Walmart+ versus Brickseek for finding Clearance

The following is my honest and fair review of Walmart+ versus Brickseek for use at Walmart stores in finding sales and clearance.  Brickseek can be used at other stores, but I am keeping this post to Walmart use only.  I am not getting paid or benefitting from either of these services.  I want to make that clear because this is NOT a sponsored review.

I have a $9.99 subscription to Brickseek, but it seems that I find most items before they ever show up in my paid members area.  Also, I have to say this again, their site is torturously slow!  That is my biggest complaint about Brickseek.  I begrudgingly pay the $9.99 a month mostly because it keeps the ads to a minimum, but I do occasionally find an item that I did not already know about.  I am seriously considering cancelling though.

With that said, they offer an excellent service, but the speed of their site really cuts into the quality of use.  They also offer a $29.99 a month membership, which I cannot see paying … EVER.

UPDATE:  Brickseek no longer works for most in store prices at Walmart.

Another way that I see Brickseek as an advantage (and I believe this is a free feature) is that you can check from home if a price went down on items that you are tracking.  You can go to their Walmart inventory checker and put in the UPC or SKU number and see what the price is currently at your store.  This requires keeping notes of the items that are marking down at your store or markdowns others are getting.  There is no guarantee that an item that someone else is finding on clearance will clearance at your store, but many times it is the case.  Some stores just markdown faster than others.

If you do not pay for Walmart+, you may want to use Brickseek in the store to scan for prices, but as I said, it is going to be much slower than using Walmart+ “scan and go”.  I downloaded this barcode scanner and added it to my keyboard.  Ucom Free Barcode Scanner – I use this occasionally when an item in store shows as out of stock.  It’s a backup for me since I have Walmart+ to use their “scan and go”, but you can use this in place of Walmart’s app.  I do not know a free barcode scanner for Apple products.  If anyone knows of one to add, please let us know.  Go to Brickseek and select Walmart Inventory checker and click the UPC button, then scan the barcode into the box.  It usually takes around 8-12 seconds for results to come back.

Walmart clearance varies so much, not only by state, but store to store.  A store about 15 miles away from me may be full price and my store has the items for rock bottom clearance.

The reason for this comparison is that Walmart has recently changed their app to merge store and grocery into one cart and prices do not show accurately.  You can see the reviews on Google Play when you download their app.  The reviews are horrible … and well deserved.  When you scan an item in the store, the price may show correctly, it may be the wrong price, and it may even say that they don’t sell that item in the store (even though you are holding the item in your hand while scanning).  The new Walmart app update is CRAP!

So, what can be done to find clearance deals (or even correct prices) at Walmart now?  You can use Brickseek and/or you can sign up for Walmart+.

I signed up 2 days ago for a 15-day trial of Walmart+ … which extended into a 30-day trial for answering a few survey questions.

Brickseek.com

Walmart+ Sign Up

My husband and I went to Walmart yesterday to check the accuracy of the “scan & go” feature that is a benefit of Walmart+ subscription.  This feature allows you to add items to your cart as you scan them (in store only).  If you decide that you do not want something, you must remove it if you are going to use the feature to check out.  I did not … I went through the regular checkout process.  All items are deleted from your shopping list when you leave Walmart’s Wi-Fi though.

To my surprise, the scan & go feature was quite accurate.  It was like the Walmart app was before the new app update … which used to be free to scan accurately.  So they are now giving you the advantage of scanning accurately in store by including it in the Walmart+ membership.  Can you say GREED?  The monthly subscription to Walmart+ is $12.95 a month, and well, in light of recent changes, I think it may be worth keeping the membership.  And, speaking of greed, did you know Walmart is not having layaway this year?  See more about that here:

Walmart – layaway is cancelled

The Walmart+ subscription has more benefits, but the reason for me subscribing was only to find sales and clearance deals that are not marked.

If you don’t have a lot of time to search, this may not be for you because you can no longer search the Walmart app for clearance.. You must scan the items in store for products to give accurate pricing.

The other benefits of Walmart+ are as follows:

• Free shipping with no order minimum
• Free delivery from the store with $35 minimum
• Prescription savings (available only at select locations/states)
• 5¢ savings at Walmart and Murphy’s locations

From the reviews that I read, it is very cumbersome to put in an order for pickup since the app decides if you are going to pick up the item or have it sent.  And, even if you checkout with one way, Walmart might decide to ship something that you wanted in your grocery order.  So, you may have to wait a week for an item you needed for dinner.

I guess they are trying to compete with Amazon for online orders and I may benefit at some point for ordering through them, but the scan & go feature is the only reason that I subscribed … and the only feature that I am considering at this time.

With many people not willing to purchase a subscription, you will have the inside edge on finding clearance in store with a Walmart+ membership.

So, to sum it all up.  I think using both Walmart+ AND Brickseek (even the free version) will give you a nice advantage over other shoppers who are unwilling to pay for services.  My local store is pretty good at marking the shelves for clearance food items and even some of the clothing.  But other clearance may be more elusive and not actually priced as clearance until a good while after the price has went down.  So, if you are a clearance shopper, you would want to find these items BEFORE they are marked as clearance as then everyone knows.  I found some awesome deals yesterday by just scanning clothing that looked like it may be seasonal.

If you have any questions, let me know.  Comment below on what you think of all this.

Happy shopping!