”
- Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube – creators post penny hauls & UPCs
People often share UPC codes, screenshots, store info, and more. Save UPCs and scan them at your local store.
🏷️ Step 4: Decode Walmart Clearance Tags
Not all penny items look discounted. Learn to spot tags that might lead to a penny:
- Yellow Tags – markdowns (watch for odd prices like $0.03 or $1.01)
- Red/White Tags – manager’s specials or store-specific clearance
- Old Packaging – discontinued versions often penny out
But the best rule? Don’t assume anything. Just scan everything.
🔍 Step 5: Scan Even the Odd Stuff
Some of the most unexpected items scan for a penny:
- Holiday candy weeks after the holiday
- Older models of popular brands
- Unmarked clearance shoved in random aisles
Don’t trust the shelf price — trust the scanner.
✅ Step 6: What to Do When You Find a Penny Item
If the Walmart app shows an item is $0.01, you can try buying it — but it’s not guaranteed. Walmart employees are trained to remove these items from the floor. Here’s how to handle it:
- Be polite and casual — don’t draw attention
- Use self-checkout if available
- If questioned, accept it if they refuse to sell it
Many shoppers report success without issues, especially at self-checkout.
⏰ Step 7: Time Your Trips Smartly
Best times to hunt for penny items:
- Early morning – before employees clear shelves
- Midweek (Tuesday/Wednesday) – common markdown days
- After store resets or holiday events
🚫 What NOT to Do
- ❌ Don’t ask employees about penny items
- ❌ Don’t argue if they refuse a sale
- ❌ Don’t post viral videos calling attention to your finds in-store
Stay respectful — you’re hunting within a grey area of Walmart policy.
📝 Walmart Penny Shopping Checklist
- ✔️ Walmart app installed & signed in
- ✔️ Store location set correctly
- ✔️ Power bank for your phone
- ✔️ Scanning list of UPCs
- ✔️ Patience and low expectations
🎯 Final Thoughts: Is It Worth It?
Penny shopping at Walmart isn’t always easy — but it’s fun and rewarding for those who stick with it. You might leave empty-handed sometimes, but when you score a $40 item for $0.01… it’s worth every second.