Shopping Halloween Clearance Sales: What to Buy and Why

In the days following October 31, expect to see Halloween clearance sales at retailers offering deep or significant discounts on Halloween costumes, decorations and candy. Savvy shoppers can save money by honing in on these sales and even make money by reselling at a later date. Here are a few tips for getting the most out of Halloween clearance sales.

Buy Halloween costumes at a discount

One of the best ways to pick up pretend play costumes inexpensively is to shop Halloween clearance racks the day after the holiday. Regardless of what your child dressed up as for Halloween, now is the time to pick up play costumes on the cheap. Think ahead to Christmas or birthdays or even purchase several costumes for your child's pre-school classroom. Every little girl wants to be a princess and picking up various princess Halloween costumes at a discount can make play dates go much smoother. Consider buying neutral themed costumes on clearance and donating them to a children's hospital. Even sick children enjoy dressing up as their favorite super hero.

September/early October is the perfect time to list Halloween costumes on auction sites such as eBay. Purchasing popular costumes at discount on November 1 and storing until the following September could mean a nice profit if an eBay seller prices their costume right. Other avenues of selling Halloween costumes could include a yard sale, Craigslist or even placing costumes for sale in a consignment shop.

Halloween clearance also includes candy at many stores

Right after the holiday, or sometimes even before, retailers start pushing out their Halloween merchandise out the door via Halloween clearance sales. Retailers are already making their marketing push for the next big holiday, Christmas, and having leftover Halloween merchandise just hogs up precious display space.

Grabbing Halloween candy, in particular chocolate, and saving it for Christmas baking can net a huge savings. Why pay full price for Hershey Kisses wrapped in red, green and silver when you can buy the same product wrapped in Harvest colors for half price? All that is different is the packaging and the Hershey Kisses taste just the same in peanut butter blossom cookies no matter what they came wrapped in. Consider picking up other Halloween candy for Christmas stockings at home or for donation to needy families to help fill their own Christmas stockings.

Stickers and decorations are also good things to pick up cheap

Purchasing Halloween stickers or decorations on clearance and saving them for next year is a great way to prepare for next year's festivities quite inexpensively. Treat your trick or treaters to stickers, pencils, erasers and other doo-dads by purchasing them on clearance and storing them for use on next October 31. These small items are also great to keep on hand for birthday party treat bags.

Shopping Halloween clearance sales can save shoppers money in the long run or even allow budget conscious parents to buy clearanced Halloween costumes for play that they wouldn't normally purchase for their children due to the exorbitant cost.